Can I Change SKU Values for My Marketplace Listings?
Short Answer: While technically possible, Acenda strongly advises against changing SKU values on live marketplace listings.
SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) act as the unique link between your products on marketplaces, Acenda, and your internal inventory systems. Changing an SKU after sales have occurred breaks this link and can cause severe operational disruptions.
Critical Warning: Modifying an SKU on a live listing frequently results in order fulfillment failures, inventory sync errors, and the permanent loss of historical sales data.
The Recommended Solution: Use SKU Aliases
If you need to change an SKU to match new internal naming conventions, do not change the SKU on the marketplace. Instead, use SKU Aliases.
If sales have already occurred under the existing SKU, the safest method is to leave the marketplace SKU unchanged and assign an Alias within the Acenda Admin.
Benefits of SKU Aliases:
Internal Consistency: Allows your internal systems (ERP, WMS) to use your preferred new SKU.
External Stability: Keeps the original SKU on the marketplace active, preventing listing downtime.
Data Integrity: Preserves sales history and prevents order processing errors.
For instructions on setting this up, please refer to the How to Use SKU Aliases in Acenda guide.
Procedure for Changing a Live SKU (High Risk)
If you determine that changing the actual marketplace SKU is unavoidable, you must follow the steps below to mitigate risk. Proceeding with this method is done at your own risk.
1. Contact Marketplace Support First Before making changes in Acenda, open a support ticket with the specific marketplace (e.g., Target+, Walmart, Amazon).
Confirm if their policy allows SKU changes on existing ASINs/TCIN/listings.
Discuss potential impacts on inventory sync and order tracking.
2. Clear Pending Orders: Ensure there are no active, pending, or processing orders associated with the old SKU. Changing the identifier while an order is in flight will likely cause the order to fail or become lost in the system.
3. Update Internal Inventory Systems: Update your ERP, WMS, or any other connected inventory systems to recognize the new SKU to prevent stock mismatches.
4. Execute the Change. Follow the marketplace's specific process for updating the SKU.
5. Validate and Monitor
Test: Verify that a new order placed under the new SKU imports correctly into Acenda and your fulfillment system.
Monitor: Watch inventory logs closely for the first 48 hours to ensure stock levels are syncing.
6. Update Connected Systems: Ensure all third-party integrations (shipping providers, accounting software) are updated to reflect the change.
Summary
Acenda does not support or recommend changing SKU values on marketplace listings unless absolutely necessary. We strongly encourage using SKU Aliases as the primary method for managing internal SKU changes.
If you need help determining which method is best for your situation, please contact Acenda Support.