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Google Merchant Center account types

Are you new to Channable (CSS) and interested in using Channable's Comparison Shopping Service? To get started, you'll need either a Channable CSS account or a standard Channable account. If you don’t have one yet, you can easily create a Channable CSS account here or a standard Channable account here. Once your account is set up, follow the steps in this article to get started with Channable CSS!

In this article, we explain the differences between the types of merchant center accounts and how the process differ for each account.

Table of contents

Merchant center account types

On Google Merchant Center, there are three types of accounts:

  1. Standalone Account
    This is the simplest setup, with just one account where all operations take place.

  2. Multi-Client Account (MCA)
    An MCA is a special type of Merchant Center account that can have multiple subaccounts. It’s ideal for managing different Merchant Center accounts under one umbrella, allowing shared settings across all subaccounts.

  3. Multi-Client Subaccount
    A subaccount operates within an MCA, inheriting some settings from the parent account.

For more detailed information about Google Merchant Center accounts, please refer to the Google Help Center.

CSS MCA.png

Process in Channable

In Channable, you can invite standalone accounts, multi-client accounts (MCA), or multi-client subaccounts to our CSS. Follow these steps to add a Merchant to the Channable CSS:

For: Standalone Accounts

Enter the Merchant Center ID for the standalone account. Channable will verify the connection and invite the account to our CSS.

For: Multi-Client Accounts (MCA)

Enter the MCA Merchant Center ID. The MCA and all active subaccounts will be linked to the CSS. Please note, only active subaccounts will be billed. You will see the following warning in Channable:

If the MCA is already active in Channable, you will the following warning:

For: Multi-Client Sub-Accounts

If you enter a subaccount ID and the parent MCA is not yet added to Channable, you’ll have two options:

    1. Add the entire parent MCA: Cancel and enter the Merchant ID for the MCA instead.
    2. Detach the subaccount: Click on “Detach and continue”. The subaccount will be invited to our CSS and detached from the parent MCA, as Google does not allow multiple CSS within the same MCA.

      Please be aware: Some settings and configurations exist solely on the MCA, while others only exist on the subaccount. By detaching the subaccount, you may need to reconfigure these settings.

Approving the CSS Switch

To finalize the CSS switch, administrators of your Google Merchant Center account must approve it. The approval process varies based on your account type (Standalone, MCA, or subaccount).

For more details, please refer this section of our getting started with Channable CSS article.