As the average person now checks their phone every 12 minutes, it seems like everyone is nearly glued to the devices they own. Keeping that in mind, companies have found ways for consumers and industries to take advantage of barcode technology. Barcode scanning applications can help you to track inventory in a warehouse, visitors to an event, or share historical data with curious visitors.

Here are five innovative scanning applications you might not be thinking about.

1. SPECIAL EVENTS AND TRAVELING

If you haven’t noticed lately, when you go to a concert, a movie, or are about to board a plane, there’s someone there with a barcode scanner. Those portable scanning machines are getting smaller and more powerful every day. They have an impeccable ability to validate and verify any ticket before you even get through the door.

They are great for accounting for sales and providing a real-time readout of tickets sold, tickets used, and even some other data about users. If you’re running a venue and want to know what kind of revenue you’re getting, those tools make it much more convenient to keep track of things.

If you make a ticketless event, ask visitors to print their own tickets or scan their phones, you don’t even have to print tickets. This expense could be used to increase staffing or add to staff budgets. Kiosks can be used to print tickets if need be.

Online booking systems have now made it so that even in the secure space of train or plane travel, we can use our devices instead of tickets. This is saving at every level of the ticketing process for business owners of venues of every size.

2. QR CODES

If you’ve been around for the past decade, you’ve seen those strange square barcodes popping up everywhere. While some people still don’t know what they are, more people are learning about the power of QR codes. Beyond just a barcode, they can contain a command that leads somewhere.

Scanning them with your phone will allow your phone to do something in response. When it reads a QR code, browsers are sent a message to visit a website or a landing page. This type of barcode helps advertisers and product providers to get information out to consumers.

QR codes might still only be used by techie insiders, but as more companies take advantage of the technology, more users will follow suit. When you offer promotions, deals, products, or exclusives via a QR code, you can get your users to engage with your brand more. Their increased engagement will give you the option to collect information.

When you can get users’ phone numbers or email addresses, you can contact them more directly and get information that they would otherwise protect. All you have to do is to offer them something good.

3. SELF CHECKOUT APPS

In the last few years, the biggest technological leap made by grocery stores and retail environments has been self-checkout. Self-checkout allows customers to avoid lines and human error by taking things into their own hands.

People will make more accurate purchases and will be less likely to return items when they check themselves out. They can also work at their own pace and with enough stations, you can accommodate shoppers of all speeds.

Self-checkouts have moved from stationary kiosks to our personal devices. Many grocery stores are now experimenting with self-checkout apps that allow you to check out as you shop. They eliminate the need for you to stand in long lines and give you the chance to bag your own groceries.

If you hate having your bananas smashed or your eggs cracked when you check out, you can do the work yourself as you walk through the aisles. For people who carry their own bags anyway, there’s now no need to worry about how long you’re going to be held up at the grocery store. A shopping trip is only as long as a walk through the aisles.

4. COUNT YOUR CALORIES

Speaking of food, there are now some apps that will track your food through barcodes. If you’re glued to your phone anyhow, this is a great way to make it a healthier move.

For people tracking their calories, there are a limited number of tools to help you stay connected to your eating habits. An app that tracks the food you eat throughout the day and adds up the calories could be a big help.

Taking a photo of the barcode on the packaging can help you to add up what you’re eating. The app automatically calculates the nutrition information and lets you know how much you’ve eaten during a day.

If keeping a food diary is hard, this is a way to help you. If you’re concerned that it can’t add up the fresh carrots, celery, apples, and oranges you eat through the day, don’t fret. Those things are so good for you that they’re the least of your food worries.

5. ART AND ARCHITECTURE NEEDS

Believe it or not, art and architecture are now using barcodes to engage with visitors and viewers.

If you visit a modern gallery or unique landmark, you might find that there are barcodes everywhere. These will contain information that’s unlocked when you scan them. You can learn more about a place you’re visiting and get to know about the history of a place with the quick scan.

If you want to take an open unguided tour through a museum, you won’t have to do it totally on your own. With the help of a device, you can still learn new things.

BARCODE SCANNING APPLICATIONS ARE VARIED

No matter what your needs are for barcode scanning applications, you can find a way to enrich your business with them. Whether you want to increase profits, control inventory, or lower your costs, there’s a solution that could work. Even if you’re a consumer, you’ll find new ways to engage with the world with barcodes.

If you’re wondering if scanning is good for your business, here are seven reasons to implement it at your site.