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Setting up Inventory in Square Retail

I am currently using Square POS for a retail clothing business and am making the jump to Square Retail along with using a bar code scanner.  I want to make sure I set inventory up correctly the first time - so have several questions.  1) Say I have a black floral shirt that I set up as an item, but this shirt comes in s. m. l and XL, so would I then have a varient under black floral shirt for each of the sizes all with different skus OR would I set up 4 different items with skus?  2) Is the a SKU generator or do we just make up these SKUs and 3) I currently have inventory set up in Square POS but no SKUs, what is the easiest way to add SKUS so I can print bar codes for the items I still have in inventory.

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Super Seller

Some pretty loaded questions there...

Personally, we create a new item for every different variant. I store and track all of our sales data on a local computer... Which means if I sold something of different variations, they will show up in my reports with the same name... (ie... "Blank Tanktop/Green" will show up as "Blank Tanktop/Green" no matter what size or price variation was sold. "SM, ME, LG, XL" will all show up in your reports as "Blank Tanktop/Green")... You will have to look to another column or row of data to see what variation it was that sold. For our purposes, I want it all to show up with its own unique name in the reports... So I would create a new item for every size, and indicate that in the name of the item... (ie. "Blank Tanktop/Green (XL)", "Blank Tanktop/Green (LG)", etc. etc.)... And yes, they would each have their own unique SKU. We have various reasons for doing it this way, but you may find it easier to use variations.

Square does not have a barcode generator (per se)... A SKU is really just a unique number assigned to a unit. You can make them up however you like... Or if your products already have a barcode, you can scan that barcode into the SKU field of edit item screen. If you want to just type some random numbers into the SKU field and have it scan, you might install a simple barcode font (like Code 128)... This will give you a barcode graphic that represents your unique series of numbers that a barcode scanner can read. But you will have to use the same barcode symbology (or in your case, the barcode font) to produce the barcode for that SKU every time.

The easiest way to give all of your inventory a barcode is to export your item library from Square... In the SKU field, come up with a set of #'s to use... (ie. "100000001, 100000002, 100000003, etc.), just make sure that every one is unique... I wouldn't start them out with a "0" because beginning "0" digits can get lost in formatting... Without the right formatting, the # "00000001" will show up as just "1". Then upload that same file back to your Square Item Library with the new SKU #'s. Then with some kind of publishing software, you will be able to print those same digits (in a barcode font like Code 128) it will scan and ring up the appropriate item within Square.

I should note that I have never actually used the Code 128 font as a barcode before. We have an elaborate system that generates EAN13 barcodes... But Theoretically, most barcode scanners should be able to read the Code 128 font just fine.

Sorry to be so longwinded,
Hope this helps

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Hi there!

 

I'm switching from ShopKeep to Square Retail.  My current inventory has SKU & labels that work - that were generated in Shopkeep. Entering new items into Square has been tricky since it does not generate a SKU.  I'vetried to enter SKUs in the current format (EAN13).

 

Does Square generate barcodes? Or do I have to export to Dymo Software?

 

I'm trying to figure out how convoluted this process needs to be (or shouldn't be) 

 

Naomi

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Admin

Hey @OddbirdGifts, thanks for surfacing!

 

Yep—you can generate barcodes with Square for Retail. If you haven't had a chance already, take a look at these instructions and let me know if they get you where you need to be: Create and Print Bar Code Labels with Square for Retail.

 

If this misses the mark, please let me know where things are getting hung up and I'll run this by a member of our Retail Team for a deeper dive. Appreciate your patience. 🙂

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
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Yes, I have read that very simple explanation.    On new items, my SKU will not scan.   What is the length or types of SKUs the system supports?

 

Remember I have existing inventory from Shopkeep that uses a EAN13 (in this format 400000013343).

 

I do not want to keep a running list of what # I am at.  I don't have time for that & frankly want employees to take this task. 

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Admin

Hi again @OddbirdGifts! I'll need to check in with our Retail team for you. So that they can take a closer look, it would be great if you could reply here to answer the following questions:

  1. For your new items that aren't scanning, have you added the new SKUs to Square for Retail? 
  2. Are your able to scan bar codes from the older items from ShopKeep?
  3. Are all of your SKUs less than 13 digits long?

I'll be on the look out for your reply! 

️ Helen
Seller Community Manager

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1 -  Yes I had added SKUs to the new items

2 -Yes the bar codes work from older items from Shopkeep

3- Yes the SKU are less than 13 digits. 

 

Here's the deal - I have worked on this issue for well over a week. Tried every possible combos- all numbers, similar to existing SKUs (400000002365), alphanumeric - short, long. Nothing. 

 

Come in Tuesday, 7/24 & have a Square update.  Go upstairs, to tackle this issue again.  Lo & behold, the self generated SKUs work. 

 

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I'd like to point out that my imported Shopkeep SKUs/inventory (400000001236) will print to a 1x1.5" label & scan with no issue. 

 

But newly added items using that same format or alternate format will not scan.  

 

I find it curious that it will scan one way but not another.  

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Hey @OddbirdGifts, thanks for circling back. I wanted to check in—are you still encountering the issue where newly added items are not scanning? If so, I would suggest giving our Retail Team an example of where this is happening. They'll be able to take a deeper dive into your account.

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
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How do you generate barcodes? I feel like I must be missing something

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Hey @chicadee, thanks for checking in here! This graphic and step-by-steps may help make things more clear: Create Labels from Your Online Square Dashboard. In addition, you can add an existing bar code from the online Square Dashboard by including it with the SKU field: Create Items Online

 

If that doesn't get you where you need to be, please let me know where things are getting stuck and I'll be happy to take a closer look. 🙂

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
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1) Tom.. Can you explain how your system generates UPS or sku numbers for items that come in without either? No video that square has come up with shows how to do this..

 

2) I saw on one of your videos that one of the big benefits of receiving invoices is that you can scan them in from your ipad so that you don't also have to jump on the computer in the backend. However, it seems that if you want to print tags, you still have to jump on the computer and print from the backend? Am I right on this? If so, plans to fix?

 

Thanks

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@mlgaspar Helen here stepping in for Tom! To answer your questions:

 

1) There isn't a way to generate a UPS/SKU in the Square Point of Sale app. If an item doesn't have a SKU, you can create one. Locavorestore shared a bit more information about setting up SKUs on the first page of this thread.

 

2) At this time you can only print bar code labels from your Square Dashboard, you can't print them from the Retail app. It sounds like that's what you're looking for? If you can reply here to let us know how this affects your workflow or how being able to print labels from the app would help we can share your feedback with the Retail team. 

 

️ Helen
Seller Community Manager

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Hi Helen.. Thank you for the reply. Yes it looks like things are getting closer but most businesses would need tage printing with the ability to generate a upc or sku number. Many items arrive with those items and it would be very time consuming to work around that.

 

Thanks,

Mike

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I hear you Mike! Thanks for letting us know the improvements needed to make Retail work for your business (and others). We're always adding new features so keep in touch for updates.

️ Helen
Seller Community Manager

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Thank you square for enabling a feature that generates skus... Label printing is much better now and takes a little bit of the sting out of the monthly fees

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