Syncing Your Product Catalog

Ecommerce: Syncing Your Product Catalog

For ecommerce stores, Nobi needs access to your product catalog to provide accurate search results and answer customer questions. This page explains how catalog sync works and what requirements apply to your products.

Why Catalog Sync Matters

Nobi's semantic search and conversational assistance work by understanding your entire product catalog. When you connect Nobi to your store, we:
  • Index all your products - Titles, descriptions, variants, prices, images, and attributes
  • Build semantic understanding - Map relationships between products, categories, and customer intent
  • Enable accurate answers - Respond to questions about availability, sizing, materials, and more
  • Keep data current - Sync pricing, inventory, and product changes automatically
Without proper catalog sync, Nobi can't help customers find your products or answer questions about them accurately.

How Sync Works

Sync Frequency

Nobi syncs your product catalog twice daily to keep product information, pricing, and availability current. This means:
  • New products appear in Nobi within 12 hours of publishing
  • Price changes reflect within 12 hours
  • Inventory updates sync twice daily
  • Product deletions remove items from search within 12 hours
For most stores, twice-daily sync is sufficient. If you need real-time inventory updates for flash sales or high-turnover products, contact us about custom sync schedules.

What Gets Synced

Nobi reads and indexes:
  • Product basics - Title, description, handle, product type
  • Variants - Size, color, material, and other variant options
  • Pricing - Base price, compare-at price, variant pricing
  • Images - Product images and variant images
  • Availability - Published status, inventory levels
  • Metadata - Tags, metafields, vendor, collections

Shopify Integration Options

Shopify stores have two ways to connect their catalog to Nobi, depending on store size and requirements.

Option 1: Public Catalog Access (Standard)

Best for: Stores with fewer than 25,000 products
Nobi reads your publicly available product catalog without requiring app installation. This method:
  • Works automatically after adding the Nobi script
  • Requires no additional Shopify permissions
  • Syncs all products published to your online sales channel
  • Takes 2 minutes to set up
Setup: Follow the first two steps in the Installing Nobi For Shopify Stores guide.

Option 2: Custom App Integration (Large Stores)

Best for: Stores with 25,000+ products
For larger catalogs, Nobi installs as a custom Shopify app with access to your Admin API. This method:
  • Handles large catalogs efficiently
  • Provides faster, more reliable sync
  • Accesses additional product data through the API
  • Requires one-time app installation (2 minutes)
Setup: Follow all steps in the Installing Nobi For Shopify Stores guide.

Shopify Sales Channel Requirements

Important: Nobi only syncs products that are published to your online sales channel.

What This Means

In Shopify, each product has sales channel settings that control where it appears:
  • Online Store (your website)
  • Point of Sale
  • Facebook Shop
  • Instagram Shopping
  • Other channels
Nobi only indexes products published to "Online Store." Products published exclusively to other channels (POS only, Facebook only, etc.) won't appear in Nobi search results.

Custom Catalog Integrations

Using a platform other than Shopify? We support custom catalog integrations via API. Requirements:
  • Product feed in a structured format (JSON, CSV, XML, etc)
  • Accessible online
  • Includes product titles, descriptions, pricing, images, and availability
Contact us to discuss custom catalog integration for your platform.

Product Data Quality

Better product data means better Nobi results. While Nobi works with your existing catalog, these improvements help:

Recommended Product Data

Detailed descriptions - Include materials, features, use cases, and specifications. Nobi uses this to answer customer questions.
Accurate titles - Clear, descriptive titles help semantic search understanding.
Complete variant information - Label all sizes, colors, and options clearly.
High-quality images - Product images appear in search results and chat.
Relevant tags and categories - Help Nobi understand product relationships.