As we celebrate our first 50 years, I would like to take a moment to reflect on our previous five decades, and thank our retail customers worldwide who have partnered with us over the years.
Contract Dataflo, Inc. was founded on July 20, 1970 by H. E. Billings, Jr. The company became Contract Datascan, Inc. in the 1990s as barcodes gained prevalence in the retail industry.
DATASCAN has long been an innovator in the self-scan business. We were the first to develop a scanning system with a centralized host, eliminating the need for a computer in every store. With the industry’s first real-time website, we gave our clients the ability to monitor and guide counts with visibility into count status and exceptions. As our company grew, DATASCAN again led the market by designing and building the first fit-for-purpose inventory scanners, ultimately reducing repetitive stress and physical fatigue. As retailers’ count requirements became more sophisticated, DATASCAN pioneered targeted audits, enabling retailers to enforce granular chain-wide auditing policies during an inventory count.
For fifty years DATASCAN has consistently been a company of ‘firsts’, working hard to satisfy the needs of retailers worldwide with their store inventory counting needs.
Today DATASCAN has a global reach with offices in Dallas, London, and Shanghai, and fulfillment centers in the US, Europe, and China. Last year we serviced retailers in 45 countries, counting over a billion items in more than 44,000 store locations.
While we are proud of our accomplishments, what we value most are the partnerships we’ve built with our clients. We consistently get high marks for exceeding expectations and for being transparent when execution isn’t perfect. Throughout all the changes to the retail industry, many of our clients have worked with us for more than 20 years! We want to thank our clients and our staff for their dedication, support, and encouragement along this journey. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we look forward to continued innovation at DATASCAN, and a bright and prosperous future for the retail industry.
