Facebook Product Sets and Catalog Rules for Shopify
Facebook Product Sets are how you slice one big catalog into smaller, targeted groups — think "summer collection", "clearance", or "high-margin bestsellers". Facebook dynamic ads and your shop point at a Product Set, so getting these right is what lets you run focused campaigns instead of advertising your whole store at once. With Facebook rules the app builds and refreshes those sets for you automatically from your Shopify collections, using simple AND/OR matching — no manual product-picking in Commerce Manager. This guide walks through creating a set, writing its rules, and keeping its products in sync.
1 Open Facebook rules for a catalog
From your dashboard, open Facebook rules. Each set of rules belongs to one Facebook Product Catalog, so if you manage more than one catalog use the Switch product catalog dropdown to pick the one you're working in. The page lists every Product Set in that catalog, split into ones this app manages and unmanaged sets (those you created by hand in Facebook Business Manager or via another integration). Use Show / hide unmanaged product sets to peek at the latter.
2 Read the Product Sets table
The table gives you one row per managed Facebook Product Set with these columns: Facebook Product Set (its name, product count, and a link straight to it on Facebook), Rules (a plain-English summary of what it matches), Refresh products, View products, Edit, and Delete. This is your home base — everything you do to a set starts from one of these links.
3 Add a Facebook Product Set
Click Add a Facebook Product Set. The app creates a new set in the selected catalog instantly and drops you into its editor. There's nothing to fill in up front — a set starts empty and gets its products from the rules you write next.
4 Write the rules that pick products
In the editor, under Choose products to include and exclude from the product set, build your conditions. Each rule matches against your Shopify collections, and you decide how the rules combine: Must match all rules (AND) for a tight, narrow set, or Must match at least one rule (OR) to pool several collections together. Add as many rule rows as you need — this is the core of Facebook catalog segmentation on Shopify.
5 Control overwriting and automation
Two switches govern how aggressively a set is kept current. Overwrite existing decides whether the app replaces assignments that are already on a product, or leaves them alone. Automation decides whether new products that match are added to the set automatically going forward. Leave automation on and the set keeps itself populated as your catalog grows; turn it off if you'd rather assign manually.
6 Refresh, view, and verify products
Rules don't only run once. Back on the table, Refresh products re-evaluates a set against your current catalog and re-assigns matches — handy after you've changed collections or edited the rules. It runs in the background, so give it a moment and refresh the page for the updated count. Use View products to see exactly which items landed in the set, and the Facebook Product Set link to open it in Commerce Manager and confirm it's wired into your ads.
7 Edit or delete a set
Use Edit to reopen a set's rules any time — tweak the collections, flip AND to OR, or adjust the overwrite/automation switches, then save. Delete removes the rules the app manages for that set. Deleting here cleans up the app's automation; manage the underlying Facebook set itself in Commerce Manager if you also want it gone there.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Facebook Product Set?
A Product Set is a named subset of your Facebook catalog — a filtered group of products that ad campaigns and your shop can target. Instead of advertising every product, you point a dynamic ad at a set like 'bestsellers' or 'summer' and Facebook only shows those items.
How do Product Sets work with dynamic ads?
Facebook dynamic ads pull their products from a catalog, but you scope each ad set to a specific Product Set. So a campaign can advertise only your clearance items while another promotes new arrivals — all from the same catalog. Keeping the set accurate (via rules and refresh) keeps your ads showing the right products.
How do I segment my Facebook catalog?
Create a Product Set, then write rules that match the Shopify collections you want in it. Use Must match all rules (AND) to narrow it down or Must match at least one rule (OR) to combine collections. Add a separate set for each segment you want to advertise.
What's the difference between AND and OR matching?
AND means a product must satisfy every rule to be included — useful for precise, narrow sets. OR means matching any single rule is enough — useful for pooling several collections into one broad set.
What does Refresh products do?
It re-runs the set's rules against your current catalog and re-assigns the matching products. Run it after you change collections or edit rules. It processes in the background, so wait a moment and reload the page to see the new product count.
What does the Overwrite setting do?
Overwrite controls whether the app replaces product-set assignments that already exist, or leaves them untouched. Turn it on for the app to take full ownership of the set; leave it off to preserve assignments made elsewhere.
What are unmanaged product sets?
Those are Product Sets the app didn't create — typically made by hand in Facebook Business Manager or by another app or integration. They show up under Show / hide unmanaged product sets for reference, but the app's rules and refresh don't manage them.
Do I create the Product Set in the app or in Facebook Commerce Manager?
Create it in the app with Add a Facebook Product Set — the app provisions it in the selected catalog and manages it for you. You can still open the set in Commerce Manager (via the link in the table) to confirm it's targeted by your dynamic ads.
Why is my Product Set empty after I add rules?
Save the rules, then click Refresh products to populate the set, and reload the page after a moment. Also check that your rules actually match products — with AND matching, an over-restrictive combination can match nothing; switching to OR or removing a condition usually fixes it.
