Retail — Master Data

Customer, Supplier, and Site Master in SAP Retail

In SAP Retail, master data plays a crucial role in managing business partners such as customers, suppliers, and sites. Understanding the structure and roles of these master data elements is essential for efficient retail operations.

BP Roles for Customers

• Sold-to Party: The customer who places the order.
• Ship-to Party: The location where goods are delivered.
• Bill-to Party: The entity responsible for payment.
• Payer: The party who pays the invoice.

Interview phrasing: "Can you explain the different BP roles involved in customer master data within SAP Retail?"

Key memory: Remember the four main BP roles — Sold-to, Ship-to, Bill-to, and Payer — and their distinct functions in the order-to-cash process.

BP Roles for Suppliers

Supplier master data is also split:

1. General (BP Role 000000) → address, bank info (valid client-wide).
2. FI Vendor (Role FLVN00) → accounting view (reconciliation account, payment methods).
3. Vendor (Role FLVN01) → purchasing data (currency, incoterms, purchasing org assignments).

👉 Key memory: General – FI – MM.

Sites & Business Partners in Retail

• Every site (store or DC) is also a Business Partner.
• Why? Because from a central perspective, the site can act like:
  • a customer (e.g., a DC delivers to a store, so the store is an internal customer), and
  • a supplier (a DC supplies stores, so it’s also a vendor).
• This means when I create a new site, a BP gets created automatically (or I can assign an existing BP).
• Important: once assigned, the BP cannot be changed later.

Transaction to view BP: BP (simple enough).

Site Categories

• Store (Category A) → sells directly to consumers.
• Distribution Center (Category B) → supplies stores and other DCs.

Extra twists:

• Department Store / Shop (both technically sites, category A). Department store = store category 1, shop = store category 2.
• A DC can even receive goods from higher-level DCs → meaning a DC is both customer (receives) and supplier (issues).

Distribution Chains & Customers

• Stores belong to a distribution chain for planning/assortments.
• DCs supply stores (internal customers) but can also supply wholesale (external customers).
• That’s why internal customer master records exist for every site. These internal numbers are also used to generate local assortments.

Interview Tips

• If asked “Why BP in S/4?” → Answer: “Because it unifies customer and vendor master data into one object with roles.”
• If asked “How does BP tie into Retail?” → Answer: “Every site is also a BP, because from the system’s perspective, stores and DCs need to play both roles — customer and supplier — to support internal flows.”
• If asked “Can you change the BP assignment to a site later?” → Answer: “No, once assigned it’s fixed.”

Merchandise Category Hierarchy

What it is

• Every article in SAP Retail must belong to a merchandise category.
• Categories are grouped into hierarchy levels, which then roll up into higher levels → forming the Merchandise Category Hierarchy (MCH).
• Mandatory in Retail: you cannot create articles without assigning them to a merchandise category.

👉 Interview phrasing:

“The merchandise category hierarchy is the backbone of article classification in SAP Retail. It’s used for pricing, reporting, and controlling processes.”

Key Functions

• Selection & Reporting: categories and hierarchy levels are often used as selection criteria in reports/analytics.
• Inheritance: characteristics assigned to higher levels flow down to lower levels and to the articles.
• Simplifies Maintenance: conditions (pricing, replenishment, competitor pricing, etc.) can be managed at category level instead of article by article.
• Data Warehouse: the hierarchy is often pushed to BW/BI for reporting.

Reference & Value-Only Articles

• Reference Article (per merchandise category):
  • Dummy article master.
  • Used as a template to copy default values when creating new articles.
• Value-Only Article (per merchandise category):
  • Used for inventory on value basis at category level.
  • Example: leftover promo goods → clear out individual stocks, sell through POS as “anonymous” category sales.
• Hierarchy Value-Only Article: same concept but maintained at hierarchy level.

👉 Interview phrasing:

“Reference articles speed up article creation, value-only articles allow inventory and sales postings at a higher aggregation level.”

Characteristics & Profiles

• Characteristics can be assigned to merchandise categories or hierarchy levels.
• Lower levels inherit from higher levels (characteristic inheritance).
• These values are available in article masters → can be used for analysis, reporting, assortment planning.

Site Assignments

Merchandise categories can also be site-dependent:

• Retail pricing → assign price lists, competitor pricing.
• Replenishment → control order settings per site/category.
• Valuation & inventory management → different rules per site/category.
• Supplying site definition → override general site supplier for specific categories.

👉 Example to drop:

“A food retailer might source perishables (lettuce, fruit) from a special fresh-food DC, while all other goods come from the regular dry DC. This can be set at site/merchandise category level.”

Mental Cheat Sheet

• Always mandatory: no article without merchandise category.
• Used everywhere: pricing, replenishment, reporting.
• Reference article = template.
• Value-only article = inventory at category level.
• Characteristic inheritance = smart classification.
• Site/category assignment = local settings for pricing, supply, replenishment.

👉 If asked in interview:

• “What is MCH used for?” → “To classify articles, simplify pricing & reporting, and structure replenishment and valuation.”
• “What’s the difference between a merchandise category and a hierarchy?” → “A category is the lowest level assigned to an article. Hierarchies group categories upwards into levels for control and reporting.”
• “Why value-only articles?” → “To post sales/inventory at category level when article-level management is not needed, e.g., clearance or POS aggregate sales.”

Article Hierarchy

What it is

• The Article Hierarchy (AH) is another way to group articles in SAP Retail.
• Unlike the Merchandise Category Hierarchy (MCH) (which is mandatory), the AH is optional.
• Mainly used for assortment planning, reporting, and category management.
• Can be sent to BW/4HANA or SAP Customer Activity Repository (CAR) for analytics and planning.

👉 Interview phrasing:

“Merchandise Category Hierarchy is more material-attribute based; Article Hierarchy is more sales- and presentation-oriented.”

Key Features

• Customizable structure: define your own level names (e.g., Enterprise → Department → Theme → Area).
• No restriction on depth: technically unlimited levels, though 10 is a practical maximum.
• Scheduling: set validity periods for AH nodes → useful for seasonal merchandise.
• Asymmetry allowed: branches don’t have to be uniform.

Differences from Merchandise Category Hierarchy

• MCH is product/material-attribute based (food vs non-food, perishables vs frozen).
• AH is sales & merchandising logic based (brand, shelf presentation, packaging).

Example:

• MCH: “Dairy products” → “Milk”
• AH: “Milk” → by fat content (3.5%, 1.5%, 0.1%) → then by packaging (Bottle, Tetra Pak)

This allows more customer-oriented analysis, e.g., “Do customers buy more 1.5% milk in bottles or cartons?”

Lifecycle

• Created initially with status Planned.
• Once validated/approved → status changes to Active.
• High-level nodes often map to Category level → root of the Consumer Decision Tree (CDT) in Category Management.

Interview Tips

• If asked: “Why use Article Hierarchy if we already have MCH?” → Answer: “Because AH allows us to model sales-floor reality and consumer decision trees. MCH is system-mandatory, but AH is flexible for planning, reporting, and category management.”
• If asked about multiple assignment → Answer: “With multiple article assignment, the category level node is used for shop assignment, but each article can appear only once within a category/shop.”

Cheat Sheet

• MCH → Mandatory, system backbone, material-based.
• AH → Optional, sales/marketing-oriented, flexible, mirrors shop-floor layout.
• Uses → assortment planning, consumer decision trees, seasonal grouping, reporting in BW/CAR.

👉 If I only get 10 seconds in an interview:

“Merchandise Category Hierarchy is the system’s backbone for classification, mandatory for every article. Article Hierarchy is optional, sales-oriented, and flexible — used in planning and reporting to reflect how products are sold and displayed.”

Retail Article Master

What is the Retail Article Master?

• The article master in SAP Retail is a central object.
• It contains all the data needed to run processes: planning, purchasing, logistics, sales, POS.
• Instead of multiple separate masters, SAP Retail pulls relevant views (purchasing, sales, logistics, POS) into one record.
• Maintained in one place → data consistency across the business.

Article Categories

• Single article → traded individually (e.g., 250g pack of cookies).
• Generic article with variants → header + variant articles (e.g., T-shirt in sizes/colors).
  • Header holds common data.
  • Variants are the operational articles.
• Structured articles → groupings, built with Bills of Material (BoM):
  • Display → pre-packed set from vendor (ship/store as display, sell components).
  • Set → group of articles for sales or purchasing (sold together or individually).
  • Prepack → fixed ratio pack of variants (e.g., 10 shirts, 3 small / 5 medium / 2 large).
• Empties → returnable packaging tied to full product (bottles, crates).

👉 Interview phrasing:

“Single = standalone, Generic = header+variants, Structured = groupings (displays, sets, prepacks, empties).”

Structure of Article Master (Views)

• Basic Data (size, weight, GTINs).
• Listing (assortments, distribution chains).
• Purchasing (purchasing org, vendor, info records).
• Sales (sales org + channel, pricing, POS texts).
• Logistics (DC, store parameters, reference sites).
• POS view (till texts, POS control data).

Screen sequences:

• 24 → Food / non-food.
• F4 → Fashion (extra DC views, textile composition tab).

Units of Measure (UoM)

• Base UoM → smallest stock unit (used for inventory mgmt).
• Order UoM → how you usually order from vendor.
• Sales UoM → what customers buy (per distribution chain).
• Delivery/Issue UoM → how DCs deliver.
• Conversion factors link them (e.g., 1 case = 12 bottles).

Creation & Maintenance Options

• Reference Articles → provide defaults when creating. Standard = merchandise category reference article.
• Article Copy → copy from an existing article (all data or only selected segments).
• Core Article function → create a “minimal” article just for immediate ordering, finish later.
• Initial Data Load → IDocs like ARTMAS from legacy system.
• Fiori app Manage Product Master Data → modern UI, search, copy, drafts, images, integration with stock/PO views.
• Mass Maintenance:
  • MASS / MM46 → general mass maintenance.
  • MASS_MARC, MASS_EINE, MASS_EKKO → specific for logistics, purchasing info, POs.
  • WRFMASSMAT (Integrated Mass Change) → latest, retail-specific.

Data Synchronization (GDS)

• Global Data Synchronization (GDS) → import article data from suppliers via GS1 global standards.
• Retailers subscribe → receive updates (GTINs, product specs).
• Validation & enrichment rules ensure accuracy.
• Preferred over simple PRICAT IDocs.

👉 Interview phrasing:

“GDS helps retailers stay synced with suppliers in real time, based on GS1 standards, avoiding manual master data maintenance.”

Discontinuation & Archiving

• Partial discontinuation → remove listing conditions (article can’t be ordered, but can still be sold until stock clears).
• Client-wide discontinuation → article master removed after residence time, checked against stock & open docs.
• Archiving recommended soon after go-live → Retail has huge data volumes (10^5 articles × 10^3 stores = 10^8 records).

Interview Cheat Sheet

• Retail Article Master = central object, integrates data for planning → purchasing → logistics → sales → POS.
• Categories = Single, Generic (with variants), Structured (Display, Set, Prepack, Empties).
• Views = Basic, Purchasing, Sales, Logistics, POS.
• Maintenance = Reference article, Copy, Core Article, Fiori app, Mass Maintenance, GDS.
• Discontinuation/Archiving = handle lifecycle of articles, avoid database overload.
• Article Lists = static/dynamic, used for grouped processing.

👉 10-second interview line:

“The Retail Article Master is the backbone of merchandise management. It supports single, generic, and structured articles, integrates all relevant views, and can be maintained via reference/copy/core functions, Fiori apps, or GDS inbound. Once maintained, the article is ready for use across all retail processes.”

Assortment Management

What is Assortment Management?

• In SAP Retail, Assortment Management = assigning articles to sites (stores/DCs) through listing conditions.
• Assortments can also connect with layout data → how articles are placed in the store (shelf optimization).
• Once articles are listed, they are available for all logistics processes: planning, ordering, receiving, selling.

👉 Interview phrasing:

“Assortment Management ensures the right products are available in the right sites, by creating listing conditions and linking with shelf layout.”

Types of Assortments

• Local assortments (auto-created):
  • Created automatically when a site is created.
  • Site-specific, category A = store, category B = DC.
  • One local assortment per site, technical key = customer number of site.
• General assortments (category C):
  • Can be assigned to many sites or customers.
  • Used to group sites by region, size, or seasonality.
  • Advantage: fewer listing conditions (less system load).
  • Sites assigned via reference sites (regional/clustered groups).

Meaning of Listing

• Listing = the act of assigning an article to an assortment → makes it available to the sites.
• Without listing, article cannot be ordered, sold, or replenished.
• Articles can be listed:
  • Individually in article master.
  • Mass listing tools.
  • Automatically via listing procedures.

Listing Procedures (rule-based)

• B1: Mdse category + assortment grade
  • Check if article’s category matches assortment.
  • Add assortment grade to refine range (e.g., small vs large stores).
• B2: Classification check
  • Match article characteristics (like “requires freezer”) with assortment.
• B3: Layout check
  • Article is assigned to a layout module.
  • Assortment/site is linked to layout.

👉 Can combine listing procedures or create custom ones.

4. Layout Workbench

• Central tool for shelf optimization and layout.
• Can be opened by assortment, site, or layout module.
• Functions:
  • Assign articles (individually or mass).
  • Manage layout module versions (period-specific, seasonal).
  • Handle variants (local article deviations).
  • Assign fixtures (shelves, baskets, gondolas).
  • Display planogram files from external shelf optimization tools.
• Supports seasonal changes (e.g., summer vs winter assortments).

👉 Interview phrasing:

“The Layout Workbench links assortment planning with shelf optimization – it’s where you assign articles to fixtures and control seasonality.”

5. Assortment Module Management (New Concept)

• Mainly for public cloud edition, but can run in parallel with classic assortment mgmt.
• Uses modules with versions → each version valid for a time period (great for seasonal assortments).
• Managed with Fiori apps:
  • Manage Assortment Modules
  • Assign Products to Assortment Modules
  • Assign Stores to Assortment Modules
  • Postprocess Assortments
• Generates listing conditions (table WLK1) behind the scenes → integrates with POS outbound.

6. Assortment Lists

• Assortment list = what the store actually receives (articles available for sale).
• Full version → all listed articles.
• Change version → only deltas (new, discontinued, price changes, promo items).
• Assortment list type → defines frequency (when full lists, when deltas).
• Assortment list profile → defines content/structure (which article fields included, how sorted).
• Output can be: Paper, email, or IDoc to POS/store system.

👉 Interview phrasing:

“Assortment lists are the communication vehicle to stores – telling them which articles are listed, changed, or discontinued.”

Cheat Sheet

• Assortment Management = assign articles to sites → via assortments & listing.
• Local assortments = auto-created, site-specific (A=store, B=DC).
• General assortments = cluster multiple sites, reduce workload.
• Listing = makes an article usable in logistics & POS.
• Listing procedures = B1 (category/grade), B2 (classification), B3 (layout).
• Layout Workbench = shelf optimization, seasonal layouts, fixture assignments.
• Assortment Module Mgmt (cloud) = modular, versioned, Fiori-driven.
• Assortment lists = feed stores/POS with article updates.

👉 Quick 10-sec answer in interview:

“Assortment Management is how SAP Retail decides which products are sold where. It uses local and general assortments, creates listing conditions, ties into the Layout Workbench for shelf optimization, and pushes assortment lists to stores and POS systems.”

About the Author

Dzmitryi Kharlanau

Senior SAP Consultant·EPAM Systems

Senior SAP SD / O2C Consultant | S/4HANA Logistics | Integration at EPAM Systems. Interested in S/4HANA, automation, AI, and Event-Driven Architecture (EDA).

SAP SDOrder-to-CashS/4HANABTPEDAIntegrationAutomationAI