Best Practices

General Recommendations for a Commerce Catalog

We recommend to use this checklist to maximize the quality of your commerce catalog:

• Store the product feed ID
• Create inventory with the Catalog Batch API or Feed API support
• Schedule feeds
• Set up catalog during seller onboarding
• Ensure that fields are visible
• Ensure that the format is accurate for specific fields
• Check for timely and accurate responsiveness

Product Feed ID

The product feed is used as the primary source for updating product catalogs on Facebook, and fetched by Facebook periodically according to the configured interval. You should store the product feed ID, and use it to get upload status, errors, and to change upload schedule.

Catalog Inventory Creation Support

To create inventory, use the Feed API, Reference, Advantage+ Catalog Ads, Feed API, Reference, Commerce Platform or Batch API.

Scheduled Feeds

Scheduled feeds don't support uploads more frequently than once per hour. If you need to update inventory faster, use the Direct Upload API.

Seller Onboarding

Set up your catalog during seller onboarding and upload or configure your products using the Product Feed API.

Visibility

• The id, title, description, price, inventory, link, image_link fields should be provided.

• The gtin or mpn plus brand fields should be provided.

• The rich_text_description (preferably) or description fields should be provided, well formatted (no extra spacing, punctuation is correct), and informative (may contain information on item size, volume, origin, and so on).

• Ensure that the variant field's (such as size or color) value is provided for every product variant sharing a common item_group_id, even those that are out of stock.

Format

• Ensure that the description does not contain HTML tags or character entities.

• Ensure that the price is in the correct format and currency.

• Ensure that the sale_price is provided for items on sale.

• Ensure that the google_product_category is (at minimum) 2 levels deep.

• Ensure that product variants are sharing the same item_group_id.

• Ensure that the availability and inventory fields are populated according to a agreed upon strategy.

• Use additional_image_link to add more product images (up to 10).

• Make sure that product images satisfy catalog requirements.

• Make sure that product titles satisfy catalog requirements.

• Make sure that product descriptions satisfy catalog requirements.

Responsiveness

• Ensure that the link URL responds with HTTP 200 OK.

• Check the product catalog diagnostics tool for the following information each time you upload a new product feed:

  • Fix all upload errors, a product marked with an error will be rejected from your catalog.
  • Verify all warnings, some of warnings may affect product ingestion and prevent your product from being tagged or available for purchase.
  • Ensure that each product complies with the Facebook Commerce Policies. Product that violate the policy will be marked as rejected and will not be available for tagging or purchase.