It is a common myth that the actual barcode scanner is responsible for pricing. A recent current affairs program in Australia ran a piece on the prices in supermarkets and how accurate the "Scanners" are. The reporter failed to mention that the error rate reported was the error rate of the pricing system in the supermarket. The actual barcode scanners are 100% accurate in the supermarkets. Each barcode has a check routine which has to be verified by the scanner before it will allow a good scan.

The barcode does not include the price in general. The exception to this are the barcodes placed on products at the deli or meat section, for example. These are special barcodes only for use in these areas of the store where goods are weighed and then priced accordingly. All the other barcodes such as on your cereal box, baked beans, coke etc are only item identifiers. This means that the computer at the counter looks up the price from a database. It is this area where the errors occur, commonly with specials that have not been updated properly. This can go either way when they don't return an item back to it's original price after being on special.

It basically (as it so often does) comes down to human error. The wrong price is entered by the store manager into the computer or the wrong price has been displayed on the shelf. Barcode scanners are not perfect but they do not make pricing errors, they leave this to the humans.

Next time you see the wrong price in the supermarket, don't blame the scanners, blame the store manager. After all, it's his responsibility to get it right. That's why they have the Scanning Code of Conduct in most larger stores, so they can catch the error and fix it.

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Ces Luscombe has worked in the Barcode and POS industry since 1995. Ces is the founder of The Barcode Approach (later to become Gripon Australia) and is also the founder of Grabba International Pty Ltd. Grabba International was formed as a result of a spinoff from Gripon Australia Pty Ltd after the successful worldwide launch of the Grabba PDA Data Capture attachments in San Jose, California in 2002. [↑]

Pos Shop Pty Ltd is a leading reseller of point of sale equipment, signage, ticketing and shop fitting accessories. Pos Shop was established in 2003 to service businesses and shopkeepers alike. The Pos Shop offers an unsurpassed range of goods to help businesses in all aspects. For more information contact us or telephone 1300 762 603. [↑]