If you’re selling on more than one platform and still relying on separate spreadsheets or siloed tools to track inventory — you’re probably wasting hours and losing money. Building a Master SKU Tracker isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s foundational for operational clarity, smart purchasing, and channel-specific marketing.

Whether you’re an e-commerce brand selling on Amazon, your own site, and a B2B portal — or a distributor juggling multiple catalogs — here’s how to unify your product data and build a Master SKU Tracker that actually works.

Why You Need a Master SKU Tracker

Most teams don’t realize how much SKU duplication, mismatch, and inconsistency costs them. You’re wasting:

  • Ad spend on SKUs you’re out of stock on

  • Time updating multiple listings across platforms manually

  • Revenue by letting popular SKUs go stale

  • Data clarity by not knowing which SKU is where and how it’s performing

Without a centralized SKU view, marketing, operations, purchasing, and customer service are always one step behind.

Step 1: Decide Your “Master of Truth” Format

You need one central database to serve as your source of truth.

Recommended Tools:

  • Google Sheets: Flexible, free, and easy to share across teams

  • Airtable: Great for relationships between data, easy UI

  • Lightweight ERP / Inventory Tools: If you already use one (like Katana, inFlow, or a custom ERP), connect data here

Choose the tool based on your current complexity and your team’s comfort level.

Step 2: Define Your Core Columns

A Master SKU Tracker isn’t about stuffing in everything — it’s about standardizing the most important fields across channels.

Field Description
Master SKU Internal master identifier (usually alphanumeric)
Product Name Unified name across channels
Channel SKU(s) Amazon, Shopify, eBay, etc.
Category Helps with grouping, analytics
Cost Per-unit landed cost
Retail Price MSRP or channel-specific pricing
Stock Level Optional: pulled via feed/API if available
Status Active, inactive, discontinued
Channel Availability Columns for Amazon, DTC, B2B, etc.
Image URL For audits or content planning

Step 3: Link Channels Without Duplicates

You don’t want a “new row” every time a product is listed somewhere. Instead, map multiple channel-specific SKUs under the same Master SKU.

Example:

  • Master SKU: MOD-5012A

    • Amazon SKU: AMZ-MOD-5012A

    • Shopify SKU: MOD-5012A-S

    • eBay SKU: EBAY-MOD-5012A

Track them all in columns — not rows — to reduce duplication and errors.

Step 4: Keep It Updated (Without Manual Work)

Ideal Setup:

  • Use Zapier or Make.com to sync Shopify/Amazon to Sheets

  • Connect Airtable to your Google Sheets if you use it for daily ops

  • Pull in stock feeds from your 3PL or ERP weekly

  • Use a weekly review checklist to clean up SKUs (more on that below)

You can even use Google Apps Script to flag mismatched names, zero-stock items, or inactive SKUs automatically.

Step 5: Layer in Reporting for Ops + Marketing

Once your SKU tracker is centralized, build dashboards and automations off it:

  • Stockout Alerts: Flag SKUs listed as “available” on Amazon but out of stock in your tracker

  • Ad Spend Review: Connect with GA or ad platform data to see which SKUs get the most budget

  • Channel Performance: Add “last 30-day sales” by channel

Pro Tips for Operationalizing Your SKU Tracker

  • Weekly Audit: Dedicate 30 minutes weekly to verify SKUs added/removed

  • Use naming conventions (e.g., MOD- prefix for your brand)

  • Review every quarter: Check for duplicate SKUs, pricing conflicts, or incorrect category tagging

  • Tie SKU Tracker to purchasing: If possible, use this tracker as the base for reorders

Why It Matters

If you’re running lean or scaling fast, your team can’t afford SKU chaos. A centralized tracker gives you:

  • Clarity on what you actually sell

  • Insight into performance across channels

  • Confidence in your marketing and ops decisions

No dev team required. No expensive SaaS platform. Just smart setup, clear structure, and operational discipline.

Bonus Resources

Need help building yours?
At Modonix (https://modonix.com), we help growth-minded e-commerce teams implement lean operations without expensive tools or unnecessary complexity.

👉 Schedule a free consultation (https://modonix.com/contact-us) to build your SKU master system.