This guide covers Amazon-specific features available in Akeneo Activation: the display/sent comparison matrix, A+ Content retrieval and association, ASIN fetching and push to PIM, and sending product variations to Amazon Marketplace (Amazon Seller). These features complement the standard Activation catalog mapping workflow and are configured inside your Activation channel settings.

Amazon display/sent comparison matrix

When you export your product catalog to Amazon through Akeneo Activation, Amazon's algorithm may overwrite product data you provided with its own values. To help you identify these discrepancies, Akeneo Activation generates a comparison matrix file each time you export.

This file is available in the Reports tab of your Activation channel and highlights the differences between what was sent to Amazon and what is currently displayed on Amazon product pages.

The screenshot above shows the Amazon comparison file in the Reports section of an Akeneo Activation channel, displaying sent vs. displayed product data side by side.

A+ Content

Akeneo Activation lets you retrieve A+ Content metadata from Amazon into your PIM and push A+ Content product associations back to Amazon. This process involves two steps:

1. Enable A+ Content list retrieval: Activate the feature to pull A+ content metadata from Amazon into your PIM as a Reference Entity (called Aplus).
2. Push A+ Content product associations: Send the associations between A+ documents and your products from your PIM to Amazon. This happens automatically every time you export products to Amazon.

Choose the workflow below that matches your situation.

If you're just starting to work with A+ Content

Use this workflow if you have no existing A+ Content associations in Amazon and are building them from scratch in your PIM.

1. Create A+ Content on Amazon: Start by creating your A+ content directly in Amazon Seller Central or Vendor Central.
2. Activate A+ Content properties retrieval in Activation: In Akeneo Activation, go to your Amazon channel settings and turn on the toggle Retrieve A+ content properties from Amazon.

The screenshot above shows the Akeneo Activation Amazon channel settings with the "Retrieve A+ content properties from Amazon" toggle enabled.

Activation creates an Aplus Reference Entity in your PIM automatically and populates it with your A+ content metadata.

The screenshot above shows the Aplus Reference Entity automatically created in the PIM after enabling A+ Content retrieval in Activation.

1. Assign A+ documents to products in your PIM: In the product edit form, associate one or more A+ documents with each product.
2. Create a single- or multi-select Reference Entity Attribute in your PIM to hold the association.
3. You can do this at scale using bulk actions.

The screenshot above shows a PIM product edit form where an A+ content document is being selected from the Aplus Reference Entity Attribute.

1. Map A+ Content in Activation: In Akeneo Activation, open the catalog mapping for your Amazon channel.
2. Search for the A+ Document target.
3. Select the Reference Entity Attribute you created in your PIM as the source.
4. Save your catalog mapping.

The screenshot above shows the Activation catalog mapping page with the A+ Document target mapped to a PIM Reference Entity Attribute.

1. Activate the push of A+ Content associations to Amazon: In Akeneo Activation, go to your Amazon channel settings and turn on the toggle Send A+ Content Associations to Amazon.

The screenshot above shows the Akeneo Activation Amazon channel settings with both the retrieval and push toggles enabled.

Activation sends the association between A+ documents and your products to Amazon automatically every time you export products. Because there was no prior association between products and A+ content in Amazon, your PIM becomes the source of truth automatically.

If you already have A+ Content assigned to products in Amazon

Use this workflow if Amazon already holds existing A+ Content associations that you want to replicate in your PIM before taking over as the source of truth.

1. Activate A+ Content retrieval in Activation: In Akeneo Activation, go to your Amazon channel settings and turn on the toggle Retrieve A+ Content from Amazon. Activation creates an Aplus Reference Entity in your PIM automatically and runs a daily automated job to keep the content up to date.

2. Create a PIM Attribute to hold the associations: In your PIM, create a Reference Entity single- or multi-select Attribute that references the Aplus Reference Entity. You can use bulk actions to assign documents at scale.

3. Reconcile associations in your PIM: This step is critical. For every product in your catalog, verify that the A+ document you assign in the PIM matches the current association in Amazon. The PIM will replace whatever is in Amazon once you enable the push.

4. Map A+ Content in Activation: In Akeneo Activation, open the catalog mapping for your Amazon channel.

5. Search for the A+ Document target.
6. Select the Reference Entity Attribute you created in your PIM (for example, A+ Content) as the source.

7. Save your catalog mapping.

8. Activate the push of A+ Content associations to Amazon: In Akeneo Activation, go to your Amazon channel settings and turn on the toggle Send A+ Content Associations to Amazon. Activation sends the association between A+ documents and your products to Amazon automatically every time you export products, replacing the previous Amazon-side associations.

Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN)

In Akeneo Activation, you can retrieve the Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) from Amazon and optionally push it back to your PIM as a product attribute. This lets you use ASINs for searching products in the grid, tracing export errors, and maintaining a consistent source of truth.

This feature is available by default but disabled. To enable ASIN retrieval from Amazon into Activation, go to your Amazon channel settings in Activation and switch the ASIN fetch toggle to on. You can schedule when the job runs.

The screenshot above shows the ASIN fetch configuration in the Akeneo Activation Amazon channel settings, including the toggle and scheduling options.

Once ASINs are available in Activation, you can push them back to your PIM. Before enabling this, create the Attribute in your PIM where ASINs will be stored, then enter its code in the text field provided in Activation.

If the Attribute is scopable and/or localizable, use the following format:

pim_attribute_code#channel_code#locale_code

Examples:

• Attribute code amazon_asin, scoped to the marketplaces Channel and fr_FR Locale: amazon_asin#marketplaces#fr_FR
• Attribute code amazon_asin, scoped to the fr_FR Locale only (no Channel scope): amazon_asin##fr_FR

For more on scopable and localizable Attributes, see What is an Attribute.

The screenshot above shows the Amazon ASIN mapping configuration in Akeneo Activation, where a PIM Attribute code is entered to receive ASIN values.

Sending product variations to Amazon Marketplace (Amazon Seller)

This section explains how to configure the parent/child (variations) structure for Amazon Seller so you can successfully send product variations through Akeneo Activation.

To send product variations to Amazon Marketplace, you must first establish a parent-child relationship in your PIM data structure and then configure the corresponding mapping in Akeneo Activation.

Set up a parent/child structure

Identify the parent product

In Amazon Seller Central, the parent is a virtual grouping product that links child variations. In Akeneo Activation, you designate an existing simple or child product from your PIM to act as this parent. It cannot be a product model because Amazon requires a unique SKU for the parent entry.

This product is exported to Amazon Seller as a child product that also acts as the parent (or product model) for its associated variations. All child products linked to this parent are listed under it on Amazon Seller.

Map the association in Activation

In the Akeneo Activation catalog mapping for your Amazon Seller channel, search for Parent to display the four mapping targets that control the parent-child relationship.

The screenshot above shows the Akeneo Activation catalog mapping page for an Amazon Seller channel, filtered to the four "Parent" targets used to configure product variations.

Product will generate a parent

This target determines whether a product acts as a parent on Amazon Seller.

In your PIM, create a Yes/No Attribute to flag the parent product: - Attribute type: Yes/No - Suggested label: Is Parent on Amazon Seller

Set this Attribute to Yes for the product that will act as the parent, and No for products that remain as children only.

The screenshot above shows a PIM product edit form with the "Is Parent on Amazon Seller" Yes/No Attribute set to Yes.

In Activation, map this PIM Attribute to the Product will generate a parent target.

The screenshot above shows the Activation catalog mapping with the "Product will generate a parent" target mapped to the PIM Yes/No Attribute.

Parent SKU

This identifier links the parent product to its child products. The parent SKU must be unique and different from the product's own SKU.

In your PIM, create a text Attribute to hold the parent SKU: - Attribute type: Text - Suggested label: Amazon Parent SKU

In the Activation mapping, this target serves two purposes: - For the product acting as a parent: Defines the SKU that Amazon uses for the generated parent entry. - For child products: Associates the child product with the defined parent SKU.

Product name (when used as parent)

Use this target if you want the parent product to display a distinct name on Amazon, separate from the child product's name.

In your PIM, create a text Attribute for the parent name: - Attribute type: Text - Suggested label: Amazon Parent Product Name

The screenshot above shows a PIM product edit form with the "Amazon Parent Product Name" text Attribute filled in.

In the Activation mapping, this target provides the product name used on the generated parent entry.

The screenshot above shows the Activation catalog mapping with the "Product name (when used as parent)" target mapped to the Amazon Parent Product Name PIM Attribute.

Parentage level

Akeneo Activation assigns the parentage level automatically when using the parent creation mechanism. You do not need to map this target manually.

Export products with variations to Amazon Marketplace (Amazon Seller)

1. After mapping the parent-child associations in Activation, save your catalog mapping.
2. In Activation, run a dry-run export to verify that the parent product is correctly identified in the feed document artefact.

The screenshot above shows the Activation dry-run feed document artefact for an Amazon Seller export, confirming the parent product entry.

1. Run a full product export to Amazon Seller.
2. If the export succeeds, your products appear in Amazon Seller Central with a variant menu listing both parent and child products.

The screenshot above shows the variations screen in Amazon Seller Central, displaying the parent product and its associated child products after a successful Activation export.

Common errors when sending product variations to Amazon Seller

When troubleshooting your Amazon Seller parent-child setup in Akeneo Activation, you may encounter the following errors.

• Error 8016 — Missing variation data: The product data provided was insufficient to create a variation (parent/child) relationship for a specific SKU. See Amazon help: Error 8016.

• Error 8017 — Variation theme missing: A Variation Theme is missing from your product data. Verify that all required Variation Themes are specified in the mapping. See Amazon help: Error 8017.

• Error 8018 — Cannot delete non-existing relationship: An attempt was made to delete a relationship that does not exist. Verify that the relationship you are modifying or deleting actually exists in Amazon Seller Central. See Amazon help: Error 8018.

• Error 8019 — Parent and child have the same SKU: The parent and child products are assigned the same SKU. Each product, whether parent or child, must have a unique SKU. See Amazon help: Error 8019.

General Amazon API errors often relate to the Attributes step in the Activation mapping. Ensure all mandatory Attributes are mapped and return non-empty values. For a full list of Amazon Marketplace API errors, see Amazon's error catalog guide.