How do you say sku in spanish.
I'm trying to decide what is the best way to translate the word SKU on a shipping manifest that will be sent to many different Spanish speaking countries. It needs to be a broad translation that can be understood by anyone in any country.
Do some countries use the word SKU? I thought Mexico at least did, but I'm not sure about others. All my research has pointed to some using it and others not, but I havn't found an equivilant for the countries that don't use it. It really seems to be a term that is not highly utilized in spanish.
SKU: stock-keeping unit, a way to identify an item by number
2 Answers
As a long-time speaker of English, I had no idea what "SKU" was intended to mean. Were I to see it on some shipping label (or invoice), I would assume that it was one more cryptic abbreviation (favored by some companies but without any intention of communicating with their clients).
Over the years I have learned that "FOB" is supposed to mean "free on board" but this is not normal English. Even the expanded version (from the initials) sounds like total nonsense. Your "SKU" sounds to me like the same the same situation; an abbreviation/acronym that only "insiders" would know/recognize.
As with FOB, even when you provide the gloss (stock-keeping unit), this is total jargon/cant. If you wish your customers to understand, you need to abandon these (cryptic) abbreviations. On the other hand, for most customers it is enough that an ordered item actually be delivered (I doubt that many spend much time trying to decipher the mailing labels).
very broad: número de referencia
