A Practical GS1 2D Readiness Checklist for Manufacturers

Your retailers are upgrading their checkouts to read 2D barcodes, your marketing team wants a QR code on pack, and your packaging supplier has asked which "GS1 2D" you want. Where do you start? This checklist breaks the work into six areas, in roughly the order you should tackle them, with the questions that matter in each.

It assumes you already sell through retail with an EAN/UPC barcode. If you need background first, read what Sunrise 2027 really means.

Before you start: what "ready" means

The retail industry's Ambition 2027 — often called Sunrise 2027, especially in the US — is a goal for retail point-of-sale (POS) scanners to read and process the GTIN from 2D barcodes as well as linear ones by the end of 2027. It is a target for checkout capability, not a law and not a packaging mandate on brands. Linear barcodes are not being switched off.

So "2D readiness" for a manufacturer means being able to put a correct, well-printed 2D barcode on pack when you decide to — for retailers who want batch and expiry data, for consumers who scan with phones, or both — without disrupting what already works.

The six areas:

1. Data: GTINs and master data

A 2D code faithfully carries whatever data you give it, including mistakes. Fix data first.

• Every product variant that a retailer must distinguish has its own GTIN, created from your own GS1 Company Prefix. See what is a GTIN and why does it matter?
• Recent product changes have been checked against GS1's GTIN Management Standard — for example, a change to declared net content or formulation may need a new GTIN.
• Core product data (brand, description, net content, image, classification) is registered with your GS1 member organisation and matches what you send retailers.
• You have decided what each 2D code will carry: GTIN only, GTIN with batch and expiry, or GTIN with a serial. Each step up adds value and operational work. See do all products need serialization?
• The system that knows each batch and expiry date (usually the ERP) can pass them to the line or to the artwork process.

2. Artwork: carrier, placement and size

Choose an approved carrier

For general retail POS, GS1 recognises exactly three 2D options, built on two symbol types — the Data Matrix and the QR code:

A QR code using the older element-string syntax ("GS1 QR Code") is out of scope for Ambition 2027. For the full comparison, read QR code vs GS1 DataMatrix.

• Carrier chosen per product family, with the reason recorded.
• If using a GS1 Digital Link, it is the uncompressed form, which retail POS barcodes must use.
• If using Digital Link, the URI follows the syntax rules: GTIN as 14 digits; batch before serial in the path; expiry in the query string.
• The Digital Link domain is one you control — GS1 recommends brands use their own domain.

Keep the linear barcode, and place the 2D code near it

During the transition, GS1 rules require the 2D code on general retail items to be used in addition to the EAN/UPC or GS1 DataBar, until 90% of POS scanning solutions can use 2D barcodes and at minimum capture the GTIN. Read why 1D and 2D barcodes will coexist.

• The linear barcode stays on pack.
• The 2D code sits within 50 mm of the linear barcode's centre.
• Both codes encode the same GTIN, and any attribute they share matches.
• Any separate marketing QR code elsewhere on pack has been reviewed — two consumer-facing QR codes confuse shoppers and checkout staff alike.

Size and quiet zone

• The 2D code's X-dimension (the size of one module) is within GS1's retail range of 0.396–0.990 mm, aiming at 0.495 mm.
• The code has a clear quiet zone on all four sides: at least 4 modules for a QR code, at least 1 module for a Data Matrix.
• Small packs have been tested: a longer Digital Link or a long serial makes the code larger, and a code below the minimum size is a common failure.

3. Printing and verification

There are two printing situations: codes that are the same on every pack (often pre-printed with the artwork), and codes with batch, expiry or serials that change (printed on the line by a coder). The second is far more demanding.

• For each product, you know who prints the 2D code — the packaging converter, or your own line.
• Where data changes per batch or unit, the line's coder has been assessed for resolution, substrate and speed. See how to evaluate whether your printer can handle serialized 2D codes.
• Samples have been graded with an ISO-conformant verifier: ISO/IEC 15415 for 2D codes and ISO/IEC 15416 for linear barcodes.
• Retail codes achieve at least the 1.5 (C) minimum grade in GS1's specification (written for retail 2D as 1.5/12/660 — grade, measuring aperture, light wavelength in nm).
• Verification happens at the start of each run and periodically during it, not just at artwork approval.
• On the line, a camera or reader checks codes for presence and correct content, and rejects failures.

4. Destination: what a phone scan opens

A GS1 DataMatrix has no consumer destination. A QR code with a GS1 Digital Link does: it is a web address, and consumers will open it.

• The Digital Link domain resolves to a live page for every GTIN printed — never an error page.
• Content is decided per level: product-level information for everyone, with batch- or serial-specific content only where you have it.
• There is a resolver or routing service that can change destinations without reprinting. See what is a GS1 resolver?
• Pages load fast on a mobile connection and work in the languages of your markets.
• Ownership is clear: who keeps the destinations current after a campaign ends.

The checkout never visits this address. A POS scanner extracts the GTIN from the code offline and looks up the price in the retailer's own system, so landing pages have no effect on checkout. See what happens when a product is scanned at the checkout.

5. Retailer conversations

Retailers are moving at different speeds. Ask rather than assume.

• Which stores and markets can already read 2D codes at the checkout?
• Which scanning mode do they run? GS1 describes Mode 1 (send the first GTIN read from either barcode — the Ambition 2027 minimum), Mode 2 (prefer the 2D code) and Mode 3 (read all compliant barcodes).
• Do they want batch and expiry in the code, and do they intend to use it for stock rotation or recalls?
• Do they have a preference between GS1 DataMatrix and a QR code with Digital Link?
• Are they willing to test pilot packs in a store before you change the range?

Retailers may also move their own-label goods to a single 2D code earlier than the general transition, which is useful context if you manufacture private label.

6. Pilot before you roll out

• One product, one line, one or two retail partners.
• Artwork approved; print graded; line inspection set up.
• Test scans at real checkouts, on several phone models, and in poor light.
• Measure line speed, reject rate and rework compared with today.
• Review what consumers did on the landing page, if you have one.
• Write down what changes before the next product family.

A worked example

Surya Laminates, a fictional building-materials brand, sells edge-banding rolls through a national home-improvement chain. The chain plans to read 2D codes at checkout in some stores next year.

Surya cleans its GTINs first and finds two colours sharing one GTIN — fixed before any artwork changes. It chooses a QR code with a GS1 Digital Link on its own domain, carrying GTIN, batch and expiry, placed beside the existing EAN-13. Its label printer passes ISO grading at the start of a pilot run but some samples taken later in the run fall below 1.5 (C), so periodic in-run grading and a maintenance check are added. A pilot in four stores confirms that the checkouts read both codes with one beep. Only then does Surya change the rest of the range.

Where to go next

Once the checklist is underway, broaden the view with how to prepare your packaging for the next generation of product identity. Indian brands will find market-specific context in GS1 2D readiness for Indian FMCG and cosmetics brands.