Amazon listing parent and child variant merging and splitting full tutorial [illustration]

Merging and splitting variants are operations that we often use in operations. Mastering this operation will be more conducive to adjusting your layout and playing methods, and there are many benefits. For example, merging products of the same purpose can better collect all the comments and QA of the sub-bodies you merged, so that customers can search for your keywords and see your listings, and see which comments are good-looking. Splitting, for example, is to separate the sub-listings that were previously merged and managed from the parent body. The advantage of doing this is that, for example, if your corresponding sub-body (listing has received many negative reviews or performs very poorly), then you need to separate it out, so that the comments of all the sub-bodies under the parent body that you merged before are in a better state.

Generally speaking, merging and splitting sub-bodies will not have much impact on the weight of your listings. The merger is just for your convenience of management, and they are displayed independently. If the German site is merged, one of your sub-bodies will be ranked high, and the other merged ones will be synchronized to one ranking (this is different from other sites, but Amazon may also fix this small bug. On other sites, your sub-body ranking is what it is, and it will not be synchronized to the top listing ranking under your parent body). Of course, there are many ways to merge and split. Today I will introduce one of them to you, which is operated and implemented through templates.

Because the templates for each site and internal information may be different, and the items required to be filled in may also be different, the basic operation methods are still similar.

First, let’s talk about how to merge individual products into parent and child products? (Use batch table merging: batch template for categories with variants. Next, I will use the Canadian site to show you how to do it.)

Before merging two or more different ASINs into the same listing, it is recommended to contact Amazon customer service (open a case), explain the situation to him, see what he recommends, and then merge the listings according to the actual situation. (You can directly ask the customer service to help you download the template of the variant to be merged in the case, the recommended_browse_nodes number of the corresponding node classification, and the columns required to be filled in the parent and child tables. The customer service will send you an email in the form of an email according to your requirements, telling you what to fill in and how to operate.) If you think it is not necessary, just follow the rookie to operate together:

1) Log in to your Amazon backend and switch the language to "Chinese".

2) View inventory - upload products in batches - download inventory files (as shown below)

In the Download Inventory File page of this bulk upload product interface, see the first step:

① Select the detailed category of the listing you want to merge in the list of all product categories. You can also enter keywords in the search box to search for categories. After finding them, click Select and go to Step 2: Select the template type.

Note: If you are not sure about the category of your product, you can refer to one of the corresponding listings in your background, click Edit, and look at the first item Vital Info - Recommended Browse Nodes (here is your product category node), and make your selection accordingly.

After selecting the last node, click "Select", and the node of the category template you selected will appear below this selection box.

② Then, in the second step, select "Advanced" and "Generate Template" on the right (as shown below)

③The dialog box that appears is as shown below. Select "Save File" - "OK"

After a while, there will be a prompt in the lower right corner when the download is complete, or in the upper right corner. Select "Open Folder" to find the corresponding downloaded template.

After finding the corresponding template, open the document. In the lower left corner of the Excel document, click on the "Template" table. This is the table we need to fill in. The rest tells you what type of content to fill in:

Let's take a look at the contents of the table (different sites and categories are different, but the information to be filled in is basically the same). If you drag the scroll bar at the bottom to the right, many more columns will appear, so I won't take screenshots of them one by one. It's roughly as shown below:

At this point, the above operations such as downloading templates are completed. Then, we will answer the following questions in two situations:

Case 1 : Method to merge 2 or more variants into a new parent (there is no parent before the merge):

We explain the contents of the form separately (some main items to be filled in):

(Note: We usually take the first row of the table as the parent body, and fill in the child bodies below. The parent body is actually a virtual product, and the child body refers to the listings you want to merge together, each of which is a child body)

①feed_product_type:

This is the product type. You can directly click on the table cell below. There is only one corresponding type in it.

Parent: Click to select;

Sub-bodies: Select as many rows and click as many as there are children. They are all of the same type as the parent body.

②item_sku：

This is the sku of the corresponding listing. It can be found in the background listing interface. Each listing has a unique one, which is on the left side opposite the ASIN code.

Parent: Since there is no parent yet, you can define one here. For example, add "main" after the product name to distinguish the sku of other listings. For example: CCmain.

Sub-body: The SKU of the sub-body corresponds to the listing in the background, where you can copy and paste it.

③ brand_name:

This is to fill in the brand name on your corresponding listing. Generally, only sub-entities with the same brand name can be merged together. (The brand names of the parent and sub-entities must be the same for the merger to be successful)

Parent: Fill in the same brand name as the child.

Sub-body: Fill in the corresponding brand name.

④ item_name:

This is to fill in the corresponding listing title and copy and paste.

Parent: Because it is newly created, we usually copy the title of one of the child bodies, delete the words with color, size or model, and then paste it here.

Sub-body: Copy the title of the corresponding sub-body and paste it here.

⑤ manufacturer：

This is to fill in the manufacturer, fill it in according to the one you created in the sub-body. Generally, we have brand registration, and our manufacturer and brand name are filled in the same. Generally, sub-bodies with the same brand name can be merged together.

Parent body: Fill in the same as the child body here.

Sub-body: The corresponding manufacturer name filled in the background.

⑥ external_product_id_type：

This can be understood as: select a method you want to use to merge sub-bodies, and what code to use for the combination. For example: we often use the corresponding ASIN, UPC. Click the cell below to have a selection, select one of them, and fill in the corresponding code of the corresponding listing. It is generally recommended to use the ASIN code, because for some categories, after filling in the UPC code in the previous column, scientific notation will appear, and the system may not be able to recognize it, so it is generally not used. The corresponding ASIN code can be seen in the "Inventory"-"Manage Inventory" interface in your background.

Parent body: Since you are just about to create it, you don’t need to select it, and you don’t need to fill in the code in the corresponding column in front.

Sub-body: Whatever type of code you choose in this column, you should fill in the corresponding listing code in the corresponding row in the previous column.

⑦external_product_id:

The row corresponding to this column is where you fill in the type of code you selected in step ⑥, and then fill in the corresponding code of the corresponding listing, such as ASIN.

Parent: Since you are just about to create it, you don’t need to fill it in.

Subbody: In step 6, if you select ASIN, for example, you should fill in the corresponding ASIN code in the row of the listing in this column.

⑧ recommended_browse_nodes：

This is to fill in the recommended browsing node code. After you create a listing, you can click on any listing editing interface you want to merge, and you can see it under the title. Copy and paste the string of numbers. For the same category node, this string of numbers is the same.

Parent: Fill in the same node code as the child.

Sub-body: Fill in the corresponding recommended browsing node code, which is generally a 10-digit pure digital combination.

Next, let’s look at the following screenshot:

⑨ variation_theme:

This is the theme for filling in the variation, for example: the variation you want to combine is color, size, etc. You can select it by clicking the cell on the corresponding column. For example, the following uses color as the variation:

Parent: Select Color

Subbody: Select Color

⑩parent_child:

This is to determine who is the parent and who is the child. You can select by clicking on the cell in the corresponding column. The options are parent and child.

Parent: Select parent

Child: Select child

⑾parent_sku:

Here is to fill in the corresponding parent SKU. It is used to determine the relationship. So at the beginning, for example, the name of the new SKU I plan to create is CCmain. The corresponding parent and child columns are filled in CCmain. As shown above.

Parent: No need to fill in.

Child body: Fill in the word or phrase corresponding to the item_sku in step ② of the parent body row.

⑿relationship_type:

This is used to agree on the type of relationship between them. Click and you will have two options: Accessory and Variation. If they are of the same type but different colors, we choose Variation. If they are accessories, you choose Accessory. Generally, Variation is chosen.

Parent: Select Variation

Subbody: Select Variation

⒀update_delete:

This has 3 options: Update, PartialUpdate, and delete.

Parent: Select Update (because this parent is the one you want to create and it did not exist before)

Sub-body: Select PartialUpdate (because this sub-body is your existing listing)

⒁product_description:

This is for filling in the content of your product details description (reflected in the Product Description part corresponding to your comment on the front end). You can directly copy and paste this content in the corresponding listing in the Amazon backend, edit - Description here.

Parent body: This field can be left blank. You can also copy the content of one of the child bodies.

Sub-body: As mentioned above, copy the corresponding listing’s Description in the background and paste it here.

⒂Bullet Point:

This is for filling in the 5-point description corresponding to your product (reflected in the 5-line description part on the right side of the picture below the front-end title). You can directly copy and paste this content in the corresponding listing in the Amazon backend, edit - description in the bullet-point here.

Parent body: This field can be left blank. You can also copy the content of one of the child bodies.

Sub-body: As mentioned above, copy the bullet-point of the corresponding listing in the background and paste it here.

⒃Size_name:

This is used to fill in the corresponding size name, which can be found in the corresponding listing editor.

● If you selected Size in the previous variation_theme, you need to fill in this column. The content you fill in is the same as your backend

The Size in Vital Info of the listing editor should be consistent. You can define this when you create the listing. If the sub-entities you want to merge are the same, the merge may not succeed. It is recommended to select this when creating the listing and add the size after it, such as **01, **02, to distinguish them.

● If Color is selected as the previous variation_theme, then you do not need to fill in the corresponding field in this column.

Parent: No need to fill in.

Sub-body: If the previously selected variation theme is Size, then copy and paste the corresponding content as described above. If the previously selected variation theme is Color, then this column does not need to be filled in.

⒄Size_map:

This is used to fill in the corresponding size information, which can be found in the corresponding listing editor.

● If you selected Size in the previous variation_theme, you need to fill in the corresponding column. The content filled in must be consistent with the Size_map filled in the Vital Info in the corresponding listing editor in your backend.

● If Color is selected as the previous variation_theme, then you do not need to fill in the corresponding field in this column.

Parent: No need to fill in.

Sub-body: If the previously selected variation theme is Size, then copy and paste the corresponding content as described above. If the previously selected variation theme is Color, then this column does not need to be filled in.

⒅color_name:

This is used to fill in the corresponding color name, which can be found in the corresponding listing editor.

● If you selected Color in the previous variation_theme, you need to fill in this column. The content filled in should be consistent with the Color filled in the Vital Info in the corresponding listing editor in the backend. You can define this when you create the listing. If this is the same in the sub-body you want to merge, the merge may not be successful. It is recommended to select this when creating the listing and add, for example: **01, **02 after it to distinguish.

● If Size is selected in the previous variation_theme, then you do not need to fill in the corresponding field in this column.

Parent: No need to fill in.

Sub-body: If the previously selected variation theme is Color, then copy and paste the corresponding content as described above. If the previously selected variation theme is Size, then this column does not need to be filled in.

⒆color_map:

This is used to fill in the corresponding color information, which can be found in the corresponding listing editor.

● If you selected Color in the previous variation_theme, you need to fill in the corresponding column. The content filled in must be consistent with the Color_map filled in the Vital Info in the corresponding listing editor in your backend.

● If Size is selected in the previous variation_theme, then you do not need to fill in the corresponding field in this column.

Parent: No need to fill in.

Sub-body: If the previously selected variation theme is Color, then copy and paste the corresponding content as described above. If the previously selected variation theme is Size, then this column does not need to be filled in.

Case 2: Method to merge 2 or more variants into an old parent (a parent has been created before the merge):

The method is basically the same as in case 1.

The following points should be noted:

① item_sku：

This is the sku of the corresponding listing. It can be found in the background listing interface. Each listing has a unique one, which is on the left side opposite the ASIN code.

Parent body: Because the parent body has been created before, the corresponding parent body SKU needs to be copied.

Sub-body: The SKU of the sub-body corresponds to the listing in the background, where you can copy and paste it.

② item_name：

This is to fill in the corresponding listing title and copy and paste.

Parent body: Since it already exists, just click on the background parent body and copy the title over.

Sub-body: Copy the title of the corresponding sub-body and paste it here.

③ external_product_id_type：

This can be understood as: select a method you want to use to merge sub-bodies, and what code to use for the combination. For example: we often use the corresponding ASIN, UPC. Click the cell below to have a selection, select one of them, and fill in the corresponding code of the corresponding listing. It is generally recommended to use the ASIN code, because for some categories, after filling in the UPC code in the previous column, scientific notation will appear, and the system may not be able to recognize it, so it is generally not used. The corresponding ASIN code can be seen in the "Inventory"-"Manage Inventory" interface in your background.

Parent body: Since the parent body already exists, there will be a corresponding ASIN. The code in the corresponding column in front is filled in with the ASIN code corresponding to the parent body in the background.

Sub-body: It is recommended to select the ASIN code in this column. You just fill in the ASIN number of the corresponding listing in the corresponding row of the previous column.

④ update_delete:

This has three options: Update, PartialUpdate, and delete.

Parent: Select PartialUpdate (because this parent already exists, it is not a big problem if you choose Update. It is recommended to select PartialUpdate)

Sub-body: Select PartialUpdate (because this sub-body is your existing listing)

It looks complicated: if we summarize it briefly, we will find that it is not difficult (practice makes perfect, merge more than 2 times, you will be familiar with it, and you can quickly complete the merger of more listings)! Everyone should pay attention to the content filled in the columns I screenshot, and the detailed explanation is above.

The following columns are generally required:

(For the following two pairs, fill in the corresponding one depending on which variant type you selected earlier)

The other columns are optional.

Important: Fill in the corresponding information and don't forget to save it.

Save can be saved in the following 2 formats:

①Directly save the downloaded document format.

②Save as a (tab-delimited) TXT document.

It is generally recommended to use the original Excel format, because if the site is in German, Japanese or other languages, saving it as a TXT document will result in garbled characters after uploading.

Check and upload files:

Enter the backend Inventory - Add Products via Upload - Check and Upload your Inventory File - Upload File - Inventory Files for non-Media Categories - Click Browse (select "the table you saved") - Upload.

Then you can see (monitor upload status) on the same interface:

①The first step:

First check the document you want to merge. Even if there are errors in this check, it will not synchronize or change anything in your current listings. The system will check for errors or missing entries. You can see it based on the check results. (As shown below) Click "Browse" - find and select the Excel or TXT document you want to upload - click "Check Inventory File", and then check the results in the "Monitor Upload Status" interface (the process usually takes a few minutes)

The upload status may take several minutes. If the status is similar to the one below, with no errors, it means there are no obvious errors (some cases cannot be checked, such as color variants. If the Color_name column is the same between the sub-bodies, then it cannot be checked, and when you upload in the second step, one of them will not be merged).

If a screen similar to the one below appears, you need to find the problem accordingly. Go to "Download Inspection File Report" to check the corresponding errors, modify the corresponding things, and save. Then upload the inspection according to the above steps.

②Step 2:

If there are no errors in the above check, proceed to the second step, click "Browse" - find and select the Excel document or TXT document you want to upload - click "Upload", and then check the results in the "Monitor Upload Status" interface (the process usually takes a few minutes)

As a result, if you have gone through the first step of the check before uploading, the result is generally successful. If it is a special case, an error prompt will also appear.

After the upload is successful, check in Inventory - Manage Inventory to see if the child bodies to be merged are in the parent body. You can also confirm that the merge variants are successful.

You can also check on the frontend that all the separate listings (children) before the merge are under one parent, which means it is successful. This does not happen immediately, it takes some time (different sites have different times), and the merge and synchronization of the original reviews and Q&A information is not that fast. If not everything is integrated after a day, open a case and ask the customer service to help you check which reviews or Q&A are missing, or other situations.

Secondly, let's talk about how to split the child body from the parent body?

Splitting the parent-child variation relationship, that is, turning the child product into an independent product, requires a template update. If you delete the parent product on the Manage Inventory page, all parent-child product information will be deleted! Please operate with caution! (The table has a dedicated template - open a case and send it to you, or you can use the merged child, the downloaded table. Next, we will use the table that merges the child to the parent to explain)

1. First, find the product you want to remove the parent-child variation on the Manage Inventory page, and copy the SKU and ASIN information of the parent and child products.

Use the merge variant download table method demonstrated above: Inventory - Add Products via Upload - Download Template to download the batch template corresponding to the category of the product.

Case 1: Delete the parent product.

Open the downloaded form and fill in only the corresponding 5 columns.

①feed_product_type:

This is a table template you downloaded by category, so just click on the cell and select the specified category type;

②item_sku:

In the backend inventory - manage inventory interface, you can see the SKU corresponding to the parent you want to delete, which is on the left of the corresponding ASIN code. Copy the SKU code corresponding to the parent and paste it in the cell of the corresponding column.

③external_product_id:

Copy the ASIN code of the parent body you want to delete and paste it into the cell of the corresponding column.

④external_product_id_type:

The corresponding column selection type is "ASIN", and there is a selection when you click on the cell.

⑤Upate_delete:

Click the cell of the corresponding column, there are 3 options, select "Delete".

⑥Save the document.

Enter the backend Inventory - Add Products via Upload - Check and Upload your Inventory File - Upload File - Inventory Files for non-Media Categories - Click Browse (select "the table you saved") - Upload.

Then you can see (monitor upload status) on the same interface:

The status of the upload may take several minutes. If the status is similar to the following, without any errors, it means that the upload was successfully processed.

After the upload is successful, check in Inventory - Manage Inventory to see if the parent item has been deleted. You can also confirm that the parent item has been deleted.

You can also check on the front end that the child items that were previously under the same parent item are now independent listing items (the child items are no longer on the same page), which means it is successful.

Case 2: Separate the child body from the parent body.

① Refer to the method of deleting the parent product and delete the parent product first;

② Refer to the method of merging parent-child variants, and merge the child products you want to merge together into one parent product.

Someone said another method: follow the corresponding file downloaded from the backend. Save the table, then copy and paste the SKU, UPC, etc. of the variants that you don’t need to split into the table. You don’t need to copy the listing that needs to be split. After filling it out, upload it. The one that is not copied in will be split. (I haven’t tested this method, you can try it if you have the chance)

The other two methods for separating daughter bodies posted online are both wrong and have problems to varying degrees:

for example:

1. The operation is as shown below:

The result of this operation:

①The parent body is deleted;

②So the child body under the parent body is separated, and there is an extra child body to be filled in (in an unfinished state.)

2. The operation shown in the figure below: (The same operation as deleting the parent body, just replace it with the child body)

The result of this operation:

① Your sub-product will be deleted directly from the backend (that is, the listing is deleted)

②Your front desk is also deleted.

If such a problem occurs, you need to open a case in time and request restoration. You should provide the UPC code of the deleted listing.

Finally, let's talk about the benefits of variant merging:

1. Create a seed library for review and QA.

Simply put, it means increasing the number of reviews and QA of product comments (in all sub-bodies). In the early stage of product promotion, we will try every means to create reviews and QA for individual listings to make full preparations for later promotion. When we merge individual listings into one variant, Amazon will integrate the main interfaces of these products together, including the number of reviews and QA. In this way, your new product will not have zero reviews and QA.

2. Increase the click-through rate and conversion rate of listings and improve rankings.

Merging variants not only gives consumers more choices, but more importantly, it can extend consumers’ browsing time on the product page, increase their trust in the listing, and improve conversion rates!

Everything is a double-edged sword with two sides, so let's talk about its disadvantages.

Disadvantages of variant merging:

Sometimes sellers will receive emails from Amazon informing them that their listings have been merged with others. Of course, sellers are extremely unwilling to accept this because their hard-earned listings are gone and they have to compete with others for exposure and traffic, and the main picture description does not talk about their products at all.

Amazon currently has a loose management policy on merging variants. It is best to merge the same products. If the difference is too big, Amazon will easily track it down. Many sellers are also trying to merge variants, but they should pay attention to Amazon policies and feedback after the merger.

There is a voluntary way to merge variants. If the performance of a single listing is not good and affects the overall performance, you can choose to split the variants. I have taught you how to do it above. If there are any problems, please contact Amazon Seller Support in time to resolve them (open a case).

The above are purely personal opinions and operational experience. If there are any errors or inappropriateness, please give us your advice and suggestions. Thank you!