What are inactive and discontinued items and how are they handled?
INACTIVE—Inactive items are items that were not included in the most recent data received from a merchant partner but may still be available in the marketplace from other retailers. This may be due to the vendor being temporarily out of stock or no longer selling the item. If the vendor later reinstates the item, it will no longer be marked INACTIVE. Double clicking an inactive item will bring up a list of comparable replacements; this list could possibly include the same item from other vendors.
DISCONTINUED—Electronics, computers, appliances, and other consumer items are constantly changing and upgrading. Within a year, it may not be possible to replace an item with the same model. To assist with this problem, Xactware maintains a database of discontinued items. Double clicking these items will bring up a list of comparable replacements.
These possible replacements are determined through the use of attributes—features or characteristics that help determine a product’s quality and value. The contents pricing team gives each attribute a score, and the total score of the item is derived from the sum of the attribute scores. This score is used to suggest current replacement matches of the same like, kind, and quality (LKQ) for items no longer in production. You can use XactContents’ suggestion or compare attributes to find a more preferred replacement item. Attribute scores make it easy to compare items across manufacturers and vendors without requiring additional in-depth research.