Manage inventory for the same SKUs accross multiple Amazon marketplaces

Using the same SKU for the same product across different Amazon marketplaces is a convenient way to manage the inventory. However, the settings can get more complicated for products that are sold in different marketplaces within the same Amazon region. Unexpected details can arise if each marketplace uses different warehouses and product quantities across different locations.

Today we explore how to keep the Seller Central items sync with Shopify separately even if they are located in the same region.
Related: Selling on multiple Amazon marketplaces

Each product in an Amazon store has two identifiers:

• An ASIN is a product identifier from the Amazon catalog. It is the same for all sellers across the same Amazon region. For example, products have the same ASIN on Amazon DE and Amazon FR (both belong to Amazon Europe), while Amazon DE and Amazon US will have different ASINs (the US marketplace is part of Amazon North America).
• An SKU that is unique to an individual store. The same product (ASIN) can have the same or different SKU on multiple Amazon marketplaces or regions.

Amazon will keep the quantities linked across different marketplace stores depending on two factors:

• Products are in the same Amazon region (so they have the same ASINs).
• The SKU is the same. Sellers have control over this, so you can choose to have them be the same or different.

So, if you use the same SKUs for the same products on multiple marketplaces, Amazon will automatically sync inventories for these products.

How to check if Amazon products are linked with each other

Here are the quick steps to verify if the items across different Amazon marketplaces are linked:

1. Note the available stock for the same item SKU on different marketplaces.
2. Change the stock on a single marketplace.
3. Note the stock change on the rest of the marketplaces.

If the stock changes on the rest of the marketplaces, that means they are connected. To prevent this, you can pick a different SKU for each Amazon marketplace and keep the inventories separate for each location.

How to separate inventories through Salestio in Shopify

Salestio uses the Shopify SKU with default settings. This means that sending the same Shopify item to multiple Amazon marketplaces will result in their inventories being synced.

To prevent this, products should have different SKUs in Shopify before they are sent to Amazon. This can be achieved in different ways depending on the setup in Shopify:

1. Separate product pages within one Shopify store
2. Separate Shopify stores

We will take a look at each case in more detail below.

Before setting up, make sure that all the target marketplaces are connected. Check the Accounts tab and see what countries are displayed:

If some marketplaces are missing or extra are selected, you can change that. Click on the account in the list and enable the needed checkboxes. Save the settings and allow permissions on the new page to apply.

Separate product pages within one Shopify store

If the products are sent to all marketplaces from the same store, you can create multiple Shopify products that correspond to each marketplace. Add a unique SKU for each copy of the product and add them to the corresponding Selling Lists for each marketplace.

Keep in mind that product SKUs have to stay unique to identify them with the corresponding Amazon marketplace. For example, if a product in a UK store has an SKU “ABC-1245”, then the same product in the Italy store can use “ABC-1245-IT”. This way, you can add a different quantity for each of the products in Shopify.

When adding a Selling List in Salestio, you can select the target Amazon account and marketplace. To cover different marketplaces from the account, create multiple Selling Lists and pick the corresponding country for each one:

After the Selling Lists are created, add the corresponding items to each one. So from the example earlier, the SKU “ABC-1245” will go to the Selling List for the Amazon UK marketplace, while “ABC-1245-IT” will go to the Italy Selling List.

Select the two (or more) Selling Lists with products added and run the “Send to Amazon” action. Salestio will publish the items with different SKUs for each marketplace, and their quantities will be updated according to the corresponding Shopify SKU.

Separate Shopify stores

In the case of multiple Shopify stores, you don’t need to create multiple product pages for the same product, but keep a different SKU in each store. Selling Lists should be added for each marketplace separately, except that each Selling List will be located in its own Shopify store for the corresponding Amazon marketplace. So a German Shopify store will only have a Selling List for Amazon Germany marketplace, an Italian Shopify store will have an Amazon Italy list, and so on.

Using SKU Mapping will help you to connect both marketplaces to each store if you want the SKUs to stay the same across different Shopify stores.

• One connected Amazon account can remain unchanged. For example, leave the Amazon DE account without a mapping in the Shopify DE store.
• Add an SKU mapping for the other stores. For example, Amazon UK and Amazon IT accounts in Shopify UK and Shopify IT stores respectively. Add the mapping in Salestio > Settings > Amazon account > SKU mapping section.

The mapping should contain Shopify SKUs in the first column and altered Amazon SKUs in the second column. The same naming logic for Amazon SKUs can apply (add a country code at the end of the SKU). For a sample SKU “ABC-1245”, an example line from mappings for each store can look like this:

• Shopify German store: no mapping
• Shopify UK store: ABC-1245 | ABC-1245-UK
• Shopify Italy store: ABC-1245 | ABC-1245-IT

Learn more about configuring SKU Mappings in this article.

Compile the CSV mapping files for each Shopify store that needs it and add them to Salestio settings. Proceed to make a Selling List in each store and remember to pick the correct Amazon marketplace for each Selling List. Add the products and run Send to Amazon. Salestio will apply the corresponding quantity to each Amazon marketplace according to the connected Shopify stores.

Presenting products across different regions goes a long way in reaching a wide circle. Salestio provides the tools to deal with multiple inventories and synchronize them with multiple Amazon marketplaces. The app is available on the Shopify App Store.