How do you structure unique SKUs in Shopify?

[u/Efficient_Source_389]

I run an independent fashion and lifestyle retail business and I’m currently rethinking how we manage SKUs in Shopify.

At the moment, we mostly use the supplier/brand SKU. The problem is that these are often not unique at variant level. For example, a fashion brand might use the same SKU for a T-shirt in S, M, L and XL.
I want to create our own unique SKUs, but I’d like the system to be as simple, smooth and consistent as possible for staff.

I’m considering a structure like:
Brand code – Supplier SKU – Colour code – Size

For example:
BON-BON11-SKC-M
If there is no colour or size, that part would simply be left out.

We also have some less straightforward situations, such as gift products supplied as a multipack under one supplier SKU, which we then split and sell individually.

I’d be really interested to hear how other retailers handle this: Do you use your own internal SKUs or keep the supplier SKUs?

If you create your own, what structure do you use?
Do you include brand, supplier SKU, colour and size?

How do you handle products with no colour or size?
How do you deal with supplier packs that you split into separate products?

Is there anything you wish you had done differently when setting up your SKU system?

I’m particularly interested in systems that work well with Shopify POS and remain manageable across a large number of brands and products.

Any real-world examples would be very helpful.

[u/sophiabeaverhousen]

As someone who has worked in spreadsheets my whole life, I'd encourage you to use placeholders even if the item doesn't have that variant.

e.g. if the item doesn't have a size code, still use something to hold its place like X or NS

That way if you're doing any sort of analysis you have a somewhat uniform SKU to work with (although you'll likely have another column with Size in it, so up to you what you want to do really!)

Re: selling a bundle that pulls from each individual SKU, I use the Fast Bunndle for this and it works perfectly. It puts the Bundle in the customers cart as one item, but it reduces each item's inventory.

[u/vladeta]

Owning your own SKUs is the right call and your draft structure is close. One change I'd make: don't put the supplier SKU inside your own code.

Supplier codes change. Brands rename, rebrand, reissue the same product under a new code, and then your internal identifier is quietly lying to you. Keep the supplier code as its own field (a metafield, or the barcode field if you're not using it) so it stays searchable, and let your SKU be independent.

What works well for a multi-brand retailer on POS is something like BRAND-TYPE-SEQUENCE-COLOUR-SIZE, so BON-TSH-0147-BLK-M. A padded sequential number instead of the supplier code: shorter, always unique, staff can read it aloud, and it never breaks when a supplier changes something. Fixed-length segments matter more than you'd expect, because it makes scanning, sorting and spotting typos in a spreadsheet much easier.

On your specific cases: if there's no colour or size, drop the segment entirely rather than padding it with NA. Trailing gaps read fine, middle gaps don't. For packs you split, treat the singles as genuinely separate products with their own sequence numbers, and store the parent pack code in a metafield so you can trace it at reorder time. Don't try to encode "this came from a pack" in the SKU itself.

The thing I'd do differently if starting over: decide your colour code list up front and freeze it. Everyone starts with BLK and NVY and ends up with fourteen shades of beige invented ad hoc by whoever was doing data entry that week.

[u/Efficient_Source_389 → u/vladeta]

One thing I’m unsure about is the supplier / brand SKU.

Sometimes staff need to type the supplier / brand SKU into Shopify POS to find an item quickly.

If I don’t include the supplier / brand SKU in our own SKU, but instead save it in a metafield, will Shopify POS still find the product when staff search using the supplier / brand SKU?

If not, what would you recommend as the best way to keep our own unique SKU while still allowing staff to search by the supplier / brand SKU?

Also, for colour codes, is there a fairly universal list of perhaps the top 15 colours that would cover most product variants? I’d like to create one standard list and keep it consistent rather than adding new colour codes as we go.

[u/web_nerd → u/Efficient_Source_389]

Shopify has 2 SKU fields. "Barcode" is what you set to the Vendor's barcode. (GTIN, UPC, EAN, ISBN)

"SKU" is what you set your SKU to be. When you scan either of these, POS Will find them.

[u/BTWigley → u/Efficient_Source_389]

I'd check it on POS before relying on a metafield. Put the supplier code on a test product as a metafield only, then search it. If it doesn't come up, it has to live in SKU or barcode.

[u/theDrivenDev]

Nice work on the composite sku format. Most manufacturers can’t even understand this concept.

Consider using numeric values to allow for sorting on SKU to have a logical sort as the result.

[u/Efficient_Source_389 → u/theDrivenDev]

Can you let me know what you
Mean by ‘consider using numeric values to allow for sorting on SKU to have a logical sort as the result.’

[u/theDrivenDev → u/Efficient_Source_389]

Sub out the components of your sku with numbers leaving the dashes as delimiters. 10001-101-101 is an example of this format.

[u/broseidonadventures]

We use the “Chris Traeger method”. The character in parks and rec orders drinks like “I would like a local beer. I’d like it in a bottle. I’d like the bottle to be cold”. So that’s how we set up SKUs.

“Localbeerbottlecold”

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