Been having this issue since we switched POS providers. It is SUCH a gap in the software that costs businesses an incredible amount of time at every checkout. In fact, shopify’s help page on barcodes only recommends them for use in wholesale, inventory, and warehouse applications - as those setting don’t also need the variant to show up when scanned??
Topic summary
Issue: Scanning a barcode in Shopify POS (point of sale) does not auto-select the product’s size variant. Even with unique SKUs (stock keeping units) and barcodes per size, the scan adds only the parent product, requiring manual size selection.
Current behavior: Confirmed by participants as the default POS behavior. Users describe it as frustrating and inefficient at checkout.
Impact: Reported to add significant time to each in-person transaction, especially after switching POS providers.
Documentation note: Shopify’s help page on barcodes is cited as emphasizing use for wholesale, inventory, and warehouse workflows—implying limited support for variant auto-selection in POS scanning.
Resolution/status: No fix or official workaround provided in the thread. The issue remains open with unmet expectations that scanning a unique barcode should directly select the corresponding variant.
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