I work for a franchise organization of stores. Each store has its own Shopify store on a subdomain of the franchise organization (e.g. store1.franchiseorg.com, store2.franchiseorg.com, etc.).
I have an advanced multi client account set up with Google Merchant Center with one sub account for each franchise organization. Each franchise’s merchant center account is connected to the corresponding Google & YouTube app in the franchise’s Shopify store.
I have read that having multiple stores selling the same products on the same GMC account is a bad idea and that you might be at risk of getting banned. Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether I am set up correctly? Thanks in advance.
Each franchise is it’s own business and has it’s own website selling directly to their customers, both locally in-store (Shopify POS) and online (Shopify Online store). I had difficulty having each franchisee have their own Merchant Center account because I had already verified and claimed the primary domain franchiseorg.com. I was getting an error that the domain was already claimed. The only way I was able to get it so that they could connect the Google & YouTube app to their Shopify was to make their merchant account a sub account of my main account and then invite each franchisee as an admin user on their sub account.
Right now I only have two franchise locations set up, but I have 50 or 60 more coming online next year. I guess at this point I’m just trying to understand if I’ve set this up correctly or if I’ve put myself in a situation where everyone is going to get banned for selling the same products under different sub accounts of the the same Google Merchant Center account.
If the websites and businesses are not owned by you, you should not setup accounts.
The correct way is for you to close down your account, both sub accounts and the main account.
Then let the franchise business itself set it up correctly based on their business details, location, etc.
Then let them connect to their own Google Ads account.
So the important thing that defines who can do what is the business and website ownership. If its the franchisee, then they can only set everything up, not you.
Thanks, I understand what you are saying, but I will need another way to verify and claim the subdomains. I’ve tried the method you suggested, and everyone gets an error when trying to verify their website with Google because the domain is already claimed.
Your configuration should be good as long as each sub-account in your multi-client Merchant Center has its own feed and domain, as Google considerr subdomains separate stores. Ensure that each franchise location has unique business information, return policies and that you’re using verified subdomain URLs to avoid duplications or policy violations.
Not 100% correct, you need to also understand the terms of a business. If the business is owned by someone else, and the advertising is done by someone else. IE the business owner of the franchise in this case, then only the franchise business owner should set everything up. Not a 3rd party. Risk of suspension is high going down the wrong route.
Even I, am unsure what is the correct way, because of the structure of the franchise.
But based on my opinion, the lesser risk setup is what I mention. Not 1 advanced account with multiple subaccounts.