How to Organize Shopify Collections Using SKU Patterns

Organizing products in Shopify collections can be a nightmare, especially for big stores with huge inventory. As your business grows, manually categorizing each product becomes increasingly time-consuming and error-prone.

Luckily, MESA has a solution: using product SKU patterns to create smart collections. Consistent SKU structures allow you to group products efficiently and keep your store organized.

In this article, we will explore the benefits of using SKU patterns for collection management and provide a step-by-step guide on how to implement them in your Shopify store.

Use SKU patterns to automatically tag products and organize Shopify collections more efficiently with this MESA template.

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Step-by-step guide: Add Shopify product tags using SKU pattern rules

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Why SKU pattern tagging matters

Using a standardized SKU structure helps maintain uniform product categorization across your entire inventory.

Moreover, SKU pattern tagging makes it easier to create a Shopify collection by product SKU. Shopify’s smart collections can automatically group products based on various criteria, but they rely on accurate and consistent product tags. By incorporating SKU patterns, you can build dynamic collections that update automatically as you add new products to your store.

For example, let’s say you sell clothing, and your SKUs follow the pattern “CATEGORY-COLOR-SIZE.” By tagging products with their respective SKU elements, you can create innovative collections based on specific categories, colors, or sizes. So, when you add a new “SHIRT-RED-M” product, it will automatically be included in the relevant collections, saving you time and keeping your store organized.

Related:

How to automatically add Shopify tags to products and more

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Common SKU pattern structures

When creating an SKU pattern for your Shopify store, consider how it will support a Shopify collection by product SKU. Your SKU structure should reflect the unique characteristics of your products and business. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but several proven structures can help merchants organize inventory more efficiently.

Category-based patterns (e.g., SHIRT-BLU-L)

This structure allows you to identify the product type, color, and size of the SKU itself. Department codes can also be included in SKUs to denote broader product groupings like “MEN-ACCS-HAT” for a men’s accessory hat.

Size and color variations (e.g., DRS-001-RED-M)

A pattern like this indicates that the product is a dress (DRS) with a specific style number (001), red in color, and medium in size. This granular approach allows precise product identification and inventory tracking.

Seasonal identifiers (e.g., SS23-SHOE-BLK)

By including codes like “SS23” for Spring/Summer 2023 or “FW24” for Fall/Winter 2024, you can easily categorize products by their seasonal relevance. This is especially useful for fashion and apparel businesses that introduce new collections regularly.

Vendor-specific patterns (e.g., VND1-TECH-PHN)

If you work with multiple vendors or suppliers, you can include vendor-specific codes in your SKUs to make your life easier. For example, using a pattern like “VND1-TECH-PHN,” you can identify the vendor (VND1) and product category (TECH for technology) at a glance.

When choosing an SKU pattern, prioritize consistency and clarity.

Best practices for SKU pattern tagging

To ensure the long-term success of your system, you must follow best practices that maintain consistency and clarity throughout your store.

Strike a balance between capturing product attributes and simplicity

Effective SKU patterns strike a balance between capturing product attributes and simplicity. While granular SKUs provide valuable information, overly complex structures can cause confusion and errors. Identify and include the most critical elements that differentiate your products in your SKU.

Use clear separators between SKU elements.

When designing your SKU pattern, consider using clear separators between each element. Separators like hyphens (-), underscores (_), or periods (.) serve as visual cues, making your SKUs more readable and reducing the chance of misinterpretation. Consistently using the same separators throughout your SKU structure will help your team to quickly and accurately identify product attributes, even with a large inventory.

Create comprehensive documentation

Another key to successful SKU pattern implementation is documentation. This documentation is a single source of truth so everyone in your organization understands how to assign SKUs to new products and maintain consistency across your store.

Your SKU pattern documentation should include a detailed breakdown of each element in your SKU structure and real-world examples of how the pattern is applied to different product types. Consider including visual aids like flowcharts or decision trees to guide users through assigning SKUs based on product attributes. Update your documentation regularly to reflect any changes or additions to your SKU system to keep it relevant and effective over time.

Common SKU pattern questions