SKU Management Guide: How to Create SKUs That Make Billing and Inventory Easier

An SKU (stock keeping unit) is the code you give each distinct item you stock, and a good SKU scheme is short, readable and one-per-variant. This guide explains how SKUs differ from barcodes, gives a scheme you can copy for general retail, apparel and electronics, and lists the mistakes that make catalogues unmanageable.

SKU vs barcode vs product name

In the POS, all three live on the product record. (product management in Vanikra)

Principles of a workable scheme

• Readable. Someone at the counter should be able to guess what KRT-BLU-L is. Random numbers fail this.
• Short. 6–12 characters. Long codes get mistyped.
• One per sellable variant. Size, colour, storage, pack size: each combination gets its own SKU.
• Stable. Never reuse an SKU for a different item; old bills refer to it.
• No meaning that changes. Do not encode price or supplier; they change.
• Consistent separators and case. Hyphens and upper case, or nothing, but the same everywhere.

A scheme you can copy

CATEGORY-ITEM-VARIANT1-VARIANT2

General retail / grocery

Most items carry manufacturer barcodes; the SKU is for search and reports.

• BEV-COLA-500 — beverages, cola, 500 ml
• STP-RICE-5KG — staples, rice, 5 kg pack
• PCR-SHMP-180 — personal care, shampoo, 180 ml

Fashion / apparel

Every size and colour is a variant with its own stock, so each needs its own SKU (and its own printed barcode).

• KRT-BLU-S, KRT-BLU-M, KRT-BLU-L — blue kurta, three sizes
• JNS-DRK-32 — dark jeans, waist 32

Style code first so reports can group by style. (fashion POS)

Electronics / mobile

Model → storage → colour as variants; the serial number is recorded on the unit, not in the SKU.

• PHN-X12-128-BLK — phone model X12, 128 GB, black
• ACC-CASE-X12-CLR — accessory, case for X12, clear

(electronics POS)

Pharmacy

Brand, strength and pack are what distinguish items on the shelf.

• MED-PARA-500-10 — paracetamol 500 mg, strip of 10
• MED-PARA-650-15 — paracetamol 650 mg, strip of 15

(pharmacy POS)

Turning SKUs into barcodes

For items without a manufacturer code, print a label whose barcode encodes the SKU (or a numeric ID that maps to it). Code 128 barcodes handle letters and hyphens; EAN-13 is digits only. Your label printer software will offer both; pick one and use it consistently. Scanning then identifies the exact variant. (how barcode billing works)

Mistakes that make catalogues unmanageable

• Duplicates. "Blue Kurta L" and "Kurta Blue L" as two products. Search the catalogue before creating.
• Variants as separate products. Reports at the style or model level become impossible.
• Encoding the supplier. The supplier changes; the SKU should not.
• Codes only one person understands. If the scheme is not written down, it does not exist.

Write the scheme on one page, keep it next to the counter, and apply it in product management from the first product.