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. Products owns the master identity, descriptive fields, images, size-chart content, and default COG. Research validates an opportunity, Quotation adds sourcing economics, Testing combines performance evidence, Orders identifies purchased line items, and Returns attributes outcomes back to products.

Research and Quotation link to an existing product by its internal SKU ID, not by copying a typed label into a new master record. Shared master fields take precedence in both workflows. Quotation can still display its legacy media only while the corresponding master media is empty; editing shared identity or media promotes the change to the master SKU.

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.
In Products, select + Product and create the main product. Enter a manual SKU or leave it blank for an XYZ-001-style SKU made from the first three alphanumeric product-name characters and the next number for that prefix in your organization. Names without letters or digits use PRD.
Add shared identity, media, size-chart content, and an optional default COG to the master product.
In Research or Quotation, use the SKU editor to select the existing master SKU. Creating a product in Products does not create either workflow row automatically.
For variations, create or confirm the parent relationship through the supported variation workflow 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 internal 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.

Quotation COG differs from the product default: default COG is only a starting snapshot for a new Quotation row when no explicit COG or tier-one cost was supplied. Later Quotation cost changes remain local and do not rewrite the Products default.

Quotation shows an older image: legacy Quotation media is used only when the matching master media field is empty. Add or edit shared media on the master product to establish the current source of truth.

Permissions and data notes

Product identity is scoped to the organization and can affect analytics, imports, workflow transitions, and linked records. Workflow selection is validated by the internal SKU ID and organization; a matching visible SKU label alone is not sufficient. Treat bulk identifier changes as high-impact data work. Preview and validate workbook mappings, and preserve source identifiers needed for synchronization or attribution.