Barcodes have to rate as one of the best innovations in the retail industry. They make processing faster, improve data capture, provide greater accuracy and analysis, and lead to better cost-effectiveness.
But they aren’t desperately exciting are they?
Well, they may not be very exciting, but they’re the heart of a successful sales promotion and worth a few moments of your time understanding the fundamentals. Why? Because those 13 numbers contain ALL of the information about your sales promotion. If one number is wrong, the success of the campaign could be affected.
What information does a barcode contain?
Those seemingly harmless 13 digits are powerful enough to tell a barcode scanner:
1. Who the coupon issuer is (i.e. you)
2. Which campaign the coupon is part of
3. The value of the coupon
4. The barcode was generated by the genuine coupon issuer
1)
Who the coupon issuer is. Because of their importance, barcodes are governed by a non-profit co-ordinating body called GS1 UK, which ensures standards in barcode generation are maintained. There has to be one overall body responsible for generating these codes, otherwise barcodes from different issuers will overlap by accident and cause problems.
GS1 UK provides each coupon issuer with a unique six-digit identifying code on request. This forms the first six numbers of a coupon barcode. To obtain your code, contact GS1 UK on 0207 092 3500 or visit their website
www.gs1uk.org.
2)
Which campaign the coupon is part of. Your issuer number allows you to allocate up to 999 campaigns. Your first campaign is 001, your second 002 and so on. The campaign number form the 7th, 8th and 9th digits of a barcode.
3)
The value of the coupon. The 10th, 11th and 12th digit of the coupon is the value. So for example, if your coupon is worth £1.00, the corresponding digits in the barcode will be 100. If the value is 50p, the corresponding digits will be 050.
Two things to note:
a) If your coupon value is more than £9.99, for example £10.50, you cannot simply insert 1050 into the barcode to make a 14-digit barcode. The barcode must be 13 digits, so instead insert 999 into the barcode and tell us the face value that should be paid to the retailer.
b) If the product/brand in the promotion is stocked by both large retailers and small independents, the RRP is likely to be considerably different between the two and so will the coupon face value.
To overcome this, make the coupon out to be free and insert the digits 000 into the barcode. Then tell us the maximum and minimum we should pay and to which retailer. Alternatively allow the retailers to write the appropriate amount on the coupon.
4)
The barcode is generated legally by the genuine coupon issuer. Finally, the last digit of the coupon is the Check Digit, which is a precautionary measure introduced by GS1 UK to help prevent illegal tampering. By inputting the first 12 digits of the barcode into a special calculator, a final 13th digit will be generated that is unique to your coupon barcode. Both GS1 UK and Valassis have the ability to generate this code for you.
So there you have it. You are now primed with the knowledge to generate accurate barcodes. And impress your other half while wandering around the supermarket with them.
However, if barcodes are still as clear as mud, give Valassis a call on 01536 400123.