Shopfront Documentation

Customise how AI generates your listings. Set brand voice, formatting, and instructions per marketplace.

Templates control how Shopfront's AI writes your listings. Each template defines the tone, format, and style for a specific marketplace — so your eBay listings sound professional while your Depop listings stay casual.

Template editor

What's in a Template

Brand voice — The overall tone and personality (e.g., "professional and trustworthy" or "casual and friendly")
Subject expertise — Domain context for the AI (e.g., "experienced vintage clothing specialist")
Title instructions — Formatting rules and character limits per marketplace
Description instructions — Content guidelines, style (concise, detailed, or story-driven), and format (HTML or plaintext)
Custom instructions — Freeform guidance like "always mention flaws" or "include measurements"
Example products — Sample titles and descriptions the AI uses as reference when generating

Template Variables

Your title and description examples can include variables — placeholders like {{brand}} that each listing fills in with its own values. The AI writes the listing around the placeholder and Shopfront substitutes the real data afterwards, so the value comes from your product rather than the AI's imagination.

This matters most for details that must be reported exactly rather than written creatively — a SKU read off a label, or measurements read from a tape measure in your photos.

Syntax

{{brand}}           Nike — or "Unbranded" when the brand is unknown
{{brand|Designer}}  Nike — or "Designer" when the brand is unknown
{{brand|}}          Nike — or nothing at all when the brand is unknown

Every variable has a default that's used when the product has no value for it. Add | inside the braces to choose your own default, or | followed by nothing to leave the gap empty.

Variable names are lowercase and case-sensitive — {{sku}} works, {{SKU}} does not. Anything Shopfront doesn't recognise is left exactly as you typed it, so {{colourway}} reaches your listing as the literal text {{colourway}}. The template editor flags unrecognised variables as you type.

Spaces inside the braces are fine — {{ brand }} behaves the same as {{brand}}.

Available Variables

Filled in for every listing.

Variable	Contains	Default
`{{title}}`	Product title	`Product`
`{{description}}`	Full product description	empty
`{{brand}}`	Brand name	`Unbranded`
`{{condition}}`	Condition, e.g. `New with Tags`, `Excellent`	`Pre-owned`
`{{origin}}`	Country of manufacture	empty
`{{source}}`	Where the item came from, e.g. retail, thrift, vintage	empty
`{{gender}}`	`Men`, `Women`, `Unisex` or `Kids`	empty

Filled in when the code is legible in your photos.

Variable	Contains	Default
`{{sku}}`	SKU read from a label or price sticker	empty
`{{mpn}}`	Manufacturer Part Number	empty
`{{gtin}}`	Barcode number	empty

{{sku}} is a code Shopfront actually read off the item — a label or price sticker in your photos. If you don't sticker your stock it stays empty, and the SKU line is dropped from the listing rather than filled with an invented code.

Filled in for clothing and accessories, where the matched category defines them.

Variable	Contains	Default
`{{size}}`	Size, e.g. `M`, `UK 9`	`One Size`
`{{colour}}`	Primary colour	empty
`{{material}}`	Fabric or material	empty
`{{pattern}}`	Pattern, e.g. solid, striped	empty
`{{neckline}}`	Neckline style — tops only	empty
`{{sleeve}}`	Sleeve length or type — tops only	empty
`{{measurements}}`	Auto-detected measurements in centimetres	empty

{{measurements}} renders as a single line of Label: value pairs in a consistent order — Pit to pit: 52 cm, Waist: 40 cm, Length: 71 cm.

Variable	Contains	Default
`{{category}}`	Product category path	empty

Non-apparel items have no size, colour or measurements to fill in, so those variables fall back to their defaults. Give them a fallback that reads well for your categories, or leave them out of templates you use for non-clothing.

Starter Templates

Shopfront includes seven pre-built templates based on what works best on each marketplace:

Clean & Factual

Plaintext, accurate and structured — no hype or filler
The base listing every marketplace channel derives from
200-character title limit
Uses {{measurements}} so detected tape readings land in the listing
Ideal as your starting point if you sell across several channels

Professional & Detailed

HTML-formatted descriptions with structured sections
Thorough, trustworthy tone — pyramid structure (key details first)
80-character title limit
Ideal for buyers searching by specifics

Casual & Friendly

Plaintext descriptions, conversational style
Gen Z-friendly tone — relaxed and approachable
50-character title limit
Uses {{measurements}} so detected tape readings land in the listing
Ideal for trend-driven and vintage items

Streetwear Expert

Plaintext with detailed measurements, via {{measurements}}
Authentication and condition focus
Brand-forward titles, 50-character title limit
Ideal for streetwear, designer, and archive pieces

Product Showcase

HTML-formatted, professional and SEO-optimised
Clean product descriptions for your own storefront
255-character title limit
Ideal for building your brand presence

Local & Friendly

Plaintext only — Facebook renders HTML tags literally
Leads with the practical details: condition, size, pickup or shipping
100-character title limit
Ideal for local, mobile-first buyers

Luxury & Authenticated

Plaintext, catalogue-style — provenance first
Leads with authentication signals: date codes, made-in, receipts
20-character title limit — Vestiaire builds the public title from brand and category
Uses {{measurements}} so detected tape readings land in the listing
Ideal for luxury pieces heading into Vestiaire's authentication queue

Start with a starter template and customise it, or create your own from scratch.

Per-Marketplace Configuration

Templates are designed to be one per marketplace. During listing generation, you select which template to use for each connected channel. This means the same product can be described differently across eBay, Depop, Grailed, Shopify, and Vestiaire Collective — matching the expectations of each platform's audience.

Set a default template per marketplace so it's automatically applied to new listings.

Using Templates

Templates are applied during AI listing generation:

Upload your product photos
Select a template for each marketplace (or use your defaults)
AI generates titles, descriptions, and attributes guided by your template settings
Review and edit before publishing

Templates are managed from Settings → Templates where you can create, edit, duplicate, and set defaults.

Your first template for each marketplace is automatically set as the default. You can change defaults at any time from the Templates settings page.

Templates