The variant synchronization supports you when you want to transfer matrix products and their variants to Shopify without errors. Shopify only recognizes variants if the structure in Xentral is complete and you follow a fixed sequence for the first transfer. Otherwise, individual products without a SKU or without properties are created in Shopify.
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Your Shopify integration is set up, see the article Adding Shopify.
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In the Articles workflow, the data types Master data (excl. prices and stocks) and Variants (excl. prices and stocks) are activated, and the Products feature is Active.
We recommend creating the matrix framework first. This gives you a stable structure for all matrix products.
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Open Matrix product via Smart Search.
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Click on + Create new, assign a designation for the group, for example Color, and save.
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For the group, click on Edit options and then on + New entry.
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Assign a name for the option, for example green. If needed, define a suffix for the product number, for example -gr. Repeat the step for all options.
Important
Option names (for example Color) and option values (for example green) must match exactly in Xentral and Shopify. Even a trailing space, for example "Size ", means that Shopify does not recognize the variants.
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Open the product master data via the path Sell > Products or via Smart Search and click on + Create new.
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Enter the header data. Enter a Manufacturer; Shopify requires it. Activate the option Matrix product and click on Save.
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In the tab Sales price, create a standard price. Without a sales price, the transfer of the matrix product fails.
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In the tab Matrix product, click on New group, and select your matrix framework and the matching options.
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Activate select all items and click on Create missing items. Carry out the settings, for example the product number suffix, and click on Save.
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Check whether all variants have a sales price.
The link to the shop in the online shop options is the criterion by which you find the products in the product assignment.
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In the matrix product, open Details > Online shop options and click on New entry.
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Select your Shopify integration and save.
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Switch to the tab Matrix product, select all variants, and open Bulk processing.
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Activate Stock item and Shop links and click on Next.
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In all rows, select the check box at Stock item and at your Shopify integration, and confirm twice with Next.
Caution
For the first synchronization, transfer only the matrix product first. Only when it has arrived in Shopify without errors do you transfer the variants. Variants without their matrix product lead to errors.
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In the product assignment, include the matrix product and one variant, for example via a filter condition on both product numbers, see the article Shopify: Assigning products.
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Open the journal via Automation > Journal and filter by your Shopify integration and the entity Articles.
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In the row of the matrix product, click on the icon for running again. Alternatively, open the matrix product and click on Synchronize products under Details > Online shop options.
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Wait until the journal displays the status successful for the matrix product.
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Extend the product assignment to include all variants.
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In the journal, select all variants and trigger their transfer again together. From here on, you no longer need a sequence.
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No longer offering the entire group: Set the matrix product to Product inactive in the online shop options.
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No longer offering a single variant: Set its stock to zero: Activate Remaining quantity (clearance), enter 0 as the Pseudo stock number, and activate Use pseudo stock number instead of real stock numbers in the Stock workflow. This switch applies to the entire integration. Alternatively, activate Lock active for the variant.
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Deleting: Only delete products that were created by mistake. If you want to delete the entire group, delete the matrix product and all variants. If variants remain without a matrix product, Shopify creates them as new individual products. You can delete individual variants as long as the matrix product remains.
Caution
For a variant, do not remove the assignment to the matrix product. This changes the product structure and leads to inconsistent data.