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Tips on When to Apply New Barcodes

by Master Fool

Often I’ve encountered some new businesses that recycle their barcodes as a way to save money. The answer to this is a big no-no because in the end not only do you have to pay for the cost of the mistakes but also you would have issue getting your item listed into retailers that uses barcode in their system.

There is also the common confusion among suppliers on when to use a new barcode and when not to use one because of some of the restrictions coming from retailers One common restriction would be the listing fees cost implemented by retailers. New barcodes simply meant paying for listing fees although the product has been listed and sold for quite some time. While this may seem illogical, some retailers impose this upon their suppliers to discourage new barcodes being registered into their system that could create duplicate records.

So when do you need to apply new barcodes? Meanwhile there is no exact right or wrong as the industry is pretty volatile, here are some tips on when you should be applying new barcodes to your product

Promotional Packs

While some retailers may charge listing fees for different barcodes on your promotional pack, some requires them as a part of the compulsory requirement for them to differentiate between a normal SKU and a promotional SKU. If you are a company that is looking to expand, its great to approach this in a systematic way using barcodes as a way to recognize your products

Change of weights

If you decide to downsize or upsize your product, its advisable to take the path of least resistance. Applying a new barcode to your new weight as its pros and cons. If you are downsizing your product, its would be easier to maintain the barcode. However, the issue is getting the retailer to update the new description in their system where often they do not put this as a priority in their to-do list and ends up not getting changed at all. If you are upsizing your product, while maintaining the same barcode would not have any issues even if the retailers do not change the description. On the other hand, using a new barcode for different weights will be able to track if the new wights are selling faster

Improved Formula

Unless your formula has additional ingredients that would be entirely classified as a whole new product, its best to stick with the current barcode. An example from a ginseng extract to ginseng extract with red dates. If your packaging has a major change emphasizing also the red dates, it would be advisable to change the barcode. If your new packaging does not have a major impact then you can opt for the same barcode.

Still not quite sure when you should implement a new barcode or just stick to your current one? Feel free to drop comments down below!

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