> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bridgeful.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Matching

> How Bridgeful matches products across stores by SKU, barcode or handle, why a product is left unmatched, and how to map or create it.

Before anything syncs, Bridgeful reads your main store and each connected store and matches their products, so a change reaches the right product on every store. It matches each variant by:

1. **SKU**
2. **Barcode**, when the SKU doesn't match
3. **Handle**, for products without SKUs or barcodes

SKUs and barcodes are compared without spaces at either end and regardless of upper or lower case.

## Unmatched products

A product Bridgeful can't match safely is left for you to decide. Nothing syncs for it on that store until you do. A store's page lists them under **Unmatched products**, with the reason:

| Reason | What it means |
| - | - |
| No match | No product on the other store has the same SKU, barcode or handle |
| Duplicate SKU | Another product uses the same SKU, so it can't be matched on its own |
| Barcode clash | Its barcode points to a different product on the other store |
| Split across products | Its variants match more than one product on the other store |

## Map, create or fix it

For each unmatched product, choose one:

* **Map**: pick the product on the other store that it should sync with.
* **Create**: Bridgeful creates it on the other store, as set in [product sync](https://docs.bridgeful.app/user-guide/product-sync.md).
* **Edit in Shopify**: fix the SKU or barcode in Shopify. Bridgeful picks up the change and matches it on its own.

Products that exist only on a connected store are that store's own: Bridgeful leaves them alone, and offers them as choices when you map.

New products are matched as they're added, so a product you create later on both stores is matched without you doing anything.


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