What is UPC (Universal Product Code)?
UPC is the 12-digit barcode standard used mainly in the United States and Canada, readable by the same scanners as EAN-13.
Updated
Meaning
English
UPC is the 12-digit barcode standard used mainly in the United States and Canada, readable by the same scanners as EAN-13.
Roman Urdu
UPC 12 hindson wala barcode standard hai jo zyada tar America aur Canada me chalta hai; EAN-13 wale scanner isay bhi parhte hain.
Also called UPC-A, universal product code, 12 digit barcode.
Example
An imported energy drink from the US carries a 12-digit UPC. When scanned at a Karachi store, the POS reads it as a 13-digit code with a leading zero.
How it works
UPC-A and EAN-13 belong to the same GS1 family. A UPC is effectively an EAN-13 that starts with 0, so most scanners and software treat them as one system. Imported goods in Pakistan, such as cosmetics, supplements, snacks and electronics accessories, often carry UPCs.
The practical issue for a shop is matching: one scanner may send 12 digits and another 13, so the same item looks like two different codes. When products are entered, scan them with the counter's own scanner rather than typing the number from the pack, so the code saved matches what the counter will read.
In Nafaa
Nafaa stores whatever code the scanner reads and finds the product by it at the counter, so entering a product by scanning it once keeps imported UPC items consistent.
