Barcodes for small businesses, and where to get them
Based on the information to follow, it will be up to you to decide whether barcoding your products is the next step for your business.
Initiating a barcoding system within your business is one of the most effective things you can do in order to boost your profits, through access to more retailers, and promote your business within the wider community.
There are many questions a business owner may have about barcodes – what kind of barcodes are out there and what is the process of acquiring barcodes? There are so many types of barcode standards, each serving their own unique purpose. In addition, there are so many barcode sellers out there – who should one actually buy barcodes from? Based on the information to follow, it will be up to you to decide whether barcoding your products is the next step for your business.
Most common types of barcodes
The most popular barcode types are the UPC and EAN barcode standards, used throughout the retail industry worldwide. These two standards are essentially the same, except that the EAN barcode has an extra 0 in front of it. While the UPC barcode originated and is mainly used in America, the EAN barcode is used throughout the world. Although retailers tend to prefer EAN barcodes, retailers in South Africa will more often than not accept both (since they are, for all intents and purposes, interchangeable).
Apart from barcoding single items, box or case barcodes (ITF-14 standard) are used when you need to supply your products in bulk to your retailers. For example, if you would like to supply packets of chips in a pack of 50, you would need both an EAN barcode for the individual packets of chips as well as an ITF-14 barcode for the box that the 50 packets come in. The ITF-14 barcode identifies the box as containing 50 items and is linked to the EAN barcode of the items inside the box.
Other codes that businesses use in these modern days are Quick Response (QR) Codes. These are two-dimensional codes and are able to store a website address. Most commonly, and with rising popularity, QR codes are used in mobile payment applications, such as Snapscan. In such applications, clients can pay for their purchases simply by scanning a QR code with their smartphone. When scanned, the QR code will redirect the user to either a website or the payment application with the payment details ready to go. This is revolutionising the retail industry and making the sales process even more quick and efficient.
Alternatively, QR codes can be used as a promotional tool for your business. As a simple example, your business could generate a QR code to redirect users to a URL of choice with special promotional deals. These QR codes can be placed around your business location or placed anywhere you wish as a form of digital advertising. Customers could even scan a QR code to claim a coupon – a great incentive for them to visit your store!
Where to buy barcodes in South Africa
There are really only two routes to obtain legitimate barcodes in South Africa. The first option is to go through the international organisation GS1, or their local branch GS1 South Africa. The second option is to find a reputable barcode reseller. For smaller businesses needing no more than a handful of barcodes, going via barcode resellers is the most common route as it works out substantially cheaper. Going through the GS1 route, you will be required to register your company (the cost of which is not insubstantial) and pay annual renewal fees on all the barcodes that you purchase (which again can be quite substantial for smaller businesses). Going through the barcode reseller route, you will only ever pay a once-off fee to use your barcodes forever.
The only thing to watch out for is that with the second option, it is not uncommon to run into illegitimate barcode resellers, both internationally and locally. Fortunately, most of these illegitimate barcode resellers do not last very long and pop-up and disappear over time. In South Africa, SA Barcodes has served local customers for over a decade, catering to business of all sizes and supporting all their barcoding needs (printing, labelling, etc.). Barcodes purchased from SA Barcodes come with a certificate of authentication, guaranteeing that you are the sole owner and the sole user of all the barcodes that you have purchased. For many years, SA Barcodes has been the go-to barcode reseller for small and medium-sized businesses in South Africa, offering a much more affordable and reliable route for your barcoding requirements
