WooCommerce does more with SKUs than just basic stock management. Knowing what is SKU in WooCommerce and how it works is important because it does more than just track inventory. The system lets you search results for products in WooCommerce by their SKUs and sort them based on these codes. This means that if a customer knows the SKU of the item they want, they can find it quickly in your store.
SKUs are also useful across different sales channels, giving both your team and customers a consistent way to identify and track products and make sure everyone is on the same page with inventory and product details.
In this article, we’ll explain what is SKU in WooCommerce and why it is important for your store. So, let’s get to it!
What Is WooCommerce Product SKU?
SKU is known as Stock-Keeping Unit. It’s a unique code, usually made up of letters and numbers, given to each product in your store. WooCommerce uses SKUs to help manage your products.
SKUs are important because they help you and your team keep track of items, manage inventory, and make your operations run smoother. It helps you manage stock more easily, improve customer service, and even make searching and sorting products on your store easier.
Example SKU of a product
Let’s say for example you are selling a variation of clothing products and your wholesale customers are trying to look for a clothing product using SKU. You may simply analyze this through this example:
Basic SKU for product: SHIRT
Attribute codes for colors: BLU for Blue, BLK for Black
Attribute codes for sizes: MED for Medium, LRG for Large
By putting these together, you can create helpful SKUs like this:
- SHIRT-BLU-MED for a Medium Blue Shirt
- SHIRT-BLK-LRG for a Large Black Shirt
WooCommerce can assign SKUs to your products, but it doesn’t let users search results by SKU search. To make WooCommerce search by SKU, you’ll need to use a plugin like Wholesale Order Form. This plugin will enable SKU search in your WooCommerce store. If you want to learn more about how this works, you can read about how to enable search by SKU in WooCommerce.
A SKU Code Is A Combination Of The Following Elements:
1. Category identifier
The SKU starts with this segment, usually two to three characters long. This part puts the product into a broad category, like a department, product type, or even a supplier code. It’s the first and widest classification, helping to narrow down a product search in a large inventory.
2. Product attributes
The next part of the SKU shows the product’s specific details. This middle section is usually the most descriptive and often the longest. It includes information like the item’s type, gender (if it applies), brand, color, size, or other important features. This part of the SKU is key for telling apart items that are in the same category but have different characteristics.
3. Sequential identifier
The SKU ends with a number that is two to three characters long. This number shows the order in which items were added to the inventory and helps keep track of the stock in a certain category. For example, if you’re cataloging blue jeans, the first pair might have an SKU ending in ‘001,’ the second in ‘002,’ and so on, making it easy to track the order of items.
Take a look at this product with an SKU code for example. Following the format:
Basic SKU: TS-L-GRE-001
- Category identifier: TS for Tshirt
- Product attributes: L for Large, GRE for Green
- Sequential identifier: 001
Understanding the parts of a SKU number is like learning the alphabet before writing a sentence. Each SKU number is a unique mix of characters split into three parts, with each part helping to organize and manage inventory.
How Does WooCommerce Product SKU Work?
SKUs are an important part of how your WooCommerce store runs behind the scenes. When you add a new product to your WooCommerce store, it doesn’t come with an SKU automatically. You’ll need to add SKU yourself.
To add SKU manually also means that you have control over how your products are organized. You can create SKUs that make sense for your business, like using specific codes for different categories, brands, or sizes.
This way, when you or your customers need to find a product, the SKU makes it simple and fast. Having a good system for your SKUs can improve the overall efficiency of your store and help prevent mistakes in inventory management.
Beyond just organizing your products, SKUs also play a role in sales and marketing. For example, when running promotions or special offers, you can quickly identify which products are included by their SKUs. This helps you manage discounts and make sure that the right products are featured in your campaigns.
Additionally, if you sell on multiple platforms or marketplaces, using consistent SKUs across all channels ensures that your inventory stays in sync and reduces the risk of errors or overselling.
Benefits Of SKUs In A WooCommerce Store
SKUs aren’t just random combinations of numbers and letters. They serve an important purpose in your business. SKUs help you and your customers by:
1. Let customers search and buy specific items
SKUs make it easy for customers to find exactly what they’re looking for in your store. By doing product search for a specific SKU, they can quickly locate and buy the item they want without any confusion.
2. Speed up the buying process
For repeat customers who know the SKUs of the products they love, the buying process becomes much faster. They can enter the SKU and go straight to checkout. This saves time and makes your customers’ shopping experience smoother.
3. Keep inventory organized
SKUs help you organize your inventory more effectively. By assigning a unique SKU to each product, you can easily keep track of stock levels, know what’s available, and restock when necessary.
4. Make purchases easier
SKUs simplify the purchase process for both you and your customers. With a clear and organized SKU system, finding and buying products becomes straightforward and hassle-free.
5. Improve reporting
SKUs improve your reporting by providing clear and detailed data on your inventory and sales. This makes it easier to analyze what’s selling well, identify trends, and make informed business decisions.
6. Sell easily
Using consistent SKUs allows you to sell on multiple platforms without confusion. It keeps your inventory synced across all stores with reduced errors which makes it easier to manage sales on different sites.
7. Quickly access product data and information
SKUs make it simple to find important product details and information. Whether you need to check stock levels, update a product listing, or pull up specific product data, SKUs help you do it quickly and accurately.
How To Create SKUs For WooCommerce Products?
Adding SKUs to your products in WooCommerce is an important step in organizing your inventory and making it easier for customers to find what they need. SKUs help you manage your stock more effectively and keep everything running smoothly in your online store.
Follow these steps to create SKUs for your WooCommerce Products:
Step 1: Access all your store products
Log into your WordPress admin account and go to the Dashboard. Assuming that you had WooCommerce installed, you’ll see a Products section. Click on Products, then click All Products. This will show you all the products currently in your store.
Step 2: Choose ‘Edit’ to access and modify the product’s settings
Each product gives you five options: Edit, Quick Edit, Trash, View, and Duplicate. To open the product’s settings, click on Edit.
Step 3: Enter the SKU code
Find the Product data section and go to the Inventory tab. On the right side, you’ll see the SKU field, which will be empty by default. Enter the SKU number in that field.
After you enter the SKU, make sure to save your changes by clicking Update or publishing the product. It’s important to use a unique SKU for each product to avoid any problems with tracking your inventory.
Want to know how to search by SKU in WooCommerce? Wholesale Order Form is the best for searching SKUs because it makes finding products by their SKU quick and easy. Wholesale customers can type in the SKU and instantly find the product they want, which saves time and makes shopping more convenient!
This plugin is part of the larger Wholesale Suite plugin, which offers a range of tools designed to enhance your WooCommerce store, especially for wholesale businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between product ID and SKU in WooCommerce?
The difference between a product ID and an SKU is that the product ID is a unique number automatically given to each product by WooCommerce when you add it to your store.
The SKU, on the other hand, is a unique code that you create and assign to each product. While the product ID is mainly used by the system to keep track of products, the SKU is used by you, your staff and your customers to easily identify and manage products, especially in inventory and sales.
What is SKU in WooCommerce vs e-commerce?
In general e-commerce, an SKU serves the same purpose. It’s a unique identifier used by all types of stores to manage products, track stock, and simplify the shopping experience.
The main difference is that WooCommerce is a specific platform, so SKUs are managed within its system, while in other e-commerce platforms, SKUs might be handled differently depending on the tools they use. But overall, the role of SKUs in both WooCommerce and e-commerce is very similar.
What does SKU mean when selling?
When selling, SKU stands for Stock Keeping Unit. It’s a unique code made up of letters and numbers that helps you identify and keep track of each product in your store. SKUs make it easier to manage inventory, find products, and organize your sales.
What is the difference between SKU and item number?
The difference between an SKU and an item number is that an SKU is a unique code used by businesses to track products in their inventory. It usually includes details like the product’s category, brand, size, or color.
An item number, on the other hand, is often a simpler code used by the manufacturer to identify a specific product. While an SKU is unique to each store, an item number can be the same across different stores for the same product.
Conclusion
Knowing what is SKU in WooCommerce and understanding how to use it is important for running a smooth and organized online store. By setting up and using SKUs correctly, you can improve your store’s efficiency and make the shopping experience better for your customers.
In this article, we thoroughly explained what is SKU in WooCommerce. We went through and discussed the elements found in an SKU such as:
Secondly, we discussed the benefits of SKU in WooCommerce store:
- Let customers search and buy specific items
- Speed up the buying process
- Keep inventory organized
- Make purchases easier
- Improve reporting
- Sell easily
- Quickly access product data and information
And lastly, we enumerated the process on how to create SKUs for WooCommerce products:
If you have any questions about this article, feel free to ask in the comments section below!
