The standard retail barcode in the United States and Canada, encoding 12 digits to uniquely identify consumer products.
UPC-A is the original retail barcode, first scanned on a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum at a Marsh supermarket in Ohio on June 26, 1974. This historic moment launched the barcode revolution that transformed retail forever. Today, UPC-A remains the dominant barcode format in the United States and Canada, appearing on virtually every product sold in North American stores.
The development of UPC began in 1969 when the grocery industry formed a committee to develop a standard product identification system. After evaluating many proposals, the industry selected a design based on IBM engineer George Laurer's work. The first UPC scanner was installed at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, and the first product scanned was a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum at 8:01 AM on June 26, 1974. That pack of gum is now in the Smithsonian Institution. By 1980, only 8,000 stores had scanners, but by 2004, UPC scanning had become virtually universal in North American retail.
| Symbology Type | Linear (1D) |
| Character Set | Numeric only (0-9) |
| Data Capacity | Exactly 12 digits |
| Check Digit | Modulo 10 (mandatory, auto-calculated) |
| Standard Size | 37.29mm × 25.93mm (100% magnification) |
| Magnification Range | 80% to 200% |
| Minimum X-Dimension | 0.264mm at 80% magnification |
| Quiet Zone | 9 modules on each side |
The original use case - UPC was created specifically for grocery checkout automation.
All retail products sold in the US and Canada, from electronics to clothing to toys.
Bulk products at Costco, Sam's Club, and other warehouse retailers.
Over-the-counter medications, health products, and personal care items.
Quick checkout for snacks, beverages, and everyday items.
UPC-A has 12 digits while EAN-13 has 13. A UPC-A can be converted to EAN-13 by adding a leading zero. Most modern scanners read both. For selling internationally, EAN-13 is preferred, but for US/Canada retail, UPC-A is standard.
Join GS1 US (gs1us.org) to get a company prefix. Membership costs range from $250/year for small businesses to more for larger companies. Once you have a prefix, you assign product numbers and generate valid UPC codes.
While some companies sell UPC codes, major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target require GS1-issued codes. Using resold codes can cause your products to be rejected or delisted. Always get codes directly from GS1.
The first digit is the "number system digit": 0-1 = regular products, 2 = variable weight items (meat, produce), 3 = drugs/health, 4 = in-store use, 5 = coupons, 6-9 = regular products.
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