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Barcoding may seem complicated and difficult - but its just a scannable piece of text or numbers (can even be your SKU in scannable format).

Almost anything scannable will work and our system can easily generate a barcode for you (if your shopping cart doesnt already have an associated barcode. )

Every product page has the following:

I. Introduction

II. What is a Barcode?

III. Why are Barcodes Important?

• Receiving- During receiving, barcoded products are scanned for verification against your ASN to ensure that the correct products are being received.

• Returns- If the product is barcoded, we use it to identify the product returned to us by scanning its barcode during Returns Processing.

• Movement of Inventory- Every time a barcoded product is moved within the warehouse, the barcode must be scanned to ensure the correct product is being moved.

• Picking- When picking a product for an order, the picker must scan all barcoded products before proceeding to the next step.

• Packing- For orders that fail our automated quality control process, the barcodes of the order’s contents must be scanned at the packing station.

IV. ShipBots’s Barcode Requirements & Recommendations

• Each barcode must be unique for each SKU.

• All units of the same SKU must have the same barcode; if you have a product with a barcode that changes, the newly barcoded units must be a different SKU. Similarly, SKUs cannot have both non-barcoded and barcoded units in inventory; they must be stored under a separate SKU.

• If you plan to sell Mastercases, Inner Cartons, and Eaches separately, they will each need their own unique barcode.

• The barcode must be readable.

• Do not print barcodes too small; this can make them difficult to scan. We recommend a minimum of 1.4" Wide by 1" Long.

• Include some whitespace around the barcode on the label. We recommend at least 1/8 inch of blank space on each side of the barcode.

• Do not print barcodes on a glossy or reflective material, as this can prevent the barcode scanner from being able to scan the barcodes.

• Quiet Zones: This is the blank area around a barcode or a QR code.
• Barcodes: 10 times the width of the narrowest bar (aka the "X" dimension) in a barcode or 1/8 inch, whichever is greater.
• QR Codes: The quiet zone is recommended to be a minimum of 4 times the width of a single data square in the QR code image.

• Barcode colors have to be contrasted for the laser to pick them up. Here are the barcodes that are contrast colors on a light-reflecting spectrum and will work on:

• Keep the barcodes for inner cartons and eaches to 12 characters or less.

• Avoid using an overly short or simple barcode that is likely to be repeated (001, 002, or 003, for example).

• If creating your own barcodes, use the product’s SKU Name and the Product ID from your eCommerce platform.

• Have your supplier apply barcodes before being shipped to us.

V. So I need barcodes….Now, what do I do?

VI. Barcode Locations

• The barcode should ideally be at least .25 inches and at most 4 inches from any of the edges of the product packaging.

• The barcode should be located on the lower half of the back of the product packaging, preferably on the right-hand side.

• Avoid placing the product on the bottom of the packaging.

• Cylinders should have the barcode going up and down along the curve, otherwise the curve may make the barcode unreadable.

VII. Suggestions for Products that Don’t Come in Boxes

• Poly Bags The addition of a polybag as packaging around your products makes barcoding incredibly easy. It also provides additional protection for the goods during transit and storage.

• Belly Bands - A Belly Band can provide you with additional marketing space for your product as well as a location to add your barcode.

• Jewelry Barcode Labels - Designed to wrap around a variety of jewelry without damaging the jewelry but still allow the barcodes to be effective.

• Hang Tags - Print important information or utilize it for additional marketing while adding your barcodes using hang tags.