Normally a T-SKU is only added for a product when it is initially identified in an order and created.
If you are seeing New TSKU items on each import there are two possible scenarios:
1- The TSKU is being removed from the product
When you first encounter a TSKU you may think it was a mistake or some strange data and just remove it.
Because the TSKU is used in combination with the product name to identify the product it must remain as a sku associated with the product until the "real" SKU has been added to the item in the order source (Shopify or your online store)
That said, it does not have to be the primary or "display" SKU, so you can add your preferred SKU and drag it to the leftmost position in the products's sku field to make it primary. Technically you could leave it like this, with the TSKU and the regular SKU both assigned, but imports will run faster if the SKU is added in the order source. Please note that orders placed before the new SKU was added to your order source will continue to be missing the SKU. You'll need import orders placed after the SKU was added in the store to see the new SKU come across into GroovePacker.
2- The product name of the TSKU does not match the name of the product it is getting Aliased to
Often when TSKUs are created during imports there is already a record in GroovePacker with the actual SKU. Once you see the TSKU you should add the actual SKU in the order source. If that is not done, and the TSKU item is aliased into the existing record you'll see that the TSKU may get created again and again.
The issue may be that the product name coming in with the TSKU does not match the product name of the item in GroovePacker that has the correct SKU.
Let's take the item below as an example:
"Organic BBQ Sauce" is the name of the product that exists in GroovePacker which we are keeping. It has the actual SKU associated with it.
When the import runs we import a product with no SKU and with a slightly different name, for example: "BBQ Sauce - Organic"
GroovePacker finds no SKU on this item so it checks to see if a TSKU has ever been created for it before. It uses the only info it has, which is the name.
When it checks all existing TSKUs in the system for the name "BBQ Sauce - Organic" it finds nothing because the existing product has the name "Organic BBQ Sauce"
It decides this must be a completely new product so it generates a new TSKU, creates a product with this TSKU and give is the satus "New" because it has no barcode.
Later you find a New product and identify it as an Alias of the existing "Organic BBQ Sauce" product. At this point it is aliased and the process continues.
If this sounds right there are two possible solutions:
1- Modify the source of the order so a SKU is present as well as the product name, this will solve the issue and any future issues that may be caused in other apps. I would recommend this route if it's an option.
2- It should be possible to modify the name of the existing Master product so that it matches the incoming sku-less product. This will allow it to be matched up and no additional TSKUs will be generated.
