Lifecycle states reference
Every product is in exactly one lifecycle state. This page lists the built-in states, the chip each one shows, the reasons you can record when a product leaves Active, and the sources you see in a product's lifecycle history. For why states exist and how they ripple through planning, purchasing and selling, read How product lifecycle works.
What a state actually allows (planning, purchase orders, backorders, channel quantity and so on) is set by its column in the policy matrix. See the Lifecycle policy matrix reference.
Built-in states
SKU.io ships with three states. You can't delete them, but you can rename them, change their colour and description, and edit their policies on the States tab of Settings → Products → Product Lifecycle.
| State | What it means | Chip | Default policies, in short |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active | Selling and replenishing normally. Every product starts here. | Green, with a tick icon. The product page header hides it, because Active is the normal case. Lists and tables still show it. | Everything is enabled. Channel quantity is Normal and nothing happens at sell-out. |
| Phasing out | Still selling and buying until its last order date. Planning covers demand only up to the discontinue date. On that date the product becomes Discontinued automatically. | Orange outline with an hourglass icon, and the discontinue date: Phasing out · ends 31 Jan. The year is added when the date isn't in the current year. | Demand planning and MRP are Capped to the discontinue date. Using it as a component and publishing new listings warn. Everything else stays as in Active. |
| Discontinued | Selling through what's left. It won't be reordered, backordered or planned. | Orange, filled, with a clock icon. | Planning and MRP exclude it, new backorders are blocked, channel quantity becomes Sell-through, drop-ship stock is left out and the sell-out setting runs when it sells out. Adding it to a purchase order asks you to confirm a final buy. |
A Phasing out product always has a discontinue date, and can also have a last order date. Purchase orders for it are allowed until the last order date. After that, adding it to a purchase order shows the final-buy warning. See Phase out with a final buy.
When you move a product back to Active, its reason and its dates are cleared. See Reactivate a product or undo a change.
Custom states
You can add your own states, such as a seasonal pause, with Add state on the States tab. Each custom state has:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | The label on chips, filters and menus. |
| Colour | The chip colour: Grey, Blue, Green, Orange, Red, Purple or Teal. |
| Description | A short explanation shown with the state. |
| Copy policies from | The state whose policy column the new state starts with. You can change every cell afterwards. |
| Return products automatically after a number of days | When on, products move to another state after After (days), to the state you pick in Move them to. Phasing out isn't offered here, because it needs a reason and a discontinue date. |
A custom state's chip uses its colour and a tag icon. Under the state's name on the States tab you see Custom, the number of products in it and, when it returns products automatically, returns after N d.
You can delete a custom state. If products are in it, you choose a state to move them to first. You can't move them to Phasing out this way, because each one needs its own discontinue date. Scheduled changes into the deleted state are moved to the state you chose. How to do all of this is in Customize lifecycle states.
Partly discontinued: matrix products
A matrix product (a product with variants) doesn't have a state of its own on lists. It shows a rollup of its variants:
- All variants in one state: the chip shows that state normally.
- Variants in more than one state: the chip reads Partly plus the most advanced state among the variants, and how many of the variants are in it. For example, Partly discontinued · 3 of 12 means 3 of the 12 variants are Discontinued. The chip is outlined, uses that state's colour and has a ring-chart icon.
"Most advanced" means Discontinued first, then Phasing out, then custom states in their order on the States tab. Active is only shown when every variant is Active.
To find these products, open the Lifecycle filter on the products list and choose Partly discontinued.
Lifecycle reasons
When a product moves to Phasing out or Discontinued, you record why. The reason shows on the product's lifecycle history, on the Sell-through table of PIM → Lifecycle and in exports.
| Reason | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Brand decision | You chose to stop selling it. |
| Supplier discontinued it | The supplier stopped making or selling it. |
| Seasonal end | Its season has ended. |
| Low performance | It doesn't sell well enough to keep. |
| Replaced by a new product | A successor takes its place. See Link a successor product. |
| Quality issue | It has a quality problem. |
| Other | None of the above. Add a note to explain. |
A change made without a reason, such as an import row with no reason, is recorded as Other.
Where a change came from (Source)
Each row of a product's lifecycle history has a Source column. It tells you how the change was made.
| Source | How the change was made |
|---|---|
| Changed by hand | Someone used Change lifecycle, Phase out, Discontinue or Reactivate on one product. |
| Bulk change | Someone changed several products at once from the products list, or a custom state was deleted and its products were moved. |
| CSV import | A products import changed the lifecycle columns. See Import and export lifecycle data. |
| API | An app or script changed it through the SKU.io API. |
| Scheduled | A scheduled change was applied on its date, or a Phasing out product reached its discontinue date. See Schedule lifecycle changes. |
| Sold out | The product sold out and its sell-out action ran. See What happens when a discontinued product sells out. |
| Stock came back | Stock arrived for a product that sell-out had archived, so it was restored to Discontinued. |
| Automation | A workflow's Set Product Lifecycle action changed it. See Lifecycle alerts, automations and permissions. |
| Accepted suggestion | Someone accepted a lifecycle suggestion. See Review lifecycle suggestions. |
| Undo | Someone undid an earlier change within 24 hours. |
| End of season | The end-of-season wizard changed it. See End a season. |
| Applied from the parent product | A change to a matrix product was applied to this variant. |
The history also shows Date, Change, Reason, Note, What happened, By and Units on hand at the time of the change. An undone change carries an Undone chip.
Next steps
- Lifecycle policy matrix reference: what each state allows.
- Customize lifecycle states: add a state or change its rules.
- Discontinue a product: move a product out of Active.