SKU
A unique identifier for products to manage inventory efficiently.
An SKU (Stock-Keeping Unit) is a number or code assigned by retailers and businesses to products for tracking and managing inventory. Each product variant, such as color, size, or brand, requires its own unique SKU to distinguish it from other variants.
SKUs aren’t universal they have unique identification of each of the variants that are present in your inventory. Always it's a number that retailers assign to products to keep track of stock levels internally and easy to understand which items will be out of stock.
Why is SKU important?
SKU numbers are important because they help you to track your inventory accurately, prevent out-of-stock and also pinpoint when to order new products so your merchandise never goes out of stock.
So, if your product is out of stock and you want to notify each interested buyer when it is back in stock then using Konigle's Back in stock alerts you can easily create alerts for your Shopify stores.
SKUs also help to collect data on sales. For example, a store can see which items are best selling and which are not based on SKU data.
What Are SKUs Used For?
1. Analysis
SKU determines product popularity or views seasonal sales trends in their different customer segments for inventory. This analysis helps for more conversion and gives an idea about which item should be always present in stock.
2. Inventory Management
With the help of SKUs, retailers are able to track inventory levels, turnover, and flow. They can set inventory levels and timeframes for the future.
If you use Konigle's smart inventory management tool for Shopify stores, it helps you to save valuable time and increase profitability.
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3. Advertising and Marketing
In the competitive market, using SKUs in advertising is a technique of digital marketing. Many retailers and businesses advertise their SKU number instead of the model number given by the manufacturer.
4. Product Recommendations
Many companies use SKUs as a upsell to enhance their sales. For example, Shopify is able to pick items to display as "suggestions" when you are purchasing by using SKUs. It helps to more conversion rate as well as more one customer with more than one product which generates more revenue.
What is SKU vs UPC?
SKU and UPC almost look similar but each has different characteristics. SKU is used for internal inventory and UPC is used for the Universal.
SKU code is between 8 and 12 characters, but UPC is always 12 characters. SKU can be alphabetical or numerical, but UPC is always numerical. SKU is mainly used for identifying product traits, and UPC identifies the manufacturer and item.