GS1 Sunrise 2027: how New 2D Barcodes will Elevate Profitability, Sustainability and Customer Engagement

GS1 Sunrise 2027: Preparing Retail for the Next Barcode Era

The Ultimate Guide to Success for Grocery, Fashion & DIY Retailers

The humble barcode has been central to everyday retailing for decades - but by 2027, it will evolve into something far more powerful. GS1 Sunrise 2027 is a global initiative guiding the transition from traditional 1D barcodes to advanced 2D barcodes, enabling richer product information, better inventory management and stricter regulatory compliance.

For retailers, early adoption will ensure smooth operations, happier customers and regulatory readiness. This guide breaks down what GS1 Sunrise 2027 means, its benefits and risks, and how it will impact your business.

What is GS1 Sunrise 2027?

GS1 Sunrise 2027 is the global industry initiative to adopt 2D barcodes (like GS1 DataMatrix or GS1 QR Codes) across supply chains, retail shelves and points of sale. Unlike traditional 1D barcodes, which primarily carry a single Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), 2D barcodes have the potential to embed a wealth of product data in a compact space.

Want to learn more? Read the GS1 report: “A New Dimension in Barcodes. GET READY FOR SUNRISE 2027”.

Key points to know:

🗓️ Target date: End of 2027 for industry-wide readiness.

🎯 Purpose: Improve product traceability, consumer access to information and regulatory compliance.

‎𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁 Technology shift: Retailers and suppliers are encouraged to implement dual barcodes now (both 1D and 2D) to ensure compatibility throughout the transition.

Features & Benefits for Retailers

Richer Product Data in One Scan

New 2D barcodes can carry batch/lot numbers, serial numbers, expiry dates, URLs and sustainability info.

 🛒Specific impact on grocery retailers

Automatic expiry management will enable grocery businesses to proactively act on soon to expire items, with push events for stock identification and incentives for customers to buy.

Acting on expiry intelligence upstream (at receiving, in storage, or on-shelf) will allow retailers to reduce food waste, protect margins, and ensure customers consistently access fresher products.

Regulatory Compliance Made Easy

2D barcodes act as the “primary key” for the EU Digital Product Passport (DPP), enabling compliance with new rules around product traceability, sustainability reporting and circular economy initiatives. Retailers adopting 2D barcodes early will have a head start on meeting these mandatory requirements.

👕 Specific impact on fashion & sports retailers

Metrics such as carbon footprint, materials and origin will be a core part of this additional data revolution. These metrics will drive consumer engagement in a physical world to a more connected digital experience.

Faster, More Accurate Inventory Management

Embedding detailed data in barcodes reduces scanning errors, accelerates receiving and checkout processes and improves overall operational efficiency. Tracking stock by batch or serial number gives retailers a clearer view of what they actually have on hand. This helps them reorder the right products at the right time, reducing mistakes, minimizing wastage and improving profitability across the supply chain.

Enhanced Customer Experience

Customers can scan products with their smartphones to access detailed product information (such as product manuals, FDV documents, ingredients / materials, nutrition, origin, sustainability and other promotional content), building trust and engagement.

🛠️Specific impact for DIY, home and outdoor retailers

Both employees and customers will gain easy access to product manuals, service descriptions, project inspiration and legal handbooks . This will boost customer service, reduce friction and positively impact retention and loyalty.

Better Recall & Safety Compliance

Retailers can quickly identify affected lots in the event of a recall - reducing risk, liability and lost sales.

Future-Proofing Retail Operations

Adopting 2D barcodes will ensure businesses are ready for next-gen unified commerce customer journeys. Retailers will incentivize customer engagement at both physical and digital touchpoints through data-rich 2D barcode scanning. This will unlock opportunities for personalization and interactivity, underpinning unified commerce objectives.

Risks for Retailers & What They Need to Do to Prepare

Risks if unprepared or late to implement:

• POS systems may fail to read 2D barcodes at checkouts, slowing transactions
• Incomplete inventory management due to unreadable products
• Non-compliance with emerging regulations like the EU DPP
• Potential waste and lost revenue from inefficient expiry tracking

Preparation steps for retailers:

• Audit current tech stack: Ensure POS, scanners and backend ERP systems can handle 2D barcodes
• Implement dual marking: Start printing both 1D and 2D barcodes on packaging today
• Train staff: Educate employees on scanning procedures and inventory handling
• Pilot & iterate: Test 2D barcodes on select SKUs to identify workflow issues
• Integrate compliance: Map 2D barcode data to meet expiry tracking and DPP requirement

How Extenda Retail Can Support you During the 2D Barcode Transition

As a unified commerce, best-in-class POS vendor, Extenda Retail helps EU retailers transition to 2D barcodes by providing:

✓ Support for scanning dual barcode in a transitional period in all checkout applications

✓ Data capture of additional identifiers with end-to-end subscription of transaction data (POS.logs) into retailer replenishment and ERP system

✓ Support for granularity on batch level in Hii Retail Inventory Management 

✓ Support for push events with intelligence upstream for soon to expire items

✓ Automatic price markdowns based on durability dates at checkout, with no need for cashier intervention. See example below:

• 2 days left on an expiry date = 30% markdown
• 1 day left = 50% markdown

Next Steps and Key Dates Ahead of GS1 Sunrise 2027

 GS1 Sunrise 2027 is on the horizon, and proactive preparation offers operational, regulatory and competitive advantages.

Milestones to Track:

H1 2026: Audit POS and ERP readiness, engage packaging teams

H2 2026: Pilot 2D barcodes on select SKUs, refine processes

2027: Full adoption across all products, systems and channels