Barcode

Imagine going to the grocery store for your weekly shopping and waiting in line while the cashier manually rings up the price of every item. This was the reality not that long ago in South Africa. Twenty-five years ago, here and in many other countries around the world the barcode was only a vague concept most retailers knew very little about. How much has changed since then. Interestingly, research revealed that five weeks after the barcode was installed for the first time, sales in grocery stores began increasing, resulting in a 10–12% increase in sales overall and a 1–2% reduction in operating costs. The ROI (return on investment) for a barcode scanner was found to be 41.5% (Wikipedia, n.d.).  Thanks to codes and barcode scanners, our lives have been revolutionised, and buying and selli...