SimplePOSBarcodes for small shops: how to get started
A beginner’s guide to barcodes for small shops: using manufacturer barcodes, creating your own for unlabelled items, choosing a scanner and printing labels.
यह पेज सिर्फ़ अंग्रेज़ी में उपलब्ध है। अंग्रेज़ी संस्करण ही आधिकारिक है।
Typing product names or codes at the till is slow, and every typing mistake becomes a wrong price or a wrong stock count. Barcodes fix both problems. A single scan finds the exact product in a fraction of a second. Getting started is easier and cheaper than many owners expect.
How barcodes work
A barcode is simply a number printed in a way a scanner can read quickly. The barcode itself does not contain the price or the product name. Your system looks up the number and finds the matching product, with its price and stock level.
This is good news: if you change a price, you change it once in your system. You do not need to reprint any barcodes.
The most common types you will see are:
- Retail product barcodes, usually 12 or 13 digits, printed on packaging by manufacturers.
- Shorter 8-digit versions used on small packs.
- General-purpose barcodes that can hold letters and numbers, often used for internal labels.
- Square two-dimensional codes, which some scanners can also read.
Use the barcodes already on your products
Most packaged goods already carry a manufacturer barcode. You do not need to do anything special to use it. When you add the product to your system, scan its barcode into the barcode field. From then on, scanning it at the till will find that product.
- Take one unit of each product to a computer with a scanner.
- Create or open the product in your system.
- Click into the barcode field and scan the package.
- Check the name, price and stock quantity, then save.
- Test it by scanning the product on the sales screen.
Be careful with products sold in different pack sizes. A single can and a pack of six usually have different barcodes, and each should be set up as its own product, or as a pack linked to the single unit.
Create your own barcodes for unlabelled items
Many products have no barcode at all: loose goods, handmade items, clothing from small suppliers, spare parts and your own products. For these, you can create internal barcodes that work only in your shop.
- Give each product a unique internal code, such as a simple sequence of numbers.
- Use a consistent format so internal codes never clash with manufacturer barcodes.
- Print labels with the barcode, a short product name and, if you like, the price.
- For clothing, give each size and colour its own code, so stock is tracked properly.
Internal barcodes are only for use inside your business. If you plan to sell your own products to other retailers, they will usually require official product barcodes, which are issued by a recognised numbering organisation for a fee. Check what your buyers require before printing packaging.
Choosing a scanner and a label printer
For most small shops, a simple handheld scanner is enough. Many connect by cable and act like a keyboard, typing the number wherever the cursor is, so they work with almost any system.
- Wired scanners are cheap and reliable for a single counter.
- Wireless scanners are useful for scanning large items or counting stock on shelves.
- Scanners that read two-dimensional codes can also read codes on phone screens.
- Countertop scanners leave both hands free and suit busy tills.
For labels, a small thermal label printer is the most practical choice. It needs no ink, prints quickly and uses rolls of sticky labels. Choose a label size that fits your smallest products and test that printed codes scan easily before printing hundreds.
Make it part of the routine
Barcodes only help if every product has one. Add barcode setup to your receiving routine: when a new product arrives, it is scanned or labelled before it reaches the shelf. Point-of-sale software that supports scanning and label printing makes this a quick step instead of a separate project.