# SKU

> An SKU (stock keeping unit) is a code that a merchant chooses freely and uses internally to keep track of stock, unlike the GTIN, formerly EAN, which is issued by the GS1 organisation.

Original page: https://t10.de/en/glossary/sku
Publisher: total10 GmbH, https://t10.de/en/glossary

The merchant decides what an SKU looks like. According to the [Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/details/sku), it is an internal code for tracking stock and reporting on sales. SKUs are optional, and each product variant should have its own. Shopify treats them separately from barcodes, which serve a different purpose.

The GTIN (Global Trade Item Number), by contrast, identifies a product across all companies, not just within the one that sells it. GS1 Germany, which issues official GTINs in Germany, describes it as a globally unique number for identifying products. EAN (European Article Number) is the old name for the same number; GS1 has officially used the term GTIN since 2009. A GTIN is usually 13 digits long and purely numeric. It consists of a base number of 7 to 9 digits issued by GS1, a product number of 3 to 5 digits that the company assigns itself, and a single check digit.

Two of our projects show both numbers at work. On rollenrampe.de, a product finder lets customers choose width, core diameter and length and takes them straight to the right product, and so to the right SKU. On a QR platform we built for EU energy labels, each QR code carries the appliance's GTIN and its production batch; the product data is imported automatically from the manufacturer's PIM system.

## See also

- [Shopify](https://t10.de/en/glossary/shopify): Shopify is a subscription-based commerce platform: merchants either have Shopify host their online shop or build their own shop front on its Storefront API.
- [ERP](https://t10.de/en/glossary/erp): ERP (enterprise resource planning) is cross-departmental business software that manages and analyses processes such as production, sales, logistics, finance and human resources.

## Where the term appears

- [rollenrampe.de](https://t10.de/en/portfolio/rollenrampe-de)
- [EPREL QR codes for EU energy labels: case study](https://t10.de/en/blog/eu-energy-label-qr-platform)
- [The self-driving content machine](https://t10.de/en/blog/self-driving-content-machine)

## Sources

1. [Using SKUs to manage your inventory](https://help.shopify.com/de/manual/products/details/sku), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-11-07
2. [Das sollten Sie über EAN Nummern (GTIN) wissen](https://www.gs1-germany.de/ean-nummern/), GS1 Germany, accessed 2026-11-07