For the last 50 years, whenever you’ve bought something in a store, a barcode will likely have been scanned at the checkout – whether it was at a supermarket or clothing store.
However, all this could be set to change in the next few years, as retailers are going to be ditching ‘old-fashioned’ barcodes with lines and replacing them with modern square, pixel-based QR codes.
This is according to GS1, the world’s only authorised provider of Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) – the unique number that powers each and every barcode. They claim the new codes are capable of holding much more information about products, such as ingredients, possible allergens and could even provide recipe suggestions for food items.
Currently, traditional barcodes are only able to store seven specific pieces of information – the name of the item, the manufacturer, the type of product it is, its size, colour, weight and the price.
Anne Godfrey, chief executive of GS1 UK, claims almost half of British retailers have already updated their checkouts to prepare for the use of QR codes.
QR codes have been in use for some time generally in shops and restaurants, but became increasingly more popular during the pandemic when everyone had to scan them in order to order from menus in restaurants or bars.
And they’ve recently started cropping up more frequently on product packaging to provide additional information to shoppers, or link to websites.
Speaking to Mail Online, Anne said: ‘Very soon we will say goodbye to the old-fashioned barcode and every product will just have one QR code that holds all the information you need.
‘The old barcodes do what they say on the tin — they go beep, tell you the price and get you out of the store. But today’s consumers want much more information about the products they buy.’
The barcode expert previously shed more light on QR codes and the ‘greater power’ they will give customers when marking the 50th birthday of the barcode.
‘By combining two of the most important inventions of the 20th Century, the internet and the barcode, the next generation of barcodes will connect physical products to the digital world. This allows consumers to access virtually limitless, real-time information about the products they buy at the scan of a smartphone – helping them make more sustainable, safer and smarter purchasing decisions,’ she told Metro.
Certain supermarkets are thought to have started using the new codes already, including Tesco and Morrisons, but Anne warned that other retailers would soon have to make the upgrade or risk ‘getting left behind’.
But it’s not just the UK that will see them introduced, as big brands around the world are getting on board with the changes too, including PepsiCo, Amazon, and Walmart.
The history of the barcode
The humble little barcode is used more times a day than Google and its design changed the world – but do you know how or when it was first made?
The barcode was initially devised by Norman Joseph Woodland in the late 1940s. His first major invention, a system for playing elevator music, was shot down by his father – who believed the high-stakes field of lift tunes was controlled by the mob. Instead, Woodland turned his attention to the more respectable sector of encoding product data.
It was time as a Boy Scout that prompted his breakthrough when, having drawn a series of Morse Code dots and dashes into the sand on a beach in Miami, he extended them vertically through the sand, drawing in an instant the first barcode.
It was an IBM colleague, George J Laurer, who turned Woodland’s original sandy rectangle into the ubiquitous design seen on biscuits and more the world over. And it was on April 3, 1973 that IBM’s Universal Product Code (UPC) was selected by industry leaders to be adopted as standard.
Just over a year later, on June 26, 1974, a packet of Wrigley’s chewing gum sold at a supermarket in Ohio became the first product scanned at a checkout using Laurer’s design. The barcode crossed the Atlantic in typically British fashion, first appearing on a box of Melrose tea bags at a supermarket in Spalding, Lincolnshire, in October 1979.
It’s predicted that a full international roll-out of the new codes will be complete within two years. So we’ll likely be saying farewell to traditional barcodes once and for all in 2027.
‘We won’t celebrate the death of the humble barcode, but it is time to say a long goodbye to it,’ Anne said.
And if you were concerned the changes to barcodes might cause issues for shops and customers, you don’t have to worry too much, says Theresa Lindsay, the group marketing director at consumer finance brand, Novuna.
This is because we’ve already overcome two of the main challenges of the change -consumer reaction and the cost of implementation for retailers.
‘The pandemic fast-tracked the adoption of digital technology, with customers now far more comfortable scanning for information quickly. We see this as an evolution that will aid customers and help brands learn from the real people who shop on the high street,’ Theresa explains to Metro.
She continues to say there are additional benefits to introducing QR codes, especially for those with disabilities.
More Trending
‘These new barcodes also address accessibility issues for many. For example, visually impaired individuals can scan QR codes and receive audio assistance. QR codes will be a more powerful tool for consumers to decide whether a product is right for them, creating greater trust and communication between brands and customers,’ she says.
‘From a business perspective, smaller retailers adopting the new QR codes can better convey their stories, providing dynamic, product-specific content. Personalising the product experience is key when businesses are limited by product packaging or store footprint.’
Take control of your finances now
Theresa adds: ‘QR codes open a range of opportunities for brands and customers, going beyond simply tracking a product’s sell-by date. By linking an action to the QR code, which is then evaluated to understand how consumers engage with a product or initiative, brands can learn directly from customer shopping interactions how to better meet their needs.’
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
MORE: M&S shoppers howling over ‘naughty’ product that’s like something from Ann Summers
MORE: Asda announces major price drop on 2,560 products this January
MORE: Coca-Cola brings back discontinued flavour from 00s fans have been ‘wishing for’
