Mapping links a catalog product to a marketplace listing or offer. Once mapped, inventory and price can go out to the channel and orders come back in, all keyed by SKU. Without a mapping, a product doesn’t sell on that channel. This page covers the two listing models, how to map, and how to bring in listings you already have.
Two listing models
Marketplaces fall into two camps, and which one you’re on changes what “listing” means:
- You own the listing. On eBay, you create and own each listing: its title, images, category, and policies are yours. See Connect eBay.
- You attach an offer to a shared catalog. On Amazon and Walmart, the catalog item is shared across sellers. You attach an offer (your price and availability) to an item that already exists. You don’t own the product page. See Connect Amazon and Connect Walmart.
Google Shopping is different again. It isn’t a marketplace you sell on; it advertises your catalog and sends shoppers to your storefront. ILLUMA sends your whole product to Google, so there’s no per-item mapping to maintain. See Connect Google Shopping.
Link, create, or import
There are three ways a catalog product gets tied to a channel:
- Link to an existing item. If the item already exists on the marketplace (a known ASIN on Amazon, an item in your Walmart catalog, an existing eBay listing), link your product to it by identifier. You sell on the existing item. On Amazon you do this from the product’s Channels tab, or in bulk with Match to Amazon and Match review.
- Create a new listing. On eBay, where you own the listing, ILLUMA creates it from your catalog data and the channel’s category and policies. On Amazon and Walmart, ILLUMA does not create new catalog items: the item must already exist for you to offer against it.
- Import what you already sell. If you’re moving onto ILLUMA, import your existing marketplace listings and link them to your catalog in bulk (below) instead of re-creating them by hand.
Import existing listings
On Amazon and eBay an import follows the same shape: import, review, confirm. Nothing is linked until you approve the matches.
- Run the import. On the channel’s Listings tab, click Import from Amazon, Import from eBay, Import from Walmart, or Import from Google. It runs as a tracked job you can watch in the Active work tray or the Activity tab.
- Review the staged listings. On Amazon and eBay, imported items land in the Review Imported Listings card with suggested catalog matches, filtered by the tabs Needs review, Suggested, Unmatched, Linked, and Dismissed.
- Confirm the matches. Click Accept on a suggested match, use Change or Match to Product to pick a different catalog product, or Dismiss a row you don’t want. Confirm all suggested links every suggested match at once.
Two channels differ:
- Google links the matches it is sure of (by GTIN, MPN, or title) for you. You only resolve the Unmatched tab, with Match or Dismiss.
- Walmart has an import button, but the dashboard doesn’t yet have a screen to review and confirm the staged items. Ask ILLUMA support to link your Walmart items; see Connect Walmart.
ℹ️ Note: eBay listings created through eBay’s older tooling, including anything from M2E Pro, are invisible to Import from eBay. See Connect eBay.
Mapping is per SKU
⚠️ Warning: Mapping happens at the SKU level, not the parent product. Each variant maps to its own listing or offer, and everything (inventory, price, orders) keys off that SKU. The single most common sync problem is a SKU mismatch between the catalog product and the mapped listing. If quantities or prices look wrong, check the mapping first.
Where to map each channel
| Channel | Model | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Google Shopping | Whole-catalog push (no per-item mapping) | Connect Google Shopping |
| Amazon | Offer onto a shared ASIN (link required) | Connect Amazon |
| eBay | You own the listing (create or import) | Connect eBay |
| Walmart | Offer onto a shared catalog item (link required) | Connect Walmart |