SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)

SKUs and GTINs are often confused but are different. The GTIN is globally standardized and tied to the product, an SKU is internal and tied to the variant in your own logic. A T-shirt in five colors and four sizes can have one shared product GTIN (rare) or 20 GTINs (typical) and 20 SKUs, often structured: TSHIRT-BLUE-M, TSHIRT-BLUE-L, and so on.

The SKU structure is a business decision with operational consequences. A speaking SKU (TSHIRT-BLUE-M) is human-readable but can break under restructuring. A cryptic SKU (10094875) is robust against changes but meaningless to humans. The right choice depends on industry and internal processes.

Pimcore PIM manages SKUs as a required attribute at the variant level. Automatic generation by configurable patterns reduces manual effort and errors, validation against duplicates prevents conflicts. On export to ERP, marketplace, or logistics system, SKUs are delivered in the required format.