Besides entering products line by line and importing an Excel file (see Standard purchase order), a third way to add products is available depending on your setup: GTIN scan. You scan the product barcode with a barcode scanner (or type it) and the ERP looks up the matching product automatically.
Good to know — GTIN scan is enabled for some setups only. If you don't see the Manual / Scan toggle at the top of the entry panel, contact support to have it turned on.
Switching to Scan mode
On a purchase order's product screen, the Entry panel shows a toggle at the top right:
| Position | Effect |
|---|---|
| Manual | Classic line-by-line entry (model, size, condition, price, VAT…). Default mode. |
| Scan | A panel dedicated to scanning: a single Barcode field plus a few default options. |
Switching from one mode to the other is instant and does not affect lines already added.
Scan panel
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| VAT | VAT rate applied to every scanned line until you change it. Required before the first scan. If the supplier is an individual, only margin VAT rates are offered. |
| E-commerce? | If enabled, the units created will be available on the site / Shopify as soon as they are received. Default setting for scanned lines. |
| GOAT / GOAT DS / StockX | Turns on automatic listing on these platforms upon reception. Shown only if the company has an account set up. |
| Barcode | GTIN entry field. Confirm with Enter (the barcode scanner does this automatically). |
Below the field, a box always shows:
- Last scanned product: the model and size of the last barcode added, or an error message if the scan failed. The colour changes with the result (green = product found, orange = line created but still to complete, red = scan rejected).
- Number of scanned products: total number of lines on the order.
- including unresolved GTINs: number of lines still waiting to be identified (see the statuses below).
Accepted barcode format
The scan accepts GTINs of 8, 12, 13, or 14 digits (EAN-8, UPC-A, EAN-13, GTIN-14). If the code does not match this format, the scan is rejected with an error message and no line is created.
Units internal barcodes (labels generated by the ERP for your own units) are also rejected: they identify a physical unit already in stock, not a catalog product, so they do not belong on a purchase order.
How the ERP finds the product
On each scan, the ERP looks up the product in this order:
- Local GTIN database — If a product in your catalog already has this barcode, the line is created immediately with that product. The status is ready (green).
- External database — Otherwise, a background search is started. The line is created immediately with the GTIN being searched status, then moves on its own to one of the statuses described below, without any action from you.
Good to know — When a barcode is correctly resolved through an external database, the ERP stores it in your local GTIN database.
Statuses of a scanned line
A line created by scan can have one of the following statuses. Pending lines can also be filtered from the purchase order list (status filter).
| Status | Meaning | Expected action |
|---|---|---|
| GTIN being searched | The barcode was not known locally. A search is in progress on external databases. | None. The status updates on its own within the next few seconds or minutes. |
| GTIN unresolved | No external database recognised this barcode. The ERP does not know which product it is. | Identify the product manually (see the workflow below). |
| GTIN resolved, SKU missing | An external database identified a SKU, but that model does not exist in your catalog yet. | Create the matching model in the catalog (see the workflow). |
| GTIN resolved, variant missing | The model exists in your catalog, but not in the size returned by the external database. | Create the variant in the right size in the catalog (see the workflow). |
For any line that is not ready, the only available action is Delete. You cannot edit or duplicate a line until it has been resolved.
Workflow: product not found / model missing from the catalog
If the scanned barcode ends up as GTIN unresolved, GTIN resolved, SKU missing, or GTIN resolved, variant missing, finish the addition as follows:
- Identify the product on the physical packaging (reference on the label, photo, manufacturer SKU…). If the status is GTIN resolved, SKU missing or GTIN resolved, variant missing, the ERP has already done part of the work: the SKU (and possibly the size) returned by the external database is stored on the line and is used in step 3.
- Create the model in the catalog (Catalog > Products, New button) with its exact SKU and all its size variants. If the model already exists and only the right size variant is missing, just add that variant.
- Enter the barcode on the variant you created. You can do this in two ways:
- directly on the variant's sheet (GTIN field);
- through the catalog Excel import (see the next section).
- Automatic resolution: as soon as the barcode is linked to the variant, the ERP searches in the background for every purchase order line still waiting on this GTIN and moves them to ready, with the right product attached. You have nothing else to do: go back to the purchase order and the line is resolved.
Good to know — Automatic resolution also works when you create a full new model with a variant whose SKU and size match what an external database returned. You do not need to enter the GTIN by hand in that case: the ERP matches the SKU and size stored on the pending line, attaches the product, and saves the GTIN on the new variant.
Adding a GTIN to an existing model through the catalog import
The Catalog module's Excel import / export includes a GTIN column. Use it to fill in barcodes on existing variants in bulk (or to replace a wrong one).
- The GTIN column is read only for variants (rows with a full SKU, not the parent model row). On model rows, the GTIN is ignored.
- Behaviour on import:
- If the variant had no GTIN, the GTIN from the file is added.
- If the variant already had the same GTIN, there is nothing to do and the import continues.
- If the variant already had a different GTIN from the one in the file, the old one is replaced by the new one. A variant has only one active GTIN at a time.
- Once the import is finished, automatic resolution works exactly as in the previous workflow: every purchase order line still waiting on one of the imported GTINs moves to ready on its own.
Good to know — This is the recommended way to catch up a batch of purchase orders whose lines are GTIN unresolved: export the variants concerned, fill in the GTIN column from a supplier list or a scanned label, and import again. The ERP clears the queue on its own.
Completing the lines
The scan panel already applies the VAT rate and the channels ticked at the top of the form (e-commerce, GOAT, StockX, depending on your setup) to every line.
Once a line is ready, you can still fill in what is missing in the list: purchase price, condition, tag. If several lines share the same product or the same barcode, a value entered on a line whose field is still empty is copied onto the other lines of the same product (or the same barcode) whose field is empty. A value that was already filled in is not overwritten.
The Bulk pricing button is also available on this screen to enter the excl. VAT purchase price of several lines at once (see Bulk pricing).
Good to know
- The external search runs in the background. A line created as GTIN being searched can stay in that state for a few seconds or minutes, depending on how busy the external databases are. You can keep scanning in the meantime: the list updates as results come in.
- The unresolved GTIN counter under the scan field refreshes on every scan. At the end of a session it shows how many lines will still need to be handled manually.
- A pending line cannot be edited: to fix a bad scan (wrong product), delete the line and scan it again.
- The purchase order can be confirmed even if it still contains pending lines, but those lines cannot be received until they are ready. It is best to resolve every pending line before the physical reception.
- Scanning does not change the certificate: if the supplier is an individual, the transfer certificate is generated as usual from the order's final lines, whichever way the products were added.