Price Look-up Code - Uses

Uses

PLU codes are used primarily in retail grocery stores or supermarkets, where they are keyed into a point of sale system by a cashier, or by the customer at a self checkout machine, while the produce is being weighed on a scale. PLUs can also be defined by the individual retailer, or location, and used in place of barcodes for a variety of reasons.

Price look-up codes are generally printed on small stickers or tags. Since 2006, the 4-digit code is often supplemented by a GS1 DataBar Stacked Omnidirectional barcode. Various new technologies are under consideration, including etching using lasers and printing or "tattooing" using ink made from substances such as the juice from blueberries .