Barcodes are ways in which distributors can identity and track the products they sell to customers.
What are Barcodes?
Barcodes are on everything that we buy today, unless you’re going to stores that still handwrite their price tags. These tags with series of lines were developed to help create a better system for pricing and tabulating prices of products. Though they were at first used for checking to see when trains were moving from place to place, they were eventually developed to be read optically by a barcode scanner, speeding up checkout processes and helping to create a streamlined system for businesses with products to sell.
Uses of Barcodes
But while you might realize what barcodes are and what they do when you are heading to your favorite grocery store for chips, you might not realize just how widespread their use has become:
- Monitoring purchases – Yes, checkout counters around the world use barcodes to scan items, total up purchases, and keep track of the stock being sold.
- Tracking inventory – Barcodes can also be used in the backroom to make sure that the stock of certain items is well-guarded and that companies are not missing stock from orders or from the supply room itself.
- Patient monitoring – Nowadays, patients who enter into a hospital will get a wrist tag which will designate them and connect them with their health information. A patient is scanned each time they are tested or treated, helping to keep an electronic medical record of patient interactions and to prevent patient mixups.
- Mail tracking – Packages can now be scanned and tracked as they move from one facility to another and then you can watch the package as it moves across the world to your doorstep.
- Retail membership cards – While you might save two cents on that package of toilet paper when you use a members card, the store is the one that wins. They can then track your spending habits and advertise to you with this information in mind.
- Ticket validation – You can also have your special event tickets validated with a barcode scanner.
- Cell phone applications – Some cameras on smartphones can now read barcodes on websites and in magazines to get certain websites and applications to download onto the phone.
The list goes on and one and pretty soon, humans will probably be scanned in and tracked. Oh wait, that already happens. Some people use a barcode system for tracking attendance and for monitoring time card movements at companies.