Feed attribute
item_group_id
Item group ID
The item_group_id attribute groups the rows that are variants of the same product, so a channel can show one listing with a size or colour picker instead of several unrelated listings. On Shopify the natural source is the product ID, shared by every variant row generated from that product.
Specification
- Attribute
- item_group_id
- Data type
- Text
- Limit
- 50 characters
- Format
- Any stable string, identical across every variant of one product and different for every other product. It must be as permanent as the id attribute: changing it regroups the listing and resets the grouping's history. Products with a single variant may omit it.
- Examples
-
shopify-7891234MERINO-CREW
Support by channel
How each channel treats item_group_id.
| Channel | Requirement | Field name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Shopping | Required in some cases | item_group_id | Required when a product has variants. Must accompany the variant attributes. |
| Meta | Required in some cases | item_group_id | Drives the variant picker in Shops. |
| Microsoft Advertising | Required in some cases | item_group_id | |
| Optional | item_group_id | ||
| OpenAI | Optional | group_id | Called group_id rather than item_group_id, and it travels with listing_has_variations set true and a variant_dict mapping option names to values. A Google mapping has to be rebuilt here, not renamed. |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between id and item_group_id?
id is unique to one purchasable variant; item_group_id is shared by every variant of the same product. In a Shopify feed, id comes from the variant and item_group_id comes from the product, so a jumper in three sizes produces three ids and one item_group_id.
What happens if item_group_id is missing?
Each variant appears as an independent listing. Shoppers see the same jumper three times with no way to switch size, the listings compete against each other, and variant-level features such as the colour picker in Shops do not appear.
Do single-variant products need an item_group_id?
No. A product with one variant has nothing to group, so the attribute can be omitted. It does no harm to include it consistently, which keeps the mapping simpler than special-casing.
Related attributes
- id The id attribute is the unique, permanent identifier a sales channel uses to recognise one item across every feed update. In a Shopify feed it must identify a single variant rather than a product, and once a channel has seen an id it should never be reused for a different item.
- title The title attribute is the product name a channel shows in a listing and matches against search queries, which makes it the single highest-leverage field in a product feed. On Shopify it usually needs building from the product title plus the variant's options, because the raw product title alone does not describe an individual variant.
Related concepts
Primary sources
Channel specifications change. These are the official documents this page is based on.