Barcode Scanning

Barcode scanning is how you add products to any stock take quickly and accurately. You can use your device's built-in camera, connect a Bluetooth or USB scanner, or search manually — whichever works best for your situation.

Scanning With Your Camera

Tap the camera icon in the scanning bar, point your camera at the barcode, and hold steady. The product appears in your list automatically.

For best results:

• Lighting — scan in a well-lit area; shadows make barcodes harder to read
• Distance — 6–12 inches away from the label works well for most cameras
• Steady — hold still for a moment while the camera focuses
• Label condition — torn, faded, or wrinkled barcodes may not scan reliably; type the barcode manually if needed

Using an External Scanner

Bluetooth and USB barcode scanners connect to Stock Control automatically — no special setup needed in the app. Just pair or plug in your scanner, open a stock take session, and start scanning.

Your scanner needs to be in Keyboard Wedge (also called HID) mode, which is the default for most retail scanners. If you're not sure, check the scanner's manual.

External scanners are significantly faster than camera scanning for high-volume work. Popular options include Zebra, Honeywell, and Socket Mobile scanners, but most commercial scanners work fine.

Supported Barcode Formats

Stock Control reads all standard retail barcodes — UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-13, EAN-8, Code 128, Code 39, and QR codes. If a barcode is a standard format, it will scan.

How Products Are Matched

When you scan a barcode, the app looks for a matching variant:

• First it checks the barcode field on each variant
• If no match is found it checks the SKU field
• Leading zeros are handled for you — a 12-digit UPC label matches a 13-digit EAN barcode in Shopify (and the other way round)
• If still nothing, it shows "No product found" and plays the error sound if you have it turned on

Scanning the same product again adds one to its quantity — there is one line per product, never duplicates. You can scan as fast as your scanner allows: scans are queued and applied in order, and a small "waiting" note appears under the scan field if you get ahead of the connection.

If a product isn't found, check that the barcode or SKU is entered correctly in Shopify.

Selecting Instead of Scanning

If scanning isn't working or you don't have a barcode to hand, click Select next to the scan field to open Shopify's product picker. Search by name, SKU or barcode, tick the variants you want, and they are added to the list with a quantity of 1.