Yes. Barcodes can streamline returns by quickly identifying items, validating condition, and routing products to the correct location for restock, repair, or disposal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n
[\/et_pb_accordion_item][\/et_pb_accordion][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Avoid common warehouse barcoding mistakes. Learn best practices to improve SKU accuracy, speed fulfillment, and scale operations with confidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":243255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"Barcodes are everywhere, so it can be easy to take just how useful they are for granted. Without barcodes, it\u2019s way more difficult to be able to easily identify the exact SKU that you\u2019re looking at. Without barcodes, it\u2019s easier for mistakes to slip through the net. But with effective warehouse barcoding in place, you\u2019re in a good position to ensure accurate fuflilment every time. <\/span>\n\n\n\nPeoplevox has been around for almost a decade. During that time, we\u2019ve seen a lot of brands face up to challenges as they grow their businesses. Without a doubt, getting barcoding right is one of the things that helps most when it comes to tightening up fulfilment processes. Here are some of the best pieces of advice that I can give if you\u2019re looking to improve the way that your warehouse handles barcodes: <\/span>\n1. It\u2019s never too early to start barcoding<\/strong>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\nEveryone starts small. Even if you\u2019re running your new e-commerce business out of your parents\u2019 laundry room, you can start barcoding. Get the process established early and it\u2019ll stick, helping you to avoid headaches when you start scaling your brand. <\/span>\n
2. Make sure that your SKU code isn\u2019t too long <\/strong>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis applies if you choose to use your SKU codes as barcodes. If they\u2019re over 15 characters, then they won\u2019t show properly when printed. The same goes with hyphens: avoid using them because they elongate the barcode too much. When barcodes are too long, the code won\u2019t match up to what you have registered on the system and you will run into problems. <\/span>\n
3. Check that the code matches the product <\/strong>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis might sound obvious, but it\u2019s easy for errors to happen and to slip by unnoticed. Take a second to ensure that your barcodes actually match up to the products that they\u2019re meant to represent. Making a mistake at this stage could lead to you shipping out the wrong product and having mismatched, ineffective inventories. Checking that everything lines up is easy: if you\u2019re still at a stage where you can handle goods-in manually, <\/span>download our free app<\/span> for unpacking deliveries from the Play store. If you need a more advanced system, watch the video below to see how Peoplevox handles goods-in<\/span>.<\/span>\n\n
\n\n\u00a04. Selling through marketplaces? Get GS1 barcodes\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\nIf you\u2019re selling through third parties, the best practice is to sign up to become a GS1 member. <\/span>GS1<\/span><\/a> distributes barcode values to retailers and manufacturers, ensuring that every single barcode that it creates is unique. Without the guarantee that each code is unique, there\u2019s a chance that the third party reseller might have another product from another company with the same code in their warehouse. Which could, and does, become a major headache.<\/span>\n
5. Inner cases, outer cases and products each need barcodes<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\nIf you receive standard quantities of inner cases and outer cases, stick barcodes on them. This means that you can scan the cases, instead of having to scan each individual product. \u00a0This saves a lot of time as goods come into the warehouse, when you\u2019re picking larger quantities or when you need to perform a stock check. <\/span>\n
6. Waiting for your WMS before you start? Don\u2019t.<\/strong>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\nIf your products aren\u2019t barcoded but you\u2019re thinking about implementing a warehouse system, don\u2019t wait until it\u2019s fully set up to get the process started. Start labelling the products during the implementation to ensure that you can get the most out of your WMS from day one. If barcoding is low down on your list of priorities, then it will become a pain to get on top of as products cycle through your warehouse.<\/span>\n\n
\n\n![\"warehouse-barcode-quote-0.png\"](\"https:\/\/www.peoplevox.com\/hubfs\/warehouse-barcode-quote-0.png\" "\\"warehouse-barcode-quote-0.png\\"")
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\n\n\u00a07. It's easier if your suppliers barcode for you<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\nEven easier than tasking your warehouse staff to do the legwork; see if your suppliers can deliver your products to you already barcoded. This means that they can be checked, scanned in and put on the racks ready to be sold without any additional admin. Getting warehouse barcoding right before your products arrive at goods-in is a massive time-saver. <\/span>\n
8. Watch out for leading zeros<\/strong><\/h2>\nWhen your barcodes start with a few zeros, they can get dropped. This is particularly an issue if you use Excel to store your inventories. Any numbers that are pasted, or typed, into Excel that begin with zeroes will erase the first few digits of your barcode. Which makes lining up the stock that you have in your warehouse with the information that you have in your inventory ten times harder. If you use Excel, and you\u2019re able to change your barcodes, then stop using zeroes at the start. It\u2019ll make life just that bit easier. \u00a0<\/span>\n
9. Keep your warehouse barcode process simple<\/strong>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\nMore than anything, remember that simplicity is key. Barcodes exist to help you identify things. They don\u2019t need a lot of information in them. We\u2019ve seen cases where location identifiers have been put in the barcodes. It\u2019s not necessary. Long product descriptions are not necessary. Keep it short, keep it simple and enjoy the benefits of a clean, clear and organised barcoding system. <\/span>","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n