Related Marketing Cloud Integration

Related Digital's own integration documentation states that a product file (feed) is required for the RMC Recommend module, since it is what powers personalized product recommendation widgets shown to visitors based on browsing and purchase behavior. For the RMC Segment and RMC Target modules, the same product data is used on a scenario-by-scenario basis -- for example, to populate a targeted banner or popup with real product names, prices, and images pulled from your catalog.

1. Recommendation widgets and personalized emails display live prices, stock status, and images only if the feed is accurate and current.
2. Segmentation and targeting scenarios that reference specific products or categories depend on the same feed staying in sync with your storefront.
3. Product codes in the feed must match the codes your website and mobile app fire in tracking events, so recommendations and segment logic resolve to the right SKU.

For brands operating across more than one language or currency, RMC's documentation defines a specific field-naming convention rather than a separate file format: each localized value is expressed as the base field name with an underscore and a language or currency code appended.

1. Language-specific fields append an underscore and the two-letter ISO 639-1 language code, for example Product_Name_en or Product_Name_tr.
2. Currency-specific fields append an underscore and the three-letter ISO 4217 currency code, for example Original_Price_USD or Original_Price_TRY.
3. Unlike the single-language file (which is submitted without a header row), a header row becomes mandatory once you use this multi-language/multi-currency naming convention, since RMC needs the header to identify which language or currency each column represents.

Related Digital's Related Marketing Cloud Knowledge Base ('Ürün Dosyası') specifies a delimited text file, not a generic XML schema, as the default product file format:

1. Fields are separated with a semicolon (;) delimiter.
2. The file must be UTF-8 encoded without a byte-order mark (BOM).
3. The single-language, single-currency version of the file is submitted without a header row -- column order is fixed instead.
4. The file must be reachable over HTTP so RMC can fetch it on its own schedule.

As an alternative path, Related Digital's integration page notes that if you already have a ready-made XML file -- including a Google Product Feed XML -- you can submit that first and their integration team will review it for completeness before configuring the connection, rather than requiring you to rebuild it in the CSV structure from scratch.

The product file specification defines a fixed set of 20 columns, in a fixed order, for the standard single-language file. Related Digital's documentation states all 20 positions must be present in every row (separated by semicolons, even when a value is not used), while a smaller subset must actually contain a non-empty value for the recommendation engine to use the product.

Beyond column 20, the specification lists five optional columns labeled "Attribute 1" through "Attribute 5" for extra product data. RMC's documentation is also reported to support additional free-text custom fields using an Attr_ naming prefix for use in recommendation widgets and personalized emails; treat the exact character ceiling on these custom fields as something to confirm with your RMC implementation contact before relying on it, since it wasn't something we could re-verify with full certainty at time of writing.

Feedance connects your product catalog to Related Marketing Cloud by generating a feed that matches RMC's expected structure, rather than asking you to hand-build the file yourself.

1. Connect your store or existing catalog source to Feedance.
2. Map your product data to RMC's fixed 20-column structure -- product code, hierarchical category code and name, pricing and currency, stock, delivery flags, and image URLs -- including the language/currency suffix convention if you sell in more than one market.
3. Feedance outputs the file as the semicolon-delimited, UTF-8-without-BOM format RMC expects (or as a Google Product Feed XML, if that is the path your RMC contact has agreed to accept) and hosts it at a stable HTTPS URL RMC can fetch on schedule.
4. Share the feed URL with your Related Digital / RMC implementation contact so they can validate it and enable it for the Recommend, Segment, or Target modules you use.
5. Feedance keeps the feed refreshed automatically so price, stock, and product changes on your storefront stay reflected in what RMC serves to recommendation widgets, segments, and targeted campaigns.

Related Digital's product file specification states the file must be updated at least once per day. For catalogs with frequent price changes, flash sales, or fast-moving stock levels, updating more often than the documented daily minimum is standard practice for any personalization or recommendation feed, since stale stock or price data shown in a recommendation widget or personalized email undermines the reason for connecting the feed in the first place. Feedance can be scheduled to refresh the feed as frequently as your catalog needs, from several times a day down to the documented daily minimum.

The issues below are drawn directly from validation rules stated in Related Digital's product file documentation.

1. Duplicate product codes. The specification requires every product code to be unique; duplicates should be resolved at the source before the feed is generated.
2. Empty values in a required column. Product Code, Category Code, Category Name, Inventory, Original Price, Discounted Price, Product URL, and Original Price Currency must all contain an actual value, even though all 20 columns must be present positionally in every row.
3. No valid image URL. At least one of Small Image URL, Medium Image URL, or Large Image URL must resolve to a real image, or the recommendation widget has nothing to render.
4. Discounted Price left blank or mismatched when there is no discount. When a product isn't discounted, the Discounted Price column must be set to the same value as the Original Price, not left empty or zero.
5. A product assigned to more than one category. The specification allows only one category per product; multi-category assignments need to be resolved to a single primary category.
6. Product codes that don't match your site's tracking events. If the code in the feed differs from the code your web or mobile app sends when a visitor views or buys a product, RMC can't connect that behavior back to the right catalog item.
7. Feed not reachable, or not refreshed daily. Since the file must be accessible over HTTP and updated at least once a day, an unreachable URL or a stale file will cause recommendations to fall out of sync with your actual catalog.

These are general feed-management best practices, not RMC-specific documentation, but they reduce the chance of the errors above showing up in production.

1. Keep category codes and names consistent with your live site taxonomy so recommendation widgets link back to real, working category pages.
2. Automate the Inventory and pricing columns directly from your source of truth rather than updating them by hand, since a single manual edit can desynchronize stock or price from your storefront.
3. Use HTTPS, stable, long-lived URLs for your Small/Medium/Large image columns so widgets and personalized emails don't break when images move.
4. If you sell in multiple languages or currencies, decide on the suffix convention (language and currency codes) up front and apply it consistently across every localized field, rather than mixing conventions mid-catalog.
5. Reserve the optional Attribute/Attr_ fields for the specific merchandising data your recommendation widgets or email templates actually render, rather than dumping unused fields into the feed.

Is a product feed mandatory to use Related Marketing Cloud? It's mandatory for the RMC Recommend module. For RMC Segment and RMC Target, whether you need it depends on the specific scenarios you're running.

What file format does RMC expect? By default, a semicolon-delimited, UTF-8-without-BOM text file with a fixed 20-column structure and no header row. Related Digital's team can alternatively accept a ready-made XML file, including Google Product Feed XML, for review.

How often does the feed need to update? At least once per day, per Related Digital's own documentation; more frequent updates are advisable for volatile pricing or stock.

Does RMC support multiple languages or currencies? Yes, through a field-naming convention that appends an ISO 639-1 language code or ISO 4217 currency code to the base field name, and this variant requires a header row.

What happens if a product has no discount? The Discounted Price column should mirror the Original Price value rather than being left blank.

Can I add custom or merchandising-specific fields? Yes -- the specification includes five optional "Attribute" columns beyond the required 20, and RMC's documentation also references custom-named fields for use in widgets and email rendering; confirm the exact naming rule and any length limit with your RMC contact when setting this up.