How important is structured data when it comes to your Rakuten Linkshare product feed? As it turns out, it can significantly impact your sales.
Ecommerce product data feeds are a form of marketing automation that affiliate marketing channels use to categorize and implement your products and offers.
Keep reading to find out the importance of optimized Rakuten Linkshare product feeds and how well-structured product feed data can help you increase sales.
How to create a proper Linkshare Rakuten product feed and why it’s essential for better market your products
Every product you offer is categorized using a Comma Separated (.csv) or Tab Delimited (.tsv or .txt) file. They also support Zip (.zip) and Extensive Markup Language (.xml).
Structured data tells platforms like Rakuten everything about your product, its attributes, identifiers like SKUs or UPCs, promotional coupons, and other essential information.
Find out about our Affiliate Marketing Product Feed Management for Ecommerce Merchants
Simple, right? The data you provide ensures your Rakuten marketing efforts are targeted and likely to convert.
So, what attributes does an optimized product feed contain? Let’s find out.
Linkshare Rakuten Product Feed attributes
So, you’re looking to boost conversions and sales from affiliate marketing channels? You’re not alone.
Optimized marketing automation is the easiest way to improve product visibility and accessibility.
Feeds are split up into categories using Required Affiliate (RA), Required Display (RD), Optional Display (OD), Required Social (RS), and Required Search (RSEM).
Rakuten closely mirrors Google’s product feed specifications. But why leave anything to chance?
Here’s a list of the most important attributes when it comes to your product feeds on Rakuten:
id
RD, RS, RS, RSEM (Required)
A product’s unique identifier. It cannot change after product creation and must relate to the ID used for tagging.
title
RD, RS, RA, RSEM (Required)
The product’s name. It cannot exceed 70 characters.
brand
RD, RS, RA, RSEM (Required)
The product’s brand name. This is required for branded products.
description
RD, RS, RA, RSEM, OD (Required, Strongly Recommended for OD)
Additional info about a product.
google_product_category
RD, RS, RA, RSEM (Required)
Highlights a product’s category according to Google’s product feed specifications.
item_group_id
RD, RS, RA (Required)
A shared identifier covering all variants for a specific product. This attribute will share common values with other variants, but must contain a unique id.
link
RD, RS, RA, RSEM (Required)
The product’s URL.
Image_link
RD, RS, RA, RSEM (Required)
The product’s image URL. Minimum 600x600pm. Rakuten supports multiple image links using image_link_x for each one.
price
RD, RS, RA, RSEM (Required)
The product’s price and currency.
sale_price
RD, RS, RA, RSEM, OD (Required, Strongly Recommended for OD)
The products sale price and currency.
availability
RD, RS, RA, RSEM (Required)
Availability determines whether the product is available. Accepted values include in stock, out of stock, and preorder.
gtin
RSEM, RS (Required)
The product’s Global Trade Item Number (GTIN). Rakuten accepts UPC (North America), EAN (Europe), and JAN (Japan).
mpn
RSEM (Required)
The product’s Manufacturer Part Number. This identifies a specific product from the same manufacturer.
sku
RA (Required for Affiliate)
The product’s SKU number (same as ID).
additional image link
RSEM, RS (Recommended for Search, Required for Social/Publisher Feeds)
Include all additional product image links here (up to 10) as multiple lines.
condition
RSEM, RS (Required)
The product’s condition. Accepted values include new, refurbished, and used.
gender
RSEM (Required)
The product’s intended gender. Accepted values include male, female, and unisex.
age group
RSEM (Required)
The product’s intended demographic. Accepted values include adult and kids.
sale price effective date
RSEM (Recommended for Products Using “Sale Price”)
The product’s official sale date range.
product type
RSEM (Strongly Recommended)
The product’s category type. You can define these categories yourself.
color
RSEM (Required for Apparel, Recommended for Non-Apparel)
The product’s colors. For accent colors, separate them with a “/.” For example, “Blue/White.” You may only list three color values.
size
RSEM (Required for Apparel, Recommended for Non-Apparel)
The product’s size. This attribute is mandatory for apparel.
material
RSEM (Recommended for Variant Apparel Products Using Different Materials)
The material a product uses. Users will see these values. Products with multiple materials require an individual submission for each.
pattern
RSEM (Recommended for Variant Apparel Products Using Different Patterns)
The product’s pattern. For similar variants, group them together. For unrelated variants, use separate product groups.
tax
RSEM (Required)
The product’s tax. This is set up using Google Merchant Center.
shipping
RSEM (Required)
The product’s shipping cost. This is set up using Google Merchant Center.
shipping weight
RSEM (Required, Configured Via Merchant Center)
The product’s shipping weight. This is used to calculate shipping costs.
multipack
RSEM (Required if Applicable)
This determines if a product is part of a multipack. Each individual product and the total number of products in the multipack must be identified.
adult
RSEM (Required if Applicable)
This determines whether a product is for adults only.
How optimized Linkshare Rakuten product feed leads to more sales?
Successful eCommerce brands are using a multichannel approach to reach more customers. And well-structured product feeds are what make this possible.
This standardized format makes it easy for multiple networks to showcase your products. With all your product data in one location, large networks can advertise your products to the right audience. That means more visibility, more data, and more potential sales.
Highstreet.io specializes in helping eCommerce companies optimize their product feeds, to increase their conversion rates.
Are you interested in turning best practices into real sales for your products?
Get in touch with our team today and discover how we can help you drive more sales through optimized product feeds.