A till that knows not just what it scanned, but which batch it came from
A linear barcode carries one fact: which product this is. Everything else, the date and the batch, lives on paper and in the heads of the people on the shop floor.
Where the margin leaks
Expired stock goes through the till
Date checks on shelf are manual, so they run late. You pay in returns, complaints and a shopper who goes elsewhere next time.
Recalls take everything with them
Without a batch number there is no way to say which units are affected, so the entire product comes off every shelf.
Markdowns by feel
The decision to discount is made without hard information about the real shelf life of that particular delivery.
What the 2D code changes
The till checks the date
The expiry date arrives with the code, so the system can block the sale or start a markdown a few days earlier.
Recall down to the batch
The batch number lets you pull exactly the units in question and document it if an inspector asks.
The hardware usually stays
Most scanners have read 2D for years. The cost sits in checkout and warehouse software, not in the guns.
First UK supermarket to move an entire own label range onto 2D codes. They started with sausages. Carrefour is doing the same across its private label.
Share of GS1 UK members who had already rolled out GS1 powered QR codes by May 2025, with another 33 percent planning it within a year.
Unreadable code complaints logged by a supplier to Polish retailer Żabka over nine months in 2022. Three months after switching to 2D, the count was zero.
What happens when somebody scans this code
There is a real resolver running underneath, not a recording. Pick a situation or scan the code with your phone and you will see exactly what a shopper sees at the shelf.
Picks up the juice and scans the code
A product page opens in their language: ingredients, allergens, origin, the date from their own pack and sorting instructions. All on one screen.
You get contact with a buyer who is otherwise invisible to you when a retailer owns the sale.
Show what happens underneath+
The address held in the code and the server response. Pass this to your IT team.
HTTP ...Scan it with your phone. The same code serves the till and the shopper.
It is the same code in every situation. What changes is who scans it.
Situations rotate every few seconds. Click any of them to stop.
Do we need new scanners?+
Rarely. Start with an audit of what is already at the tills. In most chains the hardware is ready and software turns out to be the bottleneck.
What about products without a 2D code yet?+
They work as before. During the transition packs carry both codes and the till handles either one.
How big is the change in our systems?+
The largest item is finding a place for batch number and expiry date where today there is only a product identifier. That is a data model and process change, planned in quarters.
Send us one code, we will send back an analysis
A photo of the pack or a sample of your product data is enough. We will tell you what is correct, what will break at the till and what is missing for the product passport. Expect a reply within a few working days.
The analysis is free and commits you to nothing. If it turns out you do not need this yet, we will say so.
For brand owners and manufacturers
Right now there is a number sitting there that nobody reads. The same spot can carry something that works for as long as the product is on shelf.
For brandsFor agencies
Manufacturers are redesigning packaging for 2D codes and the product passport. The decision is made in packaging or supply chain, but the execution lands on the artwork.
For agencies