Most common data feed file formats

The format of a product data feed depends on the shop or product information management system that is being used by your company. However, the most common formats are .CSV and .XML .

Feed file formats

The following examples were generated with Convert Table to CSV - Table Convert Online.

Example Data Table

The following examples will show you how this data looks like in each format.

Comma-Separated Value as .csv files

id,name,age,gender
1,Roberta,39,M
2,Oliver,25,M
3,Shayna,18,F
4,Fechin,18,M

Comma-Separated Value as .csv files with values wrapped in double quotes (escape characters)

"id","name","age","gender"
"1","Roberta","39","M"
"2","Oliver","25","M"
"3","Shayna","18","F"
"4","Fechin","18","M"

CSV format with semi-colon delimiter (;) as .csv files

id;name;age;gender
1;Roberta;39;M
2;Oliver;25;M
3;Shayna;18;F
4;Fechin;18;M

CSV format with pipe delimiter (|) as .csv files

id|name|age|gender
1|Roberta|39|M
2|Oliver|25|M
3|Shayna|18|F
4|Fechin|18|M

Tab-Delimited Plain Text as .txt files

id name age gender
1 Roberta 39 M
2 Oliver 25 M
3 Shayna 18 F
4 Fechin 18 M

Extensible Markup Language as .xml files (unminified)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<customers>
  <customer>
    <id>1</id>
    <name>Roberta</name>
    <age>39</age>
    <gender>M</gender>
  </customer>
  <customer>
    <id>2</id>
    <name>Oliver</name>
    <age>25</age>
    <gender>M</gender>
  </customer>
  <customer>
    <id>3</id>
    <name>Shayna</name>
    <age>18</age>
    <gender>F</gender>
  </customer>
  <customer>
    <id>4</id>
    <name>Fechin</name>
    <age>18</age>
    <gender>M</gender>
  </customer>
</customers>

Extensible Markup Language as .xml files (minified)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><customers><customer><id>1</id><name>Roberta</name><age>39</age><gender>M</gender></customer><customer><id>2</id><name>Oliver</name><age>25</age><gender>M</gender></customer><customer><id>3</id><name>Shayna</name><age>18</age><gender>F</gender></customer><customer><id>4</id><name>Fechin</name><age>18</age><gender>M</gender></customer></customers>

Javascript Object Notation as .json files (unminified)

{
    "data": {
        "customers": [
            {
                "id": 1,
                "name": "Roberta",
                "age": 39,
                "gender": "M"
            },
            {
                "id": 2,
                "name": "Oliver",
                "age": 25,
                "gender": "M"
            },
            {
                "id": 3,
                "name": "Shayna",
                "age": 18,
                "gender": "F"
            },
            {
                "id": 4,
                "name": "Fechin",
                "age": 18, 
                "gender": "M"
             }
        ]
    }
}

Javascript Object Notation as .json files (minified)

{"data":{"customers":[{"id":1,"name":"Roberta","age":39,"gender":"M"},{"id":2,"name":"Oliver","age":25,"gender":"M"},{"id":3,"name":"Shayna","age":18,"gender":"F"},{"id":4,"name":"Fechin","age":18,"gender":"M"}]}}

Excel data in Microsoft Excel as .xls files

Excel format is binary data and can contain complex things like images, formulas, styling, and so on. This format is rarely used for data feeds.

What is the difference between CSV and EXCEL file formats?

• In CSV file, as all the data is needed to be saved in plain text format, Image related (JPEG, PNG, JPG, etc.) data is not possible to save. While Excel is a binary format, hence all the Image related data can be easily saved in excel format.
• CSV is a plain text file, and hence, it is a common file without any standardization or structuring. While Excel is highly standardized and structured by keeping in mind the requirements of the present corporate world.
• CSV files can be open in any kind of text editor like notepad as well as in MS Excel, too, while excel can be opened only in the MS Excel or google sheets.

Compressed Files

You might also see extensions like .zip or .gz, as some channels accept compressed files. Though compression is not usually required, there are some benefits to compressing feed files.

Compressed files can be imported and exported more quickly and they take up less space. For example, you can expect your compressed .gz file to take up some 5-10% of the space of a similar XML or CSV. That means you can save both bandwidth and time by using compressed files. Of course, once compressed, the file is no longer human-readable and will need to be uncompressed before it can be edited. However, this is not a big blocker and is generally easy to do successfully.

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