Barcodes as an idea started in the late 1940s, but they didn’t reach store checkouts until the 1970s.

Quick Scoop

  • The concept of barcodes was developed in 1948 by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, who were trying to solve supermarket checkout and inventory problems.
  • They filed the first barcode patent in 1949; it was granted in 1952 and described an early “bullseye” style code read by a light source.
  • Barcodes were first used in industrial/commercial tests in the 1960s, notably to label and track railroad cars (KarTrak system).
  • The Universal Product Code (UPC) standard was introduced in 1973, giving industry a common retail barcode format.
  • The first retail barcode scan happened on June 26, 1974, when a pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum was scanned at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

So, when did barcodes “start”?

It depends what you mean by “start”:

  • If you mean invention/concept : late 1940s, with the 1949 patent filing and 1952 patent grant.
  • If you mean first serious commercial use : mid‑1960s in railroad and other industrial tracking systems.
  • If you mean the barcodes we see on products in stores : early 1970s, with the UPC standard (1973) and the first grocery checkout scan in 1974.

In everyday terms, most people mark the “start” of modern barcodes as 1974, when checkout scanners began reading UPC codes at supermarkets.

TL;DR:

  • Idea and patent: 1949–1952
  • Early industrial use: 1960s
  • Everyday retail use (UPC at checkouts): 1973–1974 ✅