Amazon migration best practice: Creating offers for existing Amazon items

This best practice shows you how to create offers for existing Amazon items.

If you only want to offer items that already exist on Amazon, you do not need to create a product catalogue beforehand. You can directly create an offer catalogue. The offer is linked to the existing product page on Amazon via the item’s ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number).

1. Prerequisites for the variation in PlentyONE

Before you can transfer an offer for an existing item to Amazon, you have to configure certain settings for the relevant variation and the item in PlentyONE.

1.1. Variation settings

Go to Item » Items » [Open variation] and configure the following settings:

  • Variation availability:

    • Activate (toggle_on) the variation in the Availability and visibility section.

    • Add the option Web API and the desired Amazon referrer in the Sales channels section.

  • Stock: Make sure there is a positive Net stock for the variation under Stock.
    Note: Offers without positive stock are not displayed as active by Amazon.

  • ASIN/EAN: Add the ASIN or EAN of the Amazon item in the ASIN/ePID/MOIN section.
    Note: The ASIN or EAN are the basis for linking the offer to an existing item on Amazon.

  • SKU: Make sure that a unique, Amazon-specific SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) is defined in the SKU section.
    Note: If no Amazon-specific SKU is defined for an item, a SKU is automatically generated when the offer is created. The generation is based on the SKU rule that you have defined in the offer catalogue for the MFN SKU base or FBA SKU base fields (e.g. _mfn, _afn).

1.2. Item settings

Go to Item » Items » [Open item] and carry out the following setting for the item to which the variation belongs:

  • Amazon product type: In the Amazon section, select the option PRODUCT (Offer) from the drop-down list Product type.
    Note: If you want to export additional product data, select the appropriate product type for the item from the Product type drop-down list instead.
    Important: The old product types were automatically migrated to the new product types. As long as you’re not exclusively using the catalogue export for Amazon yet, also select the appropriate product type in the drop-down list Product type (Deprecated).

Note: If the Product type and Product type (Deprecated) drop-down lists are not visible in the item view, this may be due to your customised MyView settings. Switch to the Default View to make both drop-down lists visible.

2. Configuring the offer catalogue

If you create an offer catalogue for existing Amazon items, certain settings are required. In this chapter you will learn how to create an offer catalogue and which settings you need to configure to link your offer to an existing Amazon item.

2.1. Creating an offer catalogue

First, create an offer catalogue for Amazon. To simplify the creation of new catalogues, you can now create Channel maps for Amazon. With Channel maps, you can create cross-category mappings for a marketplace and apply them to catalogues afterwards. All linked catalogues automatically inherit the mapping from the Channel map. This will save you a lot of time as you don’t need to carry out the mappings for each catalogue.
You can find more information on how to create Channel maps in the Channel maps section.

Creating a catalogue:

  1. Go to Data » Catalogues.

  2. Click on Create catalogue (add).

  3. Enter a name for the catalogue.

  4. In the drop-down list Marketplace, select the option Amazon.

  5. In the drop-down list Export type, select the option Listing.

  6. In the drop-down list Amazon Account, select the Amazon account for which the catalogue is to be created.

  7. In the drop-down list Sales Channel, select the Amazon platform.

  8. In the drop-down list Category, select Offer.

  9. Save () the settings.
    → The catalogue is created.
    → The catalogue is opened for editing.

Other catalogue settings

Other catalogue settings are optional. Once you carried out the settings described on this page, your catalogue is automatically exported to Amazon. That means you can ignore the catalogue settings for Format settings, Export settings and Download settings.

The Format settings, Export settings, and Download settings allow you to create a file with the variation data contained in the catalogue. However, this file does not contain information about whether the data export to Amazon was successful.

You should not change the format in the catalogue’s Format settings. To ensure that the export to the sales channel works, all required settings are already configured when you create a catalogue. If you change the settings, errors might occur during the export.
Note: Product catalogues (Product TYPE Product) are activated for all Amazon accounts by default.

2.2. Mapping data fields in the catalogue

After you have created an offer catalogue, map the Amazon data fields to item data saved in PlentyONE. In this chapter you will learn which fields are mandatory for mapping and what particularities apply for Amazon to link your offer to an existing Amazon item.

2.2.1. Mandatory fields in the offer catalogue

To create an offer for existing Amazon items, you must map the following Amazon data fields to item data saved in PlentyONE:

Table 1. Mandatory fields in the offer catalogue for existing Amazon items
Sales channel field Mandatory? Explanation

  • merchant_suggested_asin
    or

  • externally_assigned_product_identifier

yes

The offer is linked to the existing Amazon item via a unique identifier. For this, you must map one of the following attributes in the offer catalogue:

  • merchant_suggested_asin: Enter the ASIN of the Amazon item for which you want to create an offer.
    Note: This method is recommended.

  • externally_assigned_product_identifier: Alternatively, you can use another external identifier such as the EAN or the barcode to identify the Amazon item.

condition_type

yes

The item’s condition, for example New or Used - As new.

purchasable_offer

yes

A group of data fields for price information when you are using Merchant Fulfillment Network (MFN).

purchasable_offer_FBA

yes

A group of data fields for price information when you are using Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA).

purchasable_offer_MFN_B2B

yes

A group of data fields for price information for business customers when you are using Merchant Fulfillment Network (MFN).
Note: This field is only visible if your seller account for Amazon Business is activated for the corresponding sales channel (e.g. Amazon.de).

purchasable_offer_FBA_B2B

yes

A group of data fields for price information for business customers when you are using Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA).
Note: This field is only visible if your seller account for Amazon Business is activated for the corresponding sales channel (e.g. Amazon.de).

merchant_shipping_group

conditionally required

The shipping cost group that you created in Seller Central. This field is required if you are using Merchant Fulfillment Network (MFN). The available options are specific to your Seller ID and are regularly retrieved by Amazon.

2.2.2. Mapping price details

Use the data field group purchasable_offer in the Amazon offer catalogue to define the target group and price details. The purchasable_offer data field group is contained in four variations within the offer catalogue:

  • purchasable_offer

  • purchasable_offer_fba

  • purchasable_offer_mfn_b2b

  • purchasable_offer_fba_b2b

This list shows the most important data fields in each group:

  • Audience: Via the data field Audience, you can define the target group to which the price should apply. You can select these values for the complex mapping:

    • Amazon Business (B2B) = Offer for Amazon Business customers (B2B)
      Note: Use this value for the data fields purchasable_offer_mfn_b2b and purchasable_offer_fba_b2b.
      Tip: We recommend using an Own value with the value B2B for the complex mapping.

    • Sell on Amazon = Offer for all customers on Amazon
      Use this value for the data fields purchasable_offer and purchasable_offer_fba.
      Tip: We recommend using an Own value with the value ALL for the complex mapping.

  • Currency: The currency for your price.
    Note: For the sales channel Amazon.de, the standard currency is EUR.

  • Your Price The regular sales price of the item.

  • Sale Price: The temporary offer price of the item.
    Important: If you enter a Sale Price, the following two fields are mandatory:

    • Sale Start Date: The start date from which the offer price is valid.

    • Sale End Date: The end date until which the offer price is valid.

3. Further important settings

In addition to the variation settings and the offer catalogue configuration, further settings are required to transfer the offer for an existing Amazon item:

  • Price update: To automatically update prices for offers, you must go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings » [Open account] » Tab: Item settings and select the option 15 minutes or Hourly for Price changes.

  • Stock update: To automatically update stock for offers, you must go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings » [Open account] » Tab: Item settings and select the option 15 minutes or Hourly for Stock changes.

  • Export filter: Check regularly whether the export filters (e.g. for item availability, flags and tags) configured under Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings » [Open account] » Tab: Item settings are still correct.

  • batteries_included: Make sure that you have mapped the batteries_included data field if it is relevant for your item. In many product categories, this data field is required by law.
    Tip: If none of your items include batteries, select No under Export as for the batteries_included data field and assign an Own value with the value false to the field.

4. FAQ on offers for existing Amazon items

4.1. Offer catalogue

How do I find the ASIN for an Amazon item?

There are two ways to find out the ASIN for an Amazon item:

  1. Via the Amazon product page

    • The ASIN is contained in the URL of the Amazon product page.

      • Open the desired item on Amazon.

      • Take a look at the URL in the address bar of your browser. The ASIN is a ten-digit, alphanumeric character string.
        Example (schematic): In the URL https://www.amazon.de/Product-title-for-Orientation/dp/B0CQRD78P7/ref=... the ASIN is B0CQRD78P7.

  2. Via the Amazon Seller Central

    • You can search for items in Amazon Seller Central via Catalogue » Add product. In the results, you will also find the corresponding ASIN for the item.