GS1 Digital Link for retail — one code for the till and the phone

GS1 Digital Link puts the GTIN inside an ordinary URL, so a single QR code can be scanned at the point of sale like a barcode and by a shopper's phone like a web link. GS1's Sunrise 2027 programme targets retail scanners accepting 2D codes by end-2027; until then brands print both symbols.

One symbol, two readers

The linear EAN/UPC barcode does exactly one job: it tells the till the GTIN. Every other job — consumer information, traceability, promotions — has historically needed its own symbol or none. GS1 Digital Link collapses this by encoding the GTIN as path structure inside an ordinary URL:

https://id.example.com/01/09520123456788/10/LOT42/17/270901

A till that understands Digital Link extracts 01 (GTIN), 10 (batch) and 17 (expiry) and rings the product up. A shopper's phone opens the same string as a URL and lands on whatever your resolver serves — product page, allergen depth, recycling routes. One symbol, both audiences. That is the entire pitch, and it is a good one: expiry and batch in the POS scan alone enables markdown automation and sell-by blocking that linear barcodes cannot do.

This page is about the retail rollout; the payload syntax itself lives on the spec page.

Sunrise 2027, stated precisely

GS1's migration programme — usually called Sunrise 2027 — is the coordinated industry target that retail point-of-sale systems should be able to scan 2D barcodes by the end of 2027. Frame it correctly: it is GS1's published programme target for scanner capability, not a regulation, and not a date on which linear barcodes stop working. Nobody expects EAN symbols to vanish in 2028; grocery infrastructure moves in decades.

What it does mean is that the capability floor is moving. Major retailers and scanner vendors are aligned on accepting 2D at the till, and brands designing artwork with a 5-year life should design for that world.

The dual-symbol transition

Until the tills in every market you sell in actually read 2D, the pack carries both symbols: the EAN for today's scanners, the Digital Link QR for phones and tomorrow's scanners. Two rules from the label-placement page become critical:

≥ 2 cm separation between the symbols, so imagers do not lock onto the wrong one.
Where possible, different faces of the pack — barcode stays in its conventional position, QR goes with the consumer-facing content.

Verify with your retailers before dropping the linear symbol — retailer readiness, not GS1's target date, is the actual gate.

Resolver strategy

The URL's domain is a long-term commitment. Options:

Resolver	Trade-off
Your own domain (`id.yourbrand.com`)	Full control, full permanence obligation
GS1's resolver	Neutral infrastructure; you configure link targets per GTIN
Retailer-specific	Avoid — the pack outlives any single retail relationship

Whichever you choose, structure it so the identifier is the stable part and the destinations are configuration: the same code should serve a consumer page today, a Digital Product Passport in 2028, and a recall notice on a bad day, without touching artwork. Generate per-batch or per-unit codes once serialised data enters the path, and verify every artwork variant decodes before release.

FAQ

What is Sunrise 2027?

GS1's coordinated programme targeting retail point-of-sale scanners being able to read 2D barcodes, including QR codes with Digital Link, by the end of 2027. It is an industry capability target, not a regulation or a switch-off date for linear barcodes.

Can a QR code replace the barcode on my product now?

Not yet in general retail — only where your specific retailers confirm 2D-capable tills. Until then print both symbols, at least 2 cm apart, with the EAN in its conventional position.

What does a GS1 Digital Link QR contain?

An ordinary URL whose path carries GS1 identifiers — GTIN, and optionally batch, expiry and serial. Tills parse the identifiers; phones follow the URL to whatever page your resolver serves for that product.

Whose domain should the Digital Link use?

Either your own subdomain, accepting that it must stay alive for the product's life, or GS1's resolver infrastructure. Never a retailer's domain or a third-party shortener — the pack outlives both relationships.