Sunrise 2027 · GS1 product codes
The barcode on your pack can be the artwork.
Retail is moving from the UPC to 2D codes. AriaQR makes that code out of your own pack art, built on the GS1 Digital Link standard: your GTIN sits in the code for checkout scanners, and phones open the page you choose. Verified to scan before you download it.
Not affiliated with GS1. Your GTIN must be one licensed to your brand.
Harbor Granola Co.
Net wt 12 oz
Oat & Honey
Checkout scanners read the product number out of the art code. The UPC stays alongside during the changeover.
What Sunrise 2027 is
Checkout learns to read 2D codes.
Sunrise 2027 is GS1’s goal for retail checkout scanners to read 2D barcodes, such as a QR code carrying a GS1 Digital Link, as well as the UPC and EAN barcodes they read today. One code can then do two jobs: ring up the product at the till and open a page on a shopper’s phone.
It is a readiness target, not a switch-off date. Timelines differ by country and retailer, so check your GS1 member organization and your retailers before you change packaging.
- 1NowPacks carry a UPC or EAN. Many add a QR code for marketing, a second code with a second job.
- 2The changeoverDual marking: the linear barcode stays, and a 2D code built on GS1 Digital Link sits alongside it. This is where an AriaQR product code goes.
- 3End of 2027GS1’s target for checkout scanners to read 2D codes. The linear barcode still works; retailers decide when it can go.
Why an art code
Same product number. Very different pack.
A plain GS1 QR code
Does the job, and takes a square of your pack that says nothing about you. Most shoppers will never know there is anything behind it.
Your artwork is the code
The same GS1 Digital Link, the same GTIN for the checkout, made out of your own design. A code that looks like it belongs on the pack gets scanned.
How it works
One code. The till reads the product. The phone opens your page.
Inside the code
https://aqr.li/01/09506000134352/10/ABC123
At the till
A 2D-ready checkout scanner reads the GTIN (lime) and the batch (cobalt) straight from the code, offline. It ignores the domain, as GS1 Digital Link intends.
On a phone
The camera opens the link. Our resolver looks up the product and sends the shopper to your page in a blink. Change that page whenever you like.
In your account
Every phone scan is counted per product and per batch: when, which city, which phone. Set a batch’s own page, a use-by date or a recall notice.
- 1
Upload your pack art
The front of the pack, your logo, a product photo. The picture becomes the code.
- 2
Enter the GTIN
The number under your UPC or EAN. Add a batch and a use-by date if you track them.
- 3
Choose where phones go
Your product page, a recipe, instructions or a promotion. Change it any time.
- 4
Print it next to your UPC
A print-ready master, verified to scan. Test a printed proof with your retailer first.
Editable
Print once. Repoint forever.
The product number is fixed in the code; where phones land is not. A new recipe page, a seasonal promotion, a fixed typo: change it in your account and every pack already on the shelf follows.
Per batch
Lots, use-by dates, recalls.
Put the batch in the code and each lot can have its own page. After a use-by date, phones see a short notice first. If a batch is ever recalled, its scans show a recall notice instead of your marketing.
Analytics
Know which pack gets scanned.
Scans per product and per batch, with city, device and hour of day, and a CSV export. No cookies on the shopper’s phone: a scan is counted from the redirect alone.
Bring your own domain
aqr.li, or your own name in the code.
GS1 Digital Link lets a brand use any domain, so the code can carry yours instead of aqr.li. Your domain then needs to answer Digital Link paths, and we can run that for you, with the same editable pages, batch rules and analytics. Available for brands on request.
Questions
The honest answers.
What is Sunrise 2027?+
GS1’s industry goal for retail checkout scanners to read 2D barcodes, such as a QR code carrying a GS1 Digital Link, as well as the familiar UPC and EAN barcodes. It is a readiness target, not a date when linear barcodes stop working. Timelines vary by country and retailer, so check your GS1 member organization’s guidance and your retailers’ requirements.
Can I remove the UPC once I have this code?+
Not yet. During the changeover packs carry both: the UPC or EAN for scanners that only read linear barcodes, and the 2D code alongside it. Ask your retailers before you drop a linear barcode.
Will it ring up at checkout?+
The code carries your GTIN the way the GS1 Digital Link standard lays it out, which is what 2D-ready checkout scanners read. Every code is verified to scan before you download it, and GS1’s own open-source Digital Link toolkit reads the GTIN and batch out of our codes. It is designed for 2D-ready checkout scanners, but we have not tested it on every retailer’s scanner, so print a proof and test it with your retailer before a full run.
Is this certified by GS1?+
No. AriaQR is not affiliated with GS1. The codes are built on the published GS1 Digital Link standard, and the GTIN must be one licensed to your brand.
What happens when a phone scans it?+
It opens a short aqr.li link with your product number in it. We send the phone on to the page you chose, a product page, recipe, instructions or a promotion, and count the scan. Change that page any time; the printed code stays the same.
Can each batch go somewhere different?+
Yes. A batch number in the code gets its own rules: its own page, a use-by date after which phones see a notice first, and a recall notice if you ever need one. Scans are counted per product and per batch.
Can the code use my own domain?+
Yes, GS1 Digital Link allows any domain, so the code can carry yours instead of aqr.li. Your domain then has to answer Digital Link paths; we can run that for you. Talk to us about it.
What does the checkout read, exactly?+
The GTIN, and the batch if the code has one. Dates and other details live on our side, not in the code, which keeps the code light and the picture clean. If a retailer needs the expiry date inside the code, tell us.
More background: GS1 Digital Link explained, Sunrise 2027 in detail, and codes for packaging.
Put your pack art where the barcode goes.
Upload the art, enter the GTIN, choose where phones go. Verified to scan before you pay.