Symptoms of a category syncing issue include:

• Multiple categories of the same name in eCom.
• Items added to categories in Retail don't seem to appear in the same categories in eCom
• Renaming or rearranging a category in Retail does not appear to rename or be rearranged in eCom.

Renaming or rearranging your categories in an uncontrolled manner can cause these symptoms. This is because Retail and eCom have different category structures.

Solution - Realigning your categories

These troubleshooting steps require you to sort categories into three different lists with the corresponding columns:

1. List One - The categories in Retail that do sync.
   • Retail category title
   • Retail category URL
   • eCom category URL
2. List Two - The categories in Retail that don't sync.
   • Retail category title
   • Retail category URL
3. List Three - The eCom categories to rename.
   • eCom category title
   • eCom category URL

Test for connections

1. Slightly modify the title of a category in Retail by adding a unique value that's easily identifiable. For example, add 1 to the end of the title.
2. Select Save changes.
3. Open your eCom admin and select Products > Categories.
4. Review the category titles in eCom and locate the change.
   1. If the change is found, add the category title, URL from Retail and eCom to List One.
   2. If you can't locate the change, add the name and the URL of the Retail category to List Two.
5. If List One hasn't been created yet, repeat these steps until all Retail categories have been tested.

Renaming similar eCom categories

1. Open your eCom admin and select Products > Categories.
2. Add each category title and URL to List Three unless it appears in List One.
3. Compare the category titles in List One and List Three. Check for similar category titles.
4. For any similarities, rename the category titles in eCom to match exactly the category titles in Retail. If none are similar, proceed to Trial and Error.
5. Test for connections. If a connection is found, make sure to remove the category from List Three and add the category pair to List One. If not, rename the eCom category back to the original name.

Trial and error

1. Review List Two and select a Retail category to investigate.
2. Rename the first category title appearing in List Three.
3. Test for connections.
   • If found, document the categories in List One, then move onto the next category in List Two.
   • If not found, revert the title change. Repeat step two with the next category from List Three until a connection is found.
4. Review List Two and select the next Retail category to investigate.
5. Repeat this process until all the Retail categories in List Two have connected eCom categories. The category titles remaining in List Three have been created in eCom. These don't sync with Retail.