Ready or Not

Manufacturers and retailers have been preparing for the impending change to the new GS1 DataBar for a couple of years now. After a lot of confusion and a couple of delays, they were given the go-ahead to start using them alone on coupons on January 1st.

Some leeway was permitted for a few months, but that ended with the absolute deadline of June 30th. As of July 1st, coupons can no longer include the UPC-A bar codes that retailers have been scanning for decades and that have been sharing coupon space with the DataBar over the past two years as the interim solution for the transition to the new GS1 DataBar.

Given the ample amount of time, hopefully retailers are ready and have in place the scanners and POS software needed to scan and process coupons bearing only the DataBar. This new compact, data-rich symbol provides greater dimensional efficiency along with the ability to encode additional data. This allows for more flexible coding for coupon applications and creates greater opportunity for trade solutions.

Retailers who cannot scan the DataBar may miss out on promotional opportunities. At these stores, cashiers will have to manually validate and enter the value for coupons since they will no longer have the UPC-A symbol. In addition, self-checkouts will require some kind of employee intervention.

The implementation of the DataBar comes at a time of increased coupon usage by budget-conscious consumers, especially with the digitization of manufacturer coupons online.
Retailers that scan the Databar will experience automatic expiration date checking, a reduced need for bypass codes and cashier intervention, and improved scan rates and checkout speeds, according to the JICC (Joint Industry Coupon Committee). The DataBar also contains fewer human-readable elements helping to reduce fraud and mis-redemption.

The new DataBar not only offers advantages for retailers, but for manufacturers as well. Since it encapsulates a great deal more information than the previous UPC-A code, manufacturers will be able to develop more robust coupon offers, including higher coupon values and cross-promotions with one or two other brands. And as an added bonus it takes up a lot less space on the coupon!

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