The bar codes that you're used to seeing At checkouts could no longer be a thing By 2027 that's because Brands and Retailers are working to replace the Barcodes with QR codes companies such as Coca-Cola L'Oreal and Proctor and Gamble Have already started using this new Technology for their products so for More on this I'm joined by Isabelle buet She is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who's been following this story Okay so let's just start with this what Are the key differences between barcodes And QR codes other than how they Look yeah I mean there's sort of a Similar thing right they're both Designed to essentially hold information Um the main difference is that a QR code Can hold a lot more information um you Know you SC a barcode you basically get The name of that product and the price Um a QR code can just hold a swath of You know vast information from you know Dietary information information on how That product was made whether it was Made sustainably um it can take Shoppers To all these cool new digital Experiences um and so it it can sort of Do the job of a barcode but it's also Sort of like vastly more capable um so I Guess that's why companies might want to Move away from barcodes it seems to me That you know barcodes are so Ubiquitous you would think that they
Would be able to modify the barcodes to Kind of do what QR codes do but I guess It's more complicated than That yeah I mean this sort of is that Modification like this is sort of that Next step you know a QR code is like it It it it's sort of called a 2d barcode Um sort of you know the next step in the Evolution and barcodes have been around For a long long time um you know they've Sort of been the go-to standard in Shopping since 1974 so I think companies And Brands and retailers are sort of Feeling like Now's the Time to to take That next step so you know one of the Things I noticed sometimes when you're Checking out uh if things don't scan the The cashier might like look at the Numbers at the bottom of the barcode and Then just type it in manually QR codes Don't really have anything like that I Mean are I'm guess I'm what I'm trying To get is what are the possible Challenges of sort of overhauling the System like that how what would it take To do That yeah anytime you're trying to make A transition at this scale that's Basically involving every product and Every retailer uh not just in the US but Globally you know there are going to be A lot of challenges there's still a lot That needs to be figured out um you know Retailers still need to work through um
You know what it means for their Hardware systems what it means for their Software systems they need new kinds of Scanners and then they need to adapt Their software to be capable of taking In the information from those new kinds Of scanners so a lot of technological Kinks and then you know the QR code Itself is also not not perfect um you Know right now it has to be a certain Size even so a lot of the products find In like a CVS or are too small to Actually hold a barcode if you think About like you know a eyeliner like you Can't barcode and put it on that so lots To be worked out but I think that's why They've set um themselves this goal of a Couple years in the future interesting Isabelle buset thank you very much thank You so much
