Barcodes vs Coupons, aren't just for services?

I was reading http://www.b2businesshub.com/public/your-business-ready-today%E2%80%99s-mobile-world and it just made me think about the
coupon system .tel has and qr codes vs traditional barcodes for stock.

I have a question as I've not been able to test the .tel apps other than the basic windows mobile one, does the app have a barcode and or qr code reader built in? if not why not? because telnames aka .tel in general is gearing towards small business and if a .tel app can 'plug' into my contact list and update it etc and do other things why can't the app allow telnames users to scan 'stock item' barcodes and pull that data from another app cache/repository into the coupon section?

So for instance a small business owner maybe has a cache or some form of 'stock taking software' on his phone? aka something that he syncs with a pc? so shouldn't it be as simple as switching to coupon mode to scan the barcode number of the item you wish to have a 'sale on' and searching the cache data stored in the phone of known popular stock taking software? then update the information so the employee does not have to re-enter data only pick the 'code' from a generated list based on the item type, that a person would call in store and 'say' the code to get the offer or enter it online? when ordering?

Now, some apps already have built in qr code scanner. Although some still not support to scan qr code, many free qr code scanners are available on app store.