Thirty-Fifth Anniversary of the Bar Code

Replacing individual price-labeling with the U.P.C. resulted in faster, more accurate checkouts, saving consumers time and money. Shelves were replenished more quickly and stores were able to increase the frequency and variety of sales incentives. It also simplified product returns and rebates.

The U.P.C. was quickly adopted by other industries, which sought to capture the benefits it had delivered to the grocery industry. Today U.P.C.s are scanned more than 10 billion times a day in applications spanning more than 25 industries, including consumer packaged goods, apparel, hardware, food services, healthcare, logistics, government, and high-tech.