SKUs may seem like small details when you’re first starting out. After all, you know what you’re selling. As your ecommerce business grows, using SKUs with a good naming convention will save a lot of time and misunderstandings. 

A single dress that comes in five sizes and three colours is 15 different products in your inventory management system, for example. 

Communicating with customers, marketing, sales and accounting is much easier when everyone knows exactly which items are being discussed. Here’s how SKUs can help you grow your business

• Easily manage inventory. Since SKUs contain the characteristics of each product, you can use them to identify items that are running out of stock and plan when to order them. This is known as a reorder point.

• Build customer loyalty. Selling out quickly does create a sense of urgency and desirability for customers, but too many out of stock items are frustrating. SKUs can help you manage your reorder points to hit the sweet spot between popular and not available.

• Stock more of your most profitable products.SKUs make it easy to see which products are selling the most. And also which products are not connecting with your customers at all. Adjusting your product range based on sales data is one of the best ways to streamline your inventory and increase your sales.  

• Provide customers with new alternatives. SKUs are the foundation of customer suggestions. With the right data, you’ll be able to see which items customers bought together and then make predictions about what a new customer might want to see. You can recommend new products or suggest alternatives when something is out of stock.

Grow your business with Mollie

Managing SKUs is an essential part of a successful ecommerce business. You can manage stock levels, forecast growth, and anticipate customer needs. Reliable payment gateways are essential, too. When your inventory management is running smoothly, you can tie payments and sales directly to specific products. If your business is in need of a payments solution to integrate with your inventory management software, learn more about how Mollie can help your business grow.