Google Channel unique MPN for Variants

[Sandra80]

Hi, I am using the Google channel and have an issue with the MPN.

So when I have 1 item with several variants, each of those variants has their own unique MPN (which is added into the SKU field).

But Google merchant center doesnt seem to pick up on this. No MPN's are synced.

And when I go to edit products, there are 2 MPN fields available.

1 that is set for the parent product and 1 that is set for the variants.

When I set a MPN for each variants, Google doesnt pick up on it.

When I set it for the parent product, it does sync to the merchant center.

The issue is that all variants has unique MPN, not the same one.

Is there a way to sync individual MPN for each variant?

(Also dont understand the purpose of the option of MPN fields for each variant, if it doesnt sync.)

Additional question: What issues may I face by using the same MPN for all variants of a parent product?

Is it better to set these items to "custom product" or to use the same MPN for all variants?

Thanks

[EmmanuelFlossie]

The issue can not be resolved if you are using the free app. It is not designed correctly to show unique data for each variant for the MPN value. It's been like this for a long time (years).

My recommendation if you want to fix it for free, is to create a spreadsheet and overwrite your data using a supplement feed: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/7439058?hl=en

Alternatively, don't submit MPN.

Also, you should only submit MPN if you have a valid barcode. So that you submit GTIN + Brand + MPN and set identifier exists to yes.

If you don't have barcodes, remove brand, mpn and gtin values and set identifier exists to no.

[Sandra80]

Thank you for your reply Emmanuel, appreciate it.

So I know that you can submit an item as custom product without identifiers, or else you need either gtin (which is enough alone) or MPN (which requires brand as well).

I thought it would be better to submit an MPN than nothing, my though was that the more attributes you provide, the better for the feed/listings and that you would get "rewarded" somehow.

The products are our own products, we produce them ourself. So isn't it up to us to create an MPN then,

I mean, can it hurt that we use an MPN? if we, of course provide unique MPNs/ per variant in a supplemental feed as you suggest, or is it just unnecessary?

[EmmanuelFlossie]

When submitting product identifiers, the following should be applied.

If a manufacturer has assigned a bar code, then submit brand, MPN (if available), GTIN, and set identifier exists to yes.

If the manufacturer has not assigned a bar code, then remove the values brand, MPN, GTIN, and set identifier exists to no.

While the official documentation does mention, you can submit brand + MPN and ignore GTIN. However, in most cases, this will cause issues and generate warnings such as limited performance due to missing identifiers.

And as of June 2021, specific categories and or countries require barcodes to be submitted, regardless if you have any. So, in this case, you need to get official GS1 barcodes.

Reference: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6098295

A secondary reason for issues is that most merchants tend to use SKU as the MPN values, which is incorrect.

SKU stands for “stock keeping unit” and — as the name suggests — it is a number (usually eight alphanumeric digits) that retailers assign to products to keep track of stock levels internally.

An MPN, or manufacturer part number, is a manufacturer-assigned, unique, alphanumeric value used to identify a product among other products from the same manufacturer.

More info:

• https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324351
• https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324461
• https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324482
• https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324478

[Sandra80]

Thank you so much for the reply!

With that I just realize I always did this wrong, regarding SKU/MPN haha.

Thanks for clarifying 🙂