Marking devices for dispensing markers on the ground and marking methods are provided. The marking devices and marking methods use a marking dispenser having a machine-readable ID mechanism. The ID mechanism has data storage capability. In one embodiment, the marking dispenser may be provided with a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag. In another embodiment, the marking dispenser may be provided with a barcode. The type of information that may be encoded in the ID mechanism may include, but is not limited to, product-specific information, user-specific information, other predetermined information of interest, and any combination thereof. The ID information encoded in the ID mechanism may be collected and used for various purposes, such as, but not limited to, real-time product verification, tracking which user location received a batch of marking paint, tracking marking paint inventory, tracking marking paint problems, and tracking marking paint usage.