Whether you’re a manufacturer or retailer, inventory management can be a challenge. If you’re looking to grow your business, you should look at professionally organising and tracking your inventory and a great way to do this is with a SKU number system.
Here we’ll provide you with everything you need to know about SKU numbers from how to create them to why it’s important and more.
What is an SKU number?
So, what is an SKU? SKU essentially stands for stock keeping unit (SKU). An SKU will help you to distinguish one product type from another in your inventory. SKU numbers are a part of SKU systems that are typically used for internal inventory management.
Why are SKUs important?
SKUs are important as they’re an extremely efficient way to share product information and ensure that everyone is on the same page. A great SKU system can also help with streamlining checkout, improving profits and providing valuable data.
Some other great benefits include:
- Being able to set up and arrange your warehouse better. You’ll be able to find and track your product with ease and it can save you a great amount of time.
- Well-structured SKU codes can help with enhancing the customer experience as you’ll be able to provide a seamless shopping experience that’s both smooth and error-free.
How to create SKU numbers?
1. Start with a top-level identifier
The beginning of each SKU should represent a character that’s generic but easy to distinguish. This would consist of 2-3 characters and is a general classification that will allow you to locate your products at a glance.
2. Then, assign unique identifiers for the middle numbers
The middle section of your SKU should consist of unique features such as the size, colour etc. These features should be important to you and make sense with the organisation of your products.
3. Complete the SKU with a sequential number
Sequential numbers are numbers like 001, 002 etc. This will help you with identifying older items versus the newer items in your inventory.
4. Add these SKUs to your inventory management system
If you’ve got a plethora of products, an inventory management system or POS is a must. This data should have everything from the product name to the category, to which products are generating the most sales and more.
5. Create SKU barcodes
Once you’ve added all of the SKUs to your inventory system, it should automatically generate a barcode for each individual item. This barcode should be placed in the label of each product so that it’s easier for you to keep track of which items are running low on stock.
Organising your inventory efficiently
As seen from the above, SKU numbers will allow you to easily organise, find and track your products. It also helps with warehouse management, customer satisfaction and more. When it comes to SKU numbers, you’ll also want to make sure that you’ve got the support of a good POS and inventory management system to help you with both developing and managing SKU numbers efficiently.
