NCR MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF RETAIL BAR CODE SCANNING
By Adnews Staff
NCR Canada Ltd. of Toronto is celebrating the 25th anniversary of retail bar code scanning. In 1974, the first product, a package of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum, was whisked across an NCR scanner in a checkout lane at a supermarket in Ohio. Today more than 1.4 billion items have followed and are scanned by an NCR POS (Point of Service) System. "When that package of gum moved across the scan window and a laser beam 'read' the UPC Universal Product Code imprinted on the package, it was the beginning of a new era for retailing," NCR Canada's Retail Solutions Group, vice president Brian Sullivan said. What allowed this process to work was the scanner's laser beam reading the UPC imprinted on the package. The UPC data would be sent electronically to an instore computer that would look up the price and transmit it back to the POS terminal. The UPC symbol represents an 11-digit number that uniquely identifies an item. The number is looked up to determine the price of the item containing the code.
In the twenty five years since NCR first's scanner was introduced in Troy, Ohio, the company has continued to create new innovations designed to take the retail industry into the new millennium. Solving the two problems consumers hate the most about shopping: waiting in line and paying, NCR is introducing three new practices. The Self-Checkout Express, allows shoppers to scan, bag and pay for their purchases without cashier assistance. The Interactive Retail Web Kiosk offers consumers convenient access to information on products, pricing and availability through an interactive touch screen. The DecisioNet is a wireless electronic shelf label that uses the same price lookup file as a store's scanners, eliminating price discrepancies between the shelf and the checkout. Virve Tremblay, NCR Canada Ltd. told Adnews that the company promotes its new practices through targeted promotions and industry trade shows. PR for NCR is handled by Edelman Public Relations Worldwide of Toronto.