Text feed
You can also provide your catalog data using a text feed. The primary benefit of this product feed type is that it is relatively easy for clients with smaller catalogs to manually create. However, there are also several limitations which are described in the following section.
Create a text product catalog feed
Bazaarvoice supports receiving catalog data in a text file. Though this format can be used to provide the main catalog feed, Bazaarvoice recommends that you use the text format for supplemental feed files because the text format has the following limitations:
- Lack of localization—You cannot provide localized catalog attributes such as product name, category name, and URLs.
- Simple category hierarchy—Though the text format supports category information, only non-localized category names can be provided in a text file. Unique category identifiers cannot be sent to Bazaarvoice in a text file; if they are, downstream issues may occur if category names change over time for any reason.
Strict limitations on field values—You must adhere to the following rules when creating a text feed:
- Do not include instances of a delimiter (commas, pipes, or tabs) within the field values, such as
NameorDescription. - Do not use double-quotes around field values.
- Avoid including leading and trailing spaces in field values because they will be included with the value when stored in the Bazaarvoice database.
Complete the steps in this section to provide catalog data to Bazaarvoice in the form of a text file.
Step 1: Create and format the text file
The following sections detail the exact specifications of the Bazaarvoice text feed file.
File attributes
The file must be formatted as follows:
| File Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Header |
Must be listed as the first line in the file and begin with //. Include a header for specific scenarios when using multiple catalog sources, such as when using a text file as your main feed in conjunction with multiple catalog feed sources. Here is an example: //catalogMode=COMPLETE |
| Delimiter |
Use one of the following delimiters to separate columns:
|
|
Column Header Row |
Required to describe the values provided in the file. The file must include at least two columns. Refer to Column definitions for a list of headers and values that can be included in the file. |
|
File extension |
You can use any file extension when naming the feed file because Bazaarvoice automatically detects the file type. However, Bazaarvoice recommends using common extensions, such as .csv, .tsv, or .txt. |
Columns definitions
The following columns are supported in the text file. Note that column names are not case sensitive.
| Column Name | Value | Required |
|---|---|---|
ExternalId |
Unique product ID that can contain only alphanumeric characters, hyphens ( This format is used in the data feed only and is not visible to end users. |
Yes |
Name |
Name of the product, which is visible to end users. |
No |
Description |
Description of the product. A description is only used within the optional Facebook Ratings & Reviews or Questions & Answers app. Bazaarvoice recommends that product descriptions be at least three sentences or 300 characters long. |
No |
Brand |
The name of the brand to which the product belongs. Note: If
BrandExternalId is not specified in addition to Brand, a brand external ID is created even if a brand external ID was specified in a feed or created in the past. |
Recommended |
BrandExternalId |
ID of the brand to which the product belongs. |
Recommended |
Category |
The product's category name. |
Recommended |
CategoryExternalId |
Category ID for the product. Note: If
CategoryExternalId is not specified in addition to Category, a category external ID is created even if a category external ID was specified in a feed or created in the past. |
Recommended |
ProductUrl |
Unique, uncorrupted URL for a product page. Do not include extraneous query string parameters that you might use for tracking and partnership codes. If the URL contains a reserved (special) character, you must URL-encode |
Yes |
ImageUrl |
Unique URL for the product image. The optimal but slightly flexible display size is 600 x 600 pixels. If the URL contains a reserved (special) character, you must URL-encode Note: If Ratings & Reviews is deployed on an HTTPS site, you must provide image URLs at an HTTPS location in your product catalog. If you do not, your customers will see a mixed content warning.
|
Yes |
ModelNumber |
Unique referencing code that businesses use to identify a part that a particular industry uses. Each model number can contain letters, numerals, and other characters. | No; if included, one per product |
ManufacturerPartNumber |
Manufacturer-specific part number (MPN). Part numbers can contain letters, numerals, and characters. | Recommended |
EAN |
European Article Numbers (EAN), which is used worldwide for marking retail goods. An EAN must be a string of eight numerals or 13 numerals (no letters or other characters are allowed). Remove spaces and hyphens because they disrupt syndication matching. Note: Bazaarvoice does not enforce length or numerical constraints on EANs. Values are validated during the catalog import process, however, and only valid values are stored.
|
Either If included, you can specify an unlimited number of child elements. Syndication matching improves if you specify multiple values. |
UPC |
Universal Product Code (UPC), which is a 6- or 12-digit bar code used for standard retail packaging in the United States. A UPC can contain numerals only, with no letters or other characters. Remove spaces and hyphens because they disrupt syndication matching. Note: Bazaarvoice does not enforce length or numerical constraints on EANs. Values are validated during the catalog import process, however, and only valid values are stored.
|
Either If included, you can specify an unlimited number of child elements. Syndication matching improves if you specify multiple values. |
ISBN |
International Standard Book Number (ISBN), which is a 10- or 13-character value used predominantly for media products such as books, music, and videos. The last character provides a checksum that helps validate the product identifier. Most ISBNs are composed only of digits, except for some 10-character ISBN values that use an X for the checksum. |
Either If included, you can specify an unlimited number of child elements. Syndication matching improves if you specify multiple values. |
GTIN |
Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), which is a globally unique number used to identify trade items, products, or services. Bazaarvoice auto-detects the type of value provided in the GTIN field and stores it as the appropriate UPC, EAN, or ISBN value in the Bazaarvoice database.
Note: The product catalog supports GTINs up to 13 characters. Bazaarvoice does not enforce length or numerical constraints on GTINs. Values are validated during the catalog import process, however, and only valid values are stored. |
No |
BV_FE_Family |
The product family name to which the product belongs. Bazaarvoice recommends that you exclude special characters from product family names. | No |
BV_FE_Expand |
The product bundle name, to enable a product to display all content about family components on the product bundle's page. | No |
Inactive |
Marks the product inactive if a yes or true value is specified in this column. Note: If the product does not exist in the database and is marked inactive, it is not added to the database.
|
No |
the character. For example, use 
the character. For example, use Product attributes with multiple values
If a product has more than one value for an attribute, you should provide all values if possible to maximize the value of the Bazaarvoice network. For example, a shirt may have different SKUs in your catalog system, one for each color or size variant. Bazaarvoice supports multiple values for the following product attributes:
- UPC
- EAN
- ISBN
- GTIN
- ManufacturerPartNumber
- ModelNumber
To provide multiple values for an attribute, you can
- Combine values into a single column and separate the values using spaces. Here is an example:
ExternalId | UPC
123 | 123000000001
456 | 456000000001 456000000002 456000000003
788 | 789000000001 789000000002 - Repeat the product in the file, providing a different value on each line. Here is an example:
ExternalId, UPC
123,123000000001
456,456000000001
456,456000000002
789,789000000001
789,789000000002
789,789000000003
Step 2: Upload the feed
Bazaarvoice recommends that you upload an updated product feed whenever changes are made to your product catalog as reflected by your website. It is imperative that you provide Bazaarvoice with matching updates as your product catalog changes on your live site.
You can add another level of security to your data by supplying a public Secure Socket Shell (SSH) key using SSH passwordless entry. This process relies on a private key that resides with you, paired with a public key used by a Bazaarvoice SFTP server. If you want to set up this key-based authentication method, contact Bazaarvoice Support for information and assistance.
Upload the feed file to the /import-inbox directory of the SFTP server:
- If your data is hosted in the US, use the following URLs:
- Staging server—sftp-stg.bazaarvoice.com
- Production server—sftp.bazaarvoice.com
- If your data is hosted in Europe, use the following URLs:
- Staging server—sftp7-stg.bazaarvoice.com
- Production server—sftp7.bazaarvoice.com
Be sure to connect to SFTP using port 22. Contact Bazaarvoice Support if you do not know your SFTP credentials or where your data is hosted.
After you upload a product feed to an SFTP server, Bazaarvoice automatically begins importing the feed at 2 AM Central Time (CST: UTC-6 or CDT: UTC-5), although Bazaarvoice may not finish importing your feed until later the same day due to the import process.
If you uploaded the feed to a staging server, you can trigger an import manually. (You cannot manually trigger an import to the production server.) Complete the following steps to manually import the feed:
- From the Workbench of your staging server, select Settings > Validate Product Feed.
- Select Schedule one-time import to manually import the feed.
Step 3: Check the feed status
After uploading a feed to the staging or production SFTP server, you can view the import summary and error or warning count of the feed. Checking the import summary enables you to correct errors before the next import, so you can ensure you provide a valid feed for the next import.
View the import summary in the Workbench for your staging or production server by selecting Settings > Validate Product Feed. If your feed returns an error or warning, select it for more information.
Example text feeds
The following example is a simple comma-separated value (CSV) file that provides supplemental EAN catalog data:
ExternalId, EAN 123,0123000000001 456,0456000000001 456,0456000000002 789,0789000000001 789,0789000000002 789,0789000000003
Here is an example of a CSV file that can be used as the primary feed for product catalog data:
//catalogMode=COMPLETE ExternalId, UPC 123,123000000001 456,456000000001 456,456000000002 789,789000000001 789,789000000002 789,789000000003
Incremental feed files
A full product catalog feed includes all products that are available in your catalog and for which you want to collect content. An incremental feed contains data for a subset of your products.
Consider the following strategies for using full vs. incremental feeds:
- Only full feeds
You can upload a full, periodic, XML catalog feed to Bazaarvoice that includes all current data for all active products and categories. This is the recommended strategy.
- Full and incremental feeds
You can provide a mix of full and incremental catalog feeds. We recommend that you provide an initial full catalog feed followed by periodic, incremental feeds that contain only changes to your catalog data. Consider using full and incremental product feeds if:
- Your product catalog changes so frequently that daily product feed updates are necessary
- Infrequent or modest updates are made to your product feed
However, to prevent gaps in the data set that can result from failure to upload and process any given incremental feed, we recommend that you provide a full feed periodically (with current data for your complete catalog) to ensure no data gaps exist.
- Only incremental feeds
If you cannot provide all products in a single, full catalog feed, you can provide incremental feeds only. Be sure to include the removed=”true” attribute when providing only incremental feeds. Refer to Control the active set of products for more information about this approach.
Caution: If you use incremental feeds only and you never provide a full feed to Bazaarvoice, it is possible that catalog data may become out of sync with your source product catalog if an incremental feed upload is missed or fails in any way.
Each feed file indicates whether it is full or incremental, though this is done differently depending on the feed format:
- XML feed files: use the incremental attribute in the
<Feed>element - Text feed files: specify a file header
