Can you imagine a world where every purchase involves manually entering the department and the price of every item at the checkout? Such a scenario might appear to have been lifted from a 1980s video game, but it was a fact for retailers then. Then came the barcode.

Fifty years ago today, on June 26, 1974, the first commercial barcode scanning was done on a Wrigley's chewing gum pack. Those stripes may seem simple, but they revolutionised how we shop!

After the barcodes were released, we released the first magazine barcoded return system here. At first, because it was so new, we had to manually put on a barcode sticker as many magazines did not have barcodes.

I am in the middle, boy. I was proud that day as no-one had ever done anything like this before, and next to me was Joe, the programmer who did most of the analysis for the returns. We had a deal between us; I handled the newsagency stuff and the data handling, and he dealt with the magazines. It was in DOS. The result is that we saved our clients a lot of time and money.

How the Barcode Changed Retail (and Saved Money!)

Before barcodes, cashiers rang up sales by manually entering in price and department codes. This process was slow and error-prone, frustrating customers and costing retailers money. The barcode, however, changed everything. Here's how:

• Faster Checkouts and Happy Customers: A simple scan eliminates the need for manual code entry, resulting in shorter queues, happier customers, and improved staff productivity.
• Reduced Errors and Happy Staff: Barcodes are much more accurate than manual code entry, leading to fewer mistakes and happier staff (no more hunting for the correct code!).
• Improved Inventory Management and Reduced Costs: Barcodes allow retailers to track stock levels more efficiently. This means there's less chance of running out of popular items, less money tied up in unnecessary stock, and better-informed ordering decisions—all contributing to significant cost savings.
• Enhanced Customer Experience: Beyond speed, barcodes enable features like price verification at checkout, reducing customer confusion.

The Barcode and Modern POS Systems: A Powerful Partnership

The barcode laid the foundation for modern POS systems like the ones we offer at POS Solutions. Here's how they work together to streamline your operations further:

• Product Data at Your Fingertips: When you scan a barcode, the POS system instantly retrieves the product information, including its name, price, and the applicable GST Code.
• Automatic Inventory Updates: Each scan automatically updates your inventory levels in real time, ensuring you always have accurate stock data and can make informed decisions about reordering.
• Sales Tracking and Informed Decisions: POS systems use barcode data to track sales trends and identify popular items. This information helps you decide stock levels, promotions, and future ordering.
• Seamless Integration for a Smooth Experience: Modern POS systems seamlessly integrate with barcode scanners, creating a smooth and efficient checkout experience for you and your customers.

Next Step of the Retail Industry

The introduction of a barcode, no doubt, has been a breakthrough, but the technology is still developing. We at POS Solutions are very optimistic about the future of retail efficiency, involving the following, which we are introducing:

• 2D Barcodes: These data-rich barcodes can hold more information than traditional barcodes, potentially including product descriptions, origin details, and even expiry dates.
• QR Codes: These square-shaped codes can be scanned using smartphones, opening up new possibilities for customer engagement and product information access.
• RFID Tags: These tiny radio frequency chips offer even greater tracking capabilities and can be used for tasks like automated inventory management.

These advancements can inspire, but the barcode is essential in the retail ecosystem. Remarkably, this solution made the most significant difference in modern retail.

Ready to leverage the power of barcodes and modern POS systems for a more efficient and profitable future? Contact POS Solutions today to learn more about our innovative solutions!

Among all businesses operating in the retail sphere, efficiency and cost-effectiveness are of high importance. For merchants performing our Tatts Lotto barcode scanning, the integration has improved customer satisfaction by reducing checkout times, errors, and overall customer satisfaction.

This detailed manual will show you how to set up a POS system to scan barcodes for lotto transactions and secondary barcodes for customers who want payouts and digital wallet purchases. With our user-friendly setup process and comprehensive training, you can have the Tatts Lotto barcode scanning system up and running within a week.

What's Included

1. Tatts Lotto Barcodes: This section explains how Tatts Lotto barcodes are structured and how their content can be read.

2. Enabling Barcode Scanning: How to allow seamless barcode scanning into your POS System.

3. Setting Up Stock Items: Detailed guidance on creating and configuring stock items for various lotto products, including assigning appropriate suppliers, dissections, families, and classes.

4. Handling Payout Barcodes: Learn how to add and set up payout barcodes for Lotto Payout, Scratchie Payout, and Membership Reimbursement transactions.

5. Lotto Product Code Reference: Access a comprehensive table listing the Scales ID and Pre-Paid Scales ID for a wide range of lotto products, ensuring accurate setup and efficient operations.

6. Seamless Integration: Discover how to integrate the Tatts Lotto barcode scanning functionality into your existing POS workflow, maximizing productivity and enhancing the customer experience.

By following this guide, you'll gain the knowledge and tools necessary to streamline your lotto transactions, reduce manual errors, and provide a seamless experience for your customers. Embrace the power of Tatts Lotto barcode scanning and take your retail operations to new heights.

Here is what one of our customers told me "Since implementing the Tatts Lotto barcode scanning solution, our checkout times have reduced significantly, leading to happier customers and increased sales,"

Contact us today to schedule a demo and learn more about implementing this game-changing solution for your retail business.

We need to read fast barcodes. Yet we have a prevalent problem with lousy barcodes. We did a study on one site recently and found that about 3.5% of all barcodes were defective. Of that with some manipulation and angling of the reader, only half could be read. The rest were totally useless. It was maddening that most of the unreadable ones were the result of suppliers making poorly made barcodes. This results in many no-reads. I told a retailer to consider that maybe they should argue that an item is defective as the barcode was that bad and return it.

Anyway, retailers often have to create their barcodes to solve this problem. If so, here are some tips to help you.

1) Use a suitable roll or sheets for labels. I have seen where the glue is so runny that they were useless.

2) Choose a light colour for the barcode roll. I like white. This increases the contrast between the barcode and the label, making it easier to read.

3) Do not put labels on the product next to anything that may reflect light.

4) Clean the printer and code reader and the barcode label. Dirt and grease make it harder to read.

5) Put the barcode labels on the product as flat as possible you do not want the barcode to fold or, worse, crumble or break.

6) Keep your barcode away from other barcodes in the product. This may cause the scanner to misread.

7) Do not let the sun hit the barcode for a long time.

8) Try to keep the barcode label dry.

9) Put the barcode in a position on your item that has blank space around it.

10) Ensure that nothing obscures the bar code

If you have followed the above steps and still have problems, send a picture of the barcode to our support team to be assessed for possible problems.

For many of our clients now that handle Tabcorp Lotto, one of the big problems now is that with their new app and Digital Wallet Sales, sales are coming through into their system with a price of zero and this means that it is harder to track their sales of lotto products accurately. In particular, what worried us was that it was difficult for us, as a result, to calculate the Gross Profit.

So we spoke to Tabcorp here

Tabcorp now has acted on our concerns and adopted our proposals. From next week they will be updating their system to separate their Digital Wallet sales from our clients' sales with pricing details. 

Great stuff!

There is no extra work for our clients as a patch (Version 1.1.92.9) will automatically update their systems, so they will be able to continue to scan lotto products as always.

Update:  One of our competitors has clearly for reasons that to us make no sense attacked Tabcorp and us.

What they do not like is pricing details included in the Tabcorp barcode. Well, just because the Tabcorp barcode has a price does not mean that they have to put the price into their software. All they have to do is code their software so if its a Tabcorp product, it is imported with a value of $0. If one of our users is so crazy and wants this too, well they can set up their system with our software to do that too *NOW*. What is the problem?

Let me further point out that this company track record on Lotto is not particularly good, a few years ago. I remember seeing in their spreadsheets of the future and speeches them saying that counter sales of Lotto will go down. It did not. It went up and its never been higher. Today with its super draws and promotions it has given lotto agents a major traffic drawcard. 

Also, business is the art of the possible, not what we would like, I believe that many of the changes they proposed are never going to be done in real-time.  They publically supported the politicians and the appropriate industry bodies to try and force Lottoland out of Australia.  Then we and many others pointed out that this was dreaming and Lottoland were not just going to leave. What they helped do is frustrate any hope of our clients getting new revenue streams from Lottoland, for example, see here, here and here. 

It goes on, one point I am very proud of our company is that what we propose and do is stuff our clients can use, their recent proposals on local politicians support, local currencies for small business, buskers grants, etc., in a real-time, dream on! 

Plus would these make much difference to SMB could also be disputed too, for example, buskers like to set up their Busking Stations in front of public places, markets and supermarkets as there is a mass of women and kids with money there!  Buskers know what they are doing, women and kids tend to give more than males. My daughter is eight years old if she likes a busker, she comes to Mum or me to give her some money to give to them. So does my Mum, she gives them money with a comment, "I like them doing this much more what they are doing than them begging in the street." I suggest very little money will flow to SMB as a result.

Scanners are explicitly made for use in mind. Some are long range. Some are short range, middle range, etc. It certainly is not the case that dearer scanner is the best one for you to use in all circumstances.

I have seen scanners that can read a bar code as close as few centimetres away and some that need at least 300 cm to scan the same barcode. 

So when you are ordering a scanner, you need to specify to the seller (like us) exactly how far away a typical barcode will be read. 

What I suggest you do is make a fist with your hand, grasping a long ruler at the 10 cm line and imagine that this 10 cm point is the barcode len. Now with the other hand put some typical items and measure out what to you is a convenient distance to read the barcode. This is what this new scanner will need to scan a barcode. It is not an advantage to have too much range as what you tend to get then is misreading from other barcodes that are nearby. 

If you require some long range scanners, then it is not as simple as a ruler. This video will show you how to measure the distance.

Then tell us the range you require.

Otherwise, there can be problems.