How to Import Product Inventory by Barcode Using FTP | MESA Blog

Managing inventory effectively is one of the biggest challenges for Shopify store owners, especially as your product catalog grows. Errors in stock levels can lead to overselling, dissatisfied customers, and lost revenue. That’s why many Shopify merchants leverage File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to import inventory, which allow for bulk updates and more accurate inventory management.

Barcodes are a reliable way to identify products, reducing the errors often associated with manual entry or SKU-based systems. Meanwhile, FTP streamlines the process by automating bulk inventory updates, keeping your Shopify store accurate and up-to-date without needing constant manual intervention.

This guide will show you how to customize MESA’s FTP inventory update template to use barcodes as your primary product identifier. This switch will save time, reduce errors, and increase your store's efficiency and scalability as it grows.

TL;DR: Skip the step-by-step tutorial. Use this template to update inventory by barcode from a CSV file on your FTP server with just a few clicks.

Step-by-step guide to use product barcode vs. SKU

Time needed: 5 minutes.

First, locate the “Shopify Inventory Updates from CSV on FTP” template in MESA’s template library. The following steps will help you customize it to use barcodes instead of SKUs as the identifier.

1. Configure your FTP credentials
   You'll need a host, port, username, and password to connect to an FTP server.

2. Expand the Custom Code step
   Locate the Custom Code step in your workflow, and click on “Edit Code” to access and modify the workflow script.

3. Modify the product identifier to switch from SKU to barcode
   Replace line 20 with const barcode = vars.loop.Barcode to use barcodes instead of SKUs.

4. Update the log message to reflect barcodes (optional)
   Change line 21 to Mesa.log.info("Barcode", barcode) if you want to maintain logging within MESA.

5. Update the query to use barcodes for identification
   Replace line 45 with "query": "barcode:" + barcode, to query products using barcodes instead of SKUs.

6. Save your changes
   Before returning to the builder, click the “Save Changes” button to keep your updates.

Save yourself the setup. Use this template instead:

Benefits of Using FTP with Barcode-Based Inventory Updates

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a reliable method for transferring files between computers over a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)-based network, like the internet. For Shopify store owners, FTP is a powerful tool for automating data exchanges, particularly for bulk inventory updates.

Key benefits include:

• Automated updates: An FTP workflow eliminates the need for manual data entry by automating inventory updates, reducing errors, and saving time.
• Bulk processing: With FTP, large CSV files containing details for multiple products can be transferred and processed, making it ideal for stores with extensive product catalogs.
• Real-time synchronization: FTP workflows can run at scheduled intervals, keeping your store’s stock levels accurate and enhancing the customer experience.

By leveraging FTP to import files, Shopify store owners can efficiently manage their product data, enabling smoother operations and more reliable inventory management.

Conclusion

Customizing MESA’s template to update inventory using product barcodes instead of SKUs is quick and simple. Updating a few lines of code will unlock a more accurate and streamlined way to manage your Shopify store’s inventory.