How To Create Sku Code In Excel

Coding of products is an important condition in order to perform inventory follow-up and inventory control processes without any problems. Thanks to this coding process called the SKU number, it is possible to easily track the quantities of products entering and leaving the warehouse. There are many applications used to assign SKU codes to products in stock. However, having such applications for small and medium-sized businesses can lead to increased costs. Alternatively, it is possible to do this through Microsoft Excel. It is not necessary to have professional knowledge for this, but knowing certain Excel codes is essential at this point.

What Is SKU Number?

Male warehouse worker with barcode scanner.

SKU number, which is frequently used in terms of storage activities of businesses, especially in e-commerce sites, is the codes that enable tracking of incoming and outgoing products in enterprises with product range. Instead of registering products with individual names and slowing down the process, These codes can easily be followed by assigning 3 or 4 digit codes to each product instead. Considering an enterprise that stores and sells around 1000 products, it can be assumed that creating individual codes for all these products is inconvenient. With the help of technology-based programs, it is possible to overcome this effort and assign a code to products in only a few steps.

What Does SKU Stand For, Importance of SKU Number?

Young woman in a shop, scanning the barcode of a ceramic pot with a barcode scanner.

The SKU number is a concept consisting of the initials of the term "English Stock Keeping Unit." In order to track stocks more easily, the process of naming products in warehouses with specific codes is called assigning a SKU number. The main convenience of these numbers is that the products belonging to the same brand will not get mixed up with each other. To give an example, considering that there are 50 types of biscuits belonging to the brand A, these products may be confused with one another. Although the name is the same among these 50 types of biscuits, only products with varying properties (milk, bitter, chocolate) may be difficult to follow in stocks and an inconvenience may ocur. However, giving each product a code that is not found in any other product is important in order to prevent this inconvenience.

SKU Numbers' Meaning

SKU number used in stock tracking do not mean anything. These codes are assigned only to identify the product. These codes, which are usually assigned by code assignment programs, consist of the abbreviation of the names of the products and a few numbers. To make a clear coding, it is important that the first 2 or 3 digits contain information about the product. Also, while determining the stock codes, it should be deemed important not to use zero as the first digit. Since some software accepts zero as undefined, adverse situations may be occur.

Excel Template by Fabrikator

We created a SKU Number Generator Excel Template for you. In that template you can change your product variations, add new products and generate a SKU number for each product. That excel template make your Inventory Control eaiser but not as much as Fabrikator do. Below this title there is a "do it yourself Excell Template" if you want to customize your SKU Generator.

Creating SKU Number with Excell Template

Although it is not as efficient as the applications specially designed to generate a SKU number, the Excel program provides a wide range of possibilities to meet the needs of businesses in this regard. When code assignment will be made for the products in stock through the Excel program, first two basic columns must be created. It is also possible to increase the number of columns. To go through the sample, the brand of the product is entered in the first column. In the second column, the type of the product is entered. The words "Biscuit A" are written in the first column and "Hazelnut" in the second column. In this way, all products in the warehouse are stacked one after the other with their brand and features. It is also possible to mention different features in these columns. A third column is then created with the heading "product code". In this column, coding is done with "MID" SKU code. In the third line, the equal sign "=" is placed first. Then "MID" is written. In this way, it is determined which column and which parts will be taken from code usage. In the continuation of the code, the parentheses are opened, and in which column the information in the column is desired to be placed at the beginning of the code, it is written. If the first column is desired to be taken first, A1 is written in the rest of the SKU number and a value is entered to determine how many first letters are to be taken from this column.

If it is desired to use the first two letters in the code, the code should be continued as 1; 2. The code written so far is as follows: = MID(A1; 1; 2). In order to take advantage of the second column in code generation, a second code is written this time with a & sign. No spaces are left between all these codes. After the & sign, "MID" is written again and this time the code is continued as B1 to get a piece from the second column. After the semicolon put together, it is determined how many steps will be used again. Assuming that 2 digits will be used here, 1; 2 is added to the rest of the code. And after that, the parenthesis is closed and the "enter" key is pressed. The final version of the code before approval is as follows: = MID (A1; 1; 2) & MID(B1; 1; 2). After that, the process of assigning a SKU number is completed. By holding all the boxes from top to bottom, this process is applied to all boxes with a single click. In other words, in all products, 2 letters in the first column and two letters in the second column are assigned as codes.