Barcode time, UPC or bust!

We've all seen barcodes and scanners, there's nothing new there.  But what are you doing about items that come to you without UPCs already applied?

I see far too many retailers typing in descriptions, or trying to search through the inventory at the point of sale to find items that don't have barcodes.  Not only is this time consuming, and potentially frustrating to the customer, but it can be inaccurate, causing incorrect inventory counts and misleading reports.  Over time, this can snowball into a major inventory issue.

Many small retailers don't understand that barcode creation and printing is easy, and should be a part of any good point of sale system.  You can even print nice looking and effective barcodes on your regular desktop printer using special labels from makers like Avery. 

Many retailers also cite a lack of time to generate barcodes and shelf tags for all their items, and it is a valid concern.  But, just think about how much time it takes to recount your entire inventory due to incorrectly sold items over the course of a year.  Now think about the potential loss of revenue through incorrectly identified and sold items over the course of the same year.  Would fixing these two major issues justify a few hours spent creating good item tags at the beginning of the year?

I think so.