Barcoding in the “Shark Tank” – UPC Barcodes
You have your business plan developed, your product is complete and you’re ready to go to market. Congratulations! If you plan to sell your product online or in a store, chances are you’ll need a UPC Barcode to uniquely identify your product in the retail environment and promote speedy and accurate checkout. So what are the steps that you need to take in order to ensure that you correctly acquire a functioning UPC (Universal Product Code) Barcode for each of your products?
Getting Started:
What is a UPC Barcode? A UPC is a 12 digit number paired with a barcode that is found on many U.S. products sold in conventional retail environments. They are supplied by GS1 US, a nonprofit organization that establishes standards for international commerce. So here’s how it works: you as a business will pay to join GS1 US (starting at $250), and in exchange, each company receives its own identification number that appears as the first part of the 12 digit number on the UPC Barcode.
It’s important to note that companies will need a different UPC Barcode for each product they sell. As we all know, products come in many different sizes and color configurations and each of these products will need a unique product identification number assigned to it. The first step to complete is to identify all of these variations you may have within your company. For example, if you’re selling coffee mugs you could have three different sizes (small, medium and large), three different colors (black, white and blue), three different styles of handles (open bottom, square, rounded), and three different shipping configurations (one mug, two mugs or three). Given those variations, you’ll need to assign unique identification numbers to each one of them for a total of 81 different product variations (3x3x3x3=81)!
When you register for your company identification number, you will need the number of variations you plan to have in order to register at the right product capacity within GS1 US. This could range from product categories starting from 1 to 10 products and can lead all the way up to having 100,000
different product identification numbers that you would like to have under your companies identification umbrella.
It’s also important to leave room for additional product variations that you may not currently have in order to allow for business growth, since you can’t “add capacity” to your company identification number. However, you can license additional company identification numbers; but to save time and money, it’s smart to leave room for expansion right away.
The Final Step:
Once you have determined all of the variable combinations you may have, you will then fill out the online application for GS1 US to obtain your unique identification number.
Once you have completed that step, feel free to contact us to develop your UPC Barcodes by utilizing our seamless UPC development solution offered by Huzzard Systems!
It’s that simple!
Then, the only maintenance you’ll have is to renew your GS1 US subscription annually, which starts at just $50.
Give us a call at 920-257-4357 to learn what Huzzard Systems and UPC Barcode technology can do for you!
