This is a question that we frequently get from designers, so I figured you would benefit from the answer as well.

Q. What is the skinny on bar/UPC codes? And do I need to have that on my products/hangtags?

A. To answer the question, first, let me explain what a UPC code is and why it is used.

A UPC, Universal Product Code, is a bar code that encodes product information (company, product style, size, color, etc.) in a visual pattern that can be read electronically. For example, retailers with an electronic point of sale system at the checkout use UPCs to keep track of their stock, sales and reorder products by scanning the bar code.