6 Steps for Successfully Getting the Right Barcode for your Product.
Many small business owners, manufacturers or entrepreneurs delve deeply into the production of their products. Passion is usually what drives us to create in the first place, and most of us get lost in the production of it all. In many cases though, the art is all we know. And business aspects such as marketing your product and selling it once it is finally created is a task many creators are not skilled in or confident with. A crucial step that is often overlooked until the very end is the process of obtaining a barcode for your product to be sold. And the realisation of this has the potential to block your flow of creating business for yourself. Although the process may seem daunting at first, and you’re often left asking “how do I get a barcode for my products?” there are a few tips listed below that are helpful in sorting through and completing the process.
1. Firstly, figure out which type of barcode you will need for your product
There are quite the selection of barcodes available and you’ll need the right one depending on what product you want to sell. If you’re an author or publisher and you want to sell a book, novel or e-book, you’re going to need an ISBN barcode for books. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. Magazine and newspaper producers however will need an ISBN barcode for serial publications. Any serial or recurring publication that is to be sold in retail needs this type of barcode and often times a new barcode number needs to be generated for each issue or edition. Any other retail product will need a retail barcode. These are either UPC (Universal Product Code) or EAN (European Article Number) and include products from food items to clothing items to hardware equipment and more.
2. Next, determine how many barcodes you will be needing
For each variation, size, colour, flavour, issue or volume of your product, you are going to require a unique barcode number. For instance, if you are selling a book series of four sagas, each of the four sagas will need their own ISBN barcode number. You may be selling cold drinks in two sizes and two flavours. This means that you will need four barcode numbers – either UPC or EAN. Magazine and newspaper companies may only need one barcode number for their recurring publications, while some may need a unique barcode number for each issue. Usually, deciding on how many barcodes you will need rests entirely with the retailer your products are going to be sold at.
3. Ensure that your intended retailers will accept your barcode numbers before you purchase them
Which brings us to the next step: ensuring that intended retailers will accept your barcode system of choice before you decide to spend money. Most reputable barcode resellers will be able to tell you which stores will accept your barcode and which won’t. Some are even able to provide you with a sample barcode which you can then take to intended retailers and check if it will be accepted. Some South African retailers such as Pick n’ Pay have adopted a new system which only accepts food item barcodes from larger barcode companies such as GS1. Barcode resellers are the cheaper and more efficient means of obtaining a barcode, however you may run the risk of not being accepted at Pick ‘n Pay. As a solution, it makes financial sense to start small with the barcode resellers, and once your business expands and you have sufficient resources, you can register for barcodes which are accepted at the larger retailers.
4. Source a reputable barcode seller or reseller
There are countless fake barcode sellers and resellers on the web these days, each of them offering the best deals. Of course, as a rule of thumb, trust your instinct and don’t just give out your details or cash without speaking to them directly. To get South African barcodes, there are a few reputable companies who are happy to help and also have a wealth of information on their sites. It doesn’t really make a difference which one of these companies you use. The main difference is that the process is much easier and hassle free with barcode resellers and once a barcode is purchased, it belongs to your company for life. Larger barcode sellers and registration companies often force you to go through a long process which includes paperwork and expensive annual fees that allow you to register the barcode number to your company every year. On the flipside however, larger retailers who have upgraded their system may not be able to accept barcodes from barcode resellers.
5. Decide how you’re going to include the barcode onto your product
There are two options to consider here. Once purchasing a barcode from your barcode seller or reseller, you should be sent the barcode number as well as the images in a complete barcode package. These images, which usually come in PDF, Tiff, Jpeg or EPS files, can then simply be inserted on the design of your product packaging. Alternatively, label stickers can be printed and then stuck on to the packaging itself – usually a handy idea if your packaging was already printed and you missed the step of adding a barcode in your business to-do list.
6. Ascertain whether any extra barcodes will be needed
Finally, the process of getting your barcodes ready seems just about complete, and now you’re ready to take your products to retail and sit back as your hard work pays off. As you’re loading your products onto retail premises, you get the nasty surprise that not only do your products need barcodes, but the boxes you pack them in, too! What you’ll now need to purchase is what’s called an ITF-14 barcode or case barcode – these reflect the barcodes it contains. Keep in mind though, that each delivery size of your box will need its own unique case barcode number. For example if you’re transporting your products in boxes of 10 and 20, you’ll need two case barcodes to reflect this and allow for management and tracking inventory to be a fast and easy process.
It’s greatly beneficial to have all your ducks in a row before you start off on an aspect of your business. Knowing the important steps about having which type of barcode could be a life saver and could definitely save you on time and money. Imagine having to reprint all of your packaging because you did not include a barcode or having to remove all of your products from the retail stock warehouses because you did not get case barcodes? The advantages are endless, and although barcodes are imperative to the functionality of our retail world, it’s imperative that you remember them first.
Image via: http://www.themobilists.com/2011/06/02/mobile-barcodes-qr-and-microsoft-tag-primer/
There are quite the selection of barcodes available and you’ll need the right one depending on what product you want to sell. If you’re an author or publisher and you want to sell a book, novel or e-book, you’re going to need an ISBN barcode for books. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. Magazine and newspaper producers however will need an ISBN barcode for serial publications. Any serial or recurring publication that is to be sold in retail needs this type of barcode and often times a new barcode number needs to be generated for each issue or edition. Any other retail product will need a retail barcode. These are either UPC (Universal Product Code) or EAN (European Article Number) and include products from food items to clothing items to hardware equipment and more.
2. Next, determine how many barcodes you will be needing
For each variation, size, colour, flavour, issue or volume of your product, you are going to require a unique barcode number. For instance, if you are selling a book series of four sagas, each of the four sagas will need their own ISBN barcode number. You may be selling cold drinks in two sizes and two flavours. This means that you will need four barcode numbers – either UPC or EAN. Magazine and newspaper companies may only need one barcode number for their recurring publications, while some may need a unique barcode number for each issue. Usually, deciding on how many barcodes you will need rests entirely with the retailer your products are going to be sold at.
3. Ensure that your intended retailers will accept your barcode numbers before you purchase them
Which brings us to the next step: ensuring that intended retailers will accept your barcode system of choice before you decide to spend money. Most reputable barcode resellers will be able to tell you which stores will accept your barcode and which won’t. Some are even able to provide you with a sample barcode which you can then take to intended retailers and check if it will be accepted. Some South African retailers such as Pick n’ Pay have adopted a new system which only accepts food item barcodes from larger barcode companies such as GS1. Barcode resellers are the cheaper and more efficient means of obtaining a barcode, however you may run the risk of not being accepted at Pick ‘n Pay. As a solution, it makes financial sense to start small with the barcode resellers, and once your business expands and you have sufficient resources, you can register for barcodes which are accepted at the larger retailers.
4. Source a reputable barcode seller or reseller
There are countless fake barcode sellers and resellers on the web these days, each of them offering the best deals. Of course, as a rule of thumb, trust your instinct and don’t just give out your details or cash without speaking to them directly. To get South African barcodes, there are a few reputable companies who are happy to help and also have a wealth of information on their sites. It doesn’t really make a difference which one of these companies you use. The main difference is that the process is much easier and hassle free with barcode resellers and once a barcode is purchased, it belongs to your company for life. Larger barcode sellers and registration companies often force you to go through a long process which includes paperwork and expensive annual fees that allow you to register the barcode number to your company every year. On the flipside however, larger retailers who have upgraded their system may not be able to accept barcodes from barcode resellers.
5. Decide how you’re going to include the barcode onto your product
There are two options to consider here. Once purchasing a barcode from your barcode seller or reseller, you should be sent the barcode number as well as the images in a complete barcode package. These images, which usually come in PDF, Tiff, Jpeg or EPS files, can then simply be inserted on the design of your product packaging. Alternatively, label stickers can be printed and then stuck on to the packaging itself – usually a handy idea if your packaging was already printed and you missed the step of adding a barcode in your business to-do list.
6. Ascertain whether any extra barcodes will be needed
Finally, the process of getting your barcodes ready seems just about complete, and now you’re ready to take your products to retail and sit back as your hard work pays off. As you’re loading your products onto retail premises, you get the nasty surprise that not only do your products need barcodes, but the boxes you pack them in, too! What you’ll now need to purchase is what’s called an ITF-14 barcode or case barcode – these reflect the barcodes it contains. Keep in mind though, that each delivery size of your box will need its own unique case barcode number. For example if you’re transporting your products in boxes of 10 and 20, you’ll need two case barcodes to reflect this and allow for management and tracking inventory to be a fast and easy process.
It’s greatly beneficial to have all your ducks in a row before you start off on an aspect of your business. Knowing the important steps about having which type of barcode could be a life saver and could definitely save you on time and money. Imagine having to reprint all of your packaging because you did not include a barcode or having to remove all of your products from the retail stock warehouses because you did not get case barcodes? The advantages are endless, and although barcodes are imperative to the functionality of our retail world, it’s imperative that you remember them first.
Image via: http://www.themobilists.com/2011/06/02/mobile-barcodes-qr-and-microsoft-tag-primer/