Inventory & Operations

SKU Generator

Create consistent SKUs for products and variants. Check them against codes you already use, then copy or download a local CSV.

Catalogue workbench

Build codes for the whole product family.

Set a pattern, expand variants and catch repeats before the codes reach your store.

01

Set one pattern

The same readable structure applies to every row.

Start with a letter. The full code remains yours to use inside your catalogue.
Example: BT-TEE-BLK-M
02

Add products and variant codes

Use short codes you would recognize while picking an order.

Product 1
Comma or new-line separated, up to 20.
Every option 1 × option 2 combination gets a code.
03

Check existing codes

Optional, but useful before assigning new SKUs.

No existing catalogue checked

Only codes are read for comparison. The file stays on your device; this workbench does not save or send its contents.

No sign-up Local processingHow codes are generated

The method

Make a pattern your team can read and keep consistent

The generator joins an optional store prefix, one product code and up to two variant codes using a hyphen or underscore. Each option 1 code combines with each option 2 code. It flags repeated generated codes and potential case-only collisions against the existing SKUs you paste or select. A SKU identifies a product variant inside your own catalogue; this tool cannot verify codes in another merchant’s system or issue universal barcodes.

SKU pattern[store prefix + separator] + product code + [separator + option 1] + [separator + option 2]
Variant rowsNumber of option 1 codes × number of option 2 codes (an absent option counts as one)

A simple example

One tee, four variants

Product code TEE, colors BLK and RED, and sizes S and M create four codes: TEE-BLK-S, TEE-BLK-M, TEE-RED-S and TEE-RED-M. If TEE-BLK-S already appears in your uploaded SKU column, the preview flags it before export.

Product
TEE
Colors
BLK, RED
Sizes
S, M
Generated variants
4

Before you export

Assumptions & limits

  • Every product needs a short code that starts with a letter. Variant codes use letters or digits. Codes are uppercased and joined predictably; leading zeros in an option such as 001 remain inside the resulting letter-led SKU.
  • You can plan up to 20 products and 500 generated rows. Each variant list accepts up to 20 short codes. This is a small-catalogue planning tool, not an inventory database.
  • Existing-SKU comparison uses pasted one-column codes or a CSV with SKU / Variant SKU header, up to 1 MiB and 5,000 rows. Comparison ignores case conservatively to reveal possible conflicts; a destination platform may use different matching rules.
  • The CSV contains only generated SKU, product code and option codes. Display-only product names are omitted because arbitrary spreadsheet text can execute formulas in some spreadsheet programs.
  • Codes and imported catalogue data remain in this browser tab. There is no account, upload, automatic save, URL payload or analytics event carrying them. Review the destination system’s own SKU and import rules before assigning codes.

Keep in mind

Common mix-ups

Is a SKU the same as a UPC or barcode?

No. A SKU is an internal code chosen by a merchant. A UPC or other GTIN is a different externally standardized identifier, and a barcode is the machine-readable representation of data. This tool neither issues a GTIN nor prints a barcode.

Why are repeats blocked?

Two product variants with the same code can be hard to reconcile in inventory and sales reporting. The preview marks all repeated generated rows and matches in the existing list you supplied. It cannot see SKUs you did not import.

Why does case-only matching warn me?

Some systems treat letter case differently. BiznTools warns if an existing code differs only by case, so you can choose a consistent pattern; it does not claim the codes are technically identical in every platform.

Why is the product name missing from the CSV?

The name remains visible in your planning preview. Exports include only restricted code tokens, avoiding an unsafe CSV formula path from free-form names. Map these codes to names in your own inventory system.

Sources & method notes

Shopify Help Center — Using SKUs to manage your inventory

Internal SKU purpose, consistent attributes, per-variant uniqueness and platform-specific case matching.

Zoho Inventory — SKU Generator

Merchant-facing pattern, variant and naming workflow used as a competitor countercase.

OWASP — CSV Injection

Spreadsheet formula risk from arbitrary text; the exported fields are restricted generated tokens.

Method and input rules checked: . Engineering validation; no professional specialist review is claimed.