Why We Love Barcode (And You Should, Too!)

Why We Love Barcode (And You Should, Too!)

Here’s an interesting fact that you most likely didn’t know. The very first reading of the UPC barcode (Universal Product Code) was on a tiny pack of gum produced by the well-known Wrigley Company, more than three decades ago. According to About.com, the first UPC scanner was installed in an Ohio-based supermarket, in June 1974. You may ask: how did companies manage to inventory their goods and manage their stores before this crucial point in time? Well, in the absence of barcode labels and a time-effective and straightforward scanning technique, employees had to invest a lot more time and energy in the checkout/inventory processes. This is the main reason why we love barcodes and appreciate the role that they play in our lives.

First product with a bar code was a wrigley’s gum

The Technology Is Here to Stay! Once you give the green light to a barcoding system, you realize that you have invested in a technology that will support your business goals for many more years to come. Most importantly, the data that you choose to encode is 100% scalable, meaning that it will always be in accordance with the ever-changing needs of your company. In other words, if you have to extract more info from your database and associate it with your goods, all you need to do is to add several other barcodes or come up with newer versions that are much more complex. Moreover, according to Business Time, barcode scanning is the future simply because it favors the rapid development and popularity growth of DIY checkout, a method that pleases more than 52% of all retail shoppers, based on the conclusions of a recent study.

Barcodes Are Cheap and Easy to Use. Creating new barcodes is a pretty straightforward assignment that will only cost you a few cents. Applying them on your goods and reading them is also an easy phase, especially when you count on an effective, user-friendly and affordable hardware kit comprising a barcode printer and a scanner.

Barcodes Are Versatile and Ready to Respond to All Your Needs. Barcodes will allow you to keep track of your inventory without impacting the aesthetic value of your packaging. On the contrary, barcodes can become an essential component of your product design and leave the door open to countless cool customization options that will individualize your brand and boost your competitive edge. Want to hear the best news? Since modern barcode printers are incredibly advanced and versatile, they give you the chance to print your data on almost any kind of material, not just on paper. Product marking is no longer seen as a challenge when you can basically come up with an endless list of hard-to-find product labels.

Barcodes Reduce and Sometimes Even Eliminate Costly Errors. You may trust your competencies and have faith in the quality of your daily decision-making processes, but can you be certain that your typing skills won’t betray you at some point? According to Chron Small Business, the ugly truth is that manual data entry exposes companies to costly mistakes. According to recent studies, for every 1,000 human keystrokes there are at least 10 errors. On the other hand, 10,000 barcode scanning operations performed with an optical scanner may lead to only one mistake. In this context, it becomes obvious that modern barcode scanners ensure the highest level of accuracy in any industry.

Barcodes Help You Cut Down Training Expenses. Teaching staff members how to enter barcode data manually can be quite a hassle. Are you tired of spending a small fortune on expensive, lengthy trainings and overtime pay? If your answer is affirmative (and we bet it is!), you may want to switch to a barcode system that will basically automate your inventory, enable you to train your workers in a matter of a few minutes (using handheld scanners is a child’s play), and save big at the end of each month.

Barcodes Ensure Security Tracking. “I’m calling to ask you what happened to the package that I was supposed to receive a few weeks ago.” This is the first message that you can receive from an unsatisfied customer when you don’t count on a barcode system. Barcoding solutions bring you one more prominent advantage, which comes in the form of security tracking. Basically, barcodes bring you peace of mind and also lead to a more than satisfactory theft deterrence. Moreover, they give you and your clients the chance to check the delivery status of a certain package, as it travels from point A to point B.

Why Should I Buy a Complete Hardware Package?
The effectiveness of your barcode system depends a great deal on the type of barcode printing/reading equipment that you plan to use. Shopify brings an all-in-one, hardware package that responds to all your business-related needs and demands. While making the most of it you can accept both cash and credit card payments, print receipts and allow your customers to profit from a fantastic, time-effective checkout experience.