How to Set Up SKU Codes for Your Business

A smart SKU system saves hours every week. Learn how to design SKU codes that are short, meaningful, and scale with your product catalog.

What is an SKU

Stock Keeping Unit — your internal identifier for a product. Different from barcode (which is universal) and HSN (which is tax). You design the SKU; you decide what it means.

Anatomy of a good SKU

6-12 characters. Encodes meaningful attributes: category, brand, size, colour. Example for apparel: SHIRT-NK-BLU-M = Nike blue shirt, medium. Avoid pure sequential numbers — they tell you nothing.

Common patterns

Retail: CAT-BRAND-COLOR-SIZE. Restaurants: MENU-DISH-CHEESE-LARGE. Services: SVC-TYPE-DURATION (CONSULT-TAX-30MIN).

Mistakes to avoid

Reusing SKUs for retired products. Including price in SKU (price changes — SKU shouldn't). Making them so long they're unreadable. Embedding spaces or special characters.

How to roll out

Set the convention, document it on a one-pager, and train staff. BillBabu's product catalog supports custom SKUs and quick search — type the first 3-4 chars and the item appears.

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