PRODUCT DATA IMPORT SETUP GUIDE FOR ADVERTISERS
Dear Advertiser, This manual describes the provision of your product data for partners of the zanox affiliate network. In this way, we are able to guarantee you swift and friction-free processing in the interface prepared for you. We wish you the greatest of success and would be delighted to assist you in the event of questions. zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 4 2. Provision of data 4 2.1 Import Process... 4 2.2 Format definition... 4 2.2.1 General 4 2.2.2 CSV 5 2.3 Field Description... 6 General Fields... 6 Retail & Shopping... 8 Travel 9 Telco 10 Events & Tickets... 11 2.4 Compression...12 2.5 Data transfer...12 2.6 Update frequency...13 3. Variety of Product Data Import13 3.1 Incremental product update...13 4. Glossary 14 zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 3
1. INTRODUCTION Product data is a crucial part of your affiliate marketing strategy. In retail at least 15% of your affiliate marketing revenues should be generated via product data. Product data is relevant for a variety of publisher models, e.g. price comparison sites and content partners. By providing this information via the zanox marketplace, those publishers are more motivated to promote your affiliate programme. Providing product data to publishers allows you to better promote and sell your products. 2.1 Import Process 2. PROVISION OF DATA In order for you to gain an overview of the complex processing steps for your product data, we have summarised the most important stages for you here: 1. You compile and edit your product data and then save it as a CSV or XML file on a web or FTP server. 2. We download this file from your server. 3. We process your product data. 4. We make the file available to our partners in the zanox network in CSV or XML format. 5. The partners download your product data and then use these on their advertising spaces. 2.2 Format definition 2.2.1 General Format You can provide your product data in the following formats: CSV format XML format zanox recommends the usage of the CSV format. Character Codes Please remember to let us know which character code you use. We support the following character sets: zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 4
US-ASCII ISO 8859 character sets Windows code pages (e.g. 1252) UTF-8 and UTF-16 Cyrillic character sets, such as KOI8-R, KOI8-U Common Asian character sets, such as Big5, GB2312, EUC-JP, TIS620 The use of UTF-8 coding is recommended. 2.2.2 CSV Lines The first line describes the column with a meaningful name. Where possible, use the field names from the chapter Field Description. Define the row delimiter by ending a line with "carriage return" and / or "line feed". Columns Columns are separated from each other by a separator (column delimiter), e.g. a semicolon ";". If possible, select this separator in such a way, that it does not occur in the product data descriptions. In the event that this can not be avoided, you must enclose the corresponding text with a field-limiter (see next point). Text If your descriptions use the separator defined for the column, or line breaks, your description must then be enclosed in inverted commas. Example: In this instance, the separator for columns should be a semicolon. The product description will look something like this: "Very stable guard; thanks to the inserted T-Sticks the guard remains flexible and yet impact-resistent; with ankle protection " Any inverted commas contained in your text must be doubled. Example: "The 24" tyre" "The book titled ""My Car"" is " Impermissible characters Avoid the use of HTML tags in your descriptions, as these will be removed during import of your product data. zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 5
2.3 Field Description The following tables show you all available fields. We recommend a complete implemenation of all general fields and of all the fields specific to your industry. General Fields Field Name Format Length Required Comment ID Text 64 The product number is a clear recognition key for each of your products and is always assigned to exactly one product. Product name Text 150 Designation of the product. Please do not include any manufacturer details in your product description. These details will be defined in the Manufacturer field. Products without product name (prod_name) cannot be processed by our system. Price Currency Price incl. sales tax but without currency name/symbol Example: 13.96 Please take notice of local base price regulations. (EU: guideline 98/6/EG Old price Currency Old/original product price or the nonbinding manufacturer s recommended retail price. Example: 14.98 Currency Text 4 The currency for all prices of this product. Product URL Text 512 Deep link via which a potential customer gains direct access to your product. Example: https://www.fixedcomponent. com?variablecomponent=123 Please contact zanox technical services if you change your URL structure at a later point. Category Path Text 255 Provided it exists, please state the category path or an exact description of your product range. Separate the category levels with / (space, forward-slash, space). Example: Sports / Football / Equipment / Balls Category Text 255 Main category of your product. Subcategory Text 255 Sub category Third category Text 255 Third category zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 6
Description Text 512 Define a brief specification for illustration, e.g. in a product overview. Long Description Text 4096 Small image URL Medium image URL Text Text Detailed description of the product, which will be displayed on your product-details page. Absolute path of the product image on your server. The image format should not exceed 100x100 pixels. This image can be used for illustration in a product list. Absolute path of the product image on your server. The image format should not exceed 400x400 pixels. This image can be used for displaying a detail view of the product. NOTE: If you are unable to provide a suitable product image for one of the following forms of display, please leave the corresponding field empty. Do not supply a substitute image; we will insert this with the notice: No image available. Large image URL Text Absolute path of the product image on your server. Please use a large-format image here, as this will be used for displaying a precise view of the product. Valid from Date Date from which the offer is valid, in JJJJ-MM-TT format. Valid to Date Date on which the offer ends, in JJJJ-MM-TT format. Stock status Text Indicator for the current stock status (e.g. available, not available or 0/1) Stock amount Number The number of products in stock. Terms Text 8000 Covers the contract terms which should be displayed in direct connection with your product. Example: The price is only valid in conjunction with completion of a contract, through which further costs may arise, or Notices regarding hazards and side effects. Additional Product Features Additional product features not covered by other fields zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 7
Savings percent Number If applicable, the discount in %. Savings absolute Number If applicable, the discount in absolute numbers. Extra1 9 Text 2000 Additional fields for product/offer attributes not covered otherwise. Retail & Shopping Field name Format Length Required Comment EAN Number 13 () European Article Number, it is strongly recommended to provide it, when available. ISBN Text 13 International Standard Book Number, in case of books, it is strongly recommended to provide the ISBN code. GTIN Number 14 Global Trade Item Number Delivery time Number Time to ship, in days. Shipping costs Currency () Numerical amount of shipping and handling costs. Shipping text Text 500 Detailed description of shipping and handling costs. Base price Currency Price per Base Unit (Base price unit). Uses only 2 digits after the decimal point Example: if 5.00 / 100ml is the full information, 5.00 goes here Base price amount Text 50 Amount the base price is relative to Example: if 5.00 / 100ml is the full information, 100 goes here Base price unit Text 32 Unit of the base price amount Example: if 5.00 / 100ml is the full information, ml goes here Manufacturer Text 255 Manufacturer or brand name of the product. In a typical case, you should enter the brand name here. Model Text 255 The model name of the product. zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 8
Field name Format Length Required Comment Color Text 64 Color of the product. Material Text 255 Material of the product. Size Text 64 Size of the product. Gender Text 64 Target gender of the product. Examples: Male, Female, Unisex, Boy, Girl, Baby Product condition Text 32 The condition of the product like new, second hand, etc. Size / Stock status Size / Stock amount Additional image 1-3 Text 64 Stock status for each given size. Text 64 Number of available products for each size. Example: S:1 M:4 L:2 XL:0 Text 512 Three fields for additional product images of any size. Travel Field name Format Length Required Comment Date from Date Starting date of the arrangement. Date to Date End date of the arrangement. Destination name Text 128 Name of the destination like hotel name Destination address Destination zipcode Text 128 Address of the destination. Text 16 Zipcode of the destination. Destination city Text 64 City name of the destination. Destination region Destination country Text 128 Region of the destination. Text 128 Country of the destination. zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 9
Field name Format Length Required Comment Destination type Text 128 Type of destination e.g. hotel, motel, pension, cruise, etc. Coordinates Text 64 Exact geo-coordinates of the destination. Price per person Currency For group trips, the price for each individual. Travel duration Number Travel duration in days. Minimum participants Maximum participants Number Number Minimum number of participants. Maximum number of participants. Rating Text 32 Travel/Hotel rating. Travel transport Text 64 Bus, Airplane, Car, etc. Travel type Text 128 Summer vacation, winter sport, etc. Telco Field name Format Length Required Comment Subscription name Text 150 Name of the subscription plan. Subscription price Currency Subscription costs per month. Subscription price effective Currency Effective costs per month, discounts and offers taken into account. Subscription time Text 32 Subscription duration. Subscription type Text 32 Type of the subscription plan. Subscription minutes Text 32 Number of minutes included in the subscription. Subscription SMS Text 32 Number of text messages included in the subscription. Subscription data Text 64 Amount of data traffic included in the subscription. zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 10
Field name Format Length Required Comment EAN Number 13 () European Article Number, it is strongly recommended to provide it, when available. GTIN Number 14 Global Trade Item Number Delivery time Number Time to ship, in days. Manufacturer Text 255 Manufacturer or brand name of the product. In a typical case, you should enter the brand name here. Model Text 255 The model name of the product. Provider Text 64 Subscription provider name. Subscription renewal Text 64 Automatic renewal of subscription (yes / no) Operating system Text 32 Operating system on the phone Product condition Text 32 The condition of the product like new, second hand, etc. Shipping costs Currency () Numerical amount of shipping and handling costs. Shipping text Text 500 Detailed description of shipping and handling costs. Events & Tickets Field name Format Length Required Comment Event name Text 150 Name of the event (e.g. Wacken Open Air 2015). Artist Text 128 Name of the artist(s). Event venue name Text 64 Name of the event venue (e.g. O2 arena). Event address Text 128 The address of the event venue. Event zipcode Text 16 Zipcode of the event venue. Event city Text 64 City where the event takes place Event region Text 128 Region where the event takes place zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 11
Field name Format Length Required Comment Event country Text 64 Country where the event takes place Coordinates Text 64 Exact geo-coordinates of the event or the event venue. Event start time Text 64 When does the event start? Event duration Text 64 How long will the event take? 2.4 Compression To ensure that the transfer of your product data is executed quickly, we recommend that you compress your product data with ZIP or gzip. 2.5 Data transfer There are two alternatives available to you for data transfer: HTTP-GET FTP-Download Please bear in mind that you must communicate any amendments to the URL to our Service Team in a timely manner, otherwise we will not be able to read your data, or make this available to the premium partners of the zanox Affiliate Network. In this instance, the premium partner will be offered the last data provided. HTTP Get method (in accordance with RFC 2616) In this process, your product file is archived on a web server. We will automatically retrieve your (compressed) file. In this respect, we require you to provide us with the direct URL to this file. If you desire an authorised download, the user name and password must be defined within the URL. Example: Static file on the web server: http://data.myshop.de.vu/myproducts.zip Request with authorisation: http://username:password@myshop.de/myproducts.zip FTP download (in accordance with RFC 1952) For this form of download, your compressed product file is archived on an FTP server. In this instance, too, we also require you to provide us with the direct URL, user name and password, to allow automatic download. zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 12
Example: ftp://username:password@ftp.myshop.com/myproducts.zip 2.6 Update frequency Data transfer takes place once a day during the period between 5:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Please coordinate any additional or different update times with us. 3. VARIETY OF PRODUCT DATA IMPORT 3.1 Incremental product update Other than the regular update, you have the possibility of simply sending us a list of the products which are to be amended or deleted. This should occur by means of an additional separate file containing a further parameter communicating to us how to proceed with the respective product: Field name Format Length Comment prod_action Number 1 Enter 0 (zero), if the product should be updated or inserted. Enter 1 (one), if the product should be removed from our data. zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 13
4. GLOSSARY US-ASCII The standard character set covers all characters in the area of 0-127. The standard character set may be expanded via the extended ASCII code (in this respect selection is dependent upon the character set). You may find further information on this topic under, e.g.: www.free-solutions.de/js/zeichensatz_ascii-dos_code.html Carriage return This refers to a line break. In order to define line breaks, carriage return (ASCII: 13) and line feed (ASCII: 10) are used. Code page This refers to a character table which provides text characters for a specific language or language group in the computer. CSV file CSV stands for Comma Separated Value and is a text format used for illustration of a table. Columns are separated from each other by means of defined separators, and thereby represent a data field, whilst the line corresponds with a data set (in this case, a product). Line feed cf. Carriage return Unicode RFC All characters in today s language may be coded with the aid of Unicode. The Unicode encompasses 1,114,112 characters. By means of the further coding, e.g. UTF-8 the Unicode is brought into a byte sequence. In this respect, UTF-8 coding is the most widespread. RFC, Request for Comment, is a generic term for standardisation of internet technologies. RFC concerns itself with the definition of protocols, procedures and services in the internet. Example: IP: RFC 791, TCP: RFC 793, HTTP: RFC 2616 Windows code page 1252 This character set is also known as Windows ANSI or WinLatin1 and is used by Windows. You may find further information on this topic under, e.g.: http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/reference/sbcs/1252.htm zanox Ltd Product Data Import Set-up Guide for Advertisers Last updated 11/2014 Page 14
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