# How to set up parent/child channels for Amazon

This article explains how to set up an Amazon channel in Channable to display product variants in a drop-down menu on Amazon and in your Amazon inventory.

{% hint style="info" %}
If you’re selling both products with variants and products without variants, we strongly recommend you set up a separate (third) channel for the products without variants. You can follow our standard Amazon setup.
{% endhint %}

***

### Before you start

#### **You'll need**

* Valid [EAN/GTINs](https://helpcenter.channable.com/list-advertise/amazon/list-items-on-amazon/broken-reference) for your products
* A [Professional Amazon selling account](https://sell.amazon.com/pricing) (Required to sell on Amazon via channels)
* [Permission from Amazon to sell a certain item or category](https://sell.amazon.nl/en/productvermeldingen-guide#step2)

#### **Good to know**

* If all of your items have ASINs, you can send parent/child items from one channel instead of having to set up two. Follow our Amazon guide and [set up an **Offer only** Amazon channel](https://helpcenter.channable.com/list-advertise/amazon/how-to-set-up-an-amazon-channel#create-your-amazon-channel).
* Amazon processes data more slowly between 12:00–17:00 UTC. For best results, change your [schedule settings](https://app.gitbook.com/s/UAGSVlvcNsqEqVUgr0tD/getting-started/create-a-new-project/edit-your-project-schedule-settings) to run your channel outside this window. Runs that take longer than 2 hours will auto-stop and need to be restarted.
* We refer to product identifiers as "IDs" and "Item group IDs". These correspond to "SKU" and "Parent SKU" in Amazon's terminology.
* **Selling in multiple countries?** You’ll need to create a parent and child channel for each country.
* If your product isn’t already in the Amazon catalog, you must create a new product listing to add it.

## Step 1: Set up a Parent channel

The “Parent” product is the primary product to which child products (variations) belong. Follow the steps below to set up parent products.

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Create your Parent channel

1. Go to **Channels**, click **+ Create channel** and select Amazon V2.
2. Set up your channel settings:
   * For **Name**, choose a name for your channel (e.g. Parent UK).
   * For **Unique ID per item**, select the field to pull your product's group ID data (often item\_group\_id or parent\_id). This will be used as the Seller SKU for the parent in Amazon.
   * For **Amazon Country**, select the country to advertise your listings.
   * For **Listing requirement level**, select **Product only**.
   * For **Amazon error language**, select the language you’d like to receive error messages in.
3. Click **Continue**.
   {% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Categorize your products

1. Go to the **Categories** step.
2. Categorize your items.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Important:** AI Categorization can’t always categorize all of your products. If this happens, you’ll need to manually categorize remaining products.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Create rules

You need to group your items so only the parent products remain. To do this, your child products (variants of the main product) must include a field that ties them to the parent (e.g. `item_group_id`).

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** If your import doesn't have a suitable field for grouping, you'll need to [group your items yourself ](https://app.gitbook.com/s/u8whzIfip72Kvn3M1bsc/rules-bulk-edit-and-enrich/how-to-use-actions-then-in-rules/rule-action-group-items)using a rule and [create a new field](https://app.gitbook.com/s/UAGSVlvcNsqEqVUgr0tD/getting-started/fields-in-channable/map-and-add-fields) to group them.
{% endhint %}

1. Go to the **Rules** step in your Parent channel.
2. Click the ‘+’ icon to create a new rule. Name it “Group items”. Define a rule that groups items by the `item_group_id` (take `item_group_id` and `group items`).
3. Click **Save rule**.

After this rule, you should have only one Parent item per group of variant products.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Map product attributes

1. In your parent Amazon channel, navigate to the **Build** step.
2. In the **Shared attributes** tab, make sure all fields are empty and unmapped. If a field is mapped, click **Delete** to remove it.
3. Click **Save**.
4. Go to the **Attributes per category** tab and select a category.
5. Scroll to the **Variation theme** section:
   * For **Parentage level,** select **Static values** and choose **Parent**.
   * For **Variation Theme**, click **+ Add**, select **Static values** and select the theme for your variants (common choices: COLOR, SIZE, SIZE/COLOR).
6. If you set your **Listing requirement level** to **Offer and Product** in your channel settings, in the **Offer** section set **Skip offer** to the static value **True** (dropdown > **Static values** > **True**).
7. Fill in any remaining attributes marked as required by Amazon (mandatory attributes are shown in blue).
8. Click **Save**.
9. Repeat these steps for each category.
10. Go to the **Quality** step and review and resolve any items flagged with [errors](https://helpcenter.channable.com/list-advertise/sell-on-marketplaces/get-started-with-marketplaces/marketplaces-quality-step).
    {% endstep %}
    {% endstepper %}

## Step 2: Set up a child/variant channel

Child products are the variations (different color, size, etc.) of a parent product. Follow the steps below to set up your child products.

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Create your child channel

1. Select **+ Create channel** (or the appropriate option) and choose Amazon V2 for the child channel.
2. For **Name**, choose a channel name (e.g. Child UK).
3. For **Unique ID per item**, select the id field to pull your product's ID data (often `id`). This functions as the unique SKU for your variants.
4. For **Amazon Country**, select the country to advertise your listings.
5. For **Listing requirement level,** select **Offer and product**.
6. Click **Continue**.
   {% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Categorize your products

1. In your child channel, go to the Categories step.
2. [Copy your categories](https://app.gitbook.com/s/u8whzIfip72Kvn3M1bsc/categorize-products/create-product-categories/copy-categories-from-another-channel) from your Parent channel.
   {% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Create rules to enrich, filter, and refine product data

When your product data is incomplete or doesn’t match Amazon’s required format, you can use [rules ](https://app.gitbook.com/s/u8whzIfip72Kvn3M1bsc/rules-bulk-edit-and-enrich/using-rules)to improve it.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Map shared attributes

1. In your child channel, go to the **Build** step.
2. In the **Shared attributes** tab, map all mandatory fields to appropriate fields from your data.
3. In the **Shipping** section, map the **Item Package Dimensions** and **Package Weight** attributes.
4. To set up offers for all Amazon customers, map attributes in the **Purchasable offer** (Standard) section. Click **+ Add** to view and map attributes related to **Offer information** and **Discount price**.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**: If you use our [Repricer](https://www.channable.com/products/marketplace-integrator/repricer), the repricer only reprices the Standard offer.
{% endhint %}

5. To set up exclusive offers for registered Amazon Business (B2B) accounts, map attributes in the **Purchasable offer** (Business price) section. Click **+ Add** to view and map attributes related to offer information, and **+ Discount** to add discount details.
6. Click **Save**.
   {% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Map category attributes

1. Go to the **Attributes per category** tab and select your category.
2. Scroll to the **Variation theme** section.
3. At **Child Parent Sku Relationship**, click **+ Add** and set:
   * **Child Relationship Type:** **Static values** > **Variation**
   * **Parent SKU:** select `item_group_id`
   * **Parentage level:** **Static values** > **Child**
   * **Variation Theme:** **+ Add** > **Static values** and choose the theme (COLOR, SIZE, SIZE/COLOR, etc.)
4. Click **Save**.
5. Repeat for each category.
6. Go to the **Quality** step and review and resolve items flagged with errors.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Important:** The variation theme you choose determines which attributes you must fill for your variants (e.g., theme size requires filling size and possibly size\_map if mandatory).
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** Some attributes are mandatory by default according to Amazon documentation and may not make sense for your category. You can leave these fields empty when setting up your channel.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

## Step 3: Activate your parent/child channels and check for errors

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Activate your channels

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** Amazon processes data more slowly between 12:00–17:00 UTC. For best results, change your schedule settings to run your channel outside this window. Runs that take longer than 2 hours will auto-stop and need to be restarted.
{% endhint %}

1. Click **Channel** to return to your channel overview page.
2. Select the **Settings** step in your parent channel.
3. Click **Activate API** > **Save**.
4. Click X to return to your Channel overview page.
5. Click **Run now** to send your product listings to Amazon.
6. Once your parent channel has run, check your Amazon Seller account to see if your parent products are visible. If they’re not, follow our troubleshooting guide.
7. In Channable, click **Channels** and select the **Settings** step in the **Edit** column of your child channel.
8. Click **Run now** to send your child product listings to Amazon.

Your Amazon seller account should show the parent/variant setup once processed.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Review and fix listing errors

Amazon enforces strict data requirements. The **Result** step displays your current listing status and feedback you can use to resolve any open issues.

Steps to review and resolve:

1. Open your **Parent** channel and go to the **Result** step. 

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Important:** Items in your parent channel show as **Offline** and **Incomplete** in your Overview. 

This is because in a parent/child setup, Amazon receives the offer data (price, stock) required to list items from your **child** channel. 
{% endhint %}

2. Use the **All** dropdown to focus your checks:
   * **Online listings**: Listed successfully on Amazon
   * **Offline listings**: Usually stock or offer issues *(only relevant for child channels)*
   * **No match found**: Amazon can’t find the product in its catalog
   * **Offline** and **Incomplete**: Expected in Parent channels
3. Fix **submission errors** first:
   1. Click the red error code in **Description**.
   2. Click **Go to attribute**.
   3. Update the mapping or set a static value.
   4. Click **Save**.
4. Click **Run now** to resend your products to Amazon.
5. Repeat steps 1–4 in your **Child** channel. Most listing blockers appear there.

#### Additional notes:

* Amazon needs time to process and list your products. Typically listings are live within 3 to 5 hours, depending on volume.
* You can perform a **Dry run** to see which listings would be live; resolve as many submission errors as possible before doing this.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Important:** Some listing state errors are caused by older versions of the Amazon API (V1) and currently can’t be resolved with standard use of the API on the latest version (V2). Amazon is aware and is working on a fix. What you can do for now:

* Delete listings with the error by removing their SKUs from your channel.
* Wait 24 hours, then resubmit the listing.
  {% endhint %}
  {% endstep %}
  {% endstepper %}