Barcode
A printed code that identifies an item when scanned, so the right SKU is picked at billing, receiving and stock taking without typing.
A barcode is a fast, accurate way to say which item you mean. Its value is not the printing — it is that scanning removes the two most expensive counter mistakes: picking the wrong item and typing the wrong quantity.
Manufacturer codes and your own
Most packaged goods arrive with a barcode from the manufacturer. Use it. For loose goods, your own packs, or items with no printed code, you generate and print your own label. Both can point at the same SKU.
Where it pays back fastest
Billing at a busy counter, receiving a large consignment, and stock taking. A physical count of a few thousand pieces done by scanning is faster and far more accurate than the same count done by calling out names.
Watch the pack level
If you sell both a single and a carton of twelve, they usually have different barcodes. Scanning the carton code must add twelve units, not one. Set the pack conversion when you set up the code, or the count will drift by exactly that difference.
How KillStock handles it
Items are looked up by their code at billing and at counting, and stock can be counted and adjusted from a phone — working offline and syncing when the signal returns, which is what a godown usually needs.
A common mistake
Assigning the same barcode to two SKUs because the packs look alike. The scanner will not warn you; the stock difference will.