One-dimensional barcodes will transition to 2D barcodes, like QR codes, and retailers need to be ready for the change by the end of 2027. GS1 US, the not-for-profit behind the Sunrise 2027 initiative, is leading the charge and helping both retailers and suppliers prepare for the next dimension of barcodes.  

What’s driving the demand for 2D barcodes? 

Consumers are looking for more and more transparency about the products they buy, especially as the cost of food rises. They want their purchase decisions to align with their preferences and their budgets. A recent survey by GS1 found that 76% of consumers want more information due to higher food costs, with 71% saying that they are reading labels more closely and often. Additionally, 66% said they would scan a QR code on food packaging to access information such as freshness, ingredients and shelf life. 

With 2D barcodes, brands can offer this information to consumers by allowing them to scan QR codes on packaging and learn about origin, ingredients, synthetic dye disclosures, nutritional content, allergens, storage tips and more. And there are myriad benefits for retailers in the future—using them for product recalls, dynamic pricing or discounts, connecting with loyalty apps and preventing expired items from being sold. 

How will this transition impact retailers’ operations? 

We really think of this transition in three phases: crawl, walk and run. Right now we are in the crawl phase, which is where retailers need to ensure they can scan and accept 2D barcodes at checkout to complete a purchase. For now, a retailer could drop all other data but the UPC to ensure that the code goes “beep” at checkout and that’s it. Scanning the UPC will look much like it does today, but retailers will need an optical scanner to process a 2D barcode, as well as the necessary firmware upgrades from their scanner manufacturer to make them Sunrise 2027 capable.

Future phases—walk and run—will involve leveraging additional data stored in the barcodes for more consumer engagement, automation and business insights. Retailers need to decide how much of that data stored in the barcode they want to leverage and integrate into their systems. It could potentially be used for inventory management, product traceability and alerting stores to product recalls, tracking expired products, generating dynamic pricing, linking to digital coupons or providing data on consumer purchases through loyalty apps and much more. Changes to hardware or software will be dependent on how the retailer plans to utilize the additional data a 2D barcode can provide. 

An anticipated challenge is that during the transition period, products will likely have both 1D and 2D barcodes on the same package, and both barcodes will have product identifiers in them. The scanner needs to know which one to scan and it might read things twice. Your scanner needs to know how to manage more than one barcode and be able to prioritize them. We did a tremendous amount of testing to ensure this goes smoothly and have guidance around where the barcodes need to be placed so that they don’t ring up twice, but retailers need to also test and verify that their firmware is fine tuned.

What should retailers with private label products or fresh foodservice know? 

Retailers with their own branded products or fresh food items will need to update their product labels with 2D barcodes and will, at minimum, need to include the GTIN and UPC information adhering to the appropriate GS1 syntax, whether an element string which includes application identifiers and values, or the GS1 Digital Link syntax that makes the barcode web-resolvable. If the barcode is web resolvable, retailers can start dipping their toe in the water on the consumer engagement piece and can link to additional information that helps tell a story about the product. They can do the same thing with the 2D barcodes that national CPGs are doing. 

Leveraging dynamic data in 2D barcodes may involve upgrades to manufacturers’ printers so the barcodes can be printed at speed. In line printers at the point of manufacture that can print dynamic data will need to be planned as part of the private brand manufacturer’s equipment upgrade roadmap. For fast-moving consumer goods, we see this as something that will be iterative and come after we get things right with the UPC in the 2D barcode. For fresh items found in store, it might require upgrades to in-store scale printing solutions to print the data-rich barcode. These are a bit easier to get started with using dynamic data, because the speed requirements are much different. It’s something retailers with private label products or fresh food and commissary items should put on their radar now as part of their general roadmap so that they’re ready for it, and it does not preclude getting started now for the minimal requirements of Sunrise 2027. 

What steps should retailers take now to prepare for the Sunrise 2027 transition?  

It’s important to note that there will be a grace period where packaging will likely have both 1D and 2D barcodes for a period of time, but retailers do need to ensure they have the capability to scan 2D barcodes at checkout by the end of 2027. To do this, they should take inventory of their existing hardware equipment and software. They will need to have an optical scanner and must ensure that their scanners have the proper firmware upgrades to be Sunrise 2027 capable, meaning they can recognize the syntaxes within the 2D barcode, prioritize one of the two symbols and only “beep” once. 

This is the first in a two-part Q&A series on Sunrise 2027. Look out for the next article in the October issue of NACS Magazine, which will take a closer look at the equipment needed and technical requirements for successfully implementing 2D barcodes.

For more information about GS1 US, visit www.gs1us.org. Want to get involved and help the industry transition to 2D barcodes? Join the Sunrise 2027 working group, facilitated by GS1 US and Conexxus, by emailing sunrise2027@gs1us.org or visit conexxus.org/groups.