Thrive can help you track serialized inventory with your existing point of sale.
For example, suppose you have a limited supply of a high-value product. They all have the same barcode, but you'd like to keep track of which individual units are sold. This is where serial numbers come in.
Every product has variants (even if it's only one) and every variant has two numbers associated with it: SKU and Barcode
Barcode Number
The Barcode number can be re-used across different variants of the same product. This will be the unified 'Product Code' (sometimes referred to as UPC). All the units of this product can have the same Barcode number.
SKU Number
The SKU field must be unique. This is where the serial number can be entered. Thrive allows you to search by Barcode or SKU.
Each entry will have a quantity of 1.
After a serialized Product has been sold and the quantity deducts to 0. It can then be deleted from inventory so it no longer appears in the inventory list.
Products deleted from the Inventory section will still appear in all relevant reports.
Bottom Line
SKU = Serial (unique to one specific article of inventory)
Barcode = Product Code (applies to all the articles on the shelf for that product)
*Not every POS system supports both a SKU and Barcode number. To check yours, click here.