When you set the Category Target Mode to Standard in your global settings, the connector bypasses the Akeneo custom tables and writes your PIM categories, catalog hierarchies, and product assignments directly into Salesforce Commerce standard objects.
Prerequisites
Before activating Standard mode for your categories, you must ensure your Salesforce organization is prepared.
While these standard objects are typically associated with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, a live Commerce site or store is optional. You only need a configured site/store if a storefront will actively display the catalog; it is not required for the connector to successfully write category records.
Object Availability
Confirm that the following Salesforce standard objects are available and visible in your organization:
- Product2
- ProductCatalog
- ProductCategory
- ProductCategoryProduct
Create Required External ID Fields
You must manually create three specific custom fields. Each field must be configured exactly as Text (255), marked as an External ID, and set to Unique (Do not allow duplicate values).
| Target Salesforce Object | Required Field API Name | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| ProductCatalog | Akeneo_Catalog_External_Id__c | Identifies the source catalog from Akeneo PIM |
| ProductCategory | Akeneo_Category_External_Id__c | Identifies each unique source category |
| ProductCategoryProduct | Akeneo_Category_Product_External_Id__c | Identifies each unique product-category assignment |
ProductCatalog
This screenshot displays the required Text (255) custom field on the ProductCatalog object, with the Unique and External ID checkboxes strictly enabled.
ProductCategory
This screenshot shows the setup of the Akeneo_Category_External_Id__c field, ensuring unique records enforcement during data synchronization.
ProductCategoryProduct
This screenshot illustrates the configuration of the product assignment External ID field, mandatory for mapping standard relationships.
Permissions & Security
The packaged Akeneo Connector permission set only grants access to Akeneo custom objects by default. It does not automatically grant access to Salesforce standard objects or the new custom fields you create.
- You must manually grant the synchronization user (the user account used by the connector to run transfers) Read/Write access and Field-Level Security (FLS) on the standard objects listed above and on the three newly created external ID fields.
- The connector's built-in readiness check only verifies that the fields exist, not their field-level security. A passing readiness check does not guarantee that the sync user has proper access.
Configuration & Activation Steps
- Ensure all object and external ID field prerequisites above are complete and deployed
- Open the Akeneo Connector Configuration (either via the App Homepage or via Salesforce Setup > Custom Metadata Types > Akeneo Connector Configuration > Manage Records)
- Open your main Akeneo Connector Configuration record
- Locate the Category Target Mode field
- Change the value from Akeneo Custom Objects to Standard
- Click Save
Important Deployment Note
Saving a target-mode change deploys custom metadata asynchronously. Always wait for the metadata deployment to completely finish before attempting to run a data transfer.
Data Mapping Reference
When Standard mode is active, the connector automatically routes Akeneo PIM data to Salesforce fields based on this mapping logic:
- Root Category Code ➔ ProductCatalog.Akeneo_Catalog_External_Id__c (Identifies the source catalog)
- Category Code ➔ ProductCategory.Akeneo_Category_External_Id__c (Stable category identity for upserts)
- Category Label ➔ ProductCategory.Name (Falls back to the category code if no label is available in PIM)
- Parent Category ➔ ProductCategory.ParentCategoryId (Rebuilds the catalog hierarchy)
- Product Assignment ➔ ProductCategoryProduct (Links standard Product2 records to ProductCategory records)
- Assignment Identity ➔ ProductCategoryProduct.Akeneo_Category_Product_External_Id__c (Stable identity for assignment upserts)
Validation Strategy
Before scaling up to your production catalog, always run a small test transfer with a highly restricted scope (e.g., a short test hierarchy such as Home > Shoes > Running Shoes).
Verify that the ProductCatalog, ProductCategory, and ProductCategoryProduct records are created and linked correctly in Salesforce before performing full-scale bulk synchronizations.