Variable Barcodes Using UPC-A

There's a barcode standard called UPC-A that embeds the price of the product into the actual barcode, making all barcode patterns for the same product potentially different. This is handy when you have one product that sells for random amounts. Supermarkets use this fluctuating barcode concept for selling precut packages of, say, ribeye steak that might have one ID, but could sell for various prices depending on the weight of the cut.

The MINDBODY System supports the UPC-A barcode standard with a feature called Variable Barcodes. We don't actually create the barcodes, but if you have them printed, our software can store the variable barcodes in each product's Detail Screen and then lookup the product on the Retail Screen using a barcode scanner.

Once the Variable Barcode Feature is enabled, your inventory can have a mixture of products with variable barcodes (UPC-A barcodes) and regular barcodes.

To enable this feature:

1. Follow this menu path: Toolbox => Setup => Options => General Setup & Options
2. In the Retail Settings Section, enable the new Variable Barcodes Checkbox
3. Click the Update Button

To save a variable barcode into a product:

1. Follow this menu path: Toolbox => Products => Manage Products (look up the product)
2. Check the new "Use Variable Pricing" Checkbox
3. Enter just the five-digit ID for the product
4. Note about UPC-A barcodes:
   • The first digit indicates what type of barcode it is, letting other POS systems know that it's a UPC-A barcode with a variable component
   • The next five digits are the product's ID (which you will enter into the barcode field)
   • The next five digits are the price, imbedded into the barcode
   • The last digit is the barcode's checksum
5. Enter a price, should this product be looked up without a barcode

To lookup a variable barcode on the Retail Screen:

1. Click on the Retail Tab
2. Look up a client
3. Click on the Products Tab in the ADD ITEM Window
4. Search by barcode and scan the variable barcode into the Find Field

Other things to know:

• MINDBODY does not encode or print the variable barcodes in UPC-A format, it just reads the UPC-A barcodes on the Retail Screen for products that have been enabled for Use Variable Barcodes
• Even if a product is using a variable barcode, you can still look it up by name
• If you enable variable barcodes on the General Setup & Options Screen, then you can still have products with longer-than-five-digit-barcodes. You just need to make sure that those products have the Use Variable Barcode Checkbox unchecked on their details screen.

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