Our Barcodes Explained
How Retail Barcodes Work
A barcode is a symbol that visually encodes numbers using differently-sized black bars. Barcodes allow a scanner to read and retrieve the numbers which the bars represent. Barcodes are primarily for retail environments. Each ‘SKU’ (Stock Keeping Unit) or product variation has its own barcode number as an identifier.
This system has many benefits, which is why barcodes are ubiquitous in retail stores around the world. These benefits include:
- Quickly pulling up accurate pricing information at the checkout
- Reducing human error by using an electronic scanner
- Keeping track of stock changes in real-time
- Easy reordering when stock gets low
For these reasons and more, if you want to sell your product at a retail store, they will likely insist that your item has a barcode. Of course, this whole system only functions because barcode numbers are unique. If anyone could make their own barcode, the number would no longer be a unique identifier as several different products could have the same barcode, causing chaos. The barcode’s inventors understood the need for uniqueness, so they created the Uniform Code Council (UCC) in the 1970s. The UCC regulated barcode use and ensured codes remained unique in the United States. A few years later, Europe created the European Article Numbering Association (EAN) to manage barcode use internationally. To this day, North America uses 12-digit UPC barcodes rather than 13-digit EAN codes like the rest of the world.
It is important to note that your barcode does not contain any details about your product. It is simply a unique number and image representing that number. Retailers enter the product information, price and stock level into their computer system. This is why if you take a football from a sporting goods store and scan it at the checkout of a makeup shop, nothing will come up (unless the makeup shop also sells that particular football).
How are Barcodes Unique?
Barcodes are regulated and distributed by the global organisation known as GS1. GS1 was formed when the UCC combined with the EAN. GS1 is a membership organisation that licenses out barcodes. This means to get barcodes directly from GS1, you have to file the paperwork to join (along with a joining fee, location dependent), wait to be accepted, and then pay yearly license fees to maintain the use of your barcodes. Retail stores require a GS1 barcode on products they stock, however, GS1 is not the only provider of such codes. Instead, you can buy your codes from a genuine barcode reseller such as ourselves, paying a one-time fee and owning the codes for life.
Where do Our Barcodes Come From?
We had already learned that GS1 was formed when the UCC and EAN merged in the late 1990s. Before this merger took place, the UCC sold barcodes for a one-off cost, while EAN licensed them out like GS1 does today. After the merger, the newly formed GS1-US decided to charge an annual license fee, including those who had originally purchased barcodes, for a one-off cost. Unsurprisingly, these members were unhappy about suddenly being charged yearly for codes that they had bought and owned. These barcode owners filed a class action lawsuit and resulted in a victory for the barcode owners.
One consequence of this lawsuit was that GS1 was forced to pay a multimillion-dollar settlement. Still, more importantly, it established that the barcodes sold by the UCC before adopting the licensed business model were owned by the businesses that purchased them and not controlled by GS1 anymore despite being totally legitimate GS1 codes. All codes sold by barcode resellers, including us, originate from these privately owned barcodes.
The Future of Barcodes
Barcodes are evolving rapidly to meet the needs of a digital, data-driven world. Retailers now demand more than simple product identification. 2D Digital Link codes connect consumers to rich, real-time information. These codes offer traceability, product details, and authentication in a single scan. Companies use this technology to build trust and streamline operations. Smart packaging will soon include 2D Digital Link codes (as of 2027). Consumers expect transparency. Brands respond with interactive, scannable codes on packaging. As AI and IoT grow, barcodes will play a central role in automation and intelligent supply chains.