Auto SKU Generator - Usage Guide

Overview

The Auto SKU Generator automatically generates unique SKUs for your products based on your configured format rules. This guide covers three primary usage scenarios.

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1. Simple Products

Simple products are standalone items without variants (e.g., a book, individual t-shirt, or single-color item).

How Auto-Generation Works for Simple Products

When you create a simple product with an empty SKU field, the extension generates a SKU using your configured pattern:

[Prefix] + [Attribute Values] + [Sequence Number] + [Suffix]

Example:

• Prefix: APPAREL
• Attribute: Color = Red, Size = M
• Sequence: 1001
• Generated SKU: APPAREL-Red-M-1001

Steps to Create a Simple Product

1. Navigate to Catalog → Products
2. Click Create Product and select Simple Product

3. Fill in product details (type and family)
4. Leave the SKU field empty or blank
5. The SKU is automatically generated and displayed in real-time as you complete the form
6. Click Save Product

Result: Your product is saved with the auto-generated SKU. The next simple product created will receive the next sequential number (e.g., sku-3).

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2. Configurable Products

Configurable products are items available in multiple variations (e.g., a t-shirt in different colors and sizes). Each variant automatically receives its own unique SKU.

How Auto-Generation Works for Variants

When you add a variant to a configurable product with an empty SKU field, the extension generates a unique SKU for that variant:

[Prefix] + [Color] + [Size] + [Sequence Number] + [Suffix]

Example with Multiple Variants:

• Variant 1 (Red, Small): TSH-Red-Small-2000
• Variant 2 (Red, Medium): TSH-Red-Medium-2001
• Variant 3 (Blue, Small): TSH-Blue-Small-2002

Each variant gets its own unique sequence number, ensuring no duplicate SKUs.

Steps to Add Variants

1. Create a Configurable Product and fill in base details
2. Navigate to the Variants section
3. Click Add Variant

4. Select attribute values for the variant (e.g., Color: Red, Size: Medium)

5. Leave the SKU field empty for auto-generation
6. The variant SKU is automatically generated based on the selected attributes
7. Repeat to add additional variants

8. Click Save to save all variants

Result: Each variant is saved with its own unique auto-generated SKU.

Manual SKU Entry (Optional)

If you need a custom SKU for a specific variant:

1. In the variant form, enter a custom SKU instead of leaving it blank
2. The auto-generator will skip this variant
3. Other variants continue to receive auto-generated SKUs normally

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3. Product Imports

When importing products from external sources or bulk operations, SKU handling follows specific rules. There are three distinct import scenarios, each with different requirements and outcomes.

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Scenario A: Import Without SKU (Recommended)

This is the recommended approach when you want the Auto SKU Generator to automatically create SKUs for imported products.

When to Use: You have product data without SKU values, or you want auto-generated SKUs for consistency.

Step 1: Prepare Your Import File

1. Navigate to Data Transfer → Import

2. Click on Create Import

3. Create a CSV or Excel file with the following:
   • Required columns: Product Name, Description, Price
   • SKU column: Leave empty.

Example File Structure:

Step 2: Upload Your File

1. Click Choose File and select your prepared file

3. After uploading, click on Save Import to proceed to the next step

Step 4: Start the Import

4. Click Import Now to begin the import process

Step 5: Verify Results

1. Navigate to Catalog → Products
2. Locate your newly imported products
3. Confirm each product has an auto-generated SKU

What Happens:

• All products are imported successfully
• Each product receives a unique auto-generated SKU
• SKU sequence counter increments for each product
• No products are skipped

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Scenario B: Import With SKU (Not Supported Directly)

When your import file contains pre-defined SKU values, the standard import process does not import those products.

Example:

Workaround: Remove SKUs and Re-Import

If you need to import products that have existing SKU data:

Step 1: Modify Your Import File

1. Open your import file in a spreadsheet application
2. Locate the SKU column
3. Delete the entire data in the SKU column or clear all values in it
4. Save the modified file

Before:

Product Name | SKU    | Price | Color
Red Shirt    | RS-001 | 29.99 | Red
Blue Shirt   | BS-001 | 29.99 | Blue

After:

Product Name |SKU| Price | Color
Red Shirt    |   |29.99 | Red
Blue Shirt   |   |29.99 | Blue

Example:

Summary Table

Scenario	SKU Field Status	Auto-Generation	Result
Create Simple Product	Empty	Yes	SKU auto-generated
Create Simple Product	Filled	No	Custom SKU preserved
Add Configurable Variant	Empty	Yes	Variant SKU auto-generated
Import Without SKU	Empty	Yes	Product imported with auto-generated SKU
Import With SKU	Filled	No	Product not imported