Will DataBar Kill The Self-Checkout Produce, Coupon Nightmare?
Written by Evan Schuman and Fred J. AunApril 16th, 2009
Grocery chains have for years struggled with self-checkout systems that couldn't easily deal with produce, POS stations that simply couldn't handle complicated coupons and barcodes that didn't understand expiration dates. But in a move that many in retail IT see as the potentially biggest change in product labeling since the rollout of the UPC barcode 35 years ago, the GS1 DataBar is looking to sharply increase its retail presence as of January. Among the chains most vocally advocating for the advance are American chains Walmart, Winn-Dixie and Krogers plus Canada's Loblaw.
At its core, the DataBar codes are today's barcodes but are much more tightly packed with much more information. But not all of this transition will be akin to scanning sugar and spice. Most chains will have to absorb non-trivial costs to support the upgrades, a tricky move at a time of store closings and massive layoffs. Most product scanners built since 2000 are capable of reading DataBars but investments need to be made beyond just the scanners.
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3 Comments | Read Will DataBar Kill The Self-Checkout Produce, Coupon Nightmare?
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Our Comment SPAM system is getting very aggressive these days and has been blocking legitimate comments. If you post a comment and don't see it appear within 2 hours or so, can you please send a heads-up to customer-service@storefrontbacktalk? Ideally, please include the time you posted the comment. That will allow us to try and hunt for it. Thanks! P.S. We're working on fixing the system, but we don't want to lose any valuable comments in the meantime.
-Ed
April 16th, 2009 at 8:51 am
The DataBar (formerly RSS, Reduced Space Symbology) has been talked about for years. While scanners were the initial hurdle, the article rightly indicates that the software to handle the additional data has been the real challenge. POS Logs, Coupon Validation Routines, and cashier training must all change.
While DataBar is necessary, it is not sufficient to address many of the issues identified in this article. Coupon acceptance at self checkout is as much a fraud issue as it is merely accepting outdated coupons. DataBar does nothing to ensure that the barcode being presented represents a legitimate offer from the manufacturer. This is normally done by the cashier looking at the printed coupon to make sure it was not produced on someone’s home computer. This is exactly the same issue with Internet coupons. DataBar represents a completely different concept of data presentation than RFID. DataBar presents the data attributes directly in the barcode. RFID uses a serial number to reference data attributes of an object. Implementing DataBar is not an intermediate step for getting to serial number based reference.
DataBar will address the issues associated with PLU numbers and will enable more specific coding of variable weight packages. This will greatly help the management of fresh processes and be a great benefit to retailers who do in-store processing. These benefits will be tied to new applications that track both production and POS activity to monitor replenishment and identify unsold packages. This will help considerably with implementation of markdowns, rework planning, and shrink identification.
All in all, DataBar is just one more enhancement to “analog based†interfaces such as printed paper coupons. The ultimate answer will be purely digital discounts verified online as they are presented to the retailer.
April 17th, 2009 at 9:02 am
We see DataBar as a major step forward in the Fresh departments, particularly because of the ability to manage and validate sell-by dates at time of sale. Our major hurdle right now is the POS software but we should have the new version available in time for testing and roll-out before “sunrise”. Only a smallish number of hand scanners will have to be replaced as even our oldest omnidirectional ones can be given a new firmaware version to handle DataBar; we’re busy piloting that right now.
On the coupon comment from Bill: I motivated a local GS1 standard change for coupons which has been adopted so that we can use a coupon as a linked promotional item. It has an effective date and an end date for the promotion, has no intrinsic face value and only works when the promoted item is in the same “basket”. Redemption is handled electronically based on scanned coupons and the paper need not be retained or handled by a clearing bureau – the supplier’s stock account is debited for redemptions at the end of the promotion. Yes, the voucher could be re-used, but only to buy more of the promoted product. (You did want to boost sales of the line, didn’t you?).
Try it – you might like it!
April 17th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
It takes me so long to get through a grocery check-out now, I am not hoping for any more ‘Technology’ to make it worse!
Grins,
R