Many Indian brands already print QR codes in very large numbers. An electrician scans a code inside a switch box to earn points. A carpenter scans a label on a laminate sheet. A shopper scratches a panel on a pack and scans for a cashback. These programmes work, and the relationships behind them took years to build. So when GS1 Digital Link comes up, the first question is a sensible one: do we have to start again?
You do not. This guide sets out a migration path that keeps what works and adds a standard product identity underneath it.
What a typical proprietary QR programme looks like
Most loyalty and promotion QR codes in India follow the same pattern:
- A platform generates a random token, often with a short web address in front of it.
- The token is printed on a label, a scratch card or the pack itself.
- When someone scans, the platform looks up the token, checks whether it has been claimed, and credits points or shows an offer.
The product itself is usually known only indirectly: the platform knows which batch of tokens went to which SKU. That works inside the brand, but nobody outside the platform — a retailer, a distributor, a checkout scanner — can tell what product the code belongs to.
What GS1 Digital Link changes
A GS1 Digital Link is also a web address, but one whose path carries the product identity in a standard form. A unit-level example for a fictional brand looks like this:
https://mitra-adhesives.example/01/08901234567890/10/B2611/21/K7Q4XZ92
Read left to right: the brand's own domain; 01 followed by the 14-digit GTIN (Global Trade Item Number); 10 followed by the batch; and 21 followed by the serial number. GS1's URI syntax fixes that order, allows any domain, and recommends brands use their own.
Three things therefore stay the same: your domain, your platform, and what happens after the scan. What changes is that the code now says, in a language anyone can read, which product and which unit it belongs to. A modern retail checkout can extract the GTIN from it offline, and a phone opens it like any other link. If you want the mechanics, read how a GS1 Digital Link works, from packaging to browser.
The migration path, step by step
1. Keep every old code resolving
Packs printed last year are still on dealer shelves, in warehouses and in customers' homes. Some products — wires, laminates, appliances — are installed and scanned months after purchase. If an old code suddenly returns an error, you lose trust with exactly the partners the programme was built for.
So the first rule is: existing tokens keep working, on the same domain, with the same claim rules, for as long as stock might be in the market. Decide a review date, but do not set an arbitrary shut-off.
2. Add GTIN-based Digital Link codes on new packs
Introduce Digital Link codes as part of normal artwork and line changes rather than as a big-bang reprint. Before you do, check three basics:
- Every SKU has a GTIN. Digital Link is built from it, so gaps in your numbering surface immediately.
- You know the level you need. A GTIN-only code serves product information. Batch adds recall and expiry use. A serial per unit is needed if a reward may be claimed only once — see GTIN + serial: how an individual product gets its identity.
- Your line can print it. Unit-level codes change every item, so they are printed on the line, not on the artwork.
If the pack also goes through retail checkouts, place the QR code near the EAN-13 and use the uncompressed form that retail scanners require.
3. Map campaign and loyalty logic onto the product identity
This is the step that takes the most thought. In many proprietary systems, the token is the campaign: a series of codes is printed for "Monsoon Bonus 2025", and the points value is stored against that series.
With Digital Link, invert the relationship. The code identifies the product and unit permanently. Campaigns become rules that look at that identity and the scan context:
| Proprietary model | Identity-based model |
|---|---|
| Token series linked to a campaign | Unit identity (GTIN + batch + serial) linked to a product |
| Points value fixed at printing | Points value set by rules that can change after printing |
| New campaign needs new codes | New campaign is a new rule on existing codes |
| Code meaningless outside the platform | Code readable by checkouts, apps and partners |
The practical benefit is that the identity outlives any single campaign. A coil printed today can earn standard points this quarter and double points during a festival promotion next quarter, without reprinting anything. We explore this idea in why the product identity should outlive the marketing campaign and, for rewards specifically, in how product identity can support loyalty and rewards.
4. Run both in parallel — and measure
For a period, your platform will receive scans from old tokens and new Digital Link codes. Treat that as normal. Report on both together, watch for partners who scan only one kind (which may signal packaging or training gaps), and check that the claim rules behave identically. Retire old token series only when scans of them have dwindled and stock has cleared.
Keep the controls you already rely on
A Digital Link code is an identifier, not a seal. Anyone can photograph a visible code and print a copy. That was equally true of your proprietary codes, which is why many electrical and building-material programmes hide the reward code under a scratch panel or inside the pack.
Those controls should survive the migration. A common pattern is that the visible Digital Link identifies the unit for everyone, while a hidden element — under a scratch panel or inside the carton — authorises the reward claim. Keep serial numbers unpredictable rather than sequential, keep one-time-claim checks on the server, and keep watching for duplicate or geographically unlikely scans. Our article on why a QR code does not automatically prove authenticity explains why these layers matter.
A worked example
Mitra Adhesives, a fictional wood-adhesive brand, runs a carpenter rewards scheme. Each tin carries a QR token under a scratch panel, and carpenters scan through an app.
Mitra decides to migrate over two packaging cycles. Existing tokens keep resolving. New tins carry a visible QR code with a Digital Link at serial level on its own domain, plus the scratch-panel code beneath. The app reads both. The rewards engine now looks up the tin by GTIN, batch and serial, applies the current points rule for that product and region, and checks the hidden code before crediting.
A year later, the marketing team runs a festive bonus by adding one rule. No new codes are printed. And when a modern-trade chain lists Mitra's retail packs, the same QR code next to the EAN-13 already carries the GTIN its checkout can read.
Where this fits
Migration is easier when you know why you are doing it. For the market context, read what Sunrise 2027 means for Indian brands. For the standard itself, start with what GS1 Digital Link is.
Plan a migration from your existing QR programme