SKU Masking

SKU Masking is a concept used for specific inventory tracking; it is method of configuring products and product options such that one product can be displayed to customers, but the inventory figures are calculated for other products. As a specific example, this functionality allows one tee-shirt product to be displayed in the store, but when a customer orders the various sizes of it (small, medium, large), the back-end of NeuCart will change the inventory of a different product ("small shirt", "medium shirt", "large shirt").

This article discusses functionality related to reports.

SKU Masking: Using Product Options to Change Product Sales Inventory

NeuCart allows product options to be configured so that a single product can be displayed to the customers, but the back-end of NeuCart will change the product ordered based on an option like size or color, etc. 

This functionality is needed in the following situation:

An item exists in your inventory, for example a shirt, in multiple sizes.
You need to track individual sales of the small, medium, and large items.
You want only one shirt to be displayed to customers, with an option to determine the size at the time of checkout.
Configuration
Using the example above, and assuming the sizes small, medium, and large, the following configuration steps are necessary:
Create four separate items:
Shirt. This item is "active" and will display on the screen for customers to order.
Small shirt. This item is inactive.
Medium shirt. This item is inactive.
Large shirt. This item is inactive.
Create a product option list, names "Sizes for shirt item"
Small. The "alt product" for this option is the "small shirt" from above.
Medium. The "alt product" for this option is the "medium shirt" from above.
Large. The "alt product" for this option is the "large shirt" from above.
The item "shirt" that appears on screens must be configured with the product option list that allows for the small/medium/large option setting.
Summary
With this configuration, a customer will choose one of the size options, and when the items is processed in the system, it will be recorded as the small/medium/large item. 

Pricing considerations
Your configuration may require that the masked-SKU items are also priced differently. In this case, you must set the displayable item to the lowest possible price, and add prices to the other options so that the sum is the total final price. For example, if the prices are... 
- Small $6.00 
- Medium $7.00 
- Large $8.00 
... then the configuration should be for the "Shirt" item to be $6, the "medium" option to be $1, and the "large" option to be $2.00.