How to Test a Product Listing

How to see what a listing will look like before a full channel launch

Ziggy avatar
Written by Ziggy
Updated over a week ago

Before completely going live on a channel, you'll need to enable feed options.  An audit of the price, inventory, and product data we expect to show on the channel won't hurt either. There are two primary steps to do a test listing:

Enable Feeds

In order to give Zentail permission to send data for your test, you need to enable your feed options on your integrations page. Your feed options are the enable/disable toggles and are specific to each integration. For now, only enable feeds for the following integrations (ones that support pre-launch testing):

  • Amazon

  • eBay

  • Shopify

  • BigCommerce

At this time, do not change any integration to 'Production Mode'. All integrations should remain in 'Test Mode.' As always, you can open up a chat if you have any questions!

Don't forget to save!

For now, it is critically important to leave your integration in Test Mode. Otherwise feeds will be sent for all listed products. Your integrations should only be updated to Production Mode when your account is ready to go live.

Test a Listing

Check your Data

Give your product a once over and confirm that the product data (especially title, bullets, and descriptions), price, and inventory are accurate.

Initiate the Test

Head to your Catalog Page in Zentail and select a SKU. Initiate your test by:

  1. Clicking the Test Listing button in the side panel.

  2. Select the channels you'd like to test by toggling them. Note that only integrations in Test Mode will be available to test.

  3. Confirm the right products are in the test.

  4. Click 'Initiate Test'!

Check your Progress

Once a test has been initiated, you can check the progress by selecting 'See Current Status' or by viewing feed messages (three vertical dots over the image).

When checking the status there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Status - What we're looking for is 'Accepted' messages. If a message is rejected or has an error, check it out with your specialist and retest. If the message says 'Pending' then we're waiting for the marketplace's response. Tests can take anywhere from a few minutes to 30 minutes.

  • Timestamp - this is when the test occurred.

  • View Link - once a test is complete, you'll be able to click the eyeball icon to examine the live listing. For a single listing, this will appear on the left panel for the integration(s) that were tested.

  • Technical Details - this feature allows you to examine the feeds on any of the products in a group. For a single SKU, this is equivalent to viewing the status or feeds.

Note: the image below is for grouped listings. For single listings, this is the same as just viewing feed messages.

Followup

Even if the test was a smashing success, circle up with Zentail's team prior to going live. If there was an error with the test, be sure to:

  1. Try some initial troubleshooting (tips).

  2. Open up a chat.

  3. Check if other products are impacted and resolve in bulk (Zentail support can assist with this).

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Will Production Mode make my account live? Basically, yes. There may be a few additional toggles (such as Walmart orders). For that reason, do not enable Production Mode without speaking with a member of the Zentail team.

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