Amazon display/sent comparison matrix

If you’re working with Amazon, you might know that the product information you send may not always appear as expected. According to their algorithm, Amazon might overwrite the product data provided by the brand.

To assist with this, each time you export your product catalog to Amazon, you will receive a comparison matrix file in the reports. This file highlights the differences between what you sent to Amazon and what is actually displayed on their product pages.

A+ and A+ Premium Content

While working with Amazon, you can import your A+ Content or A+ Premium Content list and properties (not the actual content itself, only the metadata) from Amazon into the PIM to use as a reference for your products. This process involves two steps:

Enable A+ Content List Retrieval: First, activate the feature to retrieve your A+ content into your PIM.

Push A+ Content Product Associations: Then, push your A+ content and product associations from your PIM to Amazon. This will happen each time you send data to Amazon during a product export. 

Consider the two workflows below when working with the A+ content from Amazon:

You're just starting to work with A+ Content

1. Create A+ Content on Amazon: Start by creating your A+ content directly on Amazon
2. Activate A+ Content properties retrieval: Go to your Activation channel settings and turn on the toggle “Retrieve A+ content properties from Amazon".

The Activation app will then bring the A+ content into your PIM as a reference entity. This reference entity will be created automatically in your PIM.

Note: The retrieval process creates a job that currently requires a manual step to pull the data from Amazon and push it to the PIM. We plan to automate this task to run every hour in the near future.

• You assign A+ documents to your products in your PIM, inside a product edit form 
  • You will need to create an attribute in your PIM that will be able to fetch the reference entities in your product edit form
  • Note: this can be done via bulk actions

• You map the A+ content in the catalog mapping for your Amazon activation channel
  • Go to Activation catalog mapping page
  • Search for the A+ Document target
  • Use the attribute you created in your PIM as source (ex: A+ Content)
  • Save your catalog once done

• You activate the push A+ content associations to Amazon
  • Go to your Activation channel settings
  • Turn “on” the toggle for “Send A+ Content Associations to Amazon”

• The Activation app sends the association between  A+ documents and your products to Amazon
  • Note: The association is done automatically, every time you export products to Amazon

The PIM automatically becomes the source of truth for your A+ content/product associations because there was no baseline of association between products and A+ content in Amazon previous

You already have A+ content assigned to products in Amazon

Activate A+ Content Retrieval:

• Go to your Activation channel settings.
• Turn on the toggle for "Retrieve A+ Content from Amazon."

The Activation app will bring the A+ content into your PIM as a reference entity, which will be created automatically in your PIM.

Note: The retrieval process creates a job that currently requires a manual step to pull the data from Amazon and push it to the PIM. We plan to automate this task to run every hour soon.

Assign A+ Documents in Your PIM:

• Go to the product edit form in your PIM.
• Create an attribute in your PIM that can fetch the reference entities you imported.

Note: This can be done using bulk actions if needed.

Map A+ Content in Catalog Mapping:

• Go to the Activation catalog mapping page.
• Search for the A+ Document target.
• Use the attribute you created in your PIM (e.g., A+ Content) as the source.
• Save your catalog once you are done.
• You activate the retrieval of the A+ content in Amazon
  • Go to your Activation channel settings
  • Turn “on” the toggle for “Retrieve A+ Content from Amazon” 

Activate Push of A+ Content to Amazon:

• Go to your Activation channel settings.
• Turn on the toggle for "Send A+ Content to Amazon."

The Activation app will send the association between A+ documents and your products to Amazon automatically every time you export products.

Note: Following this workflow, your PIM becomes the source of truth for A+ content/product associations, replacing the previous associations on Amazon.

When following this workflow, the PIM now becomes the source of truth for your A+ content/product associations, replacing the previous associations on Amazon.

Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN)

While working with Amazon (Vendor or Seller), you can import the Amazon ASIN identifier into your PIM. You can choose which PIM attribute will receive the ASINs from Amazon.

This feature is available by default but initially disabled. To enable it, switch the toggle to "on."

Before enabling this feature, create the attribute in your PIM where you want the ASINs to be stored, and enter the correct attribute code in the text area provided. Once enabled, ASINs will be pulled into your PIM every time we receive data back from Amazon.

If you want to use a scopable and/or localizable attribute, use this format:

pim_attribute_code#channel_code#locale_code

• For example, if your PIM attribute for the ASIN has the code amazon_asin and you want to assign the ASIN to the marketplaces channel for the fr_FR locale, the attribute code in Akeneo Activation should be: amazon_asin#marketplaces#fr_FR.
• For example, if your PIM attribute for the ASIN has the code amazon_asin and you want to assign the ASIN to  the fr_FR locale only, the attribute code in Akeneo Activation should be: amazon_asin##fr_FR.
• To learn more about scopable and localizable attributes, go to this article.

Sending products variations to Amazon Marketplace (Amazon Seller)

This section explains how to set up the parent/child (or variations) structure for the Amazon marketplace so you can successfully send product variations to Amazon Seller.

Set up a parent/child structure

To send variations to the Amazon Marketplace (Amazon Seller) via Activation, you need to complete a few steps in both your PIM data structure and the Activation catalog mapping.

Identify Parent

First, within your Activation product catalog assortment, choose a product that will act as a parent when sent to Amazon Seller. This product can be a simple or variant child product, but it cannot be a product model in your PIM because it needs its own SKU.

This product will be sent to Amazon Seller as a child product and will also act as a parent (or product model) once exported. All "child" products associated with this "parent" will be listed under the "product parent" on Amazon Seller.

After selecting the simple or child product to act as a parent, you can proceed with setting up the parent/child association in your Activation catalog mapping.

Map the association parent/child

Next, when mapping your products for your Amazon Seller channel, there are specific required and optional fields to help set up the parent/child association.

If you type “Parent” in the mapping search, you will see four mapping targets. Below are instructions on how to map these targets correctly to establish the parent/child relationship successfully.

Product will generate a parent

This setting determines if a product will act as a parent on Amazon Seller.

In your PIM:

• Create a New Attribute: You can create a new attribute in your PIM to use as a source for easier Activation mapping.
• Attribute Type: Yes/No
• Attribute Label: "Is Parent on Amazon Seller"

Example: In the product edit form, the product chosen to act as a parent will have a Yes/No attribute labeled "Is Parent on Amazon Seller." Set this attribute to "Yes" for the product that will act as a parent, and "No" for products that will remain as children only.

• In the Activation mapping
  • Fetch the source attribute from your PIM that will help identify the parent

Parent SKU

This identifier is used to link the parent product with its child products.

In your PIM:

• Create a New Attribute: You can create a new text attribute to use as a source for easier Activation mapping.
• Attribute Type: Text
• Attribute Label: "Amazon Parent SKU"

Example: In the product edit form, the product selected to act as a parent will have a text attribute labeled "Amazon Parent SKU," with a value that is unique and different from the product's own SKU.

In the Activation Mapping:

For the Product Acting as a Parent:

• Defines the SKU of the generated parent and links the child products to this parent.
• The parent SKU should be distinct and unique.

For Products That Do Not Act as Parents:

• Associates the product with the defined parent SKU.

Product Name (when used as parent)

Use this if you want the parent product to have its own unique product name.

In your PIM:

• Create a New Attribute: You can create a new text attribute to use as a source for easier Activation mapping.
• Attribute Type: Text
• Attribute Label: "Amazon Parent Product Name"

Example: In the product edit form, the product selected to act as a parent will have a text attribute labeled "Amazon Parent Product Name."

In the Activation mapping:

• It will be used in place of the product name on the generated parent

Parentage Level

This is not needed as our system automatically assigns the parentage level when using the parent creation mechanism

Export your product with variations to Amazon Marketplace (Amazon Seller)

1. When you are finished with the parent and child association mapping you can save your catalog.
2. In Activation, you can run a dry-run export and see the parent parent product identified in  the feed document.
3. Next you can export your product catalogs to Amazon Seller.
4. If successful, your products will now have a variant menu in the Amazon seller central back-office and you will be able to identify both the parent and child products 

Common errors found when sending product variations to Amazon Seller Marketplace

When troubleshooting your Amazon parent-child setup, you may encounter several common errors. Here are some detailed steps and solutions for handling these errors:

• Error 8016: Missing Variation data

Details: This error indicates that the product data provided was insufficient for creating a variation (parent/child) relationship for a specific SKU

• Error 8017: Variation Theme Missing

Details: This error indicates that a Variation Theme is missing from your product data. Make sure that all necessary Variation Themes are specified correctly.

• Error 8018: Cannot Delete Non-Existing Relationship

Details: This error occurs when attempting to delete a relationship that does not exist. Ensure that the relationship you are trying to modify or delete actually exists.

• Error 8019: Parent and Child Have the Same SKU

Details: This error happens when the parent and child products are assigned the same SKU. Ensure that each product, whether parent or child, has a unique SKU.

General errors related to the Amazon API often involve issues with the product information in the Attributes step in the mapping. Ensure that all mandatory attributes are filled and do not return empty values.

For more details on common Amazon Marketplace API errors and how to resolve them, you can refer to this error catalog guide.