SKUs or Stock Keeping Unit refers to the unique identifier of the product. The SKU is what we use to link the product listing on your integrated store to the physical inventory stored in one of our fulfillment centers  Before you can inbound or send inventory to Locad, you must create your product SKUs on the LOCAD dashboard.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to create a SKU

To create a SKU:

  1. Login to the LOCAD Control Tower and on the left hand column, click Products > Inventory Products.
  2. On the top right corner, click Bulk Create Product
  3. On the popup window click on Download Sample Template. We always recommend downloading the sample template each time you need to create SKUs as we add additional fields from time to time. 
  4. Open the excel file called SKU_Creation_Template and ensure to fill out all required fields and any optional fields that are applicable to your inventory. An example format of the data for each field is shown on the template and here is an explanation for each column.
    • SKU - Stock Keeping Unit number which is the same on the product page on your store. This cannot be changed after creation.
    • Name - A short description of the product including any variants e.g. T-Shirt Vneck Pink XL.
    • MFUPC - The universal product code (or barcode number) that appears on the physical product.
    • ImageURL - A link to the image of the product.
    • Currency - The currency of the product cost. Example formats are USD, AUD, PHP, SGD
    • UnitCost - The amount the product costs. This is used when determining item/order values for insurance and customs purposes.
    • Width(cm) - The width of the product in its stored state.
    • Height(cm) - The height of the product in its stored state. 
    • Length(cm) - The length of the product in its stored state. 
    • Weight(g) - The actual (dead) weight of the product.
    • Buffer(%) - The percentage of physical stock at the fulfillment center that will not be part of the Sellable or Reserved stock. It is kept aside as a buffer in case of exchanges, promotions, or any other purpose you would require.
    • MinBuffer - The number of physical stock at the fulfillment center that will not be part of the Sellable or Reserved stock. It is kept aside as a buffer in case of exchanges, promotions, or any other purpose you would require.
    • Expirable - The product requires expiry management (TRUE = Yes, FALSE = No). If enabled, we will follow a first-expiry-first-out inventory management. When an order is placed for an expirable product, the fulfillment center will pick the oldest expiry date item that is within the Sell By threshold.
    • SellBy - The Sell by threshold (in days) for products with expiry management which can be 10, 30, 60, 90 and 120. Products whose expiry falls within the threshold e.g. the threshold is 30 days and expiry date is currently 29 days from today, the fulfillment center will not use stock for fulfillment.
    • Batchable - The product requires batch management (TRUE = Yes, FALSE = No). This would be enabled when you have items without expiry and require FIFO (First Inbounded, First Outbounded).
    • SerialNumberTracking - The product requires serial number tracking (TRUE = Yes, FALSE = No). Serial numbers of products will be recording during inbound and outbound. A report of serial numbers of products can be provided by our Support team upon request.
    • Fragile - The product requires fragile handling during outbound (TRUE = Yes, FALSE = No). Products with fragile handling enabled will be wrapped in 2 layers of bubble wrap during outbound.  


  5. Make sure to remove rows of example data and save the file.
  6. You can drag and drop the saved file from your desktop to the specified area or click on the cloud to open the file browser window and select the saved. Then click submit.
  7. You will be taken to the Product Uploads page where you can see the status of your upload.
  8. If the status is SUCCESS, the products have been successfully created and are visible on the Inventory products page.
  9. If the status is FAILED, the products were not created due to an error with the data uploaded on the excel file. Simply click on the download icon under the Error File column.
  10. Open the downloaded file to view the information about which columns and rows contain the error.
  11. You can reopen the original file uploaded, make the necessary changes, save the file and follow steps 2, 6 & 7 to upload the file again.
Expiry and Batch Management can only be enabled when a SKU is first created. Make sure to check your rate card for any associated costs with enabling expiry or batch management on your products.



How to update a SKU


If you need to update details of your product such as the cost, name, barcode you follow a similar process as above:


  1. Under Products > Inventory Products, in the top right corner, click Bulk Create Product.
  2. Select Update SKUs on the pop up window.
  3. Download the Sample template and open it.
  4. The only required field to enter is the SKU. Fill out any other fields you are wanting to update and any fields not requiring to be updated should be left blank.
  5. Save and upload the file on the pop up window and click submit.
  6. The Product Uploads page will show you the progress of your upload. If it fails, you can follow the same process as earlier to identify the errors and amend.
  7. You can then check the changes in the Inventory Product page.


You can not change the SKU of an item. You will need to create a new SKU if your product needs to have a different SKU and ensure that you also update the SKU on the product page of your integrated website.

Should you need any help with creating or updating your products, reach out to our support team here.