Why this matters
Deleting a SKU in Luminous immediately zeros out all of its inventory (on-hand and pending quantities) and removes its Shopify and alternate-SKU links. Luminous does not block deletion because of open or pending orders, and it does not automatically reroute those order lines to a replacement SKU. Acting without the right preparation can leave open orders pointing at a deleted product, drive COGS to $0 on those lines, and silently deduct inventory from the wrong SKU on future channel orders.
Follow the steps below to avoid these problems.
Step 1 — Understand the two restrictions that do block deletion
Before anything else, Luminous will refuse to delete a SKU if:
- It is a component of a kit. You must remove it from the kit first.
- It is referenced in a Bill of Materials (BOM). Remove it from the BOM before proceeding.
Pending or open sales orders are not a blocking condition, which is exactly why the preparation steps below are important.
Step 2 — Choose the right action for your situation
Option A — You only want to stop selling the SKU (not fully remove it)
Use the Discontinued flag instead of deletion. On the SKU detail page, toggle the SKU to Discontinued. This:
- Marks the SKU as discontinued (it appears with a strikethrough in the SKU list)
- Detaches it from Shopify so new orders stop coming in against it
- Keeps the SKU active in Luminous, so existing orders and historical reports continue to reference it correctly
- Does not zero out your stock
This is the safest choice when you still have open orders to fulfill.
Option B — You need to replace this SKU with a different one
- Create (or confirm) the replacement SKU in Inventory → SKUs before touching the old one.
- Add the old SKU code as an Alternate SKU on the new product record. This ensures that future incoming channel orders using the old code resolve to the new product, and allows Luminous support to remap historical order lines if needed.
- Continue with the steps below before archiving the old SKU.
Option C — You need to fully delete the SKU
Continue with Steps 3–5.
Step 3 — Resolve all open and pending orders
Before deleting, address every order line that references the SKU:
- Fulfill any open sales orders or fulfillment orders that include this SKU so they reach a shipped or completed status.
- Cancel any orders you will not fulfill. Cancellation rolls back the pending inventory reservation.
- Check the Sales Order grid (Operations → Sales Order Grid) and filter by the SKU to confirm no open lines remain.
Why this matters: Deleting the SKU zeros out
qty_pending, but the order lines themselves still exist in your history pointing at the now-deleted product. Cost layers are removed at deletion, so those lines will show a unit cost of $0, skewing your COGS reports.
Step 4 — Update your sales channel mappings
Luminous does not automatically clear or redirect sales channel mappings (e.g., Shopify) when a SKU is deleted. A channel product still mapped to a deleted Luminous SKU will not surface in Purgatory — it will silently map to the wrong (deleted) item on future imports.
Before deleting:
- Go to Settings → Integrations.
- Find your integration (e.g., Shopify) and click the Manage Products icon button (store icon).
- Find every channel product mapped to the SKU you are about to delete.
- Remap each one to the correct active Luminous SKU (your replacement, if applicable).
- Save your changes.
See the related article How to Audit and Correct SKU Mappings for Your Sales Channel Integration for a full walkthrough.
Step 5 — Archive (delete) the SKU
Once open orders are resolved and channel mappings are updated:
- Navigate to Inventory → SKUs.
- Find the SKU in the list.
- Click the row's action menu (⋮) and select Delete SKU.
- Confirm the dialog.
Luminous will:
- Move the SKU to the SKU Archives list (it is no longer visible in the main product list)
- Zero out all inventory quantities for the SKU
- Detach all Shopify product links and alternate SKU associations
Note: Archived SKUs can be reactivated from the Archived SKUs page (Inventory → SKUs → ⋯ menu at top right → SKU Archives → action menu → Reactivate SKU), restoring the SKU to active status. However, reactivation does not restore zeroed stock, Shopify links, or alternate SKU links — those must be reconfigured manually after reactivation. Kit SKUs cannot be reactivated after deletion.
Step 6 — Verify after deletion
- Confirm the channel mapping now points to the correct active SKU.
- If you added the old SKU code as an alternate on the replacement product, test by pulling a small batch of orders to verify they map correctly.
- Review any in-progress reports or dashboards that reference the old SKU. Historical order lines will still reference the archived product; if you need those lines remapped to the replacement SKU in your reports, contact Luminous Support.
Summary checklist
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Confirm SKU is not a kit component or BOM item |
| 2 | Decide: Discontinue, Replace, or Full Delete |
| 3 | Fulfill or cancel all open/pending orders for the SKU |
| 4 | Add old SKU code as an Alternate SKU on the replacement product (if replacing) |
| 5 | Update sales channel mappings to point to the replacement SKU |
| 6 | Archive (delete) the SKU from Inventory → SKUs |
| 7 | Verify channel mappings and confirm no new orders land on the deleted SKU |
If you need assistance remapping historical order lines after a deletion, contact Luminous Support — our team has tooling to remap existing order lines to the correct replacement SKU while preserving warehouse-aware stock associations.