How to Choose the Right Shopify App for Amazon Product Feed Management

Amazon is the largest marketplace and a popular choice among Shopify store owners looking to boost their product sales and reach a wider audience. Specialized applications can automate the product feed generation process + help avoid errors when filling out fields and selecting categories. However, the market offers various software options that vary in price/functionality/features. Some are designed specifically for a limited number of marketplaces (only Ebay, Google Shopping, etc), while others are more versatile and offer custom solutions in addition to ready-made templates. Let’s take a closer look at the key characteristics you should consider when choosing an application.

The Main Criteria for Selecting a Quality Application

There are many services and applications available on the market today for creating shopping feeds. While most of them share a similar architecture and are suitable for generating files for major marketplaces (such as eBay, Amazon, Google Shopping, and others), they can differ significantly in functionality and several important parameters. What you should pay attention to:

• Support for the required formats. For example, Facebook/Instagram needs an XML feed, while Amazon needs a CSV file;
• The number of products that can be added to the feed. Applications often have limits depending on the selected tariff, but there can also be technical limitations, as failures and errors can occur due to heavy load and a large number of items;
• Ready-made templates for the platform you want to integrate with (such as Amazon, eBay, and others). Alternatively, some applications offer the option to generate a customized feed, which is a great solution if you plan to sell products on a lesser-known local platform, where ready-made templates are often not available;
• The number of feeds that can be created. This also often varies depending on the plan you choose. Especially relevant if you want to interact with several marketplaces;
• The security of the application. It's a good sign if software can be downloaded from Shopify Apps, not just third-party sites. Plus, it makes it easier to complete the file;
• Availability of necessary settings and filters. Software flexibility and customization options vary greatly from app to app. Make sure that the functionality of a particular application is enough for you - often you can test it in a free tariff or trial period;
• Favorable pricing. Most services offer subscription systems with different pricing plans, so you should choose based on your budget. Sometimes a free version is enough.

What are the Key Characteristics of a Good Feed Builder App?

The right software for you depends on many factors: the number of products you have, the marketplaces you want to work with, whether you need additional tools for testing and optimization, and so on. However, some general recommendations can be highlighted:

• Support for a large number of marketplaces + the ability to directly integrate feeds through the app. The more options available, the better. The software that offers templates also for local platforms + allows the creation of custom solutions will have an advantage;
• Support for synchronization option. One of the advantages of using the software is the automatic updating of information with a certain regularity. In other words, you don't need to generate a new feed or manually update the information on the marketplace when prices change, products become unavailable, and so on. Another important advantage is the ability to choose the frequency of updates;
• Flexibility of settings. It is a plus if the application allows you to filter products, for example, to hide products without photos, not to add to the feed a position below a certain price, and so on. It is also good if you can easily adjust attributes, create new fields, and so on;
• Error checking. A built-in system that highlights errors, inconsistencies, and empty fields simplifies the work with feeds. For example, in the Mulwi app (https://apps.shopify.com/mulwi-shopping-feeds), you can open a file as a table and see all errors highlighted in red.
• Support for many languages. The more choice, the better, especially if you plan to trade in international markets and maximize your sales area;
• Feed security. The ability to create a password or restrict access is a convenient and useful option that enhances security;
• Flexibility of tariff plans. Having a free version or test period will be an advantage, but it is also a good sign if there are many tariffs with different functionality and prices, it will allow you not to overpay unnecessarily. Prices should also be publicly available.

When choosing an app, you should also focus on ratings and reviews from other customers. The reputation of the company that produces the software is also important. A quality and informative website with technical support that promptly answers questions will confirm the reliability, safety, and usefulness of the software.