What is Not in Feed (Unmatched Variants)?

The "Not in feed" log will show the SKUs/variants that are NOT in the FEED but exist in your store.

Unmatched variants occur when product data in your store does not match any entries in your feed. syncX: Stock Sync provides flexible options to manage unmatched variants effectively:

You can check the Not in feed on the Feed Details page.

Option 1: Remove or Archive Using Auto Clear Discontinued Feed

For unmatched variants that you no longer need in your store, you can use the Remove or Archive Auto Clear Discontinued Feed feature. This keeps your store inventory clean and accurate by automatically removing unmatched or discontinued variants.

Steps to Use Auto Clear Discontinued Feed:

1. Open the Update Feed Details page.
2. Click the expand icon under Unmatched Variants.
3. Select the options as Auto Clear Discountinued Variants and confirm to proceed.
4. Check the existing Update Feed that link it to.
5. Configure the settings to remove or archive unmatched variants based on your preference in advanced setting of remove feed.
6. Save and update your feed configuration.

Once activated, it will automatically run based on the update feed and clear unmatched variants, helping you maintain a streamlined and up-to-date store. But make sure to apply a store product filter to include only the products from the specific supplier. Otherwise, it might affect other products in your store that aren't related to this supplier.

Option 2: Auto Update product when not found in Update Feed (Auto Update Discontinued)

For unmatched variants that you would like to update it, you can use the Auto Update Discontinued feed feature. This keeps your products up to date.

Steps to Use Auto Update Discontinued Feed:

1. Open the Update Feed Details page.
2. Click the expand icon under Unmatched Variants.
3. Select the options as Auto Update Discountinued Variants and confirm to proceed.
4. Check the existing Update Feed that link it to.
5. Adjust the mapping as needed.

• To map unmatched store variants to a static value, prefix the value with curly brackets. For example, {{}} Adibas in the vendor field will change all vendors to Adibas. You can also adjust price and quantity values using smart setting rules.
• To update prices and quantities with your markup/markdown and quantity rules, map them to 1, then enter the rules in the smart setting fields.
• For the markup, use the current_price (obtained from the store, not the feed file), for example: **0 + current_price 1.5

6. Click Finish to complete the setup.
7. The feed will run automatically after the selected Update Feed finishes processing and detects products that are no longer present.

Once activated, it will automatically run based on the update feed and update unmatched variants, helping you maintain a streamlined and up-to-date store.

Option 3: Leave Unmatched Variants in the Store

If the unmatched variants are still relevant or you want to handle them manually, you can choose to leave them in your store. These variants will remain active until you decide to take further action. This approach is ideal for:

• Temporary feed mismatches.
• Variants awaiting updates from suppliers.
• Products requiring manual review or adjustments.

Note: Common Causes of Unmatched Variants

Unmatched variants also occur when variants exist in your store but are not included as rows in your feed file. For example, if a product has multiple size or option variants, each variant must have its own row in the feed when using identifiers such as SKU + option values. If a variant does not appear in the feed, Stock Sync will list it as unmatched.

Process for Investigating Unmatched Variants

1. Open the Not in feed log from the Feed Details page and note the affected SKUs or variants.
2. Compare the Shopify product with the supplier feed. Check that the Product Identifier matches exactly, including hyphens, prefixes, postfixes, leading zeros, and number formatting. Confirm that the SKU is present in the latest feed under the mapped ProductID column.
3. Confirm that every variant has its own feed row and that required option values, such as Size or Color, are present. If a supplier uses one shared SKU for multiple variants, use a combination such as SKU + Option 1 + Option 2 to match them individually.
4. If a variant identifier needs correction, using SKU as the Unique Product Identifier prevents Stock Sync from overwriting that SKU. Temporarily switch to another unique identifier, such as Barcode or Title, map the corrected SKU, run the update, and then switch back to SKU.
5. For products with missing variants, use an Add feed, not an Update feed. Match the existing Product Identifier, map a shared Variant Group, map the Variant Option fields, and enable Merge variants into existing products in Edit Settings → Step 2 → Smart Settings. Ensure the grouping value matches the existing product; extra title text, such as text after a dash, can prevent matching.
6. Use Preview Sync to verify grouping and matching before importing. If the match count is unexpectedly low, check whether the external API response is paginated; an incomplete page configuration can make only part of the catalog appear. Pagination issues should be escalated for technical investigation.
7. In rare cases, check whether API pagination limits prevent all supplier products from being returned. If the unmatched count appears incomplete, investigate the page configuration before changing product identifiers.

If the variants remain unmatched, provide sample SKUs or handles, the feed name, and the feed mapping for investigation.

Important Behavior When All SKUs Are Unmatched

If an Update Feed results in no matches at all, syncX will not apply Out of Stock Strategy or run Auto Update Discontinued. This prevents accidentally setting all products to 0 or updating them incorrectly due to a misconfigured feed. These features only run when the update feed contains both matched and unmatched products.

Updated on: 07/08/2026