System Selection
POS product and price management
Set up clear POS product records, control price changes and promotions, and check the intended price at Australian checkouts.
A reliable POS catalogue lets staff identify the item being sold and charge the intended price. Give each sellable item or variant a clear record, decide who may change it, and check the result at the till. Treat a permanent price change and a temporary promotion as separate decisions.
Define the item staff will sell
A product name describes an item; a variant identifies a choice such as size, colour or pack. Use a distinct internal SKU for each variant the business tracks. Where a product carries a manufacturer barcode, associate it with the matching variant.
GS1 guidance says each product variant should have a separate, unique GTIN. An internal SKU and a GTIN serve different purposes.
Check the selling unit, category, tax setting and availability at the intended locations and sales channels. A correct price cannot help if the item is hidden from the till, or if a pack is confused with a single unit. Stock counts are a separate inventory task.
Match catalogue fields to the item
Square’s item setup uses the selected item type to determine which attributes appear. For example, physical goods show inventory and SKU fields, while prepared food and beverage items show food-specific fields. Choose the type that reflects what is being sold so the relevant fields are available when the record is created or edited.
Square supports unit types for items sold using specific units, such as food sold by weight. Those unit types must be created before they can be applied to an item. For prepared food and beverage items, Square also provides optional nutritional information, including calorie counts, dietary preferences and allergens.
Check settings at variant level
In Shopify, each combination of option values, such as size and colour, can be a separate variant. Adjust price, inventory and shipping settings for each variant from its variant details page. A product-level edit should not be assumed to have updated every variant’s price.
Shopify permits up to three options and up to 2,048 variants for a product. Check that each sellable combination is represented as intended, and that its channel availability is set for the places where it should be offered.
POS System Limits and Capabilities (Australia)
- Max Variants per Product (Shopify)2,048
- Max Options per Product (Shopify)3
- Bulk Edit Limit (Square)Up to 250 variations at once
- Online Price Scheduling (Square)Supported for sale prices and other updates
Decide how the price should change
For a lasting change, approve the new regular price for the affected items and locations. For a temporary offer, record its eligibility, start and end, and the method used to apply it.
Choose a promotion mechanism that fits the offer: a percentage reduction suits a proportional saving, while a fixed-amount reduction gives a set dollar saving. Specify which items or variants qualify, any other eligibility conditions, and the offer’s start and end. Check that the chosen mechanism applies to the intended items and produces the expected checkout price.
For advertised prices, check that the display complies with Australian consumer law. The ACCC says it may investigate if it considers a business has broken the law about displaying prices.
Schedule and check online price changes
Square offers scheduled bulk actions for some updates to items displayed online, including online sale prices. Where a change should begin later, use a supported scheduled action rather than treating a future online price as already active. Check the available scheduling option for the specific action before relying on it.
Shopify product details can be edited in the admin or app, and saved changes take effect immediately in the online store. Shopify also allows product variants to be published or unpublished across sales channels and product catalogues. After an edit, verify both the intended price and whether the relevant product or variant is available in the channel customers are using.
Give each change an owner
A practical change record identifies the item and variant IDs, affected locations and channels, approved values, effective time, approver, the person checking the result and the reason for the change. Staff should have a route to report a wrong scan or price without creating a duplicate item or quietly changing the record.
After a change, check a fresh cart at the affected tills. Include an ordinary item, a variant and any approved local price exception. Compare the cart with customer-facing labels or online prices where relevant.
Record mismatches and their resolution. A saved admin value alone does not confirm what each customer will see.
Keep the approved change record with the checks and relevant transaction references.
Apply catalogue edits with access in mind
In Square, item creation and editing are available through Dashboard and Point of Sale, and changes are reflected in Dashboard, the POS app and the website. Item permissions can be set in Square Dashboard. Before editing, confirm the person doing the work has the relevant permission for the items and locations involved.
Square bulk editing can cover multiple existing items and up to 250 variations at a time. Some actions are limited by location access: editing locations or channels is limited to locations the user can access, and removing an item from a menu or archiving an item requires access to all locations assigned to it.
In this guide
- Setting up variants and barcodes correctlyDecide which items need POS variants, assign SKUs and barcodes to the right records, and check what each scan adds to the cart.
- Updating prices across tills without inconsistenciesPlan one POS price change, check affected tills and displays, and resolve mismatches before charging customers.
- Managing discounts without losing price historyKeep earlier prices, promotion rules and transaction evidence distinct so POS discounts and advertised savings remain traceable.
