What is the product supplier reference (MPN code) for?

The MPN code is only required for all new products without a manufacturer-assigned GTIN.

However, if the product doesn’t have a clearly associated mpn or is a custom-made product (e.g., art, custom t-shirts, novelty products, and handmade products), the attribute is optional.

Only submit MPNs really assigned by a manufacturer (unless you’re the manufacturer, don’t use a value that you’ve created). You should find the MPN codes on the supplier's invoices or the shipping slips when your suppliers send the products to you. 

For more info on Google guidelines about manufacturer references click here.

Fill the manufacturer reference ("supplier reference") for each product in your PrestaShop's back office. For example for a PresaShop 1.7 version:

If you don't provide the supplier reference for your products and that this is not mandatory by the nature of your products, Google will send you a warning message about "unique product identifiers" but this will not block the diffusion of your products on Google Shopping, provided that:

• you make sure the supplier references (MPN codes) aren't mandatory for your area
• you provide, instead of MPN codes, the GTIN codes (EAN13/JAN or UPC) AND the product brands

Please note that if you do not have the MPN code of your products and you only have one of the other two "unique product identifiers", our module will send, in addition to the available code, an "identifier_exists = false" tag to tell Google that your products have only 1 of 3 unique product identifiers and to make their identification easier. Likewise, if you do not have any "unique product idenfiers", the tag will be sent to give the information to Google and to try to get your products accepted. However, you must ensure that, by their nature, you can not recover the missing codes. Indeed, if the tag "identifier_exists=false" is sent when it is proven that you could have provided the missing unique product identifiers because they exist, your products will be refused by Google.

To know more about GTIN codes click here.

To know more about supplier references (MPN codes) click here.

To know more about "identifier_exists" tag click here.

If you want to export each product combination as a product in its own right, you must fill a supplier reference for each product combination, in your PrestaShop's back office:

Typically, each variant of a product (different colors or sizes) has its own MPN, so make sure to submit the correct value for each combination. However, a key exception is different sizes of apparel products, where all sizes often have the same MPN.

If MPN codes are mandatory in your area but you have not retreive all of them from your suppliers yet, the module allows you to only export products that already have a MPN code, in order to start to advertise on Google Shopping.

• Go to the module "Product exclusion rules" tab of the "Feed management" section
• Select "YES" for the "Do you want to NOT export products without EAN13 or UPC ?" option

By selecting "YES", only products with MPN code will be exported.