Barcodes for Shopify & Shopify POS

Shopify allows people and businesses to sell their products online. Shopify POS is a Point-of-Sale system that focuses on creating an omni-channel experience that combines in-person (brisk and mortar) and online sales. The POS system is available to Shopify merchants from all across the world.

Shopify resellers typically use barcodes for numbers such as ISBN, UPC, GTIN, etc. with the identifier being a new or existing GTIN. Some sales channels require a GTIN before a product can be published.

GTINs are unique identifiers used internationally to store and locate product information and UPC, EAN, and ISBN values are examples of encoded GTINs depending on the product type. Barcodes are used by Shopify POS in a retail store, for publishing products using the Google channel, and when listing a product using the Amazon sales channel.

If you don't have a GTIN for a product, you can request it from the manufacturer. If you’re the manufacturer, you can find out how to get a GTIN for a product at the GS1 website.

Creating barcodes

Shopify offers apps that allow you to manage barcodes. However, these can be cumbersome to work with, difficult to understand, or they won’t work as expected. It’s far better and less time-consuming to use Barcode Producer instead to create barcodes for a product and its variants.

While Shopify’s app generates 8-digit barcodes only, with Barcode Producer you can create 13-digit barcodes like ISBNs, UPC-A and EAN-13 codes. These must then be imported into Shopify by going to the product details > variant details page and selecting the product variant you want to add a barcode to. If you have multiple barcodes to add, you can use a CSV file with the codes and upload it.

Step 1: In Barcode Producer, select your barcode symbology; leave the resolution, height and factor settings at their default.

Step 2: Create as many barcodes as you need, using the Automator module.

Step 3: Hit the Generate button to create the actual barcode images, then click the Export Text File to enable the CSV file upload.

Step 4: Back in Shopify, print your barcodes from the Products view list, or print each barcode that’s been generated by Barcode Producer directly from the macOS Preview app.

To print from Shopify:

1. Go to the Admin panel.
2. Click Products.
3. Choose All products.
4. Select all the products you need a barcode for.
5. Select Actions above the product list.
6. From the drop-down menu, choose Print barcode labels.
7. Below the template, set the number of labels you want for each product.
8. Print!

If you want to save your barcodes as PDF files, Barcode Producer allows you to do that as well and if you want to show them on your product pages, Barcode Producer lets you additionally output to a JPEG file.

Scanning barcodes

If your store is not on the Shopify plan or higher, you can use your iOS or Android device's camera to scan both 1D and 2D barcodes. You will need to allow Shopify’s POS app to access to the device camera.

All your mobile, in-store, and online orders appear on the Orders screen of Shopify POS. If you've included barcodes on your printed receipts, you can scan receipt barcodes with a barcode scanner or your device's camera to open the matching order in Shopify POS.

To add an item to the Shopify POS cart, you tap the item's image in the products grid or tap the barcode button and scan the item's barcode. On the Orders screen, tap the barcode icon in the top-right corner and scan the item’s barcode label.

Specifics with regards to barcodes and troubleshooting

In some cases, Shopify may not recognize UPC barcodes. The solution is to check whether the barcodes have been stored with a leading 0. Remove the leading 0 and the UPC codes will be recognized.

If you're using a Dymo LabelWriter Wireless Printer, it’s important to know the only sizes Shopify supports are the Square (1" x 1") labels for a maximum of six to eight digits. You'll also want to make sure that you've selected the correct label size in your barcode template, to have the label print correctly.

Scanning price-embedded barcodes (UPC-A, EAN-13) with the Shopify POS app and automatically insert the corresponding product or variant and insert it into your cart is impossible without this Shopify embedded app: https://apps.shopify.com/scan-price-embedded-barcodes.

You need to use this app alongside the new Shopify POS on iOS. The app will function on Android and POS Classic — it will automatically add taxes to each line item.