SKU generator
Set a category prefix, a few attribute codes, and a sequence — get a batch of clean SKUs, previewed live, one click from barcodes or a printed label sheet.
Preview (first 10 of 10)
| # | SKU |
|---|---|
| 1 | SKU-A-0001 |
| 2 | SKU-A-0002 |
| 3 | SKU-A-0003 |
| 4 | SKU-A-0004 |
| 5 | SKU-A-0005 |
| 6 | SKU-A-0006 |
| 7 | SKU-A-0007 |
| 8 | SKU-A-0008 |
| 9 | SKU-A-0009 |
| 10 | SKU-A-0010 |
What makes a good SKU
A SKU (stock-keeping unit) only works as an identifier if it's short, consistent, and easy to tell apart at a glance — that means a fixed structure, not a one-off string typed by hand each time. Three parts cover almost every real-world case: a category prefix (TSH for t-shirts, MUG for mugs), one or more attribute codes for the variant (color, size, material — e.g. BLK, M), and a zero-padded sequence number that guarantees uniqueness even when two variants would otherwise collide. Avoid the letter O and the digit 0, and the letter I and the digit 1, wherever you can — they're the pair of mix-ups that cause the most manual-entry errors on a warehouse floor. Just as important is what a SKU should not encode: skip prices, supplier part numbers, or anything else that changes over the product's life. A SKU that encodes today's price becomes wrong the moment the price changes, and now you're either living with a stale, misleading identifier or renumbering every unit you've already labeled. Keep the SKU itself boring and stable; put anything that changes in your inventory system instead. It also helps to keep SKU, barcode, and GTIN straight, since the three terms get used loosely: the SKU is the internal identifier you assign, a barcode is the scannable image that encodes some value (often the SKU itself), and a GTIN is a specific, globally-unique kind of value — issued through GS1 — that real retail barcodes (UPC/EAN) encode when a product needs to be recognized the same way at any store, not just yours.
How this generator works
Fill in the category prefix and up to four attribute codes, choose a separator (hyphen, dot, or none), and set the sequence's start value and zero-pad width — the preview table above updates on every keystroke, showing the first several SKUs the current rule would produce along with the total count. Every part is sanitized automatically: lowercase is uppercased, and anything outside letters and digits is stripped, so a category typed as t-shirt! becomes TSHIRT without you having to clean it up by hand. Once the preview looks right, set how many SKUs you need (up to 5,000 in one batch, matching the cap on the rest of this site's bulk tools) and generate the full list.
From SKU list to barcodes and printed labels
A list of SKUs isn't much use on its own — the point is turning it into something scannable. Click "Generate barcodes" to send the whole batch straight to the bulk generator, pre-filled as if you'd pasted the list yourself, where you can pick a symbology and export a ZIP of barcode images. Or click "Print labels" to send the same batch straight to the label-sheet builder as Code 128 barcodes, ready to drop onto an Avery template and print — no re-typing the list in either tool, and nothing about the batch is ever uploaded anywhere; both handoffs happen entirely in this browser tab. If you need full inventory software to manage these SKUs once they're assigned — stock levels, purchase orders, multiple warehouses — inFlow Inventory (affiliate link) is worth a look; it's built around exactly this kind of SKU-per-variant structure.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good SKU format?
TSH-BLK-M-0001. Skip characters that are easy to misread at a glance or misdial by hand, especially the letter O versus the digit 0 and the letter I versus the digit 1. Avoid encoding anything that changes over time, like a price or a supplier's own part number — a SKU is an internal identifier, not a place to store data that goes stale.What is the difference between a SKU and a barcode?
TSH-BLK-M-0001 that your business assigns and controls. A barcode is a scannable image that encodes some value, often (but not always) that same SKU string, using a specific symbology like Code 128. A GTIN (the number inside a retail UPC/EAN barcode) is a third, related thing: a globally unique product number issued through GS1, meant to identify a product the same way across every retailer that sells it, not just internally. You can barcode your own SKUs with Code 128 for warehouse and internal use without ever needing a GTIN — you only need a real GTIN if you're selling into retail stores or marketplaces that require one.How do I generate SKU numbers?
TSH for t-shirts), add one or more attribute codes (e.g. BLK for black, M for medium), pick a separator, and set where the sequence number starts and how many digits it's padded to. The tool above previews the first several SKUs live as you type, so you can confirm the format before generating the full batch — up to 5,000 at once. From there, send the list straight to the bulk generator or the label-sheet builder with one click.Should I use letters or numbers in SKUs?
TSH, BLK, M read instantly; a pure number doesn't), while a numeric sequence is what actually guarantees every SKU is unique. Whichever you use, stick to uppercase letters and digits only — no spaces, slashes, or punctuation — since those characters are what every downstream system (spreadsheets, barcode scanners, POS software) handles most reliably. This tool sanitizes every part of the SKU to exactly that alphabet automatically.