An SKU is pronounced as skew, typically used by businesses to identify and track their products from a large inventory. Besides keeping track and differentiating them from a huge inventory, there are many things that most vendors need to be made aware of.

An SKU generator is crucial even if you are a retail veteran store owner, started with a brand new business, or have limited stock and a massive inventory. Keep reading to find the best SKU generator and more details to perfectly operate your brick-and-mortar store and online marketplace.

What are Stock Keeping Units?

SKU or stock-keeping unit can be mostly seen in the product labels. They are scannable and are mainly used by vendors to keep track of their product movements from the inventory.

These units are composed of some alphanumeric combination of eight or a few more characters which can make up a code. These codes or SKUs can keep records of the product price, its manufacturers, points-of-sale, and more in-depth details.

You can even find an SKU in billable products. For example, you can find an SKU in an auto body shop used during its repair time with warranties.

What is a SKU Number?

A SKU number in a product is crucial to differentiate it from other products in a huge inventory. An SKU number is based on a few factors.

The SKU numbers are based on product characteristics like price, color, type, size, and manufacturer. The SKU numbers should be unique to your business and can be used according to your and other customers’ benefits.

In addition to this, the SKU number must be unique to retailers selling the products. But, the UPC or the bar code be the same for the two products.

What is the Difference Between SKU, UPC, ASIN, & MPN?

SKU, UPC, ASIN, and MPN are different product identifiers used as labels on the products. Below is the definition of the product differentiators which make up the product’s label.

1. SKU: Stock Keeping Unit

SKU is a popular product identifier used as a unit of measure in an inventory and is mostly used to manage the materials in stock. The SKU can store all product information, from product type and manufacturer to brand, color, and warranty terms.

This unique identifier or code is often represented as a scannable barcode that can be easily tracked with the associated system installed in the shop. When receiving items from a vendor, the company can create a new SKU for their product or continue with the existing one.

The SKU, unlike other product identifiers, Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), Universal Product Code (UPC), and Australian Product Number (APN) are much unique and can hold multiple pieces of information.

2. UPC: Universal Product Code

It is another type of product code typically printed during the retail product packaging for specifying a particular item from the inventory. The Universal Product Code, or the UPC, is primarily two unique codes or parts.

The first part is a scannable barcode made with some black bars. The second thing that makes up the UPC is a 12-digit unique number placed right beneath the barcode.

The staff can identify the various details of the products like their brand name, color, item size, ad other important details. Most of the time, the UPC is scanned during product checkout.

The main purpose of using the UPC or Universal Product Code is to speed up the checkout process, especially in grocery stores. This code helps retailers keep track of their products’ movements from their store or warehouse.

If you are a retailer and wish to obtain a Universal Product Code or UPC, you must apply to become a part of this system. The Global Standards Organization or the GS1 US, formerly known as Uniform Code Council, is responsible for managing all the assigned UPCs to retailers in the US.

So you can also get the benefits of UPC for running and managing your inventory items by applying to this organization and availing of their service.

3. ASIN: Amazon Standard Identification Number

Like other product identification codes, an ASIN must be unique and is always allotted to one product only.

However, you can assign the ASIN to a product variation occasionally. The ASIN or Amazon Standard Identification Number is always made up of 10 digits, again made up of some combination of letters and digits.

ASIN is quite different from other product identifiers. For example, if you look at a book purchased from Amazon, you will find the ASIN number and the ISBN are identical.

With ASIN, users can find books and products from the search bar of the Amazon website. ASIN is very useful, especially when using special affiliate themes or plug-ins.

For instance, if you have ever worked with creating special affiliate links for some products, you must have crossed paths with ASINs. Integrating the products to create the affiliate links always uses ASIN to create an identifier number or special link.

To find an ASIN number in a product, you can check out the product page of every item on Amazon. Almost every Amazon product has its ASIN number displayed, with other product information numbers like rankings, expected delivery, and customer reviews.

4. MPN: Manufacturer Part Number

MPN, or Manufacturer Part Number, is another product identifier manufacturing brands use to identify their products. The MPN is assigned to their products, which helps them identify the merchandise easily.

A combination of digits and letters often represents the MPN number, and it is mostly used for identical products you can’t easily differentiate. Besides this, there are several important benefits of MPN.

• The MPN plays a vital role in boosting the search accuracy for their assigned merchandise,
• It offers an excellent product management system,
• Helps in marketing efforts, with which products can gain reach,

The MPN helps manufacturers or brands to control and seamlessly supervise their products from the eCommerce site. The product description often holds information along with MPN, which helps users identify manufacturers or brands associated with the product.

Where Are SKUs Used?

Retailers mostly use SKUs or Stock Keeping Units to keep track of their products from their inventory. The SKUs help the merchant to understand a product and search for a particular item from a huge group of other products.

You can find the SKUs on the product label since they are dispatched from the manufacturing company and delivered to the customer upon order. Since the SKUs are unique, the retailers or wholesalers can change them based on their system or use the existing ones.

Typically, the SKUs are used by most merchants. Manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and even dropshippers with their inventories use SKUs to mark their products.

Besides this, you will find SKU code numbers in every product dispatched from online stores or when you purchase them from a shopping mall or any wholesale brick-and-mortar location.

Why Are Stock Keeping Units (SKU) Important for eCommerce?

SKU or Stock Keeping Units are considered necessary features while selling items online. Whether you sell big or small products, one or multiple, every online merchant should hold an SKU number and a system to track them for their online store management purposes.

AN SKU can help a retailer to find a product easily from their inventory. Besides this, retailers can have detailed knowledge of their inventory, sales analysis, marketing activities, and customer service.

Let us see in detail why SKYs are important for eCommerce business.

1. Inventory Tracking and Management

SKUs of any production increase the accuracy of inventory data and other warehouse activities. The SKUs or Stock Keeping Unit also helps find a specific item from a product variance and helps the retailer organize the inventory according to SKU.

The SKUs are very useful when identifying a lost product from the inventory. You, as a retailer, can identify the loss if the SKU scan gives a result that says the number of items in the inventory is not matching.

2. Helps in Analyzing Sales Data

The SKU offers retailers a better method to analyze their overall sales information. The SKU number in the invoice or the order receipt helps the retailers to find the information on their sales.

With the SKU numbers in the order receipt, the retailers can identify which products have been most sold or what is their total sales, seasonal sales performance, and other information like this.

Even though the online store often has in-built store analysis features, the SKUs provide a better and more consistent method to find the sales data. Tracking sales information based on product type and other general methods is tougher compared to SKU benefits in sales information.

3. Marketing

You will think about capable platforms to market your products or brand as a retailer. But you should know that SKU also benefits retailers with their marketing strategy.

The SKU sends notifications to customers with the latest recommendations based on their searched products and similar products from their carts or with different discounts on related products.

As we know, SKUs are unique number codes given products and are unique from business to business. So, providing SKU information on your product will help you to keep track of all the details.

Additionally, this prevents customers from comparing your products with the competitor’s products.

4. Customer Satisfaction

The SKU codes make it easier for employees to find items from their company’s product catalog or inventory. Most customers find it amusing since the searchings get better and easier.

For instance, if a customer, while searching for an item in your online, enters a brick-and-mortar location, trying to find the same item, then your employees can look up to the database to find that item and direct your customers to it.

SKUs are very helpful for business-to-business customers or selling wholesale products. Customers can purchase bulk by finding the items using the SKUs within their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

How do I generate a SKU code?

Generating a SKU or Stock Keeping Unit code is simple and easy. With tons of available SKU generators, you can generate an SKU code for your product in a few seconds.

EcombusinessHub’s SKU generator is one of the best free SKU code generators. You can generate an SKU code for your product by giving details like the number of characters in the SKU code, separators, and attributes.

Let us check how you can generate a SKU code using eComBusinessHub’s generator.

• Click to open the eComBusinessHub’s SKU code generator.
• Once the SKU code generator is loaded, you must select the number of characters you want in your SKU code. You can select from 1-9.
• Select the separators you want in your SKU code.
• Enter the name of your product.
• Now comes a crucial part. You will have to select attributes for your product if the product is jeans or shirts, or other related data.
• Select at least one attribute. However, you can add up to three attributes in an item SKU code.
• Click on Add from the option given below.

This will create a table for your generated SKU code, where you will find all the entered details of your item. You can find the item name, different attributes, and SKU code.

If you are unsatisfied with this generated SKU code, you can reset it; if not, you can download the attribute list by clicking on the Export CSV button above.

What is a SKU generator?

An SKU generator is a tool offered by multiple sites on the internet, allowing users to create an SKU code for their products. These tools are simple, and you can generate multiple SKU codes.

The SKU generator takes the entered details like attributes, names, and separators into account and creates a unique SKU code for the company. The SKU code allows the users to decide the number of characters present before any separators are used.

Most SKU generators are free to use and can be used as often as you want. Using an SKU generator is a great way to maintain the uniqueness of the items in your inventory or product warehouse.

An SKU code generated by a SKU generator can look like this, ASUS/US/Laptop/700000.

Why should you use a SKU generator?

There are several methods of creating a SKU code for a particular code. One of those many methods to create a SKU code is by taking the help of an Excel spreadsheet.

Even though this method of creating SKU codes is very straightforward, it consumes a lot of time and effort to create multiple SKU codes for a product. So, it is essential for any business, whether online or offline; merchants should use a SKU generator to create the SKU code for their products.

The generators not only save you time and effort in creating the product SKUs, but they also help in sorting products in an inventory, which is much easier when finding them. Another benefit that users get while using the SKU generator is the tool to create customized codes.

However, not all SKU generators provide this feature to users, which is one of the many reasons you should use a SKU generator to generate your SKU codes.

What is the best way of managing the SKU effectively?

With SKU inventory management, you, as an eCommerce merchant, can keep your business data well-organized. The SKU inventory management process helps in the successful and quick tracking and managing of items.

Since every item has an alphanumeric code, you can find them easily in your inventory. But it is not only possible if you manage your SKU properly. There are a lot of sides that you need to keep a check on for using your SKU effectively.

However, besides everything, what you need to check on is maintaining a simple framework. At times, using only letters and numbers to identify your product can lead to confusion. Use a naming convention or standardized method to mark your items.

It will help in clearing all your conventions about the SKU code. Also, keeping the SKU code short is another best practice that you must use to manage SKUs effectively.

Generally, the SKU code can range from 8-12 alphanumeric digits, so maintaining your range of SKU code digits will be beneficial when managing SKU codes for your inventory products.

How do I decide the attributes of the items?

The product attributes in an SKU code are the crucial feature that makes it unique. A SKU code can have attributes of a product like size, color, package type, manufacturing date, flavor, and other related information.

These product attributes help customers to analyze the consideration set and retailers to identify the product from their inventory. However, deciding which attribute to use in an item SKU code can take time.

Since many features can be used as attributes in a product, you must choose the most effective attribute that helps you identify the product from your inventory; however, if you cannot decide, no worries.

Here are some attributes which you can add to your product SKU code.

1. Product Type

This is one of many attributes you must use in a product SKU code. Product type will define your product; it will help you learn what the package contains without needing ot to check it in the database.

The product type can again have some short forms. For a leather product, it can be LTR, or for a water bottle, it can WTB.

2. Manufacturing Location

If you are dropshipping and you hold your inventory or warehouse, you must use manufacturing location as your second attribute. This attribute will categorize your product from your multiplier suppliers.

Using manufacturing location or source location is beneficial and even helps customers to identify products based on manufacturing brands and their location.

If you are concerned about your customer satisfaction, adding this attribute to your SKU code can help your customers decide to purchase a product.

3. Price

This is yet another vital attribute to add to your SKU code. It is helpful when you have multiple product variances and need clarification on your items’ price range.

Adding a price range to your SKU code will help customers to find the items based on eir budget preferences. So, considering the price to be your third attribute in your product SKU code is a wise decision.

How is the order decided?

The order of a SKU code is very simple. When you use a SKU code generator, you can find that the item’s name precedes the item’s attributes, separated by different available separators.

The SKU code comprises different letters, numbers, and special characters, ranging from 8-12 characters in total. Within this range, the SKU code first adds the product; then, it will be followed by the first attribute with a separator.

For instance, if a product name is DELL, its first attribute is 8GB and the second attribute is 40K, and the separator used is a slash, then the SKU code will look like DELL/8GB/40K.

What are some of the basics for deciding the SKU of an item?

Some basics to decide the SKU of an item can be the product type, manufacturing details, date of packaging, color, size, and other relevant information on the product.

• Use the most relevant information to differentiate your item from the pile.
• The SKU number shouldn’t hold any short forms, which can confuse you to identify it from the group of products.
• The SKU code should be easy to understand by following the order of important attributes.

How SKU is different from serial or batch number?

SKU or Stock Keeping Unit has some major differences between serial numbers. Some of them are listed below:

• Both manufacturers and retailers use SKUs. However, serial numbers are mostly used by manufacturers to identify the ownership of their products.
• SKUs are to identify a product from a pile of other products. On the other hand, serial numbers are mostly used to find the warranty information of that item.
• SKU codes are given to every product dispatched from a manufacturer or any online or local shop. However, a serial number is given only to products with something to deal with a warranty.

Just like the serial number given by the manufacturing company to identify the ownership of a single product, the batch number is given to a group of products made from a single run. Hence, there is a huge difference between SKU and a batch number.

• SKU is a unique code to identify a single item from an inventory. But a batch number is used to identify a group of items from a warehouse. However, in cases of batch number, this number is given to a group of products made from the same manufacturing run.

Standard SKU Practices To Follow

There are some basic principles that you must follow while creating your product SKU code. Here are some of them listed below.

• The SKU code must be unique to your inventory data and assigned only to one product.
• Use the most important SKU code, which will help you to track them instantly.
• It’s good practice not to start your SKU code with a zero.
• SKUs attribute should be in full. It will clear any confusion about short forms.
• SKU codes shouldn’t have any spaces.
• Do not use the SKU code to describe your products.

FAQs

Can Shopify create SKU numbers?

Yes, as a merchant in Shopify, you can create SKU numbers using their SKU code generator tool. This tool help merchants organize and track their products from the inventory using the generated SKU code.

How many SKUs can Shopify handle?

There are some limits to how much SKU code Shopify can handle. This can be disheartening for some merchants, but Shopify systems can support up to only 100,00 products.

So, according to the number of supported products, Shopify can handle only 100,000 SKU codes. You might have to clear your Shopify store’s previous SKU code data if your codes reach the limit.

How To Manage Your Shopify SKUs?

Is SKU unique for each item?

SKU or Stock Keeping Unit is unique for every time and every business. For example, a product with a SKU code in business A will be different than the same product’s SKU code in business B.

Is SKU the same as item number?

No SKU is different than an item number. For instance, products can have different attributes like RAM and ROM.

So, in these cases, the products can have the same item number, but the SKU number will change for each product with a change in RAM and ROM.

Are SKU numbers universal?

No, SKU numbers are not universal. These codes are to identify a product from a company’s inventory.

So, the company will create a SKU code based on its inventory data. The same product in a different company will have a different SKU code.

What is SKU example?

SKU or Stock Keeping Units are 8-12 characters digit, unique to a company’s inventory. An example of a SKU is DELL/8GB/40K.

What is the difference between SKU and product?

A product can be best described as an item made to be available in stock for selling purposes. On the other hand, SKU is a Stock Keeping Unit used to identify these products from a company’s inventory.

What kind of businesses use custom SKUs?

SKU is a product identifier to track down its movement from the inventory. Since it has nothing to deal with warranty-like features, every business uses custom SKUs.

However, you will mostly find the SKUs in clothing, accessories, and electronics businesses.

Can I reuse SKUs?

SKUs must be unique to a company’s or store’s inventory. Any repetition of SKUs can lead to confusion in the inventory.

So, you cannot reuse SKUs. However, if you wish to delete your previous SKU data or are of no use to you now, you can reuse them for other similar products.

How do I change my Shopify SKU number?

To change the Shopify SKU number, you can follow the steps given below:

• First, you will have to visit the Shopify Admin section.
• Now click on Products.
• Once you are on the products page, search and select the product for which you want to change the SKU number.
• Add the new SKU code in the inventory section of that product.
• Once added, click on Save, and it will change your product SKU number.

Wrapping Up

SKU is crucial for your business, especially when you have inventory for your store. Find an SKU generator that can handle multiple SKU codes for your store.

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