LS Central - Google Inventory connects LS Central to Google through Google's merchant API. It lets merchants show their in-store products, and whether they are available, to local shoppers on Google. The integration runs entirely inside LS Central.
The first diagram shows the marketplace framework. The marketplaces, such as Shopify, Google, and Shopee, connect to LS Central through the same Market Database Tables, which hold the configurations, items, and orders for each marketplace. Data flows in both directions between the marketplaces and these tables. All marketplaces also share the common codeunits MarketUtils and MarketsHelper, so the same code can be reused for every marketplace.
The following diagram shows how the integration is structured in three layers, which connect to Google Merchant Center through Merchant API calls (REST).
- LS Central: The source of truth for retail data, such as items and variants, images, prices, inventory, attributes, and item descriptions. There is one Google Setup for each store, and the synchronization runs from LS Central Scheduler jobs. Only the items in the store's Item Store Distribution are sent.
- Google Setup and Mapping: The per-store configuration, which holds the Google connection and data source, the mapping records, and the feed options. Each store is connected to a Google Merchant Center account and drives the synchronization.
- Sync Engine: The Scheduler job and on-demand actions that send items and inventory to Google. Preactions make sure that only changed data is sent, and data only flows in one direction, from LS Central to Google.
The products appear in Google Merchant Center, and from there on Google Search, the Shopping tab, and Google Business Profile.
Local Shopping on Google
The integration supports two ways of showing store products to local shoppers:
- Local product listings: Free listings that show the products in the store and their availability, so that shoppers can find them and buy in-store.
- Local inventory ads: Paid ads campaigns that help drive more store sales. They require that the Google Ads account is connected to Merchant Center.
See also