We’ve all been there: holding up a line of impatient customers as we try to find the barcode on a cumbersome product. But did you know that you may actually be wasting your time by trying to scan the exact area where the barcode is located? If you’re swiping a product and it isn’t being scanned into the register, it’s not because you slightly missed the barcode. Odds are your hand is just covering it. But why isn’t it important to be precise when it comes to barcode scanning? We’re here to tell you!
Contrary to popular belief, the barcode does not need to be directly held up to a scanner in order to be read. Simply swipe the product through, and as long as the barcode is facing the scanner and you hold the product close enough, it should register.
The scanner is not like a tiny laser that needs to directly line up with the barcode. Instead, it more closely resembles a field that anything with a barcode can be passed through and read. This means that you can be a bit more inaccurate than you probably think when it comes to scanning, which good end up saving you a decent amount of time.
So, the next time you’re in a self-checkout line and impatiently trying to locate a barcode, try holding the product up to the scanner anyway. Odds are, it’s going to be able to read the code. If not, try looking under your hand. The barcode may have been right there all along.
Source: http://lifehacker.com/stop-searching-for-the-barcode-to-get-through-self-chec-1697862623
Comments are closed.