Sears Partnership

Beginning in the 1980s, our team established a long-standing partnership with Sears and Kmart that continued until Sears Holdings ceased operations. Our consulting team created the first barcode barcode requirement guide for Sears in 1988 an continued to administer point-of-sale and logic barcodes for Sears for another two decades.

Key Responsibilities and Achievements:

Our work encompassed the development and maintenance of Sears Barcode Requirements, while we simultaneously functioned as a technical support resource for third-party vendors. Initially, our barcode origination department provided all of the original film master images for Sears branded products and coupon.

At Sears’ receiving locations, we established diagnostic and reporting procedures specifically targeting noncompliant SSCC-18s and GTINs. The administration of Sears’ Barcode Compliance Program fell under our purview, covering both GTIN-14 and GS1-128 Shipping Labels. During the corporate merger that formed Sears Holdings Corporation, we facilitated the migration of supplier GTIN data between Sears and Kmart systems.

Impact and Recognition:

Through direct collaboration with Sears’ Top 200 vendors, our team systematically identified and resolved barcode label compliance issues. This comprehensive approach transformed Sears’ scan rates for vendor-generated carton and shipping labels, elevating performance from under 25% to over 95% at their cross-dock facilities.

Sears recognized our innovative and flexible methodology by presenting our team with the Partner in Progress Award on five separate occasions. These awards specifically acknowledged our success in dramatically enhancing the performance of vendor-generated GS1-128 shipping labels and GTIN-14 carton labels.

Industry Expansion:

The retail industry’s widespread barcode adoption during the 1990s and early 2000s created opportunities for us to apply our Sears-acquired expertise across various retail label requirement projects.