Install Synkro

Auto-generate SKUs & barcodes for new products

Have Synkro automatically assign a unique SKU or barcode to every new variant created in a store, so products are ready to sync across your connected stores.

Last updated May 27, 2026

Overview

Synkro matches variants across your connected stores using their SKU (or Barcode, depending on your syncing identifier). A variant with no SKU or barcode can’t participate in syncing, so this tool ensures that all new products and variants are ready for syncing right away.

These two per-store settings make sure every product created in a store automatically receives a unique identifier, so it’s sync-ready the moment it’s created. They are applied per store and only affect products and variants created after you enable them — existing products are left unchanged.

Where to find these settings

  1. Open the Synkro settings for the store you want to configure.
  2. Go to Syncing options › Store-level sync settings.
  3. Scroll down in the page where you’ll find Automatically generate SKU for new products and Populate barcode with variant ID for new products.

Automatically generate SKUs for new products

When this is enabled, each time a product or variant is created in the store, Synkro assigns a unique SKU to any variant that doesn’t already have one.

Synkro generates the SKU like this:

  • It bases the new SKU on a neighbouring variant’s SKU within the same product, appending the variant’s option values (for example, Size and Color) to the end so the result is unique.
  • If no neighbouring variant has a SKU to base it on, Synkro generates the SKU by converting the variant’s Shopify ID into base-36, which guarantees a unique value.

To turn it on, check Automatically generate a SKU for new products created in this store and click Save.

Automatically populate barcodes for new products

When this is enabled, each time a product or variant is created in the store, Synkro populates each variant’s barcode with its Shopify variant ID. Because variant IDs are unique within Shopify, this guarantees every variant ends up with a unique barcode value.

To turn it on, check Automatically populate the barcode with the variant ID for new products created in this store and click Save.

Why this matters

Synkro relies on a unique SKU or barcode to know which variants represent the same item across your connected stores. If new products are created without these identifiers, they can’t participate in syncing until you assign one manually.

Enabling automatic SKU or barcode generation removes this manual step: every product created in the store arrives with a unique identifier and is immediately ready to sync. If you suspect existing products already have conflicting values, use the Detect duplicate SKU & barcodes tool to find and fix them.