The small tag hanging from a piece is the first thing the cashier picks up and the last thing forgotten in a stock count. It carries a barcode that links the piece to its weight, karat and branch in the software. This guide explains the life of a barcode in a gold shop: what it carries, when it is created, how it is printed, how it is used in sales, transfers and stock counts, and how its details are corrected when they are wrong.
What does a gold barcode carry?
In gold shop software a barcode is not a random number. It is a key that points to a set of details:
- The item: a ring, a chain, a set, or however you classify it.
- The branch where the piece sits.
- Karat and colour: 18, 21, 22 or 24; yellow, white or rose.
- The weight in grams.
So pieces identical in all of that — the same item at the same weight and karat in the same branch — share one code, and its stock counts more than one piece. In gold the weight usually differs from one piece to the next, so each gets its own code. If you need to tell every individual piece apart however identical they are, that is the job of the RFID chip in the tag, explained in How to run a gold shop stock count with barcodes and RFID.
The life of a code in five steps
- Reserved when the purchase is entered: the software reserves the code while you enter the supplier's invoice, before it is approved, so no other item takes it.
- Activated on receipt: when receipt of the goods is approved, the code becomes active and its stock is added to the branch.
- The tag is printed: the tag is printed and hung on the piece. A code that has been printed is never reused, even if the purchase line is cancelled.
- Scanned in every move: in sales, returns, transfers between branches, write-offs and stock counts, scanning the tag is enough.
- Corrected when wrong: if the weight, karat or colour turns out to be recorded wrongly, it is corrected with a voucher that carries the reason.
Forgotten reservations do not pile up: a reserved code that was neither printed nor approved is released after 24 hours.
Designing and printing the tag
Jewellery tags are small, and many are double, with two ends that wrap around the piece. So the software needs a design screen where you set:
- The tag size in millimetres, and whether it is single or double.
- Where the barcode and the details go on each end, with a preview at true size.
- The printer language (EPL or ZPL), the print direction, the darkness and the speed.
- Saved templates by name, a default template, and a test print before the real one.
Tags are printed on thermal printers such as Zebra, through a small agent installed on the printing computer. The details on the tag follow the type of piece: a gold piece priced by weight differs from a fixed-price piece. Item names are printed on the tag in English, because tag printers' fonts do not support Arabic.
Selling by scan
At the sale, the cashier scans the tag and the piece appears on the invoice with its item, weight and karat, priced from today's rate for its karat. One small problem every shop knows: a barcode reader types like a keyboard, so if the keyboard is set to Arabic the code comes out as meaningless letters. The software should notice this and block the wrong read instead of searching for a code that does not exist.
Tracking and correcting a code
- Barcode registry: a search across every code by branch and status, with karat, colour, weight and stock.
- Item movement: a report you search by barcode or model to see every move the item went through.
- Barcode corrections: fixing a weight, karat or colour with a voucher that keeps the old and new values, the reason, who corrected it, when, and in which shift.
Questions to ask any vendor
- Is the code reserved when the purchase is entered, and is a printed code prevented from being reused?
- Can the tag be designed at true size, and are double tags supported?
- Which printers does it support, and in which printer language?
- Does scanning work in sales, transfers, returns, write-offs and stock counts alike?
- How does it handle a wrong read caused by the keyboard language?
- Is a weight or karat corrected with a documented voucher, or with a direct edit that leaves no trace?
How barcodes work in ZMZMGold
In ZMZMGold the barcode follows this whole cycle:
| Stage | In ZMZMGold |
|---|---|
| The code | One per item by branch, karat, colour and weight — with an RFID tag for each piece for those who want it. |
| Reservation | When the purchase invoice is entered; activated when receipt is approved; released after 24 hours if neither printed nor approved. |
| The tag | A template designer in millimetres with a 1:1 preview, single or double, EPL or ZPL, and a test print. |
| Printing | On thermal printers such as Zebra through the device agent; a printed code is never reused. |
| Scanning | In sales, returns, gold transfers, write-offs and stock counts, and on the counting screens a guard against wrong reads caused by the keyboard language. |
| Tracking | The barcode registry, and the item movement report by barcode or model. |
| Correction | “Barcode corrections” with a voucher that keeps the old and new values, the reason, the user and the shift. |
In short
A good barcode in a gold shop starts before the goods arrive and ends after they are sold: it is reserved at purchase, printed on a tag designed for its size, scanned in every move, and corrected with a voucher rather than a silent edit. And if you need to tell every individual piece apart, add an RFID chip to it.