> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://fredhopper.gitbook.io/product-discovery/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://fredhopper.gitbook.io/product-discovery/sending-and-managing-product-data/flatfiles/incrementalprodfeed.md).

# Preparing Data For Incremental Product Feed

This section covers incremental data feeds, the format and upload process.

Incremental Updates (otherwise known as 'partial updates' or 'deltas') permit customers to update or add catalogue data on-the-fly without the need to complete a full re-index. This method is applicable for many day-to-day use cases (see below) and, aside from being much faster than the full update process (users need only present a subset of catalogue data rather than the whole collection), users can also continue to access the Merchandising Studio tool throughout their execution, so business productivity is unaffected.

#### Typical Use Cases <a href="#dataintegrationspecification-csvproductdata-typicalusecases" id="dataintegrationspecification-csvproductdata-typicalusecases"></a>

Through the course of online (and offline) trading during the day, it is often the case that a product's attributes change in value and it is important that Fredhopper reflects these changes.

For example:

* An item's stock level may decrease
* An item's price value may increase
* A new variant has been added to the product catalogue

In each case above, incremental updates allow the customer to inform Fredhopper of these changes in a lightweight manner.

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[Incremental Feed JSON Data Format](/product-discovery/sending-and-managing-product-data/flatfiles/incrementalprodfeed/incremental-feed-json-data-format.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

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[Incremental Feed CSV Data Format](/product-discovery/sending-and-managing-product-data/flatfiles/incrementalprodfeed/incremental-feed-csv-data-format.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}