The bar code, a method of representing data in vertical lines of varying widths and spacing, has played a huge role in the global retail industry, speeding up the checkout process, and allowing retailers to track products and better manage inventory.
Bar code technology was patented in the U.S. in 1952, but it wasn’t until nearly 20 years later, in 1971, that U.S. engineer George Laurer perfected the technology and began to move toward commercialization. — a pack of gum was scanned, marking the bar code as the world’s universal information identifier, and the pack is now in the collection of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
According to data, bar codes are now scanned 6 billion times a day worldwide, with approximately 70,000 items being scanned and sold every second.
Today, the bar code system is managed by the International Article Numbering Organization (Global Standard 1), established by the U.S. Uniform Code Council, which has about 2 million corporate members. It provides a unique “global trade item number” for each product, which is then converted into a bar code. Each company must pay an annual fee of up to nearly $5,000 (currently about RMB 34,400) based on their sales.
However, with the rapid rise of QR codes, bar codes may eventually be replaced. The International Article Numbering Organization (GS1) is working on developing a new standard based on QR codes, which will be available around 2027. Developed in 1994, 2D codes can hold more information because they can be read horizontally, like bar codes, or vertically. And in contrast to bar codes, which can only be scanned by dedicated devices, QR codes can be scanned by the average user on a cell phone to learn more about an item. In addition to providing information, QR codes can also be used directly for payment collection, a feature not commonly available with bar codes.
