Why Use the Update-Inventory Batch Tool?
ScanWay’s Update Inventory feature lets you adjust stock levels for many items at once using barcode scanning. It’s more efficient and accurate than manual edits. Key benefits include:
- Speed and scale: scan multiple SKUs and update their quantities in one session
- Contextual notes: add a comment to each batch update for future tracking (e.g., “year-end count adjustment,” “damage write-off”)
- Audit-ready history: every batch change is tracked, helping with inventory reconciliation and accounting
Scanning Barcodes
The “Update Inventory” tool is a batch modification tool that changes the inventory count of scanned items. To change inventory of multiple items, select a location for where inventory is being changed. Scan the barcodes for the items you’re looking to change inventory for, include information about how many items are in stock, add notes about the action being performed, and submit the changes.
To begin scanning, select a location from the Locations dropdown, then click in the Scan Barcode input area. Any item scanned should result in a scanned item below. The barcodes being scanned to not need to come from the generated barcodes from ScanWay’s barcodes and label management tools. Barcodes can be any code that is readable by your scanner – the scanned symbol will appear temporarily in the Scan Barcode input area after it is scanned.
The scanned values will be matched with your store’s product and variant SKU values, as well as their related barcode values. Either field can be set to any code value, including UPC, EAN or ISBN values, and they should scan correctly.
Adding Notes
If you have additional information that is relevant to a batch update, you can include these notes in the Notes field. For updating product inventories, this could be something along the lines of performing a cycle count in a warehouse. You could potentially also add notes about possible mispicks or other losses that might be relevant to this batch for accounting or process improvement.
Other Controls
If you’re ready to make the changes described in this form, you can click on the Submit Changes. If you need to completely clear the form, you can click on the Clear Session button and the form will be reset. When this button is clicked, the submission will be made to Shopify, and the UI will begin following the changes as they’re made. After the server registers the submission, the UI will be updated to include a link to see the batch change results:
Best Practices & Tips for Reliable Inventory Updates
- Scan carefully: double-check that each barcode you scan matches the correct item to avoid inventory mismatches.
- Document your reason: always write a short note explaining the change — it makes future reconciliation and audits much easier.
- Validate quantity entries: before submitting, confirm your “to-set” values make sense relative to what was scanned and what you expect.
How This Compares to Shopify’s Native Inventory Tools
- Shopify’s bulk editor allows inventory changes via spreadsheets or manual selection, but it’s not barcode-driven.
- With ScanWay, barcode scanning drives the workflow, which can be much faster when physically handling items.
- The notes feature in ScanWay’s batch tool provides richer context than Shopify’s basic bulk edit or CSV import.
- ScanWay helps you retain a detailed batch-change history — very useful for audits and operational transparency.
ScanWay for Shopify
ScanWay can help you manage your store’s inventory. Try now, and get a 7 day free trial!
Hopefully this article has inspired you to make improvements to your inventory management systems. If you’re interested in reading more, check out our blog here, or try out the apps today. The Shopify, Ecwid by Lightspeed and BigCommerce versions of the app come with a 1 week free trial, so you can test them out, hassle free!
If you have any questions about A Thousand App’s apps, please reach out to us at support@athousandapps.com and we’ll happily address any concerns you have!