 It's a sound that may fade into the background at many stores today, but 50 years ago, that beep marked the first use of a consumer barcode. It happened at Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, where a customer bought a 10-pack of Wrigley's chewing gum. Today, more than 10 billion barcodes are scanned every day, but recently there's been a movement to move over to QR codes, with more than 20 companies signing on to accept the newer technology at checkout by 2027. Mike Dubosky.