As Consumers Get Smarter, So Do Barcodes

Consumers are becoming increasingly more focused on the food they ingest and the products they use. The public has become more interested in healthy foods and locally made products, making it substantially more crucial for firms to give their customers information about what their products are made of and where those ingredients come from.

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In an effort to meet consumers' need to know, GS1, a non-profit organization that creates barcodes, has created a double-decker barcode that includes extra information for consumers.

App-makers are also working to develop barcode readers that decipher information like calories, fat content and ingredients for health-conscious consumers who are tracking their diets. The new wave of barcodes could be the beginning of a new era for supermarkets as more shoppers demand digital information about their groceries.

Related Link: Save on Groceries Without Sacrificing Health

Better Inventory Control

The new, more detailed barcodes are beneficial to retailers as well.

The current system allows supermarkets to track the size and type of a product they carry, but not much else. Using more advanced barcodes would allow supermarkets to track information like the expiry date and the batch number.

That could be useful in tracking when inventory is about to expire or in finding products associated with a specific recall. Many believe that a system like that will help major retailers increase their bottom lines, as it would allow them to plan sales around products that are about to be taken off-shelf and better manage their stocks.

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