Eureka identifies, updates, and reports on each product in your Product Catalog by its item_id. When the item_id in your XML feed differs from the one Insider One collects on your website, or when several products share one item_id, Eureka cannot attribute analytics to the right product or show the right product values.
This article explains how Eureka uses item_id, the two most common item_id issues, and how to fix each one.
Before you begin, make sure you are familiar with the following articles:
This article covers the following topics:
How Eureka uses item_id
Eureka reads item_id from two sources:
XML feed: Adds and updates products in your Product Catalog, along with attributes such as price and stock.
System rules: Collect the item_id on your website and pass it within hits. Eureka generates product analytics from these hits.
Eureka connects the two sources through item_id. Insider One identifies each product by its item_id and locale together. For this connection to work, two conditions must be true:
The same product has the same item_id in your XML feed and in your system rules.
Each product and each variant has its own item_id within a locale.
When either condition fails, you see one of the issues below.
Issue 1: item_id mismatch between your XML feed and system rules
Symptoms
Products update correctly through your XML feed, but they show no behavioral or purchase data in Eureka Analytics. These products are known as ghost products: they exist in the catalog but have no attributed analytics.
Cause
Eureka generates product analytics from the item_id that system rules collect and pass within hits. When this value differs from the item_id in your XML feed, Eureka cannot match the hits to a catalog product.
Impact
Reporting is inaccurate, since the affected products have no attributed analytics.
Recommendation performance drops.
Business outcomes are negatively affected.
How to fix
Identify the item_id format that your system rules collect on your website.
Compare it with the item_id values in your XML feed.
Update your XML feed so that each item_id matches the system rules value exactly.
Once the values match, Eureka attributes analytics to the products in your XML feed.
Issue 2: Several products share one item_id
Symptoms
A product shows the wrong price or stock.
Features that use the product, such as recommendations and Price Drop journeys, use the wrong values.
Cause
Insider One identifies each product by its item_id and locale together. When several products or variants are sent with the same item_id in the same locale, Insider One stores them as one product. The values sent last replace the earlier ones.
How to fix
Give each product and each variant its own item_id.
Use a shared groupcode to group the variants of the same product.
For more information on structuring products and variants, see Decide Your Product Catalog Structure.
Check your item_id setup
Use this checklist to prevent both issues:
Each item_id in your XML feed exactly matches the value your system rules collect.
Each product and each variant has its own item_id within a locale.
Variants of the same product share one groupcode.
Related articles
Aligned item_id values keep your catalog, analytics, and recommendations accurate. As a next step, see Handle Out-of-Stock Items.