Getting started
What Rack Scanner does
Rack Scanner turns your team’s phones into barcode scanners for Shopify stock counts and scan-verified pick & pack. Here’s how the pieces fit together.
Rack Scanner turns the phones your team already has into barcode scanners for your Shopify store. Staff count stock and pack orders on the warehouse floor, and every result goes straight to Shopify. There’s no scanner hardware to buy.
Two apps that work together
- The Shopify app runs inside your Shopify admin. Managers use it to connect phones, manage staff, review counts and packed orders, update stock from a CSV file and change settings.
- The mobile app for iPhone and Android is what your team uses to scan. Each person creates their own account, then connects their phone to your store with a QR code from the Shopify app.
What you can do
Count inventory
The mobile app has three scan modes:
| Mode | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Single Product Count | Fix one wrong number fast. Count one product and update Shopify right away. |
| Full Inventory Audit | Count many products in one session, review the differences, then submit them together. |
| Location Audit | Count shelf by shelf with shelf or bin labels. A product on several shelves is added up. |
When a count is submitted, Rack Scanner sets the available quantity at that location in Shopify to the number you counted. If stock changed in Shopify while you were counting, the product is flagged as a conflict instead of being overwritten. See Count stock and Submit counts and resolve conflicts.
You can also check stock at every location without changing anything, and bulk-update one location from a two-column CSV file. See CSV stock import and export.
Pick and pack orders
Paid orders that need shipping appear in the mobile app’s Orders tab. Staff pack one order at a time, or batch-pick several orders from one combined list, then scan every item into the box. Wrong items and extra units are flagged before the parcel is closed, and the packing slip prints from the phone. See Pick and pack orders.
Rack Scanner marks orders as packed and keeps a record of who packed what. It doesn’t fulfill orders in Shopify: you keep fulfilling and buying labels in Shopify or your shipping app as usual.
How Rack Scanner stays in sync
When you install Rack Scanner, it imports your products, variants, barcodes, SKUs, locations, inventory levels and paid orders. After that, changes in Shopify arrive within seconds, and a full check runs every night. If something looks out of date, open Settings and click Sync now.
A quick tour
The Shopify app’s menu has:
- Dashboard — a setup checklist, today’s scans, orders to pack, plan usage and recent activity.
- Orders — pick lists and packed orders. See Pick and pack orders.
- Stock CSV — import or export stock for one location.
- Devices and Staff — connected phones and the people using them. See Devices and staff access.
- Count sessions and Reports — every count and its differences. See Count sessions and reports.
- Plans — your plan, usage and billing. See Plans, free trial and billing.
- Settings — default location, scanning, pick & pack and packing slip options.
The mobile app has four tabs: Home (scan modes and stock check), Orders, History (your own count sessions) and Settings.
Phone requirements
- Android 7.0 or newer with a rear camera
- iPhone or iPad on iOS 15.5 or newer
- An internet connection (Wi-Fi or mobile data)
The mobile apps are free to download. Your store needs an active Rack Scanner plan before a phone can connect.