bar code

Bar Code

A code placed on a product that a machine can read. Groceries and other products commonly have bar codes on them so a machine can display how much they cost. This ensures accurate prices are paid on retail goods. Bar codes were invented by a graduate student in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1948.

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bar code

an alpha or alpha-numeric code, converted into a series of lines and spaces which are marked on products. Bar coding and the use of bar code scanners enables a firm to obtain accurate data quickly on its STOCK position to help with planning its reordering of goods; and can be used to adjust the prices of goods more easily than by replacing price tags. See EPOS.

Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson