GS1 Digital Link on Closient Blog

Why We Built Closient

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000

In 2023, GS1 announced the most significant change to product identification in fifty years. The barcode — that familiar set of black and white stripes on every product you’ve ever bought — was getting a successor. A QR code powered by something called GS1 Digital Link.

The concept was elegant. Every product gets a URL. That URL encodes the product identifier, batch number, serial number, and expiration date. Scan it, and the URL resolves to whatever information the context demands — a product page for a consumer, structured data for a point-of-sale system, traceability records for a regulator.

12 Tons of KitKats Disappeared. A QR Code Could Have Found Them.

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000

When 413,793 KitKat bars vanished from a truck somewhere between Italy and Poland last week, Nestle did what any company would do: they asked the public for help. They launched a website where consumers could type in an eight-digit batch code to check if their KitKat was one of the stolen ones.

It’s a clever response. It’s also a band-aid on a problem that shouldn’t exist in 2026.

What actually happened

A truck carrying 12 tons of KitKat’s new chocolate range left a factory in central Italy headed for Poland. Somewhere along the route, individuals impersonating law enforcement intercepted the vehicle, restrained the driver and disappeared with the entire shipment. The truck and its contents are still unaccounted for.

The Barcode is Evolving: Here's What It Means for Your Brand

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000

The barcode on the back of your product has looked the same since 1974. That black-and-white stripe pattern - the UPC - was designed to speed up grocery checkout lines. It did that job remarkably well. So well, in fact, that it hasn’t fundamentally changed in over fifty years.

That era is ending.

GS1, the global standards organization that manages the barcode system, is leading a transition from traditional 1D barcodes to 2D barcodes - specifically QR codes powered by a standard called GS1 Digital Link. The target date is 2027. Major retailers including Walmart, Kroger and Target are already onboard. And the implications for every brand that puts a product on a shelf are significant.

What Actually Happens When Someone Scans Your QR Code?

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Every article you have read about Sunrise 2027 focuses on the QR code. The shape of the squares. The encoding format. Where to put it on the package. How to make it scannable under shrink wrap.

Nobody explains what happens after the scan.

That is a problem, because the QR code is the least interesting part of the entire system. It is a printed image. It does one thing: encode a URL. The real work - the part that determines whether your packaging investment pays off for the next decade - happens in the infrastructure behind that URL.

Three Regulations, One QR Code: The Compliance Case for GS1 Digital Link

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000

FSMA 204, EU Digital Product Passport and DSCSA all require the same thing: a data carrier that resolves to structured product data. Here’s why one QR code covers all three.

Something unusual is happening across three of the most consequential product regulations of the decade. The FDA’s food traceability rule, the European Union’s Digital Product Passport and the U.S. drug supply chain law were written by different agencies, in different countries, for entirely different industries. Yet when you strip away the regulatory language and look at what each actually demands at the technical level, you find the same architecture repeated three times.

You Don't Need to Be P&G to Get Ready for Sunrise 2027

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Every article about the 2D barcode transition quotes PepsiCo SVPs and Walmart CTOs. Here’s what nobody’s writing: smaller brands have the advantage - and you can start today for free.

Read any industry publication covering Sunrise 2027 and you’ll notice a pattern. The sources are vice presidents at Fortune 100 companies. The case studies involve global supply chains spanning forty countries. The timelines assume enterprise procurement cycles where buying software takes longer than building it.