SKUs and UPCs on Product Detail Pages

Our source catalog, Catalyst, works by matching UPCs in your POS export file and then displays those corresponding products to your Shopify catalog for your customers to shop online. Catalyst matches products based on UPCs, rather than SKUs.  

If you’re not sure what the difference is between a UPC and a SKU, we recommend checking out this guide first. Some stores choose to display product information differently on the PDPs (product description pages) of their online catalog and/or order confirmations.. Different options include

1. UPC only
2. SKU only
3. Both UPC and SKU 
4. No UPC or SKU callout

Depending on what type of display type you choose for your site, there may come a time where you notice a SKU discrepancy on the PDP or on an order confirmation. First note that the Catalyst system creates matches based on UPC, not SKU. In most occurrences, the matched UPC is correct but the SKU displayed isn’t. Below are the steps we recommend you first check to verify no errors are taking place:

1. Check your POS file - Search your POS export file for that SKU. A common issue is that a single SKU is being used multiple times in the POS file relating to multiple different UPCs.
2. Update your POS - If that SKU is used multiple times relating to multiple UPCs, update your POS to a unique SKU that correctly corresponds to individual UPCs.
3. Run an exported POS file - Whether you’re on an integration or you manually upload your export file through Exavault, verify your updated POS file information is set up to run through Catalyst.

After running through the above steps, please wait up to 48 hours for updates to occur on the site. If updates still don’t take place on your site, or there’s a true UPC mismatch error, please reach out to your Marketing Specialist and we’ll be happy to help!