About product SKUs

A SKU is a unique code identifier for a product and can be used for both products and variations. SKUs can also include additional characters like &, +, -, ., and _.

To add a SKU to a product or variation:

1. Navigate to your Product or Variation edit form

   

   
   

2. Enter your SKU code into the field called "SKU"

   

Duplicate SKUs

Can two products have the same SKU?

Yes. Stocksmith doesn't check that a SKU is unique, so nothing stops you from saving it on more than one product or variation. This is true whether the products involved are active or archived — an archived product with a duplicate SKU can still be matched during a later integration pull.

What happens with a duplicate SKU

A duplicate SKU matters most once you're pulling data from an integration. For a channel product with only a single variant, Stocksmith uses its SKU to find the matching product in your account — and if two of your products share that SKU, the pull links to whichever one it finds first. Orders and stock get attributed to that one product, not split between the two and not skipped altogether, so the wrong product can end up out of stock while the right one never moves.

See About integration data pulling for the full matching rules, including how to relink a listing if it's matched to the wrong product.

Finding and fixing duplicate SKUs

Checking your products one by one isn't practical once your catalogue grows past a handful of items. Two ways to spot duplicates instead:

• Go to Products and sort by the SKU column — this groups matching SKUs together so they're easy to spot.
• Run a product export and check for duplicate values in a spreadsheet — the more reliable option once you have more than a page or two of products.

Once you've found a duplicate, edit one of the products to give it a unique SKU.

FAQs

Can I add a SKU to an order?

Once a SKU is assigned to a product or variation, it will automatically appear alongside that item whenever it’s included in an order, both on the order page and in relevant reports.

What happens if two products have the same SKU?

See Duplicate SKUs above — Stocksmith allows it, but it can cause orders and stock from an integration pull to be attributed to the wrong product.