An item is created as a duplicate when exporting from PlentyONE to Shopify if the item was previously manually created directly in Shopify and there is no internal system linkage (mapping) between the variants.

Cause of the duplicate item creation

PlentyONE uses an internal database linkage (plenty_shopify_variants) for synchronising items with Shopify, which assigns PlentyONE variant IDs to the respective Shopify variant IDs.

If an item is manually created in Shopify, this system linkage is missing. During the automatic item export, PlentyONE does not subsequently link solely via the SKU. Since the system cannot find the variant in its own assignment register, it creates the item anew in Shopify, which leads to two identical items with the same SKU.

Step-by-step guide to resolve the issue

Procedure for existing items in Shopify

1. Delete the manually created and unlinked item in the Shopify backend.

2. If items have been created in Shopify and are to be merged with PlentyONE, first perform an item import from Shopify to PlentyONE. This will correctly establish the internal linkage between both systems.

3. If you then switch item management to PlentyONE, adjust the data direction in the configuration assistant accordingly.

Switch item management to PlentyONE

1. Navigate in your PlentyONE system to: Setup » Assistants » Omni-Channel.

2. Open the assistant Shopify Configuration.

3. In the step Item Management, ensure that the desired data direction (e.g. From PlentyONE to Shopify) is active.

4. Complete the assistant.

Note: In future, create items exclusively in your leading system (PlentyONE) and leave the creation in Shopify to the automatic export process of the Shopify app.