Journal 6, June 7

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/business/07novel.html?_r=1&ref=technology

Do you recall going through the check-out line and the cashier having to look up the number code to ring up your fruit? Or vegetables? Well now, there is a new system called the GS1 Databars that would enables grocers to stick smaller barcodes on fruits enabling cashiers to simply scan and retrieve the price of these goods.

GS1 Databars have the capability of holding more data than regular barcodes. The additional data storage would enable for use of better monitoring of goods and inventory and allow for consumers to save more. For instance, companies such as General Mills are looking at using GS1 Databars encoded with coupon information to offer specials on multiple products. Therefore, you would be able to scan one coupon and get a discount on diapers, milk, and baby food.

The GS1 Databars are able to identify smaller items like fresh goods, jewelry and do-it-yourself hardware as claimed on their organization website. Particularly focused on loose produce or fresh foods, this new technology would allow for increased inventory control of organic and non-organic goods. Currently a cashier can mistake an organic for a non-organic good and type in the wrong code. Sometimes organic goods can be 40 cent more than non-organic goods and ringing them up right can decrease degradation of a grocer’s bottom line. Also, Databars would be able to hold variable weight information of products unlike UPC’s and could even be implemented on meat products. If GS1 Databars are used for poultry or other time-sensitive products, the Databar can even be encoded with expiration dates and when scanned, can create an alert on the screen for the customer of the expired sell by date.

This new innovation in inventory technology would be wonderful for consumers and grocers alike. It would allow for more efficient check-out as well as provide more saving options to customers. Additionally, with the development of the “self check-out”, having a technology that customers could scan fresh foods would expedite the check-out process and would decrease the boggle effect. Currently, customers have to scroll through a long list of fresh food products to find the right code for the good they are purchasing.

Sources:
http://www.gs1.org/barcodes/databar/overview
http://www.gs1.org/barcodes/databar/overview