Add books to Shopify by scanning ISBN barcodes from your phone or POS device. Camera, external scanner, or manual entry.
TL;DR: The Book Importer for Shopify includes a POS Book Scanner that lets you scan ISBN barcodes from your phone or POS device, preview book metadata, and create Shopify products without leaving the counter. Camera, external scanner, or manual entry. Your choice.
You’re standing behind the register. A supplier just dropped off 40 books. Each one needs to go into your Shopify catalog before you can sell it. The old way: carry the box to the back office, open a laptop, type ISBNs one by one into the admin panel.
The new way: pick up a book, scan the barcode on the back, tap “Import.” Pick up the next book. Repeat. Never leave the counter.
It’s a tile on your Shopify POS home screen. Tap it, and you’re in a barcode scanning interface built specifically for books. It reads ISBN barcodes, fetches the book’s full metadata from book databases, shows you a preview, and creates the Shopify product right there.
The same ISBN lookup that works in the admin app works here. Same metadata. Same duplicate detection. Same cover images. Just optimized for speed and for standing up with a book in your hand.
Your POS device has a camera. The Book Scanner uses it. Hold the book’s back cover in front of the camera, wait for the barcode to be recognized, and the ISBN is captured automatically. No typing required.
This works on iPhones, iPads, and Android devices running the Shopify POS app. The camera focuses on the barcode area and extracts the ISBN from the EAN-13 code. Even if other barcodes are on the cover, the app identifies the ISBN.
If you already have a USB or Bluetooth barcode gun (the kind used for inventory counts or checkout scanning), it works with the Book Scanner. Scan the book, and the ISBN pops into the field instantly. Faster than the camera for high-volume sessions.
This is the setup most physical bookstores prefer. You already own the hardware. It’s already paired with your POS device. The Book Scanner just listens for the input.
Some barcodes are damaged, covered by stickers, or printed too small to scan reliably. For those, there’s a text field. Type the ISBN (10 or 13 digits) and tap “Look up.” Same result, just without the scan.
The app fetches metadata from multiple book databases: title, author, description, cover image, publisher, page count, language, binding. (See what you get from an ISBN lookup for the full field list.) You see all of it in a preview screen. Cover image at the top. Key details listed below.
Two buttons: “Import Book” or “Back.” That’s it. No forms to fill out. No fields to configure. If the data looks right, tap import. If you want to scan a different book first, tap back.
When you tap import, the app creates a draft product in Shopify with everything mapped: title, description, vendor, cover image, ISBN-13 as SKU and barcode. The product syncs across your online store and POS inventory immediately. Want to show structured book information to customers? The app’s theme block puts author, publisher, page count, and more right on your product pages.
Scan a book that’s already in your catalog? The app catches it. Instead of creating a duplicate, you see a clear “Already Exists” message with the book’s title. No accidental double listings, even when staff are scanning quickly through a large shipment.
This matters more than you’d think. When multiple employees add books throughout the week, or when you’re restocking titles you already carry, duplicate prevention saves hours of catalog cleanup.
Here’s what this looks like in practice for a bookstore that receives weekly shipments:
40 books. Maybe 20 minutes total, including unpacking. Compare that to the hours it would take to manually create each listing with covers and descriptions.
Not every book seller needs this feature. If you only sell online and receive ISBNs in spreadsheets, the admin app and bulk import handle everything. POS scanning is built for merchants who handle physical books:
The entire POS scanner interface is translated into both English and Dutch: tile labels, scan instructions, field names, error messages, success states. The language follows your Shopify POS settings automatically.
The Book Scanner tile appears on your Shopify POS home screen after you install the Book Importer app. No separate installation. No configuration. It’s available on every plan, including the free tier.
If you want the full walkthrough of the admin-side import process (which mirrors the POS flow with more editing options), check the step-by-step ISBN import guide.
Pick up a book. Scan the barcode. The product creates itself.
