SKUiden

SKUiden is a proposed data standard and identifier framework designed to uniquely identify and convey metadata about stock-keeping units (SKUs) across retail and logistics systems. It aims to complement traditional external identifiers (such as GTIN/UPC) by enabling organizations to embed internal attributes, versioning, and provenance into a single, machine-readable code. The project originated in the early 2020s through a collaboration among retailers, software vendors, and standards bodies seeking to reduce data translation errors and improve cross-system interoperability.

The SKUiden model uses a hierarchical, delimited code format and a corresponding metadata schema. A code might consist of segments for product family, line, variant, warehouse, and revision, plus a check digit. In addition to the compact code, a JSON or XML payload defines the human-readable description, attributes, validity window, and provenance. The standard defines encoding rules, validation, and API endpoints for lookup and update.

Adoption and governance: Not widely standardized; there are pilot programs at several retailers, and governance is handled by a community-driven consortium. Systems that implement SKUiden can map internal SKUs to external identifiers and vice versa. It emphasizes versioning to accommodate product changes and regional variants. Compatibility with existing barcodes is addressed via translation layers; barcodes may encode a SKUiden identifier as a secondary barcode, while primary codes remain GTINs.

Limitations: Fragmentation risk, governance overhead, and requirement for widespread mapping. It is designed as an optional layer rather than a mandatory replacement for existing identifiers.

See also: SKU, GTIN, UPC, barcodes, RFID, data standard, supply chain interoperability.