Understand SKUs and Product Identity
Use consistent organization SKUs to connect products across Research, Quotation, Testing, Orders, and Returns.
Before you begin
Review the organization’s existing product identifiers before adding or importing records. A SKU should identify the intended sellable item or variation consistently. Agree on capitalization, separators, parent-child conventions, and whether identifiers come from a connected commerce system or an internal catalog.
How it works
CapitalOS uses organization-scoped SKU identity to connect product information across modules. Research validates an opportunity, Quotation adds sourcing economics, Testing combines performance evidence, Products provides the shared catalog view, Orders identifies purchased line items, and Returns attributes outcomes back to products.
Parent and child relationships keep variations grouped while preserving variation-level identifiers and data. Matching succeeds only when the available source identifier can be resolved to the organization’s product identity.
Step-by-step
- Search Products and the relevant workflow module for the proposed SKU.
- Confirm whether the item already exists as a parent, child variation, or imported record.
- Choose the stable identifier that will be used by the organization and connected sources.
- Add the product manually or map the identifier during a supported import.
- For variations, create or confirm the parent relationship and keep a distinct SKU for each sellable child.
- Add module-specific information without changing the shared identity unnecessarily.
- Review matching results when importing orders, returns, advertising evidence, or workbook data.
- Resolve duplicates and unmatched values before relying on aggregate product analytics.
Check your result
Searching the SKU returns one intended product identity and its expected variations. Research, Quotation, Testing, Products, Orders, and Returns show related information against the same identifier where data exists. Imports no longer report the SKU as missing or ambiguous.
Common problems
The same item appears twice: compare whitespace, capitalization, separators, and source identifiers. Do not merge or remove records without confirming which one owns linked data.
A return or order is unmatched: verify the line-item SKU from the source and the organization registry rather than matching only by product name.
A variation appears as a separate product: confirm its parent relationship and that both parent and child identities are represented correctly.
Testing evidence is missing: product identity may be incomplete across commerce and advertising sources even when the product exists in the catalog.
Permissions and data notes
Product identity is scoped to the organization and can affect analytics, imports, workflow transitions, and linked records. Treat bulk identifier changes as high-impact data work. Preview and validate workbook mappings, and preserve source identifiers needed for synchronization or attribution.