iTunes Connect: How to choose a good SKU?

Question

I'm reading the iTunes Connect Developer Guide as I'm trying to add a new application to iTunes Connect.

I'm a bit confused about the SKU number which I should provide. On page 81 in the above developer guide they provide an example of their data for their application Orange Ball.

They have chosen Orange_Ball_01 for the SKU Number. What is the 01 indicating - that it is version 1? Why use underscore? Why not just type “OrangeBall”, if that SKU is not used?

Update notes:

on January 23rd 2012, Apple changed the above example to application "Ball Maze" and SKU "com.apple.com.maze".
a few years later, Apple changed the whole documentation, but you may refer to https://help.apple.com/app-store-connect/#/dev97865727c for a similar example with application "Adventure App" and SKU "Adventure123".

score 421 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 04 '15 at 16:49

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You are able to choose one that you like, but it has to be unique.

Every time I have to enter the SKU I use the App identifier (e.g. de.mycompany.myappname) because this is already unique.

edited Sep 04 '15 at 16:49

BiscuitBaker

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answered Jan 03 '12 at 10:38

Dennis Stritzke

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Thank you, but why are Apple using the 01 numbering in their documentation? There must be a reason for that. – dhrm Jan 03 '12 at 10:48
I think that this is an internal Guideline, so it is more clear what this App is (or something like that). But you shouldnt mind, because when its unique and sounds nice to you it all right ;) – Dennis Stritzke Jan 03 '12 at 10:51
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But it is still called a SKU `number`. Defining a text string without a number, is not a number in my world ;) I hope someone else would confirm that this does not mean anything. – dhrm Jan 03 '12 at 10:59
I totaly agree with you that a Text String isnt a number. If you put value to it, my colleagues say the same... But I would be interessted in an other Answer, too. – Dennis Stritzke Jan 03 '12 at 11:14
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Sadly no input from other people. As I know, I can commit multiple version under the same SKU Number. Right? Because of that, it does not make sense for me having the version number is part of the SKU. Is it because they think people will create a new App for version 2 -- and calling that `Orange_Ball_02`? – dhrm Jan 03 '12 at 15:53
Yes, you are right, you are able to Upload different Versions under the same SKU. But why Apple have put the Version Number in the SKU, I have no Idea... – Dennis Stritzke Jan 03 '12 at 20:38
I did find this: A unique ID for your app in the Apple system that is not seen by users. You can use letters, numbers, hyphens, periods, and underscores. The SKU can’t start with a hyphen, period, or underscore. Use a value that is meaningful to your organization. – Sandy D. May 13 '16 at 13:35
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Bundle id is for programmers while SKU is more sales-related. – kelin Nov 19 '18 at 07:39

score 227 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 19 '21 at 13:10

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SKU stands for Stock-keeping Unit. It's more for inventory tracking purpose.

The purpose of having an SKU is so that you can tie the app sales to whatever internal SKU number that your accounting is using.

edited Feb 19 '21 at 13:10

Vukašin Manojlović

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answered May 30 '12 at 02:39

locksmith

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yes, Stock-keeping Unit only make sense for app which for sales, because of the postfix is a number. I think the number could have relations to the price. – Eddy Aug 29 '14 at 07:46

iPatel · Answer 3 · 2014-04-19T08:28:42.303

Might be answer is late but look at Simple Information of SKU (Stock keeping unit) number is, it's an unique tracking number (an arbitrary number) that are used in appStore for your application. You can put whatever you want in there as long as it is unique among your applications. Try to follow a pattern for the SKU Number of your apps so that you will be able to better organize them. I suggest a combination of the current year + month + ID for your app. So if you’re developing your first application on september 1991 (oh,, yah it's my b'day's month and year :D ), you could put your SKU Number as “19910901”. Here, I am just suggesting you for this pattern but you can take/choose any pattern which easy for you.

score 18 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

As others have noted, "SKU" stands for stock keeping unit. Here's what I find currently (3 February 2017) in the Apple documentation regarding the "SKU Number:"

SKU Number

A unique ID for your app in the Apple system that is not seen by users. You can use letters, numbers, hyphens, periods, and underscores. The SKU can’t
start with a hyphen, period, or underscore. Use a value that is meaningful to your organization. Can’t be edited after saving the iTunes Connect record.

(internet archive link:) iTunes Connect Properties

score 7 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 01 '14 at 18:10

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I put the year and the number series of my app example 2014-01

answered Feb 01 '14 at 18:10

zambono

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score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 11 '14 at 02:56

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The SKU example used in the documentation was to provide the allowed characters in a new user-specified SKU.

answered Jun 11 '14 at 02:56

pxpgraphics

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score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 24 '20 at 15:47

SKU can also refer to a unique identifier or code that refers to the particular stock keeping unit. These codes are not regulated or standardized. When a company receives items from a vendor, it has a choice of maintaining the vendor's SKU or creating its own.[2] This makes them distinct from Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), which are standard, global, tracking units. Universal Product Code (UPC), International Article Number (EAN), and Australian Product Number (APN) are special cases of GTINs.

iTunes Connect: How to choose a good SKU?

7 Answers7

SKU Number

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