Google Product Category Taxonomy for WooCommerce & BigCommerce

Whether you're on WooCommerce (WordPress) or BigCommerce, proper Google Product Categories are essential for: - Google Shopping success - Facebook/Instagram Shops - Multi-channel selling

Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce often require plugins or apps to properly map and export product categories. This guide covers the best approaches.

*For the complete taxonomy overview, see our Complete Guide to Google Product Category Taxonomy.*

Option 1: Google Listings & Ads Plugin (Free) The official Google plugin for WooCommerce: 1. Install "Google Listings & Ads" from WordPress plugins 2. Connect your Google Merchant Center 3. Map your WooCommerce categories to Google Product Categories 4. Products sync automatically

Option 2: Product Feed Plugins Popular plugins for more control: - Product Feed PRO - Custom field mapping - CTX Feed - Google Shopping feed generator - ELEX Google Shopping - Bulk category mapping

Manual Field Setup: You can add a custom field to products: 1. Create a custom field: google_product_category 2. Enter the category ID (e.g., 2271) 3. Configure your feed plugin to include this field

Best Practice: Use category mapping at the WooCommerce category level, then override at product level when needed.

Option 1: Google Shopping by Sales & Orders The built-in BigCommerce integration: 1. Go to Channel Manager > Google Shopping 2. Connect your Google Merchant Center 3. Use the category mapper to align BigCommerce categories with GPC 4. Products sync automatically

Option 2: Google Shopping Feed Apps Apps from the BigCommerce marketplace: - DataFeedWatch - Advanced feed management - Feedonomics - Enterprise feed optimization - GoDataFeed - Multi-channel feed tool

Custom Fields Approach: 1. Create a custom field: Google Product Category 2. Add to your products 3. Include in feed export

Category Mapping: BigCommerce allows bulk category mapping where you align your store categories with Google's taxonomy. Do this at the category level, not product-by-product.

Both platforms can export product feeds for use with Google Merchant Center.

id, title, description, link, image_link, price, 
availability, google_product_category

WooCommerce Feed Export: Use a plugin to generate feeds in Google's required format. Most plugins support scheduled updates.

BigCommerce Feed Export: Use the built-in feed generator or an app. Export as XML or TXT for Merchant Center.

Pro Tip: Before exporting, use Product Category Finder to generate correct category IDs for your entire catalog. Then import into your platform.

WooCommerce and BigCommerce both have their own internal category systems. Here's how they compare to Google Product Category:

| | WooCommerce / BigCommerce Categories | Google Product Category (GPC) | |---|---|---| | Purpose | Internal store navigation & filtering | Google Shopping & multi-channel ad targeting | | Format | Custom (you define the hierarchy) | Standardized taxonomy (6,000+ fixed categories) | | Feed field | product_type (your own categories) | google_product_category | | Controls | Site navigation, breadcrumbs, SEO URLs | Ad eligibility, tax rules, required attributes | | Example | "Men > Casual > T-Shirts" | Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Shirts & Tops (ID: 212) |

Key Differences: - Your store categories are for your customers browsing your site — name them whatever makes sense for your brand - GPC is for Google, Facebook, Pinterest and Bing — it must match the official taxonomy exactly - In your product feed, product_type sends YOUR categories and google_product_category sends Google's taxonomy

Best Practice: Map each of your WooCommerce/BigCommerce categories to a corresponding GPC at the category level. Use plugins to auto-apply this mapping so every product inherits the correct GPC.

The beauty of Google Product Category Taxonomy: one categorization works everywhere.

From WooCommerce/BigCommerce, you can sell on: - Google Shopping - Facebook Shop - Instagram Shopping - Bing Shopping - Pinterest

Workflow: 1. Categorize products once in your platform 2. Export feeds for each channel 3. All channels receive the same google_product_category

Feed Management Tools: For high-volume multi-channel, consider: - DataFeedWatch - Feedonomics - ChannelAdvisor

These tools pull from your store and distribute to multiple channels with proper category mapping.

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Get started: Use Product Category Finder to categorize your WooCommerce or BigCommerce products.

*Read the complete guide: Complete Guide to Google Product Category Taxonomy*