thread Re: Search for current customers by scanning barcode in Payments Troubleshooting

Search for current customers by scanning barcode

Sewstuff — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 20:05:51 GMT

In order to process sales faster in a fast paced sales events.

I need to search for current customers by scanning their phone number as a barcode. In order

for my scanner to read the bar code I have to insert ** (Example *555-555-5555*) before and after the phone number but Square Point of Sale rejects the attempted scan.

I can however manually enter the phone number and it works.

Re: Search for current customers by scanning barcode

TheRealChipA — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 16:24:01 GMT

Hi @Sewstuff.. From what I read in this Square Help Article, you are going to need to populate a specific field in your customer directory with the phone number. This field name is “Reference ID.” In order not to have to key them all in again manually, you will need to download a CSV of your current customer directory, and use a spreadsheet formula to duplicate the phone number from the field “Phone Number” to the field “Reference ID,” and then upload that back to Square.

If you haven’t already, you’ll want to review how to enable the customer QR code scanning feature and functionality on each POS that does this. The instructions for being sure you are set up correctly are also included in the above help article.

Also, as you add new customers, you will have to be sure to copy this reference ID manually to their customer records. Or, you’ll need to periodically repeat the above procedure in order to populate the Reference ID field for new customers. The only other method for automatically updating Reference ID is via an API endpoint call. That’s referenced in the help document, but outside anything I could help you with.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Re: Search for current customers by scanning barcode

Sewstuff — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 16:45:26 GMT

Thanks for the scoop!

Re: Search for current customers by scanning barcode

TheRealChipA — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 16:50:52 GMT

@Sewstuff You’re welcome. I just thought of one other thing that would help with future new customers. There is an automation app called Zapier. You might be able to use it to notify you when a new customer is added to your directory (say via your online store) so that you know to go and update their customer record manually. Also, I can’t guarantee this, but I believe it is possible for you to create a “Zap” to update the Reference ID field with the Phone Number field whenever a new customer is detected. You’ll need to go to their website and create an account in order to do some research. It’s Zapier.com

Re: Search for current customers by scanning barcode

rtfulk — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 00:36:09 GMT

I want to do something along the same line for certain customers, but I want to give them a customized card and use NFC to scan them in for discounts, free gifts...etc.