For fifty years the striped barcode has done one job at the checkout: identify the product. A global initiative is preparing tills to read a two-dimensional code instead, one that identifies the product and opens a doorway to the web at the same time.
The beep at the supermarket checkout is one of the most familiar sounds in modern life, and the striped barcode behind it has barely changed since the 1970s. It does exactly one thing: it tells the till which product this is. That is about to change, and the change is bigger than it sounds.
A global standards effort known as Sunrise 2027 is preparing retailers and their systems to read a two-dimensional code, a QR-style square, at the point of sale, in place of or alongside the familiar stripes. The target is an industry-wide readiness so that a single code on a pack can be scanned both by the till and by a shopper’s phone.
The reason for the move is capacity. A striped barcode holds a product number and little else. A two-dimensional code holds thousands of characters, which means it can carry a batch number, a use-by date, an origin, and a web address, all in the same mark that rings up the sale.
Consider what a shop can do when the code knows the use-by date. The till can refuse an expired item automatically, or apply a markdown as the date approaches, without a member of staff checking a label. Consider what it can do when the code carries a batch number: a recall can pull one affected batch off the shelves instead of a whole product line.
And consider the shopper. The same code that identifies the product to the till identifies it to a phone, and shoppers increasingly want what a phone can then show them.
A pack has a fixed surface and a printing deadline. A code on that pack has neither, because it can lead to as much information as you like, updated whenever you like: ingredients, allergens, provenance, recycling guidance, a how-to video. None of it has to fit on the label or be finalised before the print run.
You do not need a supermarket’s supply chain to use the underlying idea today. On your own packaging, a single code can already carry the story of the product, its care instructions and a re-order link, and you can update any of it after the boxes are printed. The Sunrise 2027 work is the retail plumbing catching up with something small producers can already do on their own labels.
The deeper shift is conceptual. For thirty years the code on a pack was a full stop: it identified the product and nothing more. Its replacement is a doorway. When the code the till scans is also the code the customer scans, the product and its digital life stop being separate things. The pack becomes the beginning of a conversation, not the end of one.
It is a global standards initiative preparing retailers and their checkout systems to read two-dimensional codes, such as QR-style squares, at the point of sale, in place of or alongside the traditional striped barcode.
Capacity. A striped barcode holds only a product number, while a two-dimensional code holds thousands of characters, so it can carry a batch number, an expiry date, provenance and a web address in the same mark that rings up the sale.
The code that identifies a product to the till can also open a web page for the shopper, showing ingredients, allergens, provenance or recycling guidance. 77% of shoppers already say detailed product information matters to their purchase.
No. On your own packaging you can already print a code that carries the product’s story, care details and a re-order link, and update it after printing. The 2027 work is the retail checkout catching up with what small producers can do today.
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