The Power of the Barcode

Made Essential Reading on 18 January 2010 Felix Hemsley

Less than 12 months ago, a barcode was something which in a retail environment really didn’t mean a lot to the consumer, but this has suddenly changed and changed fast. It’s been hard to miss the myriad of smart-phones offering apps for every aspect of life, from budgeting your money to turning on your home appliances. However, recent months have brought an influx of barcode capable apps, leveraging the capabilities of the device camera and bringing something of real financial value to the consumer.

I know what you’re saying, “so what”. Well let’s first take a step back in time, when not all that long ago shopping habits were being clearly redefined by the online experience, the increased convenience, the ability to identify better prices and free delivery becoming standard across the major retailers. During this phase, there were (and still are) those who valued the physical activity of shopping on the high street. Certain shops do have clear benefits over the online option, most notably clothing shops, where individuals feel more comfortable trying something on and getting the right fit without the hassle of returning goods to the retailer in the post. But for the most part, as stats have shown, internet shopping grows in popularity year on year.
Personally I still enjoy the activity of going shopping, whatever it may be for. I like to take my product with me when I’ve paid for it, not have to worry about being at home when a delivery needs to be made, and above all interact with real people. I never really considered the price variation unless I was looking at electronics, naively assuming other categories would display negligible difference.

However, this recent addition of apps (specifically Sccope & RedLaser) for my iPhone has led to a certain amount of experimentation, scanning every available barcode in the hope of some ground breaking result. Sure enough there were some surprises, sometime offering up to a 50% saving on certain products.

So what had I done, I had taken my usual tact of going in person to the shops, maintaining my desire for human interaction, and coupled it with the best price identification benefits of the web. I had used the product variety and browsing nature of a shop and then taken my custom elsewhere because it was cheaper!

In retrospect, I realised this had a huge implication. Firstly, I had solely based my decision on price, I had boldly cast aside any need for customer service or convenience of having already made the trip to the shop, I was about to go away and add the web experience on top of this one! Secondly, having realised that due to this decision based solely on price, has the high street shop entered an era where it must compete in its first instance on a price level? Undoubtedly, these apps are not going to be in every consumer’s pocket, but for the upwardly mobile and experimental generation Y, these are just the sort of apps that must be played with, and they now come with a purpose!