What is the difference between product codes and variant codes?

You’ve probably wondered: which should I use as the barcode, the product code or the variant codes?

To start with, if your products have no sizes or colours, product labels are the only ones you can print.

The question only arises if you have products with variants. So what is the difference?

To make this clearer, let’s take a product that has a product code and variants (sizes, in this case), each with a code of its own.

Say I print the product label, then go to the POS and scan the product barcode. What happens is that a window opens where I choose which size to add to the basket.

Now say I print the barcode label for one particular size. I go to the POS and scan it, and the product in that size drops straight into the basket.

In summary

It’s more convenient to print product labels and stick the same one on every size. The drawback is that selling is slower, because you have to pick the size with the mouse.

Having a different label for each size or colour is more work up front, but it makes selling far quicker than product labels do.