GS1 Sunrise 2027: What Consumer Product Brands Need to Do With the QR Code

Last updated: October 21, 2026

By the end of 2027, the checkout scanners in most stores are expected to read 2D barcodes. Most of what you'll find about GS1 Sunrise 2027 is written for people buying scanners and label printers. If you make the product, the more interesting question is different: once you put a QR code on the box, what should it contain, and where should it send the person who scans it?

This guide covers what Sunrise 2027 actually is (and isn't), how to choose between a QR code and GS1 DataMatrix, the print rules worth knowing before your next packaging run, and how to make the QR code useful to the people who buy your product.

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What Is GS1 Sunrise 2027?

GS1 Sunrise 2027 is the industry goal that retail point-of-sale systems can read and process 2D barcodes, such as QR codes and GS1 DataMatrix, by the end of 2027, in addition to the UPC and EAN barcodes they read today.

GS1 US calls it Sunrise 2027. Globally, GS1 calls it Ambition 2027: "for retail point-of-sale (POS) scanning to be globally capable of reading and processing the GTIN from both existing linear and 2D barcodes by the end of 2027."

Three things are easy to get wrong:

• It's an industry goal, not a law. Nobody fines a brand for not having a 2D barcode in 2028. Retailers, brands, solution providers and GS1 agreed on it together.
• The UPC is not going away. GS1 US says U.P.C. barcodes will continue to be accepted and scanned after 2027. The global guideline says linear barcodes "will not go away and will coexist with 2D barcodes for as long as there are uses for them."
• The minimum is the GTIN. The only thing a checkout must do to be Sunrise-ready is read the GTIN from a 2D barcode the same way it does from a UPC. Reading batch numbers or expiry dates is a later step. When GS1 US had retailers test their systems, all of them hit issues processing extra data like expiry dates, and many had imaging scanners with 2D reading simply switched off.

Why retailers and brands want it

A UPC holds one thing: the GTIN. A 2D barcode can hold the GTIN plus a batch or lot number, a serial number, an expiry date and, in the case of a QR code with GS1 Digital Link, a web address. That one code can then serve the checkout, recalls and traceability, and the shopper's phone at the same time. GS1's vision is "a single multipurpose 2D barcode" per product.

For a consumer brand, the last part matters most. Many products already carry a marketing QR code next to the UPC. Sunrise 2027 is the chance to merge them into one standard code that the checkout and the customer can both use.

The Transition: Two Barcodes for a While

Until 2D reading is near universal, you print both. GS1's rule is specific: until 90% of point-of-sale scanning solutions can read GS1 2D barcodes and capture at least the GTIN, any product with a retail 2D barcode must also carry its linear barcode.

GS1 calls this dual marking. During the dual-marking phase the package carries:

• the current UPC or EAN (or GS1 DataBar for fresh foods), and
• one 2D barcode: a QR code with GS1 Digital Link, a Data Matrix with GS1 Digital Link, or a GS1 DataMatrix.

Once 2D reading is pervasive, GS1 says brands can choose: 2D only, both barcodes, or stay with the linear barcode alone. Nobody is forced to drop the UPC.

GS1 US suggests a "crawl, walk, run" approach. Crawl: add a 2D barcode with your GTIN to existing packaging, and update any QR codes you already print to the GS1 Digital Link format. Walk: add data such as batch or production dates where it helps your operations. Run: use the code for consumer engagement.

QR Code or GS1 DataMatrix?

GS1 approves three 2D barcodes for retail checkout. The difference is in how the data is written and whether a phone can open it.

Source: GS1's 2D Barcodes at Retail Point-of-Sale Implementation Guideline and the GS1 support portal.

GS1's own advice is that a QR code with GS1 Digital Link "is the current preference for consumer engagement because the default camera application on any mobile device in the world can automatically scan the QR Code." GS1 DataMatrix is the globally approved choice for regulated healthcare products and "does not offer the web connectivity of QR Code and Data Matrix to enhance consumer engagement."

For most consumer product brands (electronics, appliances, furniture, sporting goods, toys, apparel), the answer is a QR code with GS1 Digital Link. Consider Data Matrix only when the pack is too small for a QR code.

What Is GS1 Digital Link?

GS1 Digital Link is the GS1 standard for writing product identifiers into a web address, so one code works for both checkout scanners and phones. A GS1 Digital Link QR code looks like any QR code, but it contains a URL such as:

https://id.yourbrand.com/01/09506000134352/21/A1B2C3

Here 01 means "this is a GTIN" and 21 means "this is a serial number." A checkout scanner reads the GTIN out of the address without going online. A phone opens the address like any link. The standard is also published as ISO/IEC 18975:2024.

Two consequences for brands:

1. Use your own domain. GS1 recommends that brand owners use their own domain name in the URL. That domain will be printed on packaging that stays in homes for years, so it must keep working for as long as the product is in use.
2. The destination can change without reprinting. Because the code points to your domain, you decide where each scan goes, and you can change it later. GS1 notes that content "can be continually updated by a brand owner, without the need to change the QR Code."

You can build a GS1 Digital Link URL and QR code from a GTIN with our free GS1 Digital Link generator.

Print Size, Quiet Zone and Placement

These numbers come from GS1's retail 2D implementation guideline. The binding values are in the GS1 General Specifications symbol tables, so share them with your packaging designer and printer rather than guessing.

• Size. Retail 2D barcodes have minimum, target and maximum module sizes (the X-dimension) in the GS1 General Specifications. GS1 notes the 2D X-dimensions are 1.5 times the equivalent sizes for the linear barcode. The more data you encode, the more modules the code has and the larger it prints at the same module size, so keep the URL short.
• Quiet zone. A QR code needs a clear margin of four modules on all four sides. Data Matrix and GS1 DataMatrix need one module.
• Placement. During the transition, put the 2D barcode within 50 mm (1.97 inches) of the center of the linear barcode, so checkout scanners pick up both from the same pass.
• Human-readable text. If the 2D barcode is the only barcode on the pack, the 14-digit GTIN must be printed as human-readable text. A second, consumer-facing QR code on another panel doesn't need it.
• Test before the full run. Print a proof and scan it with a few different phones and, if you can, a retailer's checkout scanner. GS1 US offers a Barcode Capabilities Test Kit for retailers and solution providers.

Before any of this, check the GTIN itself. A wrong check digit fails at checkout and in every retailer's system. Our GTIN check digit calculator checks single numbers or a whole list, and the barcode generator makes the UPC, EAN or GS1 DataMatrix for the same GTIN.

What Should the QR Code Open?

This is where brands have the most freedom, and where most packaging QR codes still go to a generic homepage. The person scanning is standing in their kitchen with the product in front of them. Send them to a page for that exact product:

• Setup and getting started. The first-use questions are the ones that become support tickets and returns.
• Product registration and warranty. For products sold through retailers, the scan is often the only moment you learn who bought it. Our warranty registration guide covers how to make that step short.
• Manuals, care and spare parts. Model-specific, in the owner's language.
• Support. Answers first, then a way to reach your team.
• The Digital Product Passport, for products sold in the EU that need one.

If the QR code includes a serial number (/21/...), the page can be specific to that one unit: its warranty, its registration, its service history. If it includes only the GTIN, it's a page for the model. Both are valid; serial-level codes cost more to print because each pack is different.

For what brands put behind the code, see our smart packaging use cases and these product support page examples.

The EU Angle: Digital Product Passports

If you sell in Europe, the same QR code can do a second regulated job. Under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781), a Digital Product Passport must be "connected through a data carrier to a persistent unique product identifier," and the data carrier must be physically present on the product, its packaging or accompanying documentation.

ESPR defines a data carrier as "a linear barcode symbol, a two-dimensional symbol or other automatic identification data capture medium." It doesn't name a specific barcode; each product group's delegated act will choose the data carrier and where it goes. ESPR's Annex III lists the GTIN as an example of a product identifier. The EU Battery Regulation is more specific: battery passports are reached through a QR code, which our EU battery passport guide covers in detail.

In practice, a QR code with GS1 Digital Link fits all three jobs at once: retail checkout, the shopper's phone and the EU passport. One code, one place on the pack. Our ESPR compliance guide explains the passport requirements and timelines.

A Sunrise 2027 Checklist for Brands

Work through this before your next packaging redesign:

1. List your GTINs and confirm each one is licensed to you and has the right check digit.
2. Pick the barcode. QR code with GS1 Digital Link for most consumer products; Data Matrix only if the pack is too small.
3. Choose your domain for the QR codes, such as id.yourbrand.com, and make sure it will be kept running for the product's whole life.
4. Decide the level: one code per model (GTIN only), per batch, or per unit (with serial number).
5. Merge existing QR codes. If you already print a marketing QR code, replace it with the GS1 Digital Link version instead of adding a second code.
6. Decide what each scan opens: setup, registration, warranty, support, manuals and, for the EU, the passport.
7. Brief your designer and printer with the GS1 size, quiet zone and 50 mm placement rules.
8. Keep the UPC or EAN next to the 2D barcode during the transition.
9. Test printed proofs with several phones and, where possible, with your main retailers.
10. Measure scans. Once codes are in the market, track scans per product to see which packaging and placements work.

How Veribl Fits

Veribl gives each product a page that the QR code on the box opens, with no app. For brands preparing for Sunrise 2027 and EU passports, the relevant parts are:

• GS1 Digital Link QR codes. Product QR codes use the GS1 Digital Link format, /01/{GTIN}, and download as SVG or PNG for packaging artwork.
• Model, batch and unit pages. The same address pattern opens a page per product, per batch (/10/...) or per serial number (/21/...). For serialized products such as batteries, the unit links export as a list for printing.
• Your own domain. With the brand domain add-on, codes and pages run on your domain instead of ours, which is what GS1 recommends.
• One page for people and systems. Shoppers get setup help, registration, warranty, support and manuals in their own language. For EU products, the Digital Product Passport is served at the same address.

You can start on the free plan, which covers up to 100 products. See how it works on the Digital Product Passport page.

The Bottom Line

GS1 Sunrise 2027 is not a deadline that forces anything off your packaging. It's the point where checkout scanners catch up with the QR codes many brands already print. The brands that get the most from it will treat the code as more than a barcode upgrade: one standard QR code that the checkout reads, the regulator accepts and the customer actually wants to scan.