When a brand first prints a QR code carrying a GS1 Digital Link, someone in IT usually asks a fair question: "Isn't this just a redirect?" Sometimes the honest answer is "for now, yes". This article sets out what separates a plain redirect from a GS1 resolver, and how to tell which one your products need.
Two ways to answer a scan
A redirect is a rule on a web server: requests for address A are sent on to address B. It is how old web pages are forwarded to new ones and how link shorteners work. The rule does not understand what the address means. It matches text and forwards.
A resolver also usually ends by sending the browser onward — under the GS1-Conformant Resolver Standard, it redirects to the default link unless the request asks for something else. The difference is everything that happens before that redirect. A resolver reads the GTIN, batch and serial in a GS1 Digital Link, looks up the links registered for that item, and chooses among them using rules other systems can predict. The full picture is in what a GS1 resolver is.
So the distinction is not "redirect or no redirect". It is "a fixed forwarding rule" versus "an identity-aware decision".
Side-by-side comparison
| Simple redirect | GS1 resolver | |
|---|---|---|
| What it reads | The address as text | The GS1 identifiers in the address |
| Destinations per product | One | Many, each with a link type and title |
| Ordinary scan | Goes to the one destination | Goes to the item's single default link |
| Specific requests | Only if custom-built | Requested by type, e.g. ?linkType=gs1:instructions |
| Language-aware default | Only if custom-built | Optional gs1:defaultLinkMulti |
| Serial with no links of its own | Needs a rule per address or a pattern | Falls back "up the tree" to GTIN-level links |
| Request for something that does not exist | Whatever the server is set to do | 404 when no link matches |
| Several equally good answers | Not applicable | 300, letting the client choose |
| Full list of what is available | Not available | Linkset in RFC 9264 format, returned without redirecting |
| Behaviour other systems can rely on | Specific to that server | Defined by a published GS1 standard |
When a simple redirect is enough
A plain redirect is a perfectly reasonable choice when:
- each product needs one consumer destination, such as a product page, and nothing else;
- no partner, retailer app or machine needs to ask for a specific kind of information;
- the range is small and stable, so rules are easy to maintain by hand;
- you are piloting and want to learn what people do after scanning before investing further.
For example, a fictional spice brand, Tara Masala, launches six blends. Each pack carries a QR code with a GTIN-level GS1 Digital Link on the brand's own domain. Behind it, the web server forwards each of six addresses to the matching recipe page. That is a redirect setup, and it works.
When you need a resolver
The case for a resolver grows as soon as one of these appears:
- More than one service per product — product information plus instructions, registration, loyalty or recall status. These are the patterns described in how one product identity can lead to product info, warranty, loyalty and traceability.
- Serialized or batch-level codes in volume. Writing a rule per serial is impractical; inheritance from serial to GTIN solves it.
- Partners and apps that need to ask for a specific link type and get a predictable answer, or to discover what is available through a linkset.
- Targeted changes, such as sending one affected batch to a recall notice while the rest of the range is untouched.
The receptionist analogy in think of a resolver as a receptionist for a product is a helpful way to explain these differences to non-technical colleagues.
The upgrade path: keep the printed address right
The most important practical point is this: what is printed on the pack does not need to change when you move from redirect to resolver, as long as two things were done right at the start.
- The code carries a valid GS1 Digital Link — GTIN first, then any batch and serial in the correct order — not a campaign URL or an opaque short link. See what GS1 Digital Link is.
- The domain is one the brand controls for the long term. GS1 recommends brands use their own domain.
If both hold, Tara Masala can replace its six redirect rules with a resolver next year. The same packs on shelves simply start getting richer answers. If instead the packs carry an agency's shortened link, upgrading means reprinting. That distinction is explored further in why brands should separate product identity from the digital experience.
A note on what neither one does
Neither a redirect nor a resolver takes part in checkout pricing: the POS extracts the GTIN locally and uses the retailer's own data. And neither one proves that the product in someone's hand is genuine; both will answer just as happily for a copied code. If you are moving an existing QR programme towards identity-based links, from marketing QR to connected product infrastructure covers the wider journey.