How to use the SKU Generator
Messy SKUs lead to picking errors, confused staff, and syncing issues between Shopify and your warehouse. Our free SKU generator enforces best-practice formatting to ensure your inventory identifiers are clean and scalable.
SKU Best Practices
Follow the "Funnel Method." Start broad and get specific:
- Category (Broad): Defines the department. (e.g.,
APPfor Apparel,ELCfor Electronics). - Brand: Who makes it? (e.g.,
NIKfor Nike). - Product: What is it? (e.g.,
TSHorHODfor Hoodie). - Variant (Specific): Size, color, or condition. (e.g.,
BLKfor Black orLRGfor Large).
The Golden Rules of SKUs
- NEVER use spaces. (Use dashes `-` or underscores `_`)
- NEVER start a SKU with a zero (0). Excel will delete it, causing chaos.
- Keep it under 16 characters if possible so it prints nicely on small barcode labels.
Exporting to CSV
As you generate SKUs, they populate in the list on the right. Once you have generated the variants for a product line, click "Export CSV". You can then copy and paste these perfectly formatted SKUs directly into your Shopify dashboard or your inventory management system.
Got your SKUs ready?
Stash is designed to handle clean, organized SKU data. You can import your newly generated SKUs directly into Stash via CSV and start printing barcodes in exactly 60 seconds.
Import SKUs to Stash