“ The adoption of barcoding technology in retail offers several advantages in retail sector whether it is stock management, replenishment, inventory control, POS or customer service.”
Barcode technology has gained popularity over time. They are broadly used in different sectors, including warehouses, retail, the education and health sectors, etc. This is a comparatively cheaper, easy, and advanced technology to organize your business, its inventory, and its assets. The barcoding technology was first used in retail in the 1970s and since then, it has been the go-to choice for most retailers across the world. The use of UPC barcodes on trade items is standardized by GS1, a global body dedicated to promoting UPC (Universal Product Code), a unique 12-digit number assigned to every item being sold in stores and online.
Explore this blog to know about barcode technology and how it works with retail businesses.
What is Barcoding Technology?
A barcode on a shirt helps the retailer to get various details about the product like its price, size, product number, etc. In simple words, this is barcoding technology. You can scan a barcode with the help of a barcode scanner and get all the details about the product. It helps the retailers track the inventory and sales and reduces the risk of theft.
In some stores, barcodes can be scanned by the customer too. They can scan the barcodes with the built-in scanner on their mobile phones and know their price and other necessary details. This will minimize the chances of any confusion about the price tag.
As I mentioned earlier, the bar-coding technology is not a new one but has been in use for over 50 years, and with UPC barcodes, all the trade items sold anywhere around the world can have a unique ID. It provides a systematic way to not only store items in the inventory and physical retail stores but also allows retailers to get insight into sales and enhance their POS operations.
How can you set up a Barcoding System?
You can start this process by having access to the inventory management software and barcode scanner. Follow further steps as follows to implement this technology.
1. Generate Barcodes
Barcodes are the first thing you'll need. You can't produce barcodes until you feed product information into your inventory management system. As a next step, you must import a spreadsheet containing product data into your inventory management system. This is also called creating a database for all the assets in the inventory. The inventory management system then creates barcodes for each item depending on its specific characteristics, such as color, size, manufacture, model, and brand. You can then print the created barcode labels with the barcode printer.
2. Attach the Barcodes on each item
You may enjoy this or may get bored. As you have labels with you now. So, go and paste them on each item in your inventory. Many firms choose to print barcodes directly on the product packaging as well. Once you are done, you can acquire information about your every item, stock, overselling, and other details.
3. Scanning
Scanning a barcode is the final step. If you want any information about the product, then just scan the barcode with the help of a barcode scanner. A Barcode scanner can be of any type depending upon your need, handheld or fixed. Most retailers have a fixed, in-counter barcode scanner installed at their POS which makes POS operations quite easy.
Every time you fill your store with products, scan them. And after they get sold then also you have to scan them. Only then you can maintain the proper record of your inventory.
Benefits of Barcoding Technology in Retail Business
The adoption of barcoding technology in retail offers several advantages in retail sector whether it is stock management, replenishment, inventory control, POS or customer service. Some of the benefits are as follows:
1. Efficiency: Barcode technology makes the work easy at the cash counter. It takes less time than typing all the required information in the system on your own. Barcoding, thus provides enhanced efficiency in retail stores.
2. Management Inventory: The use of barcoding technology makes inventory management an easy task. When you scan the product every time it enters and leaves the warehouse or retail store, you get everything updated in your database automatically. You will get to know everything about your inventory when you are out of stock or you have extra stock.
3. Good Customer Service: When the customer gets their bill as soon as they reach the counter, they become happy. They don't even have to move around the store to know the price. They can just scan the product. This makes their shopping experience good. This is fast as well as accurate technology to streamline POS operations and ensure good customer service.
4. Reduce Errors: You sometimes make mistakes while entering data. This creates a mess for the future. With the help of barcode technology, you don't have to enter anything on your own. Just scan and you are done. This will reduce the chances of errors in the data.
To conclude, barcoding technology has been long use in the retail sector, providing automation in retail store management, supply chain and warehousing operations, and inventory control. With barcodes on each asset, it is easy to create a database of all the assets in a warehouse or retail store. It also prevents retail shrinkage and eliminates human errors, unlocking a higher degree of efficiency and productivity. With barcoding technology at the helm, it is also simple to do audits and implement better inventory control while streamlining stock levels, FIFO, putaway, replenishment of stock, lead time, EOQ, etc.
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