Product Feed

Purpose

The Product Feed allows merchants to communicate product data updates to TGC. This would include new SKUs added to their product catalog and changes to any existing SKU data. TGC uses this data to update the merchant's Product Table in the TGC database.

The data from the Product Feed allows TGC to have the information needed to generate a landed cost calculation for each SKU that a customer adds to the cart. The merchant will often send the same information electronically to the international carrier or use it to generate a commercial invoice required for customs clearance. This data is critical to ensure that the merchant is compliant with all relevant trade laws, Free Trade Agreements, import thresholds, etc.

It is important to ensure that the data provided to TGC in the Product Feed is accurate, and that updates are sent in a timely manner. The merchant's Product Table should include all the SKUs that are in their e-commerce product catalog, even if they are restricted for international customers.

How it Works

Data Flow

This feed should be sent from the merchant to the TGC FTP site. Merchants can usually extract the required fields from one or more internal systems (for example, ERP, WMS, OMS, PIM, or e-commerce site). If the feed is correctly sent from the merchant to the FTP site, it is immediately archived when it is received. TGC would then be able to extract the data from the FTP site into the Product Table for that merchant.

Sending Updates

The merchant can send updates to the TGC FTP site in one of two file types:

1. Delta File: Only send new SKUs and existing SKUs where there are updates to the product data
2. Full Product File: Send all new and existing SKUs in products catalog

Adding New SKUs

New SKUs sent in the Product Feed are added to the Product Table stored in the TGC database.

Updating Data for Existing SKUs

Some data fields in the Product Table will be updated to reflect the latest information in the Product Feed while other fields will remain the same. For existing SKUs, the data in the latest Product Feed will override the data in the Product Table for the following fields:

• Name
• Description
• Keywords
• Specs
• Color
• CountryCode
• Material
• Gender
• Brand
• HTC
• Length
• Width
• Height
• Weight

Deleting SKUs

The merchant cannot remove SKUs from the Product Table using this feed.

• Obsolete SKUs that are no longer available on the site but are still included in the Product Table do not cause issues for the merchant or for TGC
• If the SKU is not available on the merchant’s e-commerce site, the customer will not be able to generate a landed cost quote for the SKU or add it to the cart regardless of whether the data exists in the TGC Product Table.
• The TGC team will need to manually delete the records in the database if this is required in rare situations (to be assessed on a case-by-case basis).

Product Restrictions

Restrictions should not be handled throught the Product Feed. Products that are available on the site but need to be restricted for international customers should be identified in the Product Restrictions Feed or blocked directly on the e-commerce site, based on customer location.

Timing of Updates

Updates occur in real time. As soon as a file is placed in the FTP folder, within seconds the file is picked up and immediately processed to make products available as quickly as possible. Depending on file size, the processing may take several minutes to complete.

General Feed Requirements

File Formats

TGC's standard product file format is in CSV format. Click Here for a standard template .

In the event the merchant is unable to meet the standard file feed requirements. TGC can accept custom formats in CSV, XLSX, TXT, and XML if the information in the file meets TGC's data requirements for quoting products.

Data Requirements