Free SKU generator

What makes a good SKU

• One SKU per sellable variant. A black medium shirt and a black large shirt are two SKUs because you count and reorder them separately.
• General to specific, left to right. Product type first, then style, color and size. Sorted lists then group related items together.
• Letters and digits only. Spaces, slashes and symbols cause trouble in spreadsheets, web addresses and some barcode types. A dash between segments is fine.
• Avoid look-alike characters. The letters O and I are easily confused with 0 and 1 when someone types a SKU from a printed label.
• Short enough to read aloud. Long SKUs are slow to type and make wide barcodes. Many teams aim for under about 12–15 characters, but it is a preference, not a rule.
• Don't encode things that change. Prices, suppliers and dates change. A SKU should not.
• Never reuse a retired SKU for a different product. Old orders and reports would point at the wrong item.

SKU, UPC or both?

A SKU is your own internal code. You make it up, and it only has to be unique inside your business. A UPC or other GTIN is a globally unique number licensed through GS1 that retailers and marketplaces use to identify the same product everywhere. Most sellers keep both and map them to each other. See SKU vs UPC vs ASIN vs FNSKU.

From SKUs to barcode labels

Internal labels can carry the SKU itself in a Code 128 barcode, which scans with any ordinary USB or Bluetooth scanner. Use “Print labels for these SKUs” above to open the label sheet generator with your list, up to 300 at a time. For the full setup, including receiving, picking and counting, read how to set up a barcode inventory system.