A Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) is a distinct code used to represent a specific product configuration, including attributes such as brand, size, color, pack size, or variant. Each SKU corresponds to one sellable unit, allowing businesses to differentiate similar products and manage them individually within catalogs and systems.
In ecommerce and retail environments, SKUs are the foundation of operational and analytical workflows. Pricing, availability, promotions, fulfillment, and inventory decisions all operate at the SKU level. Even small differences — such as pack size, quantity, or formulation — result in separate SKUs with different pricing and performance characteristics.
SKUs matter because accurate SKU-level visibility is critical for meaningful comparisons and decisions. Aggregating data at higher levels (brand or category) often hides important signals, such as margin erosion on specific variants or competitive undercutting on high-velocity SKUs. Without clean SKU definitions and matching, competitive intelligence quickly becomes unreliable.
Where Anakin fits:
Anakin specializes in high-accuracy SKU-level intelligence. The platform matches competitor SKUs to the client’s internal SKUs using advanced logic that accounts for variations in naming, attributes, and packaging. This ensures apples-to-apples comparisons across pricing, availability, promotions, and fulfillment — even in complex categories with thousands of similar products.
Key business use cases:
In essence, the SKU is the atomic unit of commerce intelligence. When data is captured, matched, and analyzed at the SKU level, businesses gain the precision needed to compete effectively, protect margins, and scale decision-making across markets and channels.
