Zoho Inventory Barcode Setup: Generating, Printing and Scanning Labels
Barcodes are the single biggest speed-up for receiving, picking and stock counts in Zoho Inventory. Here is how to set them up properly, from choosing the field you encode to matching label templates with your printer.
Related service: Zoho Inventory →Most businesses move to Zoho Inventory for order and stock control, then discover that typing item names into every sales order, purchase receive and stock count is where the time goes. Barcodes fix that. Zoho Inventory can generate barcode and QR labels for your items, print them in bulk, and use scans to pick items automatically in transactions. The setup is not difficult, but a few early decisions determine whether it works smoothly or has to be redone later.
Step 1: Decide what the barcode encodes
Zoho Inventory lets you generate barcodes from the item's SKU, EAN, UPC or ISBN, and for tracked items, from the batch or serial number. Separately, you choose a single scanning field under Settings, Items, Preferences; EAN is the default. The field you encode and the field you scan must match, or scans will not find the item.
| Encode | Use it when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer EAN/UPC | You resell branded goods that already carry a retail barcode | Some suppliers reuse codes across pack sizes; check before relying on them |
| Your own SKU | You manufacture, repack or kit products, or stock unbranded items | Keep SKUs short and free of spaces so they print and scan cleanly |
| Batch number | Food, pharma, chemicals or anything with expiry dates | Batch tracking must be switched on before you can generate these |
| Serial number | Electronics, machinery or high-value goods tracked unit by unit | One label per unit; plan the printing workload |
For most Indian traders and distributors we work with, the cleanest approach is to scan by EAN where it exists, and to fill your own internal code into the EAN or SKU field for items that have none, so every item has exactly one scannable value.
Step 2: Enable item barcodes
- Go to Settings, then PDF Templates, open Item Barcodes and enable item barcodes. This adds a Generate Barcode option on item pages
- Under Settings, Items, Preferences, set the scanning field to the same field you will encode
- If you need batch or serial labels, enable batch and serial tracking in the same preferences area first
- Clean the data before printing anything: duplicate or missing SKUs and EANs become duplicate or missing labels
Step 3: Design a label template that fits your printer
Zoho ships a default linear barcode template and a QR template, both showing item name and price. In practice you will want a custom template. Templates let you set the barcode type (Code 128 is the usual choice for alphanumeric SKUs), paper size, margins, rows and columns of labels per sheet, font and barcode size, and which fields to print, such as item name, SKU, rate or organisation name.
The most common printing problem is a mismatch between the template's paper size and the label size set in the printer driver. For a thermal label printer, create a custom paper size matching your roll (for example 50 x 25 mm) in both places and print one test label before running a batch.
You can print from a single item with a chosen number of copies, or select many items from the Items list and print their labels together. Teams who need to print large runs on unusual label stock sometimes export items to a spreadsheet and use dedicated label software instead; that is a workaround worth knowing about, not a requirement.
Step 4: Choose how you will scan
| Option | Good for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Phone camera in the Zoho Inventory app | Small teams, stock lookups, occasional receiving | Slower than a dedicated scanner for high-volume picking |
| USB or Bluetooth handheld scanner on a PC | Billing counters, dispatch desks, purchase receives | Tied to a workstation; acts as a keyboard, so the cursor must be in the right field |
| Rugged Android mobile computer | Warehouses with picking, bin moves and cycle counts | Higher hardware cost; test with the Zoho app before buying in bulk |
Scans select items in transactions such as sales orders and purchase receives, and the mobile app lets you scan to locate an item and check its stock. Before buying hardware, run a pilot with one scanner and your actual labels across a full receive-pick-pack cycle.
Which plan do you need?
Barcode generation and the serial and batch tracking that feed batch and serial labels sit on Zoho Inventory's higher plans. At the time of writing, Premium is the entry point for these warehouse features in India, alongside bin locations and stock counting, with Plus and Enterprise adding order volume, users and warehouses. Indicative India pricing is roughly ₹2,299 per organisation per month for Premium, billed annually, before 18% GST.
Plan features and prices change. Verify current pricing and exactly which plan includes barcode generation on Zoho's official Zoho Inventory pricing page before you budget.
Our take
Barcoding is rarely a software problem; it is a data and process problem. Clean item masters, one agreed scanning field, a tested label template and a short training session for warehouse staff deliver most of the benefit. As a certified Zoho partner, we usually set up barcoding together with bin locations and batch tracking, because the three reinforce each other and are cheaper to configure once than in separate projects.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my existing product barcodes in Zoho Inventory?
Yes. Enter the manufacturer's EAN or UPC in the item's barcode field and set that field as your scanning field. You only need to print new labels for items that do not already carry a barcode.
Do I need a special barcode scanner?
No. You can start with your phone camera through the Zoho Inventory mobile app. Most USB or Bluetooth scanners that work as keyboard input also work at a PC; test one with your labels before buying several.
Can Zoho Inventory print QR codes instead of barcodes?
Yes. A QR code template is available alongside the standard linear barcode, and custom templates let you choose the barcode type and the fields printed on the label.
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