Barcodes are now used on just about every type of product in the market. The unique identifier of the barcode label can be thus used by the product owners to store information about the product, such as its specification and even the price of the product. Barcodes are a great way to manage the stock you have as when an item is sold. And when the barcode is scanned, your computer system can be updated and stock levels updated also.
Since barcodes were introduced the need to individually label items with a price has passed and now barcode scanners are fitted to every point of sale system in the UK. Because the goods you hold are tracked by your up-to-the-minute computer system, you’ll thus know the movements of all your stock so can view trends in sales and identify which items aren’t selling as well as they should be – something which is very difficult to do without barcode technology.
The two types of barcode technology commonly used are called code 39 and code 128. Code 39 uses an alphanumeric system 44 characters long. Code 128 is also alphanumeric but is more complicated and is commonly used by shipping companies.