If your products have no SKUs, Shuttle can create them for you from a template. The template tells Shuttle which parts of the product to use, such as the title, the variation options or the vendor, and in what order.
To learn when Shuttle adds generated SKUs during transfers and updates, see Automatically Generating SKUs with Shuttle.
Set up your SKU template
The SKU template is set up in the Automatically generate SKUs section of your product settings.
In Shuttle, go to Settings > Products > General.
In the Automatically generate SKUs section, tick Enable SKU generation.
Fill in the Template field. The Prefix and Suffix fields are optional.
Click Save.
To see a quick list of the letters you can use in the template, click Show placeholders.
Preview your SKU template on a real product
You can test your SKU template on one of your own products before you rely on it. Use Preview on a real product and search for one of your Shopify products. Shuttle then shows how the SKUs for up to 5 of its variations would look.
In place of the UNM product code, the preview shows a sample code.
Example: a simple SKU template
This example shows how a short template turns a product's title and options into SKUs. The product is:
Title: Super Great Unisex Tee Shirt
Vendor: Awesome Shirt
Options: Size and Color
Variations: Medium / Blue, Small / Yellow and Large / Red
With the template TTTT-O1-P1-UNM, Shuttle generates these SKUs:
SUPE-MEDIUM-BLUE-3F9A
SUPE-SMALL-YELLOW-3F9A
SUPE-LARGE-RED-3F9A
Each part of the SKU comes from one part of the template:
TTTT is the first 4 letters of the title (SUPE).
O1 is the first word of the first option (MEDIUM).
P1 is the first word of the second option (BLUE).
UNM is a short code made from the product's ID (3F9A in this example). It is the same for every variation of the product.
Example: building a SKU from letters of each word
This example takes a few letters from each word of the title, the options and the vendor. It uses the Super Great Unisex Tee Shirt by Awesome Shirt, whose first variation is Medium / Blue.
With the template AAABBB-OOOPPP-VVV, the first variation gets the SKU SUPGRE-MEDBLU-AWE. Each part comes from one part of the template:
AAA is the first 3 letters of the title's first word (SUP).
BBB is the first 3 letters of the title's second word (GRE).
OOO is the first 3 letters of the first option (MED).
PPP is the first 3 letters of the second option (BLU).
VVV is the first 3 letters of the vendor (AWE).
What happens when two variations get the same SKU?
When the SKU template gives two variations of the same product the same SKU, Shuttle adds a number to tell them apart. The first variation keeps the plain SKU, the second gets 2, the third gets 3, and so on. The number goes before your suffix.
For example, take the Super Great Unisex Tee Shirt with the template TTTT-OO. The variations Medium / Blue and Medium / Red would both get SUPE-ME, so Shuttle makes them SUPE-ME and SUPE-ME-2.
Which placeholders can I use in the SKU template?
Repeat a placeholder letter to choose how many characters Shuttle takes, so TTTT takes 4 letters and VVV takes 3. A letter on its own is not replaced, which means it stays in the SKU as a plain letter.
Generated SKUs are always in capital letters.
Title
T (repeated): the first letters of the title, with spaces removed. TTTT gives the first 4.
T1, T2, T3: the whole first, second or third word of the title.
A, B, C, D (repeated): the first letters of the title's first, second, third or fourth word. For example, AAA gives the first 3 letters of the first word.
Vendor and product type
V (repeated): the first letters of the vendor. When products go from Etsy to Shopify, Shuttle uses your Etsy shop name instead.
Y (repeated): the first letters of the product type. When products go from Etsy to Shopify, the letters stay in the SKU as you typed them.
Variation options
O, P, Q (repeated): the first letters of the first, second or third option. For example, OOO gives the first 3 letters of the first option.
O1, P1, Q1: the first word of the first, second or third option.
Product code
UNM: a short code of up to 4 letters and numbers, made from the product's ID. Every variation of the product gets the same code, which keeps SKUs from different products apart, so we recommend using it.
When a product is missing a part
If a product is missing a part the SKU template uses, such as variations or a vendor, Shuttle leaves that part out. It also cleans up the dashes and underscores around it.
Separate the parts of a SKU with dashes or underscores
A dash (-) or an underscore (_) is the way to separate the parts of a generated SKU. Shuttle merges repeated dashes or underscores into one, and removes them from the start and end of the SKU.
Which characters end up in the SKU?
Characters such as spaces, slashes or dots that you type in the SKU template, prefix or suffix stay in the SKU, because Shuttle does not remove them. To be safe, use only letters, numbers, dashes and underscores.
Punctuation in the title can also end up in the SKU, depending on the placeholder. When Shuttle picks title words (T1 to T3, A to D) or option values, it skips punctuation. Title letters (T), vendor letters (V) and product type letters (Y) are copied as written, so an apostrophe in the title, for example, can end up in the SKU.
If your titles have punctuation, use A, B, C or D instead of T.
Add fixed text with a prefix and suffix
The Prefix and Suffix fields add the same text to every generated SKU, which suits fixed text such as your shop's initials. Shuttle adds the prefix to the start of every SKU and the suffix to the end.
Fixed text belongs in the prefix or suffix, not in the SKU template, because repeated letters in the template are read as placeholders. For example, the OO in BOOK would be replaced with letters from the first option.
How long can a generated SKU be?
Etsy allows up to 32 characters per SKU. Under the template fields, Shuttle shows how long your SKUs are likely to be.
If a SKU is too long, see One or more of the SKUs are too long (more than 32 characters).
Does Shuttle replace SKUs my products already have?
Shuttle only creates SKUs for variations that don't have one, so existing SKUs are kept. To replace existing SKUs, tick Overwrite existing SKUs when you update products.
The Overwrite existing SKUs option shows up when SKU is one of the fields you update and SKU generation is turned on for that direction.