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Check and Fix SKU Mismatches

Overview

This article explains the issue about why your order not in Flexport specifically if it's because the listing is not linked to the correct DSKU.

First, we'll explain what the problem is (Normal Behavior and Catalogs That Don't Fully Match sections) and then we'll show how to fix it (Correcting Mistakes).

 

Normal Behavior

When you connect an integration to your Flexport account, Flexport automatically imports the product catalog from that integration into our system. Flexport imports all published/completed SKUs, including new SKUs that you create after the initial account connection.

If this is the 1st integration you connect to Flexport

Flexport automatically creates a DSKU for every SKU from the integration, and links the DSKU to the matching product on the integration. If incorrect, you can fix (see Correcting Mistakes below). Everything is ready for you to create your first inbound and to import and fulfill orders.

If this is the 2nd or later integration you connect to Flexport

Flexport matches the catalog from the new integration to your existing catalog in Flexport. This is so orders from the new integration can pull from DSKUs that already have inventory. For example, if you sell dog toys on Walmart and eBay, then the same dog toy DSKU can fulfill orders across both Walmart (the first integration) and eBay (the second integration).

Flexport matches the new catalog to your existing catalog based on the value of the SKU field in the integration and the value of the SKU field in Flexport. If a SKU from the new catalog exactly matches the SKU value for a DSKU in your account, we create a link between that DSKU and integration.

You can see this link on the inventory details page. In the example below, both the Amazon and Linnworks integrations are linked to this DSKU (have a SKU link) because both had the SKU value of XXXXXadd on the integration. Orders from both places will be fulfilled by the same DSKU.

 

Catalogs That Don't Fully Match

When you connect your 2nd, 3rd, or later integration then the new catalog may not 100% match with your existing catalog in Flexport. This happens because the SKU values you set in one integration are not exactly the same as the SKU values you set in another integration. 

You can see this on the inventory details page for a specific DSKU. For example, the user connected BigCommerce to their Flexport account, but there was no product in BigCommerce with the SKU value XXXXXadd. Therefore there is no link for this DSKU to BigCommerce.

For this particular product (Chuckit! Ultra Dog Ball Bounces and Floats...) there was another product with a similar name in BigCommerce, but the SKU values were different — V2_MG_TEST_SKU in BigCommerce but XXXXXadd in Amazon, Linnworks, and Flexport.

Therefore, Flexport created a new DSKU (D8RGSNISCBQ) with the link to BigCommerce. This DSKU is different from the previous DSKU (DOY90SZ7H6V) with the Amazon and Linnworks links.

This process ensures that Flexport imports everything from your new catalog, but it may cause a problem when importing orders. For example, an order from BigCommerce will go to D8RGSNISCBQ (the new DSKU with 0 inventory) instead of going to DOY90SZ7H6V (the existing DSKU with available inventory).

 

Correcting Mistakes

Fortunately, it is very easy to fix this problem. First, go to Inventory and find the DSKUs you want to fix. Start with the DSKUs that have available inventory first. Click into the DSKU to go to the inventory details page.

In the example below, we will add a link to the BigCommerce integration for this DSKU.

Click the BigCommerce (+) icon to create a new link. Search for the SKU based on the SKU value, name of the product, or the product ID.

Screen_Shot_2021-04-06_at_11.58.56_AM.png

Confirm that you want to link this DSKU to this SKU on the integration. This will update available inventory levels and import orders with this product.

Back on the inventory details page you can see there is a link (BigCommerce 1) for this DSKU, so all is good. Orders should now successfully import from BigCommerce for this particular DSKU.

 

Optional Steps

  • Repeat the process for all DSKUs with available inventory to make sure all your orders import successfully to Flexport.
  • Go through SKUs you don't use and remove the links, but this is not necessary. Hiding your SKUs is another option to make sure you do not accidentally import to the wrong DSKU.

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