Image – Branston uses Orca Scan’s GS1 Digital Link solution to maintain its Digital Link QR codes on products sold in major UK supermarkets.
Orca Scan and GS1’s Innovative QR Codes Arrive in UK Supermarkets
One of Britain’s most-loved food brands, Branston, is using the Orca Scan GS1 Digital Link solution to enhance its customers’ experience in major UK supermarkets.
While this new Digital Link QR code might look familiar, it marks a new era for the global retail industry as it’s powered by GS1’s Digital Link standard. This works by connecting billions of physical products to the internet and giving each one a unique home page that brands can modify long after the product has left the production line.
Branston is an early adopter of this technology, continuing its mission of pairing tradition with innovation by becoming one of the first brands to have this new barcode on products sold in major UK supermarkets, giving their consumers instant access to recipe ideas, ingredients and allergens, sustainability and recycling information with a simple scan via their smartphone camera, no app required.
Why is this important?
The retail industry has set a date to make the transition to accepting 2D barcodes at point-of-sale (POS) or point-of-care (POC) — referred to as Sunrise 2027. At this point, the traditional 1D barcode you see on packaging today will be phased out and upgraded to a GS1 Digital Link QR code.
 NOTE: All brands must keep the existing 1D barcode on products until 2027 to allow global computer systems to be updated to support the new GS1 Digital Link QR code.
How can brands create a GS1 Digital Link QR code?
Cambridge-based software company Orca Scan, in partnership with GS1 UK, has designed the GS1 Digital Link solution to make creating and maintaining GS1 Digital Link QR codes as simple as possible. It is the first GS1-approved solution to integrate fully with the GS1 resolver eco-system.
See a video animation here.