POS - barcode doesn't bring up individual item?

[LoraineIreland]

Wonder if any of you using the Shopify POS system have any ideas on this?  When we scan an item at the till, if it's a variant of a series of that particular product, the whole list of variants appears on-screen.  The issue I have is that our staff can pick the wrong variant off the screen, particularly if they are busy or not paying attention, and the inventory ends up wrong as a result.  Hope I'm making sense.  

Why does the barcode not simply bring that specific/individual item on screen, rather than the list of variants?  

Is there any kind of workaround?  I know I could set each variant up as an individual standalone item but that would make for a rubbish user experience on my website.

Any experience/thoughts greatly appreciated!

[StuartCD]

We had the same issue a while ago and resolved it. Let me see if I can figure out what we did! 

[LoraineIreland]

That would be fantastic, thank you!

[udayreddy]

Hi,

Any update on this?

I am also facing the same issue

[LoraineIreland]

No update from anyone.  I wonder if there's a Shopify POS team who can help?  Off to check..

[LoraineIreland]

So, I've spent the last hour on with a very nice lady from Shopify POS support, but I feel even more like tearing my hair out.  The first suggestion was to issue a whole bunch of replacement barcodes.  I have THOUSANDS of items, approx 70% are variants (different sizes/colours of the same item), so this is not a remotely practical solution.  In case, if the scanner can't bring up an individual item now, via  the manufacturer's barcode, how would it miraculously manage to do it via a new/alternate barcode.  So, as I say, not a workable solution.  My issue is now "being shared with the developers".  I presume this is code for "you will never hear from us again"?  

So.  Frustrated.  This is such a basic, basic function for a scanner/till system.  Imagine a cashier in Walmart/Tesco having to select which flavour of Doritos to sell from a huge list of options?!

Any input (or even prayers for my poor, frustrated soul) much appreciated!

[Danceman1]

Sad to hear this - we weren't planning on moving our online website from Miva to Shopify, and DEFINITELY won't now.  I also see now why it treated every product in QBPOS as a stand alone item.  So POS customers can't sell products both in store and online in Shopify when say a Shoe comes in 3 colors, 3 widths and 14 sizes?  And if they do, in store the barcode on a Black size 4M shows all sizes and colors and widths and the clerk has to scroll through dozens of choices to find it?  WOW.

[LoraineIreland]

Pretty much this.  It works well otherwise, to be fair, but this is a big and basic issue.  The products do need to be grouped by variant online, otherwise it's a poor experience for a customer, but POS should really be able to return the specific item by barcode scanned.

[LoraineIreland]

Is there anybody out there from Shopify POS Support willing to actually look at this?  The issue is ongoing.  My time spent with a POS support agent amounted to nothing - TBH I didn't feel she even understood the issue, despite copious amounts of sympathy with my situation.  She told me she'd pass it to the POS developers, but... nada

[datpb]

I don't know if this helps but my staff realised yesterday that if you scan barcodes with your device's camera (for us it's an iPad), that will bring up only the specific item, not the list of all variants (as happens when using a separate barcode scanning device).

[LoraineIreland]

I will try that!  Thank you!

[stefchrono]

Shopify could certainly provide more clarity over this. However, I also feel that the problem is, ultimately, down to the merchant to solve. Namely, you are given the option to uniquely identify your products, via barcode and/or SKU. How that happens is down to you.

There should be some logical grouping in place. For example, if a certain barcode is shared among different variants of a product, I wouldn’t expect the reader to be able to find out which specific variant I just scanned. 

Therefore, how you group variants (into a product) should be well-thought through, so you can easily identify them via barcode scanning.