Product SKU Requirements

Do I need product SKUs?

All product entering into Saddle Point MUST have a unique SKU assigned to it in order to be received. Failing to do so will result in drastically prolonging the time it takes to receive your goods as well as additional receiving and barcoding fees. 

Product SKUs allow us to scan each item, place it in the warehouse correctly, verify correct picking by scanning and confirm correct packing when shipping. SKUs and barcodes are the single most important aspect of proper warehouse management. 

What is a SKU?

A SKU or Stock Keeping Unit is a unique identifier for a physical product. It is assigned only to one specific product type. 

For example, if you have a T-Shirt style called "Cool T-Shirt" and it comes in multiple colors and sizes, each of those different colors and sizes would require a unique SKU. 

EXAMPLE:

Types of SKUs

A SKU can be alphanumeric, human readable or simply random unique numbers. How you choose to format your SKU schema is up to you. In doing so, you should consider the amount of SKUs you'll be offering and how often you'll be adding more. Human legible SKU schema like the example below are great for small catalogs of goods, but if you intend to release new product seasonally that contains loads of variants (like apparel) maintaining them can be a pain. The most important thing is that it is unique to the product down to the variant level.  

EXAMPLE SKU SCHEMA:

How do I generate SKUs?

If you have already connected your Shopify account to Saddle Point's WMS system any product with a blank SKU field will automatically be populated with that product's Shopify Product ID. You're welcome to use this as your SKU going forward or if you wish you can manually enter in product SKUs of your choosing using the "Bulk Edit" feature in Shopify.

SKU Requirements

• Cannot be reused, or reassigned. Must be unique.
• Must be at least 5 digits but no more than 25
• Must contain NO SPACES
• Cannot contain any nonstandard characters