I was talking about store barcode management with my friend. His small supermarket is a personal operation with a large number of commodities. In the past, there were few things in the store, so there was no need for barcode management. Now that there are more goods, it is more and more necessary to implement barcode management. I haven't done it myself, how can I manage barcodes in supermarkets? Do you want someone else to do it, and how? I have no experience, so I searched the Internet to do a little research.

The principle of barcode management: a barcode is a graphic identifier composed of a group of black bars and blanks with different widths. It can be scanned and identified by a barcode scanner. When it is attached to the product, it identifies the product, which is convenient for the tracking of commodity circulation and background data statistics. Just because it has this tracking function, it can be used for commodity management. First save the basic information of the product such as name, price, weight, origin, etc. in the computer database, and generate a barcode corresponding to the product, which is equivalent to an entrance to the basic information of the product. When the code scanning gun checks it, it can call up the relevant price information, and then add the sales quantity, and the computer can quickly and conveniently calculate the total price. These sales data, including warehousing data, can be counted every day to give managers a clear data display so as to achieve the purpose of optimizing commodity management.

The reason is obvious. For a supermarket, the number of products is usually very large. How to manage products with barcodes? You can do it yourself. The whole barcode system can be divided into the following four parts: the first is the barcode generation software (including computer server hardware and network); the second is the barcode printer; the third is the POS cash register; the fourth may you need an electronic scale to weigh And the kind that prints barcodes, this kind of scale is very common in supermarkets.

Barcode generation software

There are a lot of barcode generation software, and you can find many of them in Baidu, just choose one with good reputation and suitable for your own use. Some software providers are equipped with the entire system, including POS cash registers, barcode printers, software running in the background, computer servers, data statistics, etc., depending on your choice. With the software and printer, the barcode of the product can be generated on demand, and printed out and pasted on the product. With the computer server, the POS cash register at the front desk can be connected with the product information database to achieve instant pricing when scanning the barcode.

Barcode Electronic Scale

A barcode electronic scale is a weighing machine that can weigh and print a barcode. The barcode it prints can mark the unit price and weight of the corresponding product. For example, for bulk commodities such as eggs and rice in supermarkets, the salesperson first weighs them with a barcode scale, and then pastes the printed barcode on the bulk commodities. Customers can take it to the cash register at the front desk to check out. Its principle is that after the weighing is completed and the OK button is pressed, the corresponding product weight, unit price, total price and other information have been uploaded to the computer server, and a barcode as a unique identifier is printed out at the same time as the information entry. When the customer checks out at the front desk, the scanner scans the barcode, and the software uses the barcode to find out the pre-stored information such as the total price, unit price and weight in the background database, and immediately puts the relevant information in the small printed on the ticket. There are many different types of barcode scales on the market, with different software and different configurations, but the basic principle is the same, just follow the relevant instructions to operate.

Do it yourself or outsource it to someone else?

First clarify what the entire system needs

Hardware to buy: computer terminals, servers, barcode printers, POS cash registers;

Software: barcode generation software, commodity sales statistics software (this software is usually included with POS machines), background data processing software (some POS machines have it, some don’t, you need to discuss it with the supplier)

Other gadgets not mentioned

Entry of commodity initial information

Pre-system testing

If you let someone else do it, you can save a series of things to configure various software and hardware, and you don’t have to worry about the details. The advantage is that it saves trouble and effort. But in addition to the cost of purchasing a series of software and hardware, a certain service fee must be paid by a third-party service provider. This is a systematic project, which will inevitably involve future machine maintenance and how to deal with data problems. These things should be discussed with the service provider first.

If you do it yourself, you can save a certain amount of expenses. But it takes a little more time to read the instruction manuals of each hardware and software to understand how to configure and handle various situations.

No matter whether you do it for others or do it yourself, you must conduct training and study on the barcode system, be familiar with all links, and be able to deal with the sale and purchase of goods in case of unexpected situations.

Do it yourself if you have the ability, because you still need to learn the system further to do it for others, and it takes time to learn to do it yourself.

How much does the whole system cost?

The cost is hard to say, it depends on the configuration of the machine you buy, the high quality of the machine will naturally lead to a high price. Generally, the price of a POS cash register is between 100 and 1,000 yuan; the price of a barcode printer can generally range from 50 to 2,000 yuan; the price of a barcode scanner can range from 100 to 2,000 yuan. Some of the supporting software are free and some require additional payment.

How long does it take for the whole system to be ready for use?

It won't be long. If the scale of the supermarket is small and there are not many terminal machines, after the machines are bought, they will be connected to the electricity, and some necessary driver software and application software will be ready after a day or two. What really takes time is the need to pre-enter all the product information in the supermarket into the computer database, and the time to prepare for trial operation and test debugging. If all goes well, it can be completed within half a month. Some machine providers do a good job of after-sales service, and you can contact them to help with installation.

How are barcodes generated? Can I make barcodes at will?

Commodity barcodes for circulation in the open market cannot be generated by themselves, and applications must be submitted to relevant management departments to obtain relevant barcodes. If your barcode is only used for internal management of the enterprise and is not disclosed to the public, you can generate the corresponding barcode according to your needs. Commodities sold publicly in supermarkets cannot use the barcodes made by themselves.

The generation of a barcode is just a simple digital conversion. A string of numbers is transformed into black and white stripes of different widths according to certain rules to form a barcode identifier. There are many free software that can realize this conversion process. The key is that this string of numbers is the unique identifier of the product, and this string of numbers must be approved by the relevant management department.