Put one product range onto GS1 2D barcodes.

One code. Two jobs.

A GS1 2D barcode can serve the checkout and the person holding the product, but those are different journeys.

At the checkout

An enabled retail system reads the product identifier locally. Depending on the agreed use case, the barcode can also carry information such as batch, expiry, weight or serial number.

The checkout does not need to visit a Splide service to identify the product. Retailers still need compatible scanners, software and processes before they can use additional data. During the transition, linear and 2D barcodes may appear together on the same pack.

On a phone

A QR Code powered by GS1 can also carry a branded web address. A phone follows that address to approved information for the product, batch or individual item.

That information might include ingredients, allergens, instructions, recycling guidance, certification, a recipe, a manual or a safety notice. Destinations can change while packaging already in circulation continues to use the same printed address.

The barcode is the entry point. The service behind it is the long-term job.

What 2027 actually means

GS1's Ambition 2027 is a global industry goal: by the end of 2027, retail point-of-sale systems should be capable of reading and processing a defined set of GS1 2D barcodes alongside existing linear barcodes.

It is a capability target, not a universal expiry date for existing barcodes. It does not create a general South African fine for continuing to use a linear barcode.

Practical deadlines will come from retailers, export markets and particular use cases. Digital Product Passport requirements in Europe are product-specific and need product-specific legal analysis; there is no single barcode or deadline that covers every export.

The sensible response is not a hurried estate-wide migration. It is one controlled pilot before a trading partner's deadline turns the same work into an emergency. GS1's own 2D in retail implementation guideline describes the same transition.

The barcode is not the hard part

Generating a QR image takes seconds. Putting it safely into production crosses several owners and systems.

Product identity

Which GTIN identifies the range? Does the use case stop at product level, or require batch or individual-unit precision? Which data belongs inside the code and which should remain online?

Packaging and production

Can the line print the code at the required quality? Is it sized and positioned correctly? How will each production run be verified before it reaches a store?

Approved product data

Which source owns ingredients, allergens, nutrition, instructions and images? Who may change each field, and who approves it before publication?

Retail operation

Will the retailer use the code only for product identification, or also for expiry control, markdowns, traceability or recalls? The answer changes both the encoded data and the testing.

Life after launch

Websites move, agencies change, products are reformulated and people leave. The printed address must continue returning the right answer while all of that happens.

What Splide implements and operates

A controlled pilot

One product range, one operating use case and a clearly defined success test. The pilot is deliberately small enough to expose mistakes before they become packaging inventory.

The connection to approved data

The service points each product, batch or individual identifier to information from agreed sources. Splide does not become the owner of product truth; it operates the connection to the system that is.

A branded answering layer

The code can use the brand's own domain while Splide operates the answering service underneath it. The identity on the pack remains the brand's, not the service provider's.

Production-to-scan testing

The test is not whether an image opens on one phone. It covers printed quality, encoded identity, retail behaviour, phone behaviour, requested link types, language behaviour and the failure cases that should never silently return the wrong answer.

Ongoing operation

Links, destinations and approved information can change after launch. Splide monitors and operates the service so packaging printed once can keep answering for years.

Product, batch or individual item

A product-level address can answer with current information for the whole range. Adding a batch can return information specific to that production run. Adding a serial number can address an individual item.

More precision is not automatically better. It increases the production, data and operating work. The pilot should use the lowest level of granularity that solves the real problem.

When a batch goes wrong

A batch-qualified code can direct affected stock to a safety notice or recall path while unaffected batches continue to return ordinary product information.

That does not create a recall process on its own. It gives an existing quality and recall process a precise, durable address. The business still needs approved data, decision rights and tested operating procedures behind it.

What scan data can honestly tell you

Phone scans can show that the online address was requested, with ordinary limits imposed by privacy controls, devices and network behaviour. They do not prove that every physical item moved through a location or that every checkout scanned the online service.

Checkout identification normally happens locally and should not be misrepresented as web analytics. The measurement plan must distinguish consumer web scans from retail point-of-sale events.

The proof is public

Splide operates a public answering service at id.splide.com. It conforms to version 1.2.1 of the GS1-Conformant Resolver Standard and passes GS1's published browser-based conformance test suite.

GS1 does not issue a resolver certification or accreditation. Splide therefore makes a narrower, stronger claim: the endpoint is public, the standard is public, and the passing behaviour can be checked independently. The technical evidence is a page of live requests and their answers.