NetSuite Alias SKUs

Creating alias items goes against what FarApp considers leading practice. Whenever possible, we recommend creating separate inventory items in NetSuite for all of your items rather than creating alias skus.

If that is not possible, FarApp can support alias items in NetSuite for order processing. This is useful if you have multiple SKUs in your marketplace/cart that should match with a single SKU in NetSuite when posting orders. To create alias SKUs, you can use one of the following three methods:

Kit Item Method (Best Practice)

Supports

• Product Sync
• Order Sync

Setup

For each alias of a particular item (say the item has SKU base), you’ll create a kit item and the kit item will have one component item which will be the original item (e.g. base). The SKU of the kit item will be the alias SKU.

When orders import, they’ll import against the kit item, which will correctly commit inventory from the single component item.

Pros

• FarApp can sync these alias kit items to your marketplaces/carts.
• If we are syncing these items to your marketplaces/carts, the other benefit is that the kit item can have its own data if you’d like. For example, it can have a title, description, etc. that differs from the original item. FarApp still needs all the fields a marketplace/cart requires populated for the kit/alias item. We do not fetch the values for those fields from the component/base item. This is what allows you to set different values for those fields on the alias item than on the base item. But we still need those fields populated.
• FarApp considers this method the best practice approach to Alias SKUs. If you sell items under more than one listing, the best approach for managing this is to use this method. It is the safest and most efficient way to to do this and requires no additional setup for your FarApp account.

Cons

• Cannot be used with matrix item types. If you have matrix items configured in NetSuite and need to support alias SKUs on these items, you'll need to use one of the other methods below.
• Kit items can't be included on Transfer Orders so if your Alias SKUs need to be on transfer orders this is not a method you can use.

Custom Record Method

Supports

• Product Sync
• Order Sync

Setup

1. Create a custom record type in NetSuite under Customization->Lists, Records, & Fields->Record Types->New.
2. You can call it something like “Item Alias.”
3. Make sure the “Include Name Field” checkbox is checked because the records names will be your alias SKUs.
4. Click Save.
5. The “Fields” tab will appear.
6. Click “New Field.”
7. Give it a label like “Original Item.”
8. Set the type to “List/Record.”
9. Set list/record dropdown to “Item”.
10. Now in order to create an alias item, you’ll add records of this new type by going to Customization->Lists, Records, & Fields->Record Types. You should see your new record type in the list and it should have a column called “New Record”. If you click that, you’ll be able to add an alias record. Its name will be your alias SKU and it should have a single field for selecting the original item.

Pros

• The number of aliases is dynamic for each item so you don’t need to add additional fields as the number of aliases grow and you don’t need to remap anything in FarApp when you add aliases.

Cons

• None

Custom Field Method

Supports

• Order Sync
• Product Sync

Setup

1. Create a custom field for each alias SKU that you’ll populate on the item record.

Pros

• This is a very simple method for supporting aliases.

Cons

• You’ll need to add a field for each alias so if you have a large number of aliases or if the number of aliases you have changes, it will require a lot of fields and a lot of mappings in FarApp.
• When using this method for Amazon, if you are using one Alias SKU for FBA and one Alias SKU for MFN both of which are aliases for the same item in NetSuite AND plan to sync quantity as part of your product data, then this method won't work.