A grocery chain sells thousands of products across many stores, every day, at high speed. This illustrated case study shows how a typical multi-store grocery chain automates billing, pricing, receiving and stock with barcode solutions from Indian Barcode / Indian RFID (Mindware).
Note: This is an illustrative case study of a typical grocery-chain set-up, not a named customer.
The grocery barcode flow - in pictures
The challenge
Long queues at billing, price mismatches between shelf and system, manual receiving at each store, losses from expired stock and no clear view of what is selling in which store.
The barcode solution
- GS1 barcodes on own-brand products - barcode registration and EAN-13 numbering for private labels.
- Billing counters - presentation and in-counter 2D scanners that read EAN-13, QR codes and UPI payment QR codes in any direction.
- Weighing scales - direct thermal scale labels with price-embedded barcodes for fruit, vegetables, dry fruits and bakery.
- Shelf-edge labels - barcoded price labels printed from the ERP whenever prices change.
- Warehouse and receiving - GS1-128 / SSCC carton and pallet labels, mobile computers for picking, dispatch and store receiving.
- Stock and expiry - cycle counts and near-expiry checks with mobile computers; GS1 DataBar / Data Matrix where batch and expiry are needed.
- Labels and ribbons - made by Indian Barcode in 168 stock die sizes, with Mynds ribbons and service across India.
What changes
| Area | Before | With barcode automation |
|---|---|---|
| Billing | Typing codes, long queues | One scan per item; faster queues |
| Prices | Shelf and system disagree | Shelf labels printed from the same price file |
| Receiving | Manual counting at each store | Scan cartons against the delivery note |
| Expiry | Found on the shelf too late | Near-expiry lists from batch and expiry data |
| Head office | Reports days later | Live sales and stock for every store |
Next step for larger chains: RFID on high-value categories, cartons and returnable crates - see RFID warehouse management.