Universal Product Code
Overview
 
The Universal Product Code (UPC) is a barcode symbology (i.e., a specific type of barcode
Barcode
A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional . Later they evolved into rectangles,...

), that is widely used in North America, and in countries including the UK, Australia, and New Zealand for tracking trade item
Trade item
The term trade item refers to any item upon which there is a need to retrieve pre-defined information and that may be priced or ordered or invoiced at any point in any supply chain....

s in stores. Its most common form, the UPC-A, consists of 12 numerical digit
Numerical digit
A digit is a symbol used in combinations to represent numbers in positional numeral systems. The name "digit" comes from the fact that the 10 digits of the hands correspond to the 10 symbols of the common base 10 number system, i.e...

s, which are uniquely assigned to each trade item
Trade item
The term trade item refers to any item upon which there is a need to retrieve pre-defined information and that may be priced or ordered or invoiced at any point in any supply chain....

. Along with the related EAN barcode, the UPC is the only barcode allowed for scanning trade items at the point of sale
Point of sale
Point of sale or checkout is the location where a transaction occurs...

, per GS1
GS1
Founded in 1977, GS1 is an international not-for-profit association dedicated to the development and implementation of global standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand chains globally and across multiple sectors...

 standards.
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