The barcode is not disappearing. It is gaining another dimension.

The barcode has become so familiar that it barely feels like technology. A pattern of lines, a beep, a price on screen. Yet that simple ritual has a limitation: a traditional EAN or UPC usually carries little more than a product number. The checkout uses that number to look up a price and description elsewhere. Information about the specific batch, expiry date or origin does not normally travel with the same scan.[1]

2D barcodes change that. The now-familiar square patterns can hold more data while taking up little room on the pack. They include QR Codes with GS1 Digital Link and GS1 DataMatrix. Alongside the item number, they can encode a batch number, serial number or expiry date.[1][3]

2027 is an ambition, not an off switch

Under the name Ambition 2027, the retail sector has set itself a target: by the end of 2027, point-of-sale systems should be able to read and process an agreed set of 2D barcodes using GS1 standards. The words “alongside existing linear barcodes” are crucial. This is not a global legal deadline after which every traditional barcode stops working, but a shared readiness target for checkout infrastructure.[2]

From product identity to product context

An item number tells the checkout which product is in front of it. Additional data identifies the specific unit or batch. That difference may seem small, but it enables very different processes. A point-of-sale system can block an expired item, limit a recall to the affected batch or help staff mark down products approaching their expiry date.[3][7]

Australian retailer Woolworths began using the technology for fresh meat and poultry. According to a case study published by GS1, its codes included the item number, batch and use-by date. Stores using the solution reported up to 40 per cent less food waste and productivity improvements of up to 21 per cent. Those figures come from one implementation and are not a guarantee for every retailer, but they show where operational value may emerge.[7]

The most important change is not that the barcode becomes square. It is that the scan gains knowledge of the context in which a product is sold.

Editorial conclusion

One code, two kinds of reader

A QR Code with GS1 Digital Link can be used by business systems as well as a consumer’s camera. It contains data in a web-compatible format and can lead to online product information. The same carrier can therefore supply data to the checkout while also providing access to ingredients, instructions, provenance or recycling information. GS1 DataMatrix can carry similarly rich operational data, but is not currently processed automatically by every standard phone camera.[3][4]

That introduces a design question that barely existed with the old barcode: who decides what someone sees after scanning, how long that information remains available and which system manages the link between product identity and digital destination? The code is small; the governance layer behind it is not.[4]

The real rebuild sits behind the scanner

An image scanner capable of recognising a square pattern is only the visible beginning. GS1 defines readiness more broadly: scanners must recognise the permitted 2D codes, read them quickly enough and pass the required data to the point-of-sale system. POS software and downstream processes must then understand what to do with a batch, date or serial number. The reasonable conclusion is that this is not a standalone hardware project, but a chain-wide change spanning packaging, print quality, product data and exception rules at the checkout.[5][6]

• Map which scanners are genuinely image-based and GS1-capable.
• Check which 2D formats and data fields the point-of-sale system can process.
• Choose a specific first use case, such as expiry management, recalls or consumer information.
• Define which party creates, updates and maintains the data.
• Test real packaging for shape, moisture, gloss, contrast and scanning speed.
• Support both linear and 2D barcodes during the migration.

The barcode becomes a data contract

It is easy to present the move to 2D as the next scanner upgrade. In reality, the barcode is shifting from a simple key to a compact data contract between brand, retailer, point-of-sale system and sometimes the consumer. That makes it more powerful, but also more dependent on sound standards and clear responsibilities.[6]

The traditional barcode will not quietly disappear one morning. The change will become audible when the same beep at the checkout suddenly knows more: not only what the product is, but which batch is in front of the scanner and what should happen to it at that moment.