What is GS1 Digital Link?

GS1 Digital Link is a way of writing product identifiers as a web address. It takes the GTIN that sits under a product's barcode, adds a batch or serial number if needed, and turns it into a link such as https://example.com/01/09506000134352/21/12345. Put that link in a QR code, and the same code works for the shop and the customer.

At checkout, the scanner reads the GTIN out of the link. On a phone, the camera opens the web address and shows whatever the brand has published for that product, such as its Digital Product Passport, manual or warranty registration.

How GS1 Digital Link works

1. Identifiers become a path. Each GS1 identifier has an Application Identifier (AI) code: 01 for the GTIN, 10 for the batch or lot, 21 for the serial number. The URI places each code before its value, in a fixed order.
2. The link goes into a data carrier. Usually a QR code or GS1 Data Matrix printed on the product, label or packaging.
3. A resolver routes the scan. The domain in the link points to a resolver, a web service that looks up the identifier and redirects to the right content. One code can lead to different destinations, such as consumer information, the passport, a recall notice or electronic instructions.
4. Systems read the data offline too. A point-of-sale or warehouse scanner can extract the GTIN, batch and serial number without going online.

The URI Syntax standard reached version 1.7.0 in August 2026. The GS1-Conformant Resolver standard, version 1.2.0 from January 2026, sets how resolvers behave and how link types are described.

Why it matters for Digital Product Passports

The passport must be connected through a data carrier to a persistent unique product identifier, and both must comply with ISO/IEC 15459 or equivalent standards. GS1 identifiers meet ISO/IEC 15459, and GS1 Digital Link is part of ISO/IEC 18975:2024, the international standard for encoding and resolving identifiers over HTTP.

That makes GS1 Digital Link a natural fit for passports:

• One code on the product for retail, logistics and the passport, instead of a barcode plus a separate QR code.
• Model, batch or item level with the same syntax, so you can match whatever the delegated act asks for.
• A stable, standard format that authorities, recyclers and apps can read without a custom integration.

Other open formats, such as the UN Transparency Protocol, use identity resolvers built on the same idea.

The move to 2D barcodes at retail

GS1 and the retail industry are moving checkouts from linear barcodes to 2D barcodes. A global industry endorsement sets the aim that QR codes with GS1 standards are widely adopted on product packaging and readable at checkouts by the end of 2027. In the US this program is known as Sunrise 2027. A GS1 Digital Link QR code added now serves both the passport and that transition.

How to prepare

• Start from valid GTINs licensed through your GS1 organization.
• Choose a domain you control for the links, or a resolver service, so the codes keep working for the full passport period.
• Decide the level per product group: GTIN only, GTIN plus batch, or GTIN plus serial.
• Test scanning on your real packaging, at the size and material you print on.
• Keep the old linear barcode during the transition, until your retail partners confirm their scanners read 2D codes. Check the CEN-CENELEC DPP standards for the data carrier rules that apply to passports.