At Dealmaker Media, we’re seeing a lot of companies popping up that are using barcode scanning technology to get customers more active in their shopping/retail experience. Stickybits, RedLaser, shopkick, BarcodeHero, and Barcoo are just a few in a long list of companies offering customer interaction with barcodes. We think they’re awesome… do you?

Here’s a brief look into 5-options out there today:

1. Barcode Hero: Barcode Hero is a social barcode scanner that works with Facebook. Users share their purchases with friends, scan barcodes to compare prices, follow other shoppers to see their scans & recommendations in real-time, and share tips to help others discover new stuff. There is also a game aspect of Barcode Hero where the most active scanners in various categories are crowned “King” and “Queen.”
BASIC INFO: Founded in January, 2010 as Kima Labs, Inc, by Amazon.com veterans Blake Scholl and Jason Crawford. Funders include: Naval Ravikant, SV Angel (Ron Conway), and Owen Van Natta. Based in San Francisco, CA.

2. barcoo: barcoo links products in stores with independent consumer information. Mobile phones become barcode scanners and show you consumer information. barcoo provides: price comparisons, test reports, health guides, and green/sustainability information. There is also a game aspect of barcoo called “ScanHero.”
BASIC INFO: barcoo was founded in 2008 and is currently run by CEO Benjamin Thym. The company has received Seed Funding, and is based in Berlin, Germany.

3. RedLaser: RedLaser is a barcode-scanning application for comparison shopping and finding product information using a mobile device.
BASIC INFO: RedLaser was acquired by eBay in June of 2010. It was founded by startup Occipital, a TechStars incubated company that launched in 2008.

4. shopkick: shopkick lets you scan an item, check into the store with the item and then tap on it. Your phone will switch to camera mode and you should hold it in front of the barcode of the product. After a few seconds, the barcode should be recognized. It will give you information about the product, as well as potential coupons, special offers, and vouchers related to the product or the store.
BASIC INFO: shopkick was founded in June 2009 by Cyriac Roeding, Jeff Sellinger, and Aaron Emigh. It has received $20 million dollars in funding from investors including: Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, SV Angel, Citi Growth Ventures & Innovation Group. The company is based in Palo Alto, California.

5. stickybits: stickybits brings the physical and digital worlds together with barcode stickers which trigger audio, video, photo, and text messages when scanned. The product is a mobile app for the iPhone and Android phones which lets users scan barcodes, attach messages, and keep track of the stickybits left by their friends.
BASIC INFO: stickybits was founded in 2009 by Billy Chasen and Seth Goldstein. It has received early $2 million in funding from investors including: First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, and Polaris Venture Partners. The company is based in New York, New York.

Have more ideas for us? Do you prefer on of these over the other? Cool, eh?

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