The familiar barcode has remained largely unchanged for half a century, but its replacement could transform far more than supermarket checkouts.
As retailers prepare for the shift to QR codes, Jess Kaye, Business Director at CHILLI, explores why the change represents a rare opportunity for brands to rethink packaging, strengthen customer relationships and turn every product into a connected digital experience.
Recently, Tesco became the first UK supermarket to transition its entire live product range of own-label sausages from traditional linear barcodes to QR codes. While this felt like a minor tweak to the average shopper, it might signal the beginning of the end for the humble barcode.
Enter Project Sunrise 2027. By next year, all brands will be required to move from barcodes to QR codes. That means the classic black and white lines that have occupied packaging for 50 years are officially on notice.
For FMCG brands, this is not just a compliance update. It’s a fundamental shift in packaging and consumer interaction. QR codes have been around for years; we have experimented with them (with varied levels of success) for brand-building, but now there will be an operational necessity to switch and embrace them.
The cost of this is not insignificant to brands, so if businesses have been putting off a redesign, now’s the time to act and roll it all into one.
Why is the switch to QR codes needed?
Supermarkets are pushing this transition because linear barcodes are effectively mute; they only state what a product is. Next-generation QR codes utilise the GS1 Digital Link standard.
Put simply, this embeds the info into a web-friendly URL, allowing a single code to hold dynamic data like batch numbers, serial numbers, and expiry dates.
For retailers, the operational advantages are massive. It’ll reduce food waste as tills can automatically flag or offer a discount on items nearing their expiry date, block the sale of any recalls instantly and provide unprecedented visibility for supply chains, from factory floor to shelf.
What’s the benefit for brands?
Historically, QR codes were an aesthetic nightmare for design agencies and brand managers alike. They were an awkward, bolted-on marketing afterthought that sat next to the mandatory barcode, eating up precious space on pack.
Now, the new QR codes consolidate the functions of both into one sleek asset, so brands can reclaim precious visual real estate.
More importantly, brands can turn physical packaging into a portal for owned first-party data and brand storytelling. When a consumer scans the product in the aisle or at the kitchen table, brands control the destination.
Consumers could have access to carbon footprint metrics, allergen warnings, and traceability without taking up space. There are also opportunities to provide extra value for consumers with bespoke content e.g. recipes inspiration or loyalty points.
Furthermore, brands can make sure they are meeting regulatory requirements on sustainability and recycling instructions, so the consumer is more informed on a product and brand than ever before.
How can brands adapt to using QR codes?
It’ll be interesting to see how brands adapt to this change. Some will try to replace the barcode with a QR code, keeping the packaging the same, which could make for visual clutter.
Instead of treating this as a painful compliance box to check, forward-thinking brands must view it as an opportunity to develop. The QR code gives brands a chance to enhance the consumer journey with an interactive world just behind the code.
Brands should be thinking about what experiences they want consumers to have with their product, then design the journey, including packaging around that.
It’s also worth noting that these changes will cost brands. If there is already going to be a cost for a package change, then it makes sense for brands to use this moment to reflect on the entire look and feel, maximising budgets to avoid further updates later down the line.
Brands need to get ahead of the QR evolution
The linear barcode is becoming a relic of the 1970s. QR codes will be the language of retail in the future. Supermarkets are paving the way and it’s likely that the high street will follow.
Brands don’t want to be scrambling to patch a piece of tech onto an old design. Embrace the transition and use this mandatory structural shift to rethink typography, elevate your shelf presence, and turn packaging into the most powerful digital touchpoint a brand has ever owned.
The future is scannable. Let’s design it beautifully.