General info on feeds:

As a general principle, the Hello Retail solution can only be as good as the supplied data allows. Therefore, you must provide product information in a structured fashion that enables us to read and use it “as is”. Please read through the guide and make sure the data feeds follow the structure explained.

Hello Retail uses feeds to synchronize data between client's shop and our database. The feeds should be in either JSON, XML, or CSV format.

The data in these feeds must always match what is seen on the site.

Data formats

JSONL / JSON Lines

JSONL stands for "JSON Lines" or "JSONLines". It is a format for storing structured data that consists of a sequence of JSON objects, one per line. Each line in the file is a valid JSON object, but there is no wrapping JSON array like in a regular JSON file.

JSONL is often used for storing or transmitting large amounts of data too big to fit into a single JSON document. Instead of storing all of the data in a single file, JSONL allows data to be stored as a stream of separate JSON objects, which can be read and processed one at a time.

JSONL files are often used in applications that generate or consume large amounts of data, such as log files, machine learning datasets, or data pipelines. The format is simple and easy to parse, making it a popular choice for data exchange between systems.

This is now our most preferred format for consuming external data. By leveraging the compact data for high-volume data exchanges and HTTP response headers we can support similar features as JSON and XML format in a more performant way.

A partial example of a potential JSONL product feed:

{"title":"Product 1","url":"https://example.com/products/1","price":99.95}
{"title":"Product 2","url":"https://example.com/products/2","price":199}
{"title":"Product 3","url":"https://example.com/products/3","price":399}
{"title":"Product 4","url":"https://example.com/products/4","price":410}

As you can see JSONL is a compact exchange format, with one JSON object per line. You can read more about JSONL on the official website https://jsonlines.org.

JSON

JSON is a lightweight and flexible data interchange format that is widely used for transmitting data between applications. It uses a text-based format that is easy for humans to read and write, and for machines to parse and generate. JSON has become a popular alternative to other data interchange formats, such as XML, due to its simplicity and flexibility.

A partial example of a potential JSON product feed:

{
    "products": [
        {"title":"Product 1","url":"https://example.com/products/1","price":99.95}
        {"title":"Product 2","url":"https://example.com/products/2","price":199}
        {"title":"Product 3","url":"https://example.com/products/3","price":399}
        {"title":"Product 4","url":"https://example.com/products/4","price":410}
    ],
    "latePageNumber":47,
    "extensionVersion":"1.1.26",
    "deltaToken":"1682681545"
}

As you can see the JSON example can also be compact but requires more structure than JSONL and therefore the systems exporting and consuming JSON can require a bit more configuration from either part for successful data exchange. You can read more about JSON on the official website https://www.json.org.

XML

In the past, our feed system primarily ingested XML feeds. However, the industry has trended towards JSON for quite some time, and this has caused a shift in how APIs and systems consume data. While we still support XML to a certain extent, all data downloaded from our system is converted to JSON format. This conversion process may result in some data inconsistencies, such as uncertainties in data type or the application of artifacts during the conversion process.

Therefore, we generally consider the XML format for sending data to our system as deprecated. We strongly advise all new feed development for shop platform plugins to utilize JSONL or JSON format for sending data.

A partial example of a potential XML product feed:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<response>
<item>
    <products>
    <item>
        <product>
        <title>Product 1</title>
        <url>https://example.com/products/1</url>
        <price>20</price>
        </product>
    </item>
    <item>
        <product>
        <title>Product 2</title>
        <url>https://example.com/products/2</url>
        <price>99</price>
        </product>
    </item>
    <item>
        <product>
        <title>Product 3</title>
        <url>https://example.com/products/3</url>
        <price>125</price>
        </product>
    </item>
    <item>
        <product>
        <title>Product 4</title>
        <url>https://example.com/products/4</url>
        <price>99</price>
        </product>
    </item>
    </products>
    <last_page_number>47</last_page_number>
    <extension_version>1.1.26</extension_version>
    <deltaToken>1682681587</deltaToken>
</item>
</response>

As you can see the XML example is a bit more verbose and requires the same amount of structure as JSON and therefore the systems exporting and consuming JSON can require a bit more configuration for a successful data exchange.

You can read more about XML on the official website https://www.w3.org/XML.