Booqable has created the quickest, simplest, and most popular way of setting up barcodes for your rental store.
Follow the guide below on how you can easily import pre-purchased barcodes from another supplier into your Booqable account, all with the help of the Booqable Mobile App.
How it works
This process works by first purchasing a pre-printed roll of barcodes from a supplier like those suggested below, sticking them to your physical products manually, and registering them to your products in Booqable by using the mobile app's built-in barcode scanner.
1. Order barcodes online
There are various suppliers where you can order sequential barcodes, but it can often be difficult to find the right one.
Below are two main suppliers which we would suggest for ordering pre-made barcodes.
North American users: MyAssetTag.
UK & Europe users: Handy Labels.
💡Note: Both options offer worldwide shipping, but it would be more convenient and cost-effective to choose the closest one to your location.
2. Stick them to your items
💡Note: This process is for items that will be Tracked individually. For items Tracked in quantities, you can skip this step.
In this step, you should already have received your barcodes from your supplier, and have access to your full inventory.
You will need to manually stick one barcode to each of your physical products you intend to manage through your Booqable account.
3. Assign barcodes to Booqable products, through a product import.
Your products and their associated barcodes can be imported into Booqable in a few simple steps, by creating a CSV or Excel file spreadsheet that includes your barcodes to be imported into your Booqable account.
1. Open an import spreadsheet. You can create your own spreadsheet through CSV or Excel, or you can download a sample product CSV file to use as a template for creating your own. (If you have multiple locations, use this CSV file instead.)
2. Create the heading lines. The first line of your spreadsheet should contain information headers, such as Name, Quantity, Identifier, Price, and of course Barcode. Click this link to view our import article to understand every attribute you can include in your product import.
3. Fill in the information lines. If you have used our import template, remember to remove the example products with your own. The second line should then be filled in with your product's information, which you will map to certain fields in Booqable in a later step.
4. Fill in the barcode lines. Fill in each barcode into the field next to the product it is stuck to.
5. Save your import file.
💡Note: Once you have completed the creation of your import file, we recommend trying out a test import of up to 5 products first, as deleting products in bulk is not currently possible.
6. Click Products from the main menu, click Import from the left sidebar, and upload your file.
7. Map your columns. The next step that will appear is to Map your columns. Mapping your columns allows you to make sure a column in your import file, such as the product barcode, will appear in the correct place in your Booqable product information. For further information to help you with this process, check out our product import article.
8. Complete your import. Since the importer does not update inventory levels for existing products, when you import products that already exist in your Booqable account, the quantities found in your spreadsheet are added to those products' inventory levels.
💡Note: We recommend saving this import file after you complete the steps above so you can update the file with new stock levels. contact Booqable support to clear your current inventory and import your inventory as new.
Best practices
1. Assign barcodes to products, through the Mobile App
Instead of assigning your barcodes through a product import, you can also assign them to your products by using the Booqable Mobile App barcode scanner. To opt for this method, you will have first needed to download the Booqable mobile app.
1. Once your account is connected to the app; go to your settings, and select Set Up Barcodes.
2. Once you have clicked Set Up Barcodes, you will be brought to a list of your products. Click on a product, or type in the search bar to find the product you want to add the barcode to.
3. Decide if you want to add a barcode to the product, or add a barcode to a specific stock item. Click the appropriate Add barcode button, to open your camera.
4. To scan a barcode, bring the barcode into view of your camera, and the app will automatically detect the barcode and populate the information below the viewport. When you're satisfied that this is correct, click Link to assign the barcode.
Now your product has successfully been assigned a barcode! You can use the app's built in scanner to assign products to orders, or scan products as picked up or returned.
5. To edit a barcode, select the stock item from the app. You can manually edit the information or scan a new barcode by following the same process.
You can see an overview of barcodes associated with stock items on the product screen in the app and on desktop.
You're all set!
You have now successfully learned how to import pre-purchased barcodes into Booqable.