Barcode Design And Implementation Tips For Small Business Owners

If you own a small business, you undoubtedly know the importance of barcodes for your products once you hit a certain level of sales volume. However, you may not know how to go about designing and implementing bar codes once you feel that your business requires them. Thankfully, this post is here to help. If you need to know a bit more about barcode design and implementation, keep reading below to learn all about the process.

GS1 Company Prefix

Before you ever begin to start putting barcodes on product, whether you sell corporate gifts or pet clothing, you need to get a GS1 Company Prefix. This resource helps you to understand the GS1 Identification Keys that go into creating a barcode, which are unique to various companies. This GS1 Prefix and Company Number guide is the basis for 1.3 million companies’ barcodes, so make sure to take advantage of it.

Know What You Have To Identify

The individual digits in a barcode design are use to assign ID numbers to particular areas of business and production.You should be ready to assign numbers for identification purposes to your products, first and foremost. However, you should also be prepared to include identification assignments for your business, the locations of your business, logistic units, service relationships and company or returnable assets. Once you know what you needs an assigned identification number for the barcode, you are better prepared to implement them.

Know Your Intended Scanning Environment

A scanning environment is the location in which you expect your barcodes to be scanned. Simply put, what do your barcodes need to be scanned for? If the answer is retail sales, you will need to use a barcode design software that create omni-directional scanning. It should not be hard to find a software that offers these capabilities, as this is the most common use for barcodes. However, if you sell, for instance, Ebay top selling products online, you may instead need to plan for a warehouse scanning environment, so remember to give this some thought.

Barcode Design Considerations

Now is the time to design your barcodes. When doing so, keep in mind the importance of barcode placement and general labeling best practices. Know where you plan to put the barcode and also anticipate the appropriate barcode size for your product. Keeping these considerations in mind will help you to create a functional, effective barcode system for your business.

Be Creative

You may also want to consider making a creative barcode design, instead of the commonplace black box comprised of lines of different thickness. There are so many possibilities for creative barcode designs that are entirely functional. However, not many businesses put much effort into this. That makes it an excellent marketing and branding opportunity for your business to stand out. It may even prove to be especially useful for holiday marketing campaigns. If you want to stand out, having the most creative barcode design is an easy and enjoyable way to do just that.

If you are a small business owner looking to understand barcode design and implementation a bit better before bringing the system to your business, this post should help. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the GS1 Company Prefix resource in preparation. Then, account for what your barcodes will be identifying and where they will be scanned. Use this information to design an omni directional barcode for business, and do not forget the excellent marketing opportunity you have to make a fun barcode design to help your business stand out.

Photo from http://www.scandit.com/products/barcode-scanner/