SKU & Barcode

SKU codes and barcodes provide fast, reliable ways to identify products in your catalog. While product names can be similar or ambiguous, SKUs and barcodes are unique identifiers that eliminate confusion and speed up document creation.

Setting Up SKU Codes

A Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) is an internal code you assign to each product. SKUs follow whatever naming scheme makes sense for your business.

How to Assign a SKU

1. Navigate to Sales > Products.
2. Open the product you want to assign a SKU to, or create a new product.
3. Enter the SKU in the SKU field.
4. Save.

SKU Best Practices

A good SKU system makes products easy to identify at a glance. Common approaches:

Approach	Example	Description
Category prefix	ELE-TV-55-BLK	Category (Electronics), subcategory (TV), size (55"), color (Black).
Sequential	PRD-00142	Simple numbered sequence with a prefix.
Supplier-based	SUP01-A7X	Supplier code followed by the supplier's part number.

tip

Keep SKUs short (under 20 characters), avoid special characters, and use uppercase letters for readability. Consistent formatting across your catalog makes SKUs intuitive for your team.

SKU Uniqueness

Each SKU must be unique within your tenant. If you try to assign a SKU that is already in use by another product, Shaari will show a validation error. This prevents accidental duplicate entries.

Barcode Support

Shaari supports standard barcode formats for product identification:

• EAN-13 -- the most common retail barcode format worldwide.
• EAN-8 -- a shorter barcode for smaller products.
• UPC-A -- the standard North American retail barcode.
• Custom -- any alphanumeric code that does not follow a standard format.

Assigning a Barcode

1. Open or create a product.
2. Enter the barcode number in the Barcode field.
3. Save.

Like SKUs, barcodes must be unique within your tenant.

Using SKUs to Add Items to Invoices

SKUs and barcodes are especially useful when creating invoices or quotations quickly:

1. In the line items section, click Add Item.
2. In the product search field, type the SKU or scan/enter the barcode.
3. The product is found instantly, and its details (name, description, price, tax rate) populate the line item automatically.
4. Enter the quantity and continue.

This is significantly faster than searching by product name, especially when your catalog contains products with similar names.

Search Priority

When you type in the product search field, Shaari searches across multiple fields in this order:

1. Exact SKU match -- if what you typed exactly matches a SKU, that product is shown first.
2. Exact barcode match -- if it matches a barcode, that product is prioritized.
3. Product name match -- partial name matches are shown as additional results.

This means typing a SKU code gives you an immediate, unambiguous result.

note

Barcode scanning with a physical barcode reader works by having the reader type the barcode number into the active text field, just like typing on a keyboard. Point the reader at the barcode while the product search field is focused, and the product will be found and selected automatically.