How to choose a barcode scanner for a busy counter

A scanner is the cheapest part of a billing counter and the part your staff touch most. The wrong one adds a second to every bottle, and seconds become a queue.

Handheld or hands-free

A handheld scanner is picked up and pointed. It is cheap, tough and good for cartons on the floor. A hands-free counter scanner sits on the counter and reads whatever is passed in front of it, which keeps both hands free for bottles and cash. Busy counters are usually faster with a hands-free scanner.

1D or 2D

The striped codes printed on most bottles are 1D codes. Square codes such as QR codes are 2D. A 2D scanner reads both, and also reads codes off a phone screen, so it is the safer choice if the price difference is small.

Test it on your worst bottle

Curved glass, glossy labels and codes wrapped around a narrow neck are where scanners fail. Before you buy, try the scanner on the bottle your staff complain about most.