Topic
Retail
4 questions tagged Retail — spanning every one of the seven Ws.
what
What is a barcode?
A barcode is a machine-readable pattern of lines or squares that stores information about an item.
TechnologyRetail
when
When was the first commercially available barcode system used?
The first commercial barcode scanning happened in 1974. A pack of Wrigley’s gum was the first product scanned in a store.
TechnologyRetail
how
How do barcode scanners read product codes?
Barcode scanners shine light on a pattern of dark and light lines and measure the reflected signal. The pattern is decoded into numbers or letters by software.
TechnologyRetail
how
How do barcodes store product information?
Barcodes encode numbers as patterns of lines or squares that scanners read using light reflection. Those patterns correspond to a database record for the product.
TechnologyRetail