Scanners

Can you imagine going shopping without scanners? They are everywhere in modern retail and also in hospitality. The ‘beep beep’ sound of some scanners is synonymous with modern retail. Actually, you might be surprised at how long they have been used in retail. The first recorded retail barcode, according to popular opinion, was a pack of chewing gum in 1974. The UK was a little behind on the use of barcodes in retail, but it was in a pleasingly British way that they came into use – the first retail barcode scanned in the UK was reportedly for a pack of teabags in 1979. The scanners are used to read the barcodes that you find on almost every retail item. How do they work and how can our scanners benefit your business?
The barcodes that the scanners read contain crucial information. The combination of black and white lines or shapes may just look like a pretty pattern, but it is really information that the computer can read by means of the scanner. When looking at the barcode, you see a group of black and white lines. To the human eye, it is natural to assume that the black lines are the key part, but actually to the barcode scanners, it is the white gaps that matter. The scanners shine the familiar red light onto the barcode. The black lines absorb the light, but the white sections reflect the red light back into the detector. This enables the detector to identify the width of the gaps, and this is converted into a number. Generally speaking, barcodes give a 12 digit number. The first six digits that the scanner records are a code to identify the manufacturer of an item. The next five digits represent the item number. The twelfth digit is usually a check number, which acts as a failsafe to make sure that the whole scan has been accurately read. The scanners then feed the code to the computer and this is used to process the sale.
There are a variety of advantages to using scanners. For one thing, scanners are less prone to error than human operators, who can easily mistype numbers. Also, the scanners allow computerised stock calculations, such as reporting when an item is no longer available or automatically triggering an age check, such as when buying alcohol. The most important advantage to scanners is that they speed up the retail process significantly, allowing your team to process more sales in the same period of time.
At Garrod & Co Ltd, we offer three models of scanners for your business. The Quantum Scanners are a small and rugged model of scanners. It can be free standing or omnidirectional, which means that it is good with damaged or crumpled barcodes, and it can read barcodes effectively at 10”. Alternatively, we have the Orbit Scanner, which is a small unit. These scanners are also omni-directional. Thirdly, we have Voyager Cordless scanners. These are great if you have large items which are not easy to scan.
For more information about our scanners and other products, contact our sales team.