What is SKU in Shopify

E-Commerce Setup

An SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) is a specific and unique code used to track and manage your inventory. You can assign an SKU when creating a product in Shopify, and doing so brings many advantages. Not only does it make inventory control less difficult and efficient, but assigning an SKU in Shopify helps to identify different characteristics of a product, such as its brand name, color, size, and style.

Stock Keeping Units aren’t just codes you assign to a product; they also act as an identifier for the easy delivery and return process.

Stock Keeping Units are commonly used in e-tailers, retail stores, and warehouses. Online store owners at Shopify can use this alphanumeric code to get analytical data and improve their relationships with customers and vendors. Stock keeping units should not be confused with product tags in Shopify as these are mainly used to sort your stock on the platform.

Creating SKU in Shopify is straightforward, but it’s worth bearing a few things in mind to get the most out of them.

How to format your SKU

Your SKU should contain a mixture of letters and numbers to determine your product’s characteristics easily. You can use the properties of your product like size, color, or brand model to create an easy-to-understand stock-keeping unit. Don’t use similar identifiers for different merchandise, and make sure that the code is different before submitting it to SFN (Shopify Fulfillment Network).

Best practice for creating an SKU

Here are the steps you need to remember before assigning identifiers:

• The SKU should be between 8 to 12 characters
• It must be easily readable
• Don’t use special characters like @, ! or &
• SKU identifiers must be unique for different products
• Use repetitive patterns for product variants
• Avoid irrelevant and difficult identifiers

Create Circus’ recommended SKU generator 

If you want help creating your SKU, we suggest checking out Trade Gecko‘s free online generator.

SKU-assigning example

Suppose you’re making SKU for an apparel store products that are available in different sizes and colors. You can assign completely distinctive numbers and alphabets to every product as follows;

How to create SKU in Shopify

The main Shopify admin panel allows you to add product properties, including SKU and barcodes. You can use the following steps to create an SKU in Shopify;

• Navigate to the “Products” page under the “Orders” tab.
• Select from existing products or add a new product.
• If you are editing an existing product, you can select and edit SKU by simply choosing the product and double-clicking it.
• You will find the “Variants” section.
• You can easily add a new product variant with its new SKU.
• If you go with “Add a Variant,” this will allow you to create a variant for the existing product. However, you’ll be able to change the SKU directly if the selected product has no variant.
• Here, you’ll be able to add a new variant to the selected product by clicking on “Add variant.”
• After adding a new Variant, you can add its physical attributes.
• Scroll down on the page, and you will find the “Inventory” section
• Here, you can add the SKU of the variant.
• Once you’re done with adding SKU, click on the “Save” button.

Benefits of SKU

• SKUs help to differentiate between different products based on their traits. In this way, they assist you in tracking your inventory and the availability of your products.
• SKUs help you forecast demand and satisfy your customers’ needs.
• They can help you get creative with your highest-selling items.

Is there a Shopify SKU limit?

Because Shopify supports up to 100,000 products, the maximum number of SKUs you can have on your Shopify is—100,000!

So unless you’re Jeff Bezos and you’re planning on changing platforms, you shouldn’t have a problem. 😉

Let’s get the most out of your Shopify site

SKUs are special and unique alphanumeric codes designed to help online Shopify store owners boost their earning potential and the level of customer satisfaction. Experienced merchants suggest adding SKUs to make your eCommerce business automated and well organized.

To guarantee you’re getting the most value out of your Shopify website, contact the certified Shopify experts at Create Circus.

Our team of programmers, graphic designers and SEO specialists are at hand to care of your site’s UX design, performance, SEO and more.

We’ll widen your sales funnel to work at full capacity so all you have to do is focus on product. Ready to collaborate? Schedule a call with us today.