My short answer: product data is the connective tissue of ecommerce. If titles, identifiers, variants, categories, availability or attributes are wrong, that bad information can surface in your store, ads and marketplaces at the same time.
This is one area where my enterprise product-data experience changes how I look at a website. I do not see the storefront as an isolated layer.
Google can only work with what you send
If a product title is vague, a GTIN is missing, availability is stale or product type is poorly mapped, the platform has less reliable information to match and present the item. “Feed optimisation” simply means improving that information and the rules around it.
Customers feel data problems too
Wrong colour names, duplicated variants, missing dimensions or inconsistent condition labels create friction on the site itself. Good data is not back-office housekeeping. It affects the buying experience.
Fix the source where possible
I prefer correcting information upstream rather than stacking patches in every channel. The more places a retailer sells, the more valuable a reliable source of product truth becomes.
Apply the principle to your own business.
If the issue is your website and you are unsure whether to repair or rebuild, start with the free Website Rescue Review. If the problem is broader, send me the business and what is not working.