According to GS1 US blog post, at 8:01 a.m. on June 26, 1974, a 10 pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum (50 Sticks) with a Universal Product Code (U.P.C.) was scanned at a Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The shopper was Clyde Dawson and the cashier who made that first UPC scan was Sharon Buchanan. The cash register rang up 67 cents.
And with a simple scan, commerce was changed forever…
Barcodes were a paradigm change in the sales process.
That’s completely true when it says that “commerce was changed forever” by scanning the first barcode.
Scanned Six Billion Times Daily Around the World, the Barcode Continues Its Relevance as the Backbone of Commerce.
Source: GS1 US and www.multivu.com
At the barcode’s inception, the Council estimated that there would only be 6,000 numbers assigned and then the council would disband. Today, the UPC has grown in versatility to power the movement of goods around the world and is scanned more than 6 billion times a day
Above video is a historical review of barcodes made by GS1 US.
You can listen to the following podcast from the BBC saying that Barcodes are one of the most important innovations that made our new economy:
And for the last part of our party, please have a look at this amazing Infographics by GS1 US:
Please don’t hesitate to ask your question about barcode history and I will help if I have enough information.