Catalog Ingestion Process Overview
Item setup
The value entered for the item SKU must be unique for each product listed and is 1-to-1 mapping with Scannable Barcode. The unique identifier can be alphanumeric string and not contain any Type 1 High ASCII characters (®, ©, ™, etc.) or other special characters.
| Type | Length | Description |
|---|---|---|
| UPC | 12 or 8 digit | Sample |
| EAN8 | 8 digit | Sample |
| EAN | 13 digit | Sample |
| ISBN | 10 digit | Sample |
| GTIN | 14 digit | Sample |
| PLU | 3-6 digit | 4011 represents Bananas, 4131 represents apple, 94011 represents organic bananas |
Common Practices
Padded Codes:
Retailers need barcode to be of consistent length, for example, 07838604 may be padded with prefixing 0’s to make it look like a 12 digit number (000007838604) or suffixing 0’s (078386040000).
If the retailer needs the code to be in a specific length, then they should convert the SKU sent to their connector in the data feed i.e. pad them as needed after the cart-data via the gateway.
Not using the checksum digit: It is not advisable to leave out the checksum digit of a UPC or a EAN Scannable Barcode. Leaving the checksum digit will fail in the catalog ingestion process.
Catalog management:
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SKU is the primary key for your catalog data. Amazon sends the SKU in the data via the Gateways and displays SKUs on the reports. Having a 1:1 relationship will help identify the item sold (i.e. the UPC) to support retail functions like decrementing inventory, re-ordering, stocking shrink, etc.
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To update a SKU meta data, i.e. description or price, that item-record needs to be completed and then re-uploaded
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Item name field is for product description. The product name that is printed on the receipt by Amazon. The field is an alphanumeric string; 1 character minimum in length and 100 characters maximum in length.
Note: Type 1 High ASCII characters (®, ©, ™, etc.) or other special characters are not supported.
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Do not use abbreviations (e.g. WTR for Water) and 2) Include brand, variety, and quantity wherever possible (e.g. “Dr. Pepper Zero Cherry 20oz” or “Colgate Kids Toothbrush, Trolls, Extra Soft (2 Count)”