Sunrise 2027: The Deadline for 2D Barcodes at Retail Point-of-Sale
Based upon their research, GS1 established Sunrise 2027: by the end of December 2027, retailer point-of-sale systems are expected to accept 2D barcodes. That deadline is now less than 18 months away. Stakeholders in the US (retailers and manufacturers) conveyed the need to transition to 2D barcodes to encode additional data attributes and GS1 Digital Link on packaging to empower advanced use cases. Brand owners are now transitioning packaging to include 2D barcodes, while retailers are upgrading their POS systems to enable 2D barcode scanning and processing.
During the transition, items will require dual marking with U.P.C. and 2D barcodes. After the 2027 sunrise date, the goal is that 2D barcodes – including those encoded with GS1 Digital Link – can be scanned at POS by all retailers. U.P.C. barcodes will continue to be accepted and scanned after the 2027 sunrise date. These changes will drive the opportunity to enable additional value-add features at point-of-sale, as well as other retailer process improvements.
What Brands Need to Do Before December 2027
- Audit your GTINs. Confirm every product carries a properly licensed, compliant GTIN before encoding it into a Digital Link URI.
- Plan for dual marking. Packaging updated during the transition should carry both a UPC and a Digital Link QR code, placed according to the GS1 General Specifications.
- Validate your Digital Link URIs. Check syntax and encodation with our free GS1 Digital Link validator.
- Test printed QR codes before production. A QR code that scans on screen can still fail on press. Our print testing and grading service verifies ISO/IEC 15415 print quality and GS1 conformance.
- Train your team. Start with our free tutorial videos or the GS1 Digital Link Mastery online course.
Important Hurdles To Still Overcome
- GS1 needs to enhance the GS1 General Specifications to accommodate placement considerations for final 2D barcode and interim 2D barcode plus UPC/EAN barcode symbols. Careful consideration has gone into the existing placement guidelines for each product/packaging variant to enable efficient scanning at point of sale.
- Large scale technology changes need to occur at retail point of sale. Unlike a linear UPC barcode that can be read by a laser based scanner, 2D barcodes require an imager to capture the entire symbol. Retailers will have to be educated on the benefits of the new initiative and budget for advanced equipment.
- Digital printing technology needs to be integrated into traditional package and label printers. Since the GS1 Digital Link can encode dynamic granular data (batch/lot/expiration), wet ink printing processes will need to be supplemented with digital printing stations.
As the US barcode authority, we have created tens of millions of barcodes currently found on consumable products, books, and coupons. Our specialized web services provide .eps barcodes and we anticipate forging partnerships directly with brands so they can dynamically interface to our barcode creation web services to eliminate data entry. Please contact us at sales@barcode.graphics for assistance and information click on the chat button below. UPC barcode mistakes can be quite costly if not properly implemented. With your company’s success on the line, it is important to properly identify your products.
