How to get listed on PriceRunner – Price Feeds

How to get listed on PriceRunner – Price Feeds
To get your products listed on PriceRunner you will have to send us a data feed with your entire
product catalog. A data feed is a file with a list of products in a structured format, available on an FTP
or HTTP location. It will be read by our systems every night (around 00:00 to 04:00), and all changes
will be reflected on PriceRunner the next morning. Using a feed gives you the possibility to work
actively with price adjustments and fast changes of your product catalog and stock info.
If you have questions regarding the feed, please contact Anton Kulas by email
[email protected] or by phone +46(0)8-562 103 92. For questions regarding advertising,
contracts or if you want to participate in PriceRunner's Customer Satisfaction Evaluation please
contact your Account Manager.
If you want to show that you are listed on PriceRunner on your web site use one of the logos available
in our Image bank.
PriceRunners Categories
PriceRunner has two types of categories; Price Comparison and Shopping.

In Price Comparison categories your products will be matched to our products, based on the
information provided in the feed. All retailer prices will be lumped together for price comparison,
and the product image and specifications displayed will be the ones from the PriceRunner product
database. Examples of such categories are digital cameras, laptops, white goods etc.

In Shopping categories you’re categories will instead be connected to the corresponding
PriceRunner categories, and your products will be displayed with the images, names and
descriptions as you have added in the feed. This means you can decide what information and
images to be shown for your products here. Examples of shopping categories are jewelry, toys,
contact lenses, clothing, and various electronics accessories.
There is a difference in the listing order between the category types. In Price Comparison categories
the lowest price is always listed first. In Shopping categories the listing order is based on popularity
and what CPC (Cost-Per-Click) the retailer is paying. See below for more information about Shopping
categories. For us to be able to use the feed it has to fulfill the below requirements.
Feed requirements
Supported file formats:
We accept both XML and various text formats.
Please note that feeds can not be submitted in Microsoft Excel .xsl format or other non-text formats.
However it’s possible for you to export an excel file to a well-structured text format and then upload it
to an FTP or HTTP location.

Text format:
Here you have to structure your data in rows and columns, using one row per product and one
field (column) per product information type. First row needs to contain headers describing the
content of each field (i.e. name, sku, image, product url, etc). Products are placed from second
row and on, with each field filled with appropriate product value.
We support txt, .csv, .asp, .php files.
Last updated 2012-12-10
Field separator: Each field need to be separated with a field separator. We support various
separators, but most common being comma or tab. Never include the separator within the fields
(only between), since that would make it impossible to know where a product field starts and
ends.
Field qualifier: Field qualifiers can be used around each field. This is required if field separator at
any time can appear also within the fields. Most common field qualifier is quote (“field 1
content”,”field 2 content”). Never include the field qualifier within the fields (only around), since
that would make it impossible to know where a product field starts and ends.
Field qualifier escape: If field qualifier can also appear within a field at any time, then a field
qualifier escape is required. This is a special character put just before the occurrence of the field
qualifier, when it appears within a field. One example of a field qualifier could be a back slash. If
quote is used as field qualifier and back slash is used as field qualifier escape, one row in the
feed could look like this:
“42\” “LCD TV”,”info field 2”,”info field 3”
Example txt feed below, where field separator is comma, field qualifier is quote, and field qualifier
escape is backslash:
“Name“, “SKU“, “Image URL“, “Product URL“
“Canon EOS 650D“, “ACB132“, “http://site.com/ ACB132.jpg“, “http://site.com/ACB132.html“
“42 \“ LCD TV“, “ACD134“,”http://site.com/ ACD134.jpg“,“http://site.com/ACB132.html“
Here you can also see a more extensive example of a tab separated feed in txt format.

XML format
Here you have to use well defined XML tags to enclose and separate the content. The naming of
the XML tags doesn’t matter as long as they are clearly defining the content.
Please note: Avoid name space usage, since we have limited support for that.
Example feed in XML format:
FTP or HTTP location:
The feed needs to be placed at an FTP or HTTP address location from which it can be read on a daily
basis, for example ftp://pricerunner:[email protected] or www.site.com/pricerunner.csv.
Unchanged URL and file names:
The URL and name has to be kept unchanged over time, so for example don’t include the date when
feed has been updated in the name or URL.
Encoding:
We support the following feed encodings: iso-8859-1 utf-8, utf-16, windows-1252.
Last updated 2012-12-10
Category Requirements
Please be sure to send us well structured and detailed enough category information for your products.
If categories are too wide, it will be hard for us to get your products online. It might delay, or even
prevent, your products from being displayed. Another scenario is that they could get displayed in the
wrong category so users wouldn’t find them.
Categories like “Accessories”, “Bathroom” or “Home appliances” are for example not usable for us.
They need to reveal more about the product type, as we have much finer category structure on
PriceRunner. Better categorization would for example be “Mobile phone > accessories”, “Bathroom >
Toilets”, “Bathroom > taps”, “Home Appliances > Coffe Makers”, “Home Appliances > Toasters” etc.
One good rule of thumb is to rather add to much category detail than the opposite.
You can increase your chances of having your products quickly up on PriceRunner, by adding
PriceRunner categories to your feed. We will then be able to quickly and accurately get all products
into the right categories. Please see the category taxonomy document:
http://images.pricerunner.com/images/i/aterforsaljare/category-taxonomy.pdf
General category requirements:
1) Only connect one category to a product, we can’t handle multiple selections.
2) Only add information on product type in the categories. Avoid for example things like
manufacturer names etc. All such information just makes it harder to get your products online
in the right category.
Importance of Manufacturer, Manufacturer SKU and EAN
Always include Manufacturer name, Manufacturer SKU and EAN in your feed.
Reasons for this:
1) Your products can then automatically match to our products, so your prices would go online
quickly after they appear in the feed. If this information is missing we can’t guarantee all your
prices will go online, or it might take a longer time before it happens, since manual work might
be needed.
This applies to all our Price Comparison products, which means the ones we lump together
for price comparison.
2) Your products will be searchable by manufacturer SKU and EAN online. So if a user types an
EAN into our main search engine, or use our EAN scanner in the app, your products will turn
up in the result.
This applies to both Price Comparison and Shopping products. Shopping meaning the
products we just list as they come from the retailer feeds, without lumping together for price
comparison.
Additional requirements


Make sure the data contains current prices
HTML markups within the fields in the data feed are not allowed, and would delay the processing
of the feed and your listing on PriceRunner.
Last updated 2012-12-10



Do not include any url:s in the description field
Please make sure your feed contains your entire product catalog, we don’t allow limited feed
content. In order to overcome any problems with errors in feeds uploading on PriceRunner, our
system is set to recognize limited feed as an error. If your feed is limited it will be deactivated. If
you have any questions relating to this please contact your local account manager.
For retailers selling contact lenses. The price for a single box must be used and not the price for
buying multiple boxes.
Field specification
Below is a list and description of the information fields we need in the feed. Please note that:
th
(1) The first 1-6 fields below are REQUIRED, and are marked in bold.
th
th
(2) The 7 -9 field (Manufacturer SKU, Manufacturer Name and EAN) are REQUIRED for
automatic matching of you products, and to make them searchable in our search
engine and EAN scanner. Without this your listing might be delayed or even prevented
for some products.
th
(3) The 10-11 fields (description and image) are very important for Shopping products,
but also of help in manual matching process for Price Comparison products. Note:
CMYK color images are not supported.
(4) Please always add field 1-13 in your feed, in the same order as listed below. If some
information pieces are missing, keep the field but leave it empty. We support other
feed structures, but keeping the suggested will speed up your listing process.
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(5) The 16 field (ISBN) is required for book retailers
Last updated 2012-12-10
1
Field
Description
Example
Category
Product category:
Electronic > Digital
Cameras

2
3
4
5
Product name
SKU
Price
Please use same categorization as on
PriceRunner.http://www.pricerunner.se/sm/sitemap/
If difficult, at least make sure the categories are as
descriptive (detailed) as possible about the product
type.

Don’t mix products and accessories within same
category. We need them separated.

If categories are missing, or too wide, it will delay or
even prevent your products from coming online.
The product /model name

Use clean and clear product names.

Avoid additional information that is not related to the
names (free shipping, etc), as that would prevent them
from being able to automatically match to our products
by name.

If product is an accessory to another product it’s
important that’s made clear in the name.
A unique product ID:

The SKU must be unique and unchanged over time,
or wrong matches could appear on site.

Never use same SKU on more than one product.

If a product is removed from the feed, the SKU must
never be reused for another product.
The price you charge for the item

Excluding shipping cost

Including tax (VAT) in Europe

Excluding mail-in rebates: The price MUST be the one
user pays at check out.

Instant rebates can be included, i.e. which lowers the
price to what user will pay at check out.
Electronic > Digital
Cameras >
Accessories
EOS 650D
ACB132
£ 320
Shipping
Cost
The shipping cost per product.
6
Product URL
The URL to the product on your website.
http://www.site.co.u
k/products/ACB132
.html
7
Manufacturer
SKU
The unique product ID used by the manufacturer.
6559B027
Last updated 2012-12-10


£ 3.00
Only add if it’s a flat rate, i.e. the shipping cost for a
specific product is equal over the whole country.
Increases our matching speed significantly, and is vital
to enter for Computer products.

Last updated 2012-12-10
Enables us to automatically match the product and get
it online as soon as it appears in the feed (but only in
combination with merchant name).
8
9
10
11
Field
Description
Example
Manufacturer
Manufacturer name (product brand):
Canon
EAN or UPC
Description
Image URL

In combination with the Merchant SKU this enables us
to automatically match the product and get it online as
soon as it appears in the feed.

Also helps us in manual matching process.
Unique universal product code to identify a product and its
manufacturer.

UPC is a unique 12 digit number to identify products in
US. EAN is a unique 13 digit number to identify
products in Europe.

Enables us to automatically match the product and get
it online as soon as it appears in the feed.

Is especially vital to enter for CDs and films (DVD, HDDVD and Blu-Ray), where no manual processes will be
used to back up our automatic match system.
Description of the product:

Especially important in our Shopping categories, such
as apparel, jewelry, toys etc, where your descriptions
are displayed online.

A good description gives a better chance of a match
when our users search for products.

Descriptions are also of help in the manual matching
process for Price Comparison products.
The URL to the product image:
 It has to be in gif or jpg format, and with RGB color.
Note that we don’t support CMYK color images.

Please include the largest possible picture, at least
300x300 pixels.

Do not include links to “no image” pictures; we only
want real product images.

Images are especially important in our Shopping
categories, where they are displayed online and
making your product more appealing for users.

The images are also of great help in the matching
process for Price Comparison products (where we
lump prices together).
8714574585567
Long sleeve zipneck sweater.100%
cotton.
http://www.site.co.u
k/images/
ACB132.jpg
12
Stock Status
Stock information. To be filled with “In Stock” or “Out of
Stock” or “Preorder”, depending on if the product is in stock
or not.
In Stock
13
Delivery time
Delivery time from time of order to product arriving at
customer.
Delivers in 5-7 days
Last updated 2012-12-10
14
15
Field
Description
Example
Retailer
Message
You can place a message, next to your logo in the product
listing, for Price Comparison products.
Free shipping until
..
Product state

Up to 125 characters total.

By including this message in the feed, you can have a
different message for each product, great for free
shipping promotions etc.

Note, this message will only show on your products
listed in Price Comparison categories.
If you sell products that are not new (used, refurbished,
open box etc), please either:


New
Exclude them from the feed, or
Use a product state field to clearly mark them with new
/ used / refurbished / open box.
Currently we don’t display any type of used or refurbished
products, but may happen in the future.
17
ISBN
The ISBN number of a book.

18
Catalog Id
The catalog number of a CD or a DVD.

0563389532
Required for book retailers.
73216
Only applies to CDs, DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray films.
When the feed has been created place it on your server and send the URL to
[email protected].
Shopping categories and Bidding interface
Products in Shopping categories such as Apparel, Toys and Jewelry are listed differently than
products in our Price Comparison categories. In Shopping categories the product names and
descriptions are displayed just as they were added by the retailer in the feed, and user searches can
match against that information. This means a good description and name will give a better chance for
your products to turn up on user searches.
The product listing order in Shopping categories is based on the product's popularity (number of
clicks) and the CPC (Cost-Per-Click) rate retailer is paying.
This gives you the possibility to affect your position by changing CPC in our Bidding interface. The
Bidding interface is available in the Retailer interface. All your active Shopping categories will be listed
in this interface and you are able to see your current bids and top bids in each category. Each
category has a minimum bid and the smallest change is 0.50 SEK. You also have the possibility to
receive mails when a bid is changed in one of your categories. Please contact your Account Manager
if you don't have login details for the Retailer interface.
Last updated 2012-12-10