Barcodes are one of the most important inventions ever. They play an important role in the business world by improving capturing of data and sharing information. Barcode labels also help to optimize the movement of inventory along the supply chain. It is unfortunate that the barcode does not get much attention, but part of the reason is because businesses do not have a lot of information about it and how they can apply it in their businesses effectively. Let us look at some of the interesting facts about barcodes.
Fun Facts About Barcodes
- Barcodes were invented by Joseph Norman Woodland and his idea was patented in 1952. It was in 1974 that it was first used
- The first barcode labels were used to label railroad cars to help the railroad company prevent trains from colliding
- The first commercial product with a barcode was first scanned at Marsh’s Supermarket in Troy, Ohio
- Barcodes have 99.9% success rate
- In Seattle, codes containing detailed information about the deceased are inscribed on graves
- Barcodes contain a special number set which is a control sum of 666
How To Effectively Apply Barcodes In Business
- Track Inventory
Companies, especially big corporations find it very hard to track every inventory that comes in and goes out. This leads to huge losses in terms of assets and revenue. Barcodes can be used to track inventory with ease. A company can print barcode labels for their assets and products to track their movement. All you have to do is scan the barcode on an item to input in the system. Retail stores scan barcodes at the check off counter to help them track stock movement.
- Business Promotions
If you are launching a new product in the market, you need to create public awareness through marketing campaigns. A company can incorporate barcodes in their promotional labels to collect vital information about how a product is fairing on in the market. Barcodes can also be used in marketing campaigns to provide more information about a product to the consumers. How? Barcodes can be included in product labels that are handed out as samples and consumers can use their smartphones to scan the code to get to a landing page that provides more information.
- Business Advertising
Barcodes can be used to interact with consumers. A business can advertise itself by encouraging consumers to be more interactive. You can advertise your brand through holding raffles and sweepstakes. You can go about this by indicating that if a consumer buys a particular item, they can scan the barcode on the label to win instant prizes like coupons or discounts.
- Data Entry
Making data entry manually is tedious and daunting. Chances of errors are high and a lot of time is used for this process. Using barcodes makes data entry easy, fast and it gives accurate results. A company just needs to print barcode labels for all their inventory and then use a scanner to input the data in the system. This saves a company a lot of time that in turn can be used to grow the business.
