What a Product Feed Audit Report Should Include

For agency and freelancer handoff, a useful product-feed audit report should show what was found, what was safely changed, what still requires merchant input, and whether the resulting catalog passed the same checks again.

1. Before-audit findings

Record the target profile, file type, catalog size and actionable failures. Findings should identify the affected product and field rather than only returning an overall score.

2. A separate safe-fixed copy

Never overwrite the client's original. Deterministic formatting cleanup can go into a separate copy. Missing price, inventory, identifiers, brand or seller facts should remain unresolved until the merchant supplies them.

3. Per-change changelog

• Product/item ID
• Field changed
• Before value
• After value
• Reason or rule

4. After-fix recheck

Run the same target-profile validation again. This shows whether a change actually resolved the issue and prevents a “fixed” catalog from being handed off without verification.

5. Source-aware evidence

When a finding depends on platform requirements, retain the relevant rule or source reference and the date checked. Specifications change, so the report should not imply permanent certification.

6. Unresolved merchant-input items

Clearly separate technical formatting defects from business facts the merchant must confirm. That boundary is especially important for price, stock state, product identifiers and seller information.

7. Compact client summary

A handoff summary should tell the client what was audited, what changed, what remains unresolved and which files contain the evidence.

See the public sample client-audit workflow →

Product-feed preflight checklist →

CSV product-feed validator workflow →

Independent technical preflight utility. No platform acceptance, indexing, recommendation, ranking, checkout, traffic or sales guarantee.