Keeping your SKUs clean: the key to reliable syncing

If something is not syncing the way you expect, duplicate or missing SKUs are the most common cause. This short guide explains why, and how to keep them clean.

Why SKUs matter so much

SyncTec matches the same product across your source and destination stores using each item's SKU, the unique code on a product variant. This is how it knows that your Blue T-Shirt / Medium is the source store's Blue T-Shirt / Medium.

For that to work, every SKU must be unique within a store. If two different products or variants share the same SKU, SyncTec cannot tell which one you mean, so stock and updates can go to the wrong product, or not sync at all.

Products with no SKU are skipped

Products without any SKU are simply skipped by SyncTec, so they will not appear in the catalog or sync. If a product is missing, the first thing to check is that every variant has a SKU.

How you will know if there is a problem

SyncTec checks for duplicate SKUs when your store is set up. If it finds any, it lets you know through your notifications (the bell in the top bar) and by email, so you are aware there is something to clean up.

How to fix duplicates

Duplicates are fixed in your Shopify admin, not inside SyncTec:

1. In Shopify, find the products or variants that share a SKU.

2. Decide which product should keep that SKU.

3. Give the others a new, unique SKU, or clear the SKU on any item that should not sync.

4. That is it; SyncTec picks up the corrected SKUs going forward.

Best practices

• Give every product variant a unique SKU before syncing or sharing it
• Use a consistent format — SKUs are matched exactly, so ABC-123 and abc 123 are treated as different
• Fix duplicates early — it is much easier before you have synced hundreds of products

Getting help

• Email: support@synctec.io
• Contact us: use the Contact Us link in your dashboard