UPC stands for Universal Product Code., It’s a 12 digit number that is associated to your product. Every product needs a upc barcode and, Nationwide Barcode  makes it easy.

Let’s start at the beginning..

You order a barcode or a number of barcodes from Nationwide Barcode.  They  send you a couple of different graphic files. They send you an EPS file, jpg and a tif file. EPS stands for encapsulated postscript…these files can only be opened by programs such as Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Coral Draw and other high end graphic programs. The tif file (stands for Tagged Image File Format) and the jpg can be opened by everything else…word, paint, pretty much any design program that you have.

NOW WHAT?
After you order the barcode and before they send it to you, we generate the upc barcode graphics and create a Certificate of Authenticity.

They make sure that they never duplicate upc barcodes. This way, when you buy a upc, your upc barcode number is a unique, one-of-a-kind barcode. They e-mail them to you within 24 hours…usually the same day.

They assign the upc barcode to you. Then, you assign the upc barcode to your product.

There is no hidden data built into a barcode, there is no pricing information, there is no product information. The bars represent only the 12-digit number.

If you order 10 barcodes or more, They also provide you with a barcode tracking sheet.

You need to determine which unique barcode goes with each product that you have.

You need to affix a copy of the barcode to each product. There are only two ways that you can do this. You can print up a label or, you can include the graphic on the packaging for your product.

Once you affix the barcode to the product, you will need to communicate to the retailer what the product is and what number you have assigned to the product. There is no download of data from a database. The process is that you teach the retailer.

This is usually done by creating a sheet that describes your product. These product sheets should contain the following information:

1) Name of Product
2) Description of Product (Size, Weight, etc.)
3) Manufacturer Information
4) Selling Price
5) UPC Code

The retailer is going to enter all of this information into their Point Of Sale back-end, This is their computer system that is attached to their electronic cash register system.

Some retailers have you enter this information on line (CD Baby, Amazon, Barnes and Noble)

When a customer wants to purchase the item, they take it to the checkstand and the clerk scans the item using a barcode reader. When the item is scanned, two things happen:

1) Product Information comes up on the Point of Sale System and is printed on the invoice or receipt
2) The unit purchased is removed from inventory.

www.nationwidebarcodes.com