You may have heard about the term, or seen it in EffectConnect or one of our knowledge articles: cache validation. This seems like a very technical term, right? But it isn't so hard to learn what this exactly means.
Cache validation is a feature in EffectConnect, which remembers the previously sent exports, so it doesn't have to resend the same data every time over and over again.
So for example, EffectConnect sends a stock level of 2 pieces for a product to the marketplace. In the next stock export, EffectConnect checks if the stock level of that same product is still 2 pieces (so, the same level as the previous export), and won't send an update again. This is to reduce the number of updates, and not unnecessarily use resources from our own servers and those from the marketplaces.
However, if the marketplace hasn't received or processed the update properly, EffectConnect won't send the update again, because the internal stock level (in EffectConnect) hasn't changed. Then, you can invalidate the cache to simulate a change, and EffectConnect will export the stock level again to the marketplace.
Good to know: if you don't see the button for cache invalidation, please contact our customer success colleagues so we can help you further.
Don't worry, EffectConnect is also checking on most of the marketplaces if the update we've sent is received properly, and if not, resends it. This is not for all the marketplaces (yet), so you can use the cache invalidate setting.