In Akeneo Activation, you can take several actions from within a channel to streamline your operations and save time when sending your product catalog to retailers and marketplaces. This article covers all the channel management functionalities available in Akeneo Activation: setting a channel active or inactive, scheduling product exports, scheduling requirements synchronization, using Delta Export, updating credentials, and deleting a channel.

Set a channel to active or inactive

By default, when you create a new activation channel in Akeneo Activation (either a fully automated API channel or a semi-automated flat-file channel), the product data flow between your PIM and the retailer or marketplace is inactive.

This means there are no automated data transfers between your PIM and the retailer or marketplace's activation channel. Even if you have set up your channel's credentials correctly and have not exported any products yet, the channel is considered "live" because it is successfully connected to the retailer or marketplace, but not "active" because there are no automated data flows between Akeneo Activation and the retailer or marketplace.

• The channel card is labeled "inactive" in the channel list if its status is inactive, and "active" if its status is active.

The screenshot above shows the channel list in Akeneo Activation, with channel cards displaying either an "active" or "inactive" status label.

To make a channel active in Akeneo Activation, go to the channel settings and turn any of the following jobs "on" or set up a scheduler for them:

• Sync Requirements
• Product Export
• Offer Import
• Offer Export
• Order Confirmation Import
• Order Confirmation Export

If any of these jobs is "on", the channel is considered active. The active/inactive status tag appears in the following places:

• On the channel list page, on the channel card
• Inside a channel, in the header

The screenshot above shows the channel header in Akeneo Activation with the "active" status tag displayed.

The screenshot above shows the channel header in Akeneo Activation with the "inactive" status tag displayed.

Schedule product exports

In Akeneo Activation, you can automate your product catalog exports to save time during your activation workflow. When enabled, this functionality sends your product catalogs to the retailer or marketplace you are working with at a frequency that you choose.

When creating an activation channel, this setting is turned off by default. You can control the frequency of the exports by:

• Time of the day

  • Hours
  • Minutes
  • Day of the week

  • Day

  • Hours

  • Minutes

Switching the toggle on or off automatically saves the action.

The screenshot above shows the product export scheduling settings in the Akeneo Activation channel settings tab, with frequency options for time of day, day of the week, and day.

Schedule requirements synchronization

To ensure you always have the latest requirements from the retailer or marketplace, API-based channels in Akeneo Activation can automate the requirement synchronization process in the settings tab.

When creating an activation channel, this setting is turned off by default. You can control the frequency of the synchronization by:

• Time of the day

  • Hours
  • Minutes
  • Day of the week

  • Day

  • Hours

  • Minutes

Switching the toggle on or off automatically saves the action.

The screenshot above shows the requirements synchronization scheduling settings in the Akeneo Activation channel settings tab.

This offers great flexibility. However, if you automate this process as part of your workflow, synchronize the requirements before making changes to your catalog mapping in the PIM. This ensures you can map your product data according to the latest requirements from the retailer or marketplace.

Work with Delta Export in Activation

In Akeneo Activation, you can choose to export only the products with updated data (between catalog exports) to the retailer or marketplace you are working with. This reduces the size of export files and makes operations at the destination more efficient.

Delta Export is fully automated and can be enabled or disabled in the settings tab of Akeneo Activation. It is available by default for all retailers and marketplaces, and disabled by default.

The screenshot above shows the Delta Export toggle in the Akeneo Activation channel settings tab.

When Delta Export is enabled, your next product export file contains only the products that have been modified since the last export. You can keep a record of all delta exports, which lets you quickly identify when an update was made and which products were affected.

Manage other channel settings in Activation

Update retailer credentials

After you connect to an activation channel that requires credentials in Akeneo Activation, those credentials may become outdated or the connection to the retailer or marketplace may fail. If Akeneo Activation detects that your connection is no longer valid, a warning appears inside the activation channel, prompting you to update your credentials.

The screenshot above shows the missing credentials warning in the Akeneo Activation channel settings tab, with a "Configure your credentials" prompt.

To reconfigure your credentials after a connection failure:

1. Go to the Settings tab of the activation channel.
2. Click Configure your credentials.

To proactively update credentials that you know have changed:

1. Go to the Settings tab of the activation channel.
2. Click Edit my identifiers.

The screenshot above shows the "Edit my identifiers" option in the Akeneo Activation channel settings tab for updating retailer credentials.

Delete a channel from Akeneo Activation

In the settings tab of Akeneo Activation, you can delete an activation channel. You may need to do this to adjust your activation channel quotas or if you no longer work with a specific retailer. This action cannot be undone.

To delete an activation channel in Akeneo Activation:

1. Go to the Settings tab of the activation channel.
2. Click Delete in the Administration section.
3. Confirm the deletion by typing the name of the activation channel in the deletion modal.

The activation channel is deleted along with all the catalogs and data associated with it.

The screenshot above shows the Administration section in the Akeneo Activation channel settings tab, with the Delete button and the deletion confirmation modal.