Configuring Custom Channels

This article explains how to ingest a retailer-provided XLSX or XLSM template and configure it as a Custom Channel in Akeneo Activation. You’ll upload the file, define how product data is structured, and configure channel requirements so the file can be validated and generated correctly.

By the end of this process, your Custom Channel will be ready for validation and file generation.

Step 1: Name your channel and upload your file

Start by giving your Custom Channel a clear, descriptive name. This name helps you identify the channel later, especially if you manage multiple retailers or templates.

Upload the retailer-provided XLSX or XLSM file you want to use as your product template. Activation will analyze the file structure before allowing you to continue.

If the file cannot be ingested, you’ll be notified before moving to the next step.

Multi-Sheet Configuration

Custom Channels supports multi-sheet output, allowing you to organize your product data across multiple tabs in a single spreadsheet file. Each sheet you define maps to a distinct family, so only products belonging to that family will be written to their corresponding sheet — along with only the attributes present for those products.

How sheets and families work

When you add multiple sheets to your channel configuration, each sheet acts as a dedicated destination for a specific group of products. This means:

• Products are written only to the sheet that matches their family
• Each sheet includes only the attributes relevant to that family, keeping output clean and retailer-ready

Shared attribute configuration

Attributes are configured at the channel level, not at the individual sheet level. During the attribute configuration step, the system consolidates all attributes across all sheets into a single, deduplicated list — so any attribute that appears on more than one sheet is configured once and applies consistently everywhere it appears.

What this means in practice:

• If both a Shoes sheet and a Dresses sheet include a Description attribute, you cannot mark it as required on one sheet and optional on the other — the same required/optional setting applies to both.
• If both sheets include a Color attribute with a dropdown list, you cannot define different selectable values per sheet — the same list of options will be used across all sheets where Color appears.

When to use multi-sheet configuration

Multi-sheet output works best when your retailer sheets share a consistent attribute structure. If your sheets require meaningfully different configurations for the same attribute — such as distinct validation rules or separate dropdown lists — consider creating separate Custom Channel configurations instead.

Step 2: Select the sheets containing product data

Select the spreadsheet tabs that contain product information. Only selected sheets will be included in the channel configuration.

Each selected sheet will correspond to a product family in the completed Custom Channel. This allows you to support different product structures within the same retailer template.

Sheets that do not contain product data should not be selected.

Step 3: Identify the attribute row and first product row

Specify:

• The row that contains attribute names or column headers
• The row that contains the first product record

These row positions apply to all selected sheets.

Use the file preview to verify that:

• Attribute names align with the expected columns
• Product data starts on the correct row

Correct row selection is required for attributes to be extracted properly.

Step 4: Review and configure channel attributes

Activation extracts attributes from the selected sheets based on the rows you defined. Review the extracted attributes and configure how each one should behave in the channel.

For each attribute, you can:

• Set the attribute type
• Mark the attribute as required or optional
• Define possible values, if applicable
• Add help text or examples for users
• Ignore attributes you do not want to use

Ignored attributes can be restored at any time.

Attribute Configuration Grid:

During this step, you'll see the following information for each attribute:

This information helps you understand how each attribute is used across the template.

Auto-Detected Configurations

When you upload a retailer template, Custom Channels automatically inspects the workbook and pre-configures several attribute settings based on conventions already present in the file. This reduces manual setup and helps ensure your channel configuration stays true to the retailer's original intent.

Ignored Columns that are hidden in the workbook are automatically marked as ignored. These columns will be excluded from your attribute configuration and will not be mapped or populated during syndication.

Valid Values If a column has conditional list validation (a dropdown) defined in the workbook, Custom Channels detects this and pre-populates the attribute's valid values. The selectable options are pulled directly from the retailer's own dropdown definitions.

Examples If you upload a pre-populated template that already contains sample product rows, Custom Channels extracts values from those rows and uses them as examples for the corresponding attribute.

Help Text Cell notes attached to a column header are automatically captured and surfaced as help text for that attribute. Retailer annotations (e.g., "If not a trademark brand, state 'unbranded'") are preserved and visible during configuration.

Attribute Types Attributes with a detected dropdown are automatically assigned the list type. Other type assignments — such as numeric, boolean, or date — are not yet auto-detected and will default to string unless manually updated.

Note: Auto-detected configurations are a starting point. You can review and adjust any of these settings during the attribute configuration step before activating your channel.

Step 5: Configure display options

Define how products will be displayed and identified in the Activation grid for this Custom Channel.

You must select:

• Display Name – the attribute used to uniquely identify each product
• Product Identifier – the attribute used to display the product name or title
• Product Image – the attribute used to represent the product visually

These selections determine how products appear and are managed when working with this channel.

What happens next?

Your Custom Channel behaves like any other Activation channel. You can connect to it one or multiple times to create distinct data flows, generate files, and deliver them to their destination via sFTP/FTP.