In this article, we will explore how to come up with SKU numbers and apply it to a real-world example to better illustrate the process.
Over the years we have refined our process for creating SKU numbers. Here's our step-by-step guide to help you come up with your own SKU numbers:
Clearly understand the primary objective behind creating SKUs. Do they need to convey information about product categories, brands, sizes, or other aspects?
Choose between alphanumeric (e.g., SH01BL) or purely numeric (e.g., 12345678) systems. Alphanumeric often offers more informational depth.
Select a standard length for your SKUs. Using consistent lengths like 8 or 12 characters helps avoid confusion.
Divide the SKU into meaningful parts. For example, a segment for product category, another for size, and perhaps another for color or variant.
Use characters that are distinct to minimize human error. Avoid potential mix-ups like '0' and 'O' or '1' and 'I'.
Begin your SKUs with category or brand prefixes which can aid in organization and quick product identification.
Ensure a part of the SKU is a unique identifier for each product so no two products share the same SKU.
Design your system to be scalable. For numerical sequences, don't start too low, allowing room for product additions.
Decide on rules like capitalization, avoiding special characters, and train staff on them. This keeps SKUs uniform and reduces errors.
Before a full rollout, test the SKU system in practical scenarios and make necessary adjustments. Periodically review as the business evolves.
SoleStride Footwear, a rising shoe retailer, is introducing a tailored SKU system to optimize inventory and sales. They will segment SKUs by type, gender, color, size, and unique ID.
SoleStride wants SKUs that convey shoe type (running, trail, casual), gender, color, and size, allowing quick identification and insights into sales trends.
They opt for an alphanumeric system, offering richer informational content than a purely numeric approach.
Each SKU will be 10 characters long, ensuring easy readability and system uniformity.
The first two characters denote shoe type: "RU" for running, "TR" for trail, and "CA" for casual.
The next character represents gender: "M" for male and "F" for female.
Characters four and five identify color, e.g., "BL" for blue and "RD" for red.
The last five characters signify size and a unique identifier, e.g., "09001" for size 9, first item.
SoleStride avoids the use of zeros in the beginning of the unique identifier segment, minimizing potential confusion with sizes.
Their SKUs always start with shoe type and gender, e.g., "RUM" for men's running shoes, ensuring immediate identification.
The last five characters provide a unique identity to each shoe, ensuring two products never have identical SKUs.
The unique identifier segment starts from "01001" (for size 1, first item) and has room to grow, anticipating more product additions.
SoleStride maintains all characters in uppercase and avoids any special characters to prevent system errors or confusion during data entry.
Before system-wide adoption, SoleStride tests their SKUs in various departments, ensuring the format is intuitive and meets all operational needs.
For example, a men's running shoe that's blue and size 9 could have an SKU of "RUMBL09001", while the next shoe in the same category might be "RUMBL09002".
We hope that you now have a better understanding of how to come up with SKU Numbers for your inventory.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like our article on SKU pricing analysis or inventory rollback.
