The First Barcode Scan: Wrigley's Gum in 1974

Barcodes feel like part of everyday shopping, but the first product scan happened only in 1974.

The first scan

On 26 June 1974, at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, in the United States, a cashier scanned a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum. It is widely recognised as the first retail product scanned with a barcode.

The idea before that

The earliest barcode idea came from two inventors, Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, who patented a design in 1952. Woodland's idea reportedly drew on Morse code, stretched into lines. The technology to read it cheaply arrived later, with lasers and computers.

A standard for products

For barcodes to work across stores, manufacturers and shops needed a shared system. The Universal Product Code (UPC) was chosen by the US grocery industry, and a similar system, EAN, later spread across Europe and the rest of the world.

Why stores wanted it

• Faster checkout
• Fewer pricing mistakes
• Better stock records

Slow to spread

Adoption took years. Shops had to buy scanners, and manufacturers had to print codes on their products. Over time, the system became universal.

What the lines mean

The stripes encode a number. The number identifies the product and the maker, but the barcode itself does not contain the price. The price is looked up in the store's system, which is why prices can change without changing the label.

Today

Barcodes are on nearly everything you buy. With a phone camera, anyone can read them.

QR Code Scanner also scans barcodes on products, so you can read the code on a pack in your hand.

Scan and create QR codes and barcodes with QR Code Scanner →