6/25/99 -- 5:23 PM

Checkout scanner, a favorite of bean counters everywhere, turns

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TROY, Ohio (AP) - It was only a pack of chewing gum. But its sale 25 years ago marked the debut of the checkout scanner and the beginning of a revolution, first in retailing and then in other industries.

It was on June 26, 1974, that a 10-pack of Wrigley's was moved across an NCR Corp. scanner at Marsh Supermarket in this city of 20,000. It was the first retail use of the technology, and it would mean an end to the days when cashiers' fingers had to fly over register keys to keep store lines moving.

Linda Rozell, general merchandise manager, was there that day.

``It's really hard to believe our little, small store here started the whole thing nationwide,'' Ms. Rozell said.

Now about 90 percent of U.S. retail chains have scanners, and an estimated 1 million of them are in operation worldwide, according to Tracy Flynn, vice president of food industry marketing for NCR.

The scanner has transformed the world of business and beyond.

The same technology that allows a computer to read a series of bars and numbers and add up a grocery bill also enables a store to track its inventory and the buying habits of customers, providing instant marketing information.

Scanners and bar codes have allowed companies such as Wal-Mart and Federal Express to create distribution systems that have set standards for efficiency and cost-savings within their industries.

They have also made it possible for government agencies, institutions and companies to easily access databanks of information about people. Many states even put bar codes on drivers' licenses to help police obtain information about motorists.

Bar codes also show up on luggage tags, helping airlines get a suitcase to the right destination. They have been used in the Iditarod dogsled race in Alaska to keep track of the dogs on each team. Bar codes are used on ranches as cattle brands. Laboratories use them to make sure patients' results aren't mixed up.

Dayton-based NCR said it picked the store in Troy for the first retail use of the scanner because it was nearby and Marsh was a cooperative customer.

When the scanner was still a novelty 25 years ago, Marsh's cashiers found using it awkward, Ms. Rozell recalled. Customers weren't quite sure what to make of it.

``They were skeptical,'' she said. ``But no one ever really threw a fit.''

Cathy Hotka, vice president of information technology for the National Retail Federation, said the scanner's effect has been huge.

``Having the ability to scan a product means a retailer can track when that product is sold and where it's sold. Retailers have a way to make sure they don't run out of the product,'' she said.

The scanner has also enabled supermarkets and shoe stores, for example, to tailor their merchandise to their customers. ``In some locations, people won't eat chocolate ice cream,'' Ms. Hotka said. ``In some locations people have wider feet because they are different nationalities.''

Trends are spotted more quickly because of the scanner.

``Colors, for instance, go in and out of style,'' Ms. Hotka said. ``A retailer can now track not only what kind of T-shirt is selling, but what color. It's one reason fads can take off faster than before.''

In 1992, President Bush created a stir during a visit to a grocers' convention in Orlando, Fla., when he remarked that he was amazed by the scanner technology he saw there.

It was widely reported that Bush was surprised to see an ordinary supermarket scanner, prompting columnists and cartoonists to suggest the president was out of touch with everyday life. Officials later said Bush was commenting on a new type of scanner that could even read a torn-up bar-code label.

Flynn said scanners have gotten both smaller and better at reading bar codes. The latest trend is toward self-service checkout scanners as a way for stores to cut costs and deal with labor shortages.

But not everyone likes the scanner, even after 25 years.

``I like the old way better,'' said Marsh shopper Georgia Dix. ``I was used to that.''

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thought this was an interesting read.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), June 25, 1999

Answers

Ray would you like some of my fries and shake that I brought home from Burger King?

-- Y2K Pro (2@641.com), June 25, 1999.