Solved: Facebook Sales Channel App Product Count Issue

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out about this Shopify and Meta issue. I've seen this exact problem quite a few times, and it's incredibly frustrating, I know. It's one of those phantom issues where everything looks fine on the surface, but your product count just keeps dropping for no apparent reason.

The short answer is that it's almost certainly a bug or a sync issue on Meta's end, and not something you've done wrong. These platforms are constantly updating their APIs, and the connection with Shopify can be a bit fragile. That said, just waiting for Meta to fix it isn't a strategy. Often, these bugs are triggered by small, underlying issues in the data feed or tracking setup that a robust system can handle, but a buggy one falls over on. We can use this as an opportunity to do a full health check and build a much more resilient and effective eCommerce advertising machine for you. I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on how we'd approach this, moving from the immediate problem to a long-term strategic advantage.

We'll need to look at your Product Data Feed first...

Before we blame Meta entirely, let's start with the one thing you have complete control over: your product data. Think of your product catalog feed as the DNA of your advertising. If the DNA is corrupted or incomplete, you can't expect healthy results. The Shopify app does a decent job of pulling the basics, but it's lazy. It pulls exactly what's in your Shopify admin, and often that's not optimised for advertising platforms.

Meta's algorithm is constantly scanning your products, not just at the moment of approval, but continuously. It's looking for signals of quality and relevance. If a product has missing information or weak data, the algorithm might quietly de-prioritise it or drop it from the active sync, even without flagging it as a violation. It just becomes 'invisible'.

Here's what we need to be obsessed with:

Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs): This is probably the single most overlooked and important data point. Do your products have barcodes (UPCs, EANs, ISBNs)? If so, they MUST be in your product feed. Meta uses GTINs to cross-reference your products across the entire web, understand exactly what you're selling, and match it to the right users. Not having them when they exist is like trying to navigate a city without street signs. It puts you at a massive disadvantage against competitors who supply this data.

High-Quality Imagery: Are your images high-resolution (at least 1080x1080)? Are they on a clean background? Do you have multiple angles? Meta's image recognition is incredibly sophisticated. It knows if your photo is blurry, cluttered, or unprofessional. Poor images are a huge red flag and can get your products suppressed in the feed.

Optimised Titles & Descriptions: Your Shopify product title might be "Cool Blue T-Shirt", which is fine for your website. But for advertising, it's terrible. A better title would be "Men's Organic Cotton Crewneck T-Shirt - Navy Blue | Brand Name". It's descriptive and packed with keywords. The same goes for descriptions. They should be detailed, spelling out the benefits, materials, and use cases. This data fuels the dynamic ads algorithm.

I've put together a quick table to illustrate the difference. The 'Bad Example' is what the Shopify app often pulls by default. The 'Good Example' is what you should be aiming for.

Fixing your data feed isn't just about solving the sync issue; it's about fundamentally improving your advertising performance. Better data leads to better ad relevance, which leads to higher click-through rates (CTR) and lower costs. It's the unglamorous work that underpins all successful eCommerce campaigns. I remember one client selling cleaning products whose revenue increased by over 190% partly because we spent the first week doing nothing but cleaning up their product feed. It seemed like a tedious task, but it laid the groundwork for a 633% return later on.

I'd say you need to master the data flow...

The second potential point of failure is the connection between your website, your catalog, and Meta's brain. This happens through two key pieces of technology: the Meta Pixel and the Conversions API (CAPI). Most people think these are just for tracking sales, but they play a critical role in keeping your catalog alive and effective.

Here’s how it’s supposed to work:
1. A user visits a product page on your Shopify store.
2. The Meta Pixel fires a `ViewContent` event, sending the `product_id` of that specific item back to Meta.
3. Meta's algorithm receives this ID, looks it up in your synced catalog, and understands, "Aha, this user is interested in *this specific product*."
4. This data is then used for dynamic retargeting (showing them the exact product they viewed) and for finding new customers who look similar to people who viewed that product.

The problem arises when the `product_id` sent by the Pixel doesn't perfectly match the `id` in your catalog. This is a "match rate" problem. The Shopify integration is notorious for causing these mismatches, especially if you've ever changed product SKUs, used variant IDs incorrectly, or have other apps messing with your product data. If Meta sees a lot of `ViewContent` events for IDs it can't find in your catalog, it assumes your catalog is stale or broken. What does it do? It starts to trust it less, and you might see products get de-prioritised and vanish from the active set.

You need to become a detective in your Meta Events Manager. Go to your Pixel's data sources and look for the 'Diagnostics' tab. It will tell you if you have event matching issues. A match rate below 80% is a serious problem you need to fix. This isn't just a technical issue; it's a performance killer. Poor matching means your dynamic retargeting won't work properly, and the algorithm can't learn effectively.

Here’s a simple flowchart of the data journey. Every arrow is a potential point of failure that we need to check and secure.

You probably should stop relying on the Shopify app interface...

The Shopify Sales Channel app is designed for convenience, not for performance. It hides all the important details inside Meta's own platform, Commerce Manager. If you're serious about this, you need to live inside Commerce Manager. This is the real control panel for your catalog.

Inside Commerce Manager, you'll find a 'Diagnostics' section for your catalog. This is seperate from the Events Manager diagnostics. It's a goldmine of information that the Shopify app doesn't show you. It will list specific issues with individual products, such as:

• Image Could Not Be Downloaded: Sometimes Meta's crawler is blocked or fails, and your image doesn't get pulled. The product won't be used in ads.
• Invalid Shipping or Tax Information: If your store settings are misconfigured, it can cause errors on the feed level.
• Missing or Invalid Data: It will explicitly tell you if a key field like 'price' or 'availability' is missing for certain items.
• Domain Mismatch: The product URL in your feed must match the domain you have verified in your Meta Business Manager.

You need to make a habit of checking this page weekly. Address every single red and yellow flag it gives you. Tbh, a clean diagnostics page in Commerce Manager is one of the key health metrics we look at for any new eCommerce client. If that page is full of errors, we know we can't scale their ads until we fix it.

You'll need a real strategy for your catalog ads...

Okay, let's assume we've fixed the technical sync issues. Your products are all showing up, your data feed is clean, and your pixel matching is perfect. Now what? Most people just stop there. They run a single dynamic product ad (DPA) campaign targeting "all website visitors" with their "all products" catalog and wonder why the results are mediocre.

This is the biggest mistake. A catalog isn't just a list of products; it's a strategic asset. You need to segment it using Product Sets. Product Sets are filtered groups of products from your main catalog that you can use for highly specific advertising campaigns. This is where you move from being reactive to being a proactive, sophisticated advertiser.

Here are some of the Product Sets we build for almost every eCommerce client:

• -> Bestsellers: A set containing your top 10-20 selling products. You use this for prospecting campaigns to attract new customers, showing them proven winners.
• -> High Margin Products: You know which products make you the most profit. Create a set for them and push them harder in your retargeting.
• -> New Arrivals: Create a set that automatically includes any product added in the last 30 days. Use this to re-engage past customers and show them what's new.
• -> Category-Specific: If you sell clothes, you should have sets for 'Dresses', 'Trousers', 'Shoes', etc. This allows you to run ads to people who have shown interest in a specific category. For example, show dress ads to people who viewed a dress. Simple, but so few people do it properly.
• -> On Sale / Clearance: A set for all items currently on sale. Perfect for creating urgency and clearing old stock.

Once you have these sets, you structure your campaigns around them. Your prospecting campaign might only show Bestsellers. Your retargeting for people who viewed cart but didn't buy might show them the items they added, plus a carousel of High Margin products. This level of segmentation makes your ads infinitely more relevant and effective. We worked with a subscription box company where this exact strategy was key. By creating a "First Box" product set and using it just for prospecting, we achieved a 1000% return on ad spend because we were showing new users the most compelling entry-point offer, not just random items from their store.

The difference in performance between a lazy "All Products" campaign and a strategic, segmented one can be massive. Let's look at the numbers. Use the calculator below to see how small improvements in Click-Through Rate (CTR) and Conversion Rate (CVR), driven by better ad relevance from using Product Sets, can dramatically impact your Return On Ad Spend (ROAS).

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

This is a lot to take in, I realise. Your initial problem was simple—"why are my products disappearing?"—but the real solution involves strengthening the entire foundation of your eCommerce advertising. It's not just about fixing a bug; it's about building a system that is resilient to bugs and optimised for performance. Here's a summary of the actionable steps I'd recommend, prioritised for you.

As you can see, this goes way beyond a simple technical fix. It's a fundamental shift in how you manage and advertise your products. It's a lot of work, and some of it can get very technical, very quickly. This is often where businesses decide they need expert help.

Working with an agency or a consultant means you're not just paying for someone to click buttons; you're investing in the experience of having seen and solved these problems hundreds of times before. We can audit your setup, implement these changes, and manage the ongoing strategy far faster and more effectively than learning it all from scratch. It frees you up to focus on what you do best: running your business, developing new products, and serving your customers.

If you'd like to chat through this in more detail and have us take a look at your specific setup, we offer a completely free, no-obligation initial consultation. We can jump on a call, share screens, and give you a clear, actionable plan. Let me know if that's something you'd be interested in.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh