Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi there, I`m in the middle of trying to get my items listed with a shopping comparison site.  I need help! This is what they want:

Feed Delivery

You may submit your feed by uploading it as a text file or alternatively you may provide us with the URL to a script which generates your feed on-the-fly. The on-the-fly method is preferred as this insures we always have your latest product information.

I would like to use the script method, but I have no idea what to do.  Also I can export my catalog to my computer than to Excel, the problem is that the exported catalog my hosting company offers does not contain all the data that is required to upload to the shopping comparison site.  Example: No picture url`s or product descripions are included in the exported catalog, but they are required for uploading to the shopping site.  I would have to edit each product individually in Excel to add the needed info.  I have hundreds of products that change all the time and are usually one-of-a-kinds, that would be way to time consuming.  I`m wondering if that is a script generator that will retrieve all the product info I need from my site and allow me to download it all to Excel.  Can anyone help? Lisa Grantham  

thriftstorejunkie - In order to really answer that question we would need your store information (specifically what software you use to power your store) and the listing service website your trying to import your product list into.  My guess would be they want an XML feed generated in which case you would need to know the format for the XML document before a script could be suggested / created.

Thanks for taking the time to try to help me. My store is hosted by quickbizsites.com. I am trying to upload to Bechna.com.

thriftstorejunkie - Here is the important part:

benchna.com Data Feed Specifications

Your host`s (QBS) shopping cart appears to be custom in which case you either need to provided them (QBS) the specs and ask if they can export it on regular intervals or you need to find out if you will provide you login information to the database.  That way you can have someone write an export script for you.

Unfortunately neither your site nor your hosts will load on my PC at the moment however given the above comments (and the name of your hosts domain) I assume that they are an off the shelf solution.

Whilst either to modify the extract script would be simple and writing a web service to provide the live feed wouldnt be overly difficult neither of these are what off the shelf suppliers are about.

Subject to what the elements you need to change in the excel file may it be easier to create a macro to automatically make the amendments?        


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Astaroth Solutions - Bespoke web development

Hello Lisa,

We recently launched a service that seems to fit your product feed needs, you can find it @ https://www.godatafeed.com/.  We offer a 0.99 cent for the 1st month trial, so you can try out the service and see how it works for you.

We specialize in helping merchants submit and optimize their product feeds to the various comparison shopping engines; Our web based tool consolidates and manages all of your shopping feeds from a single application.  We are also launching the Analytics module soon, this feature will enable you to track on optimize product specific ROI.

If you have any questions, you can contact me at rgrosman@godatafeed.com

Ro Grosman

www.godatafeed.com

First ask the provider of your ecommerce program if there is a data feed/export RSS module or add-on.

~Roland

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

Thanks for everyone`s help, I am still working very hard at figuring this all out. I think I am using one of the lower end e-commerce hosting companies for my store. Right now I do not make enough money to move to a better one. I`ll post again when my brain hurts too much to think anymore. Thanks again. Lisa Grantham
Lisa`s Thrift Store Treasures
www.thriftstoretreasures.com