How to Create a Retail Price Audit that Validates Scans Against a Database

Step-by-Step Tutorial

Sign into CodeREADr.com

1. Create a Service

Create a scanning service

2. Select ‘Validate Scans with a Database’

Validation database for scans

Set Where to Validate

Our Recommendation: Select to validate ‘On-Device and Later Sync Online’ as many indoor locations do not have stable internet connections throughout the facility.

Real-time or on-device sync

Create a New Database

Provide the name of your database here, you will build your database later in step 8.

Create a new database

Status of Duplicate Scans

By default, any scan that has already been scanned will be marked as ‘Invalid’. You can change this to ‘Valid’ if you need to scan the same barcode more than once.

Select status of duplicate scan

3. Name the Service

You can optionally add a description for the app user to see.

Describe your service

4. Authorize App Users for Access to this Service

Note: You can have an app username and password for each app user or a single one for all users.
We suggest you add one or more app-users. A common method is to have the username prefix be the initials of your organization followed by text or numbers, e.g. ABC-001, ABC-002, etc.

Authorize users to scan

5. Add Questions for Data Collection

You can add one or more Questions (prompts) for data collection. Create your own custom questions or select questions from the list of ‘Available Questions’.

The most common prompts for Price Audits are ‘Short Answer’ question types, ‘Multiple Choice (Single Answer)’ question types, and ‘Dropbox Collection’ question types where a photo can be taken and saved in the scan record.

Example of Question Hierarchy

Question Question Type
If the displayed pricing the standard price? Multiple Choice: Single Answer
If not, is the price the promotional price? Multiple Choice: Single Answer
If neither, enter the displayed price here. Short Answer: Manual
Take a photo to document the discrepancy. Dropbox: Image Only

Select ‘Add a Question’

Coding custom questions

Define the Question and the Answer Type

Name the question

Set What the Questions Respond to and Their Order

Drag the questions from the list of ‘Available Questions’ into the appropriate field to the left i.e. ‘Ask after submitting a Valid Scan’.

Add questions to scan flow

Add a Short Answer for Invalid Scans

We suggest adding a short answer: manual after an invalid scan.
Example: “This item is not in the database. Enter item description and displayed price if it should be added to the database.”

Add questions after invalid scans

Once Complete, Select ‘Save and Continue’

Save question flow

6. Advanced Settings

Advanced Setting Additional Information
Allow users to delete scans saved on device This option is useful in case the app user made an entry mistake.
Allow users to edit answers saved on device
Manual Sync (auto check for new database after scan upload)
Email me when on-device scans are uploaded Check this option if you need an immediate alert and you don’t plan on creating a report template option on the Scans page – the place where scans are normally filtered and downloaded on demand.
Track the device’s location at the time of each scan. Collect it … Check this option if you want to track the app user’s GPS location. (The most common selection is ‘without interruption as a scan property’ which we call ‘background GPS’.)
Improve performance by targeting the barcode format(s) of this service Check this option if you know the barcode type(s) you will be scanning – it can make scanning faster.
CodeREADr advanced settings

7. Review

Review the service and select ‘Done’ to complete service creation.

Save scan service for price audit validation

8. Fill the Database

Note: To have this new service loaded to a mobile device or tablet, the app user will need to sign out and sign back into the app or refresh its services.

Create CSV File

Item UPC codes (barcode values) must be in column ‘A’
The ‘Response’ (The text or HTML content you want the app user to see after a scan) must be in Column ‘B’
To create a database CSV file in the correct format, please click here.

Below is an example spreadsheet for a retail price audit.

Fill the barcode database

Upload the CSV File

Click the ‘Database’ link in the navigation bar

Upload the csv database

Select the ‘Edit’ option for the service in which you would like to edit

Edit the database

Select the ‘Import’ tab

Select import database

Click ‘Browse’ to select the CSV file from your computer, then click the ‘Import Database’ button.

Import the CSV database

After your file has been uploaded and processed, your barcode’s value and responses will quickly fill your database.

View database barcode values

Important: Updated databases for ‘On-Device’ service types must be uploaded to the mobile devices or tablets when the devices have access to the internet.

Helpful Resources:
How to create an Export Template
Please Read our Best Practices: Price Audit – Retail article