new barcode generation: What it means for you and the industry

It Started with a Simple Beep: 50 Years Ago, the First Barcode Was Scanned in a Supermarket / Now the New Barcode Generation Is Ready

Fifty years ago, in a Marsh supermarket in Ohio, USA, a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum made history. On June 26, 1974, this humble product became the first item ever to be scanned with a barcode. That milestone set the stage for automated checkout systems and, as of 2024’s anniversary, it also frames the handover to the new barcode generation built on 2D codes poised to take over key retail workflows.

The Humble Beginnings of a Revolutionary Technology

In the same year Playmobil arrived, West Germany lifted the World Cup, and ABBA won Eurovision, the barcode quietly began its journey. The sequence of black stripes on a light background is now ubiquitous across retail, logistics, and healthcare. Industry accounts regularly cite more than ten billion scans per day worldwide, turning that initial beep into a foundational building block for process security and efficiency.

Has the classic barcode run out of steam?

Not overnight—UPC/EAN will coexist with 2D codes for years—but major retailers and standards bodies are moving toward 2D at point-of-sale, with pilots underway and broad enablement targeted for 2028.

Linear UPC/EAN barcodes still work reliably for price lookup and inventory control. But they carry limited data. As omnichannel and regulatory demands grow, retailers look to 2D codes (GS1 DataMatrix, QR) that can hold far more information on-pack and resolve to cloud content. Coverage of the 50-year anniversary underscores that a transition is coming, with the classic stripes likely to cede primary scanning duties in many lanes to richer 2D symbols (background on the 50-year shift).

What does the new barcode generation enable?

2D codes encode thousands of characters and can point to live digital content, enabling richer product data at checkout and on any camera device with a single on-pack symbol.

Unlike one-dimensional stripes, 2D symbols such as GS1 DataMatrix or QR can combine more than 7,000 numeric characters. That headroom supports batch/lot, expiry, serials, regulatory attributes, and a link to web content. The approach pairs on-pack data with a standards-based URL so the same code can serve shoppers, store systems, and supply-chain partners without printing multiple symbols. For editorial context: this is the core promise of the new barcode generation—one code for price lookup, traceability and a dynamic product page.

• Richer data at POS: lot/expiry for recalls, age checks, or waste reduction.
• Direct-to-consumer content: ingredients, allergens, recipes, reviews.
• Supply chain visibility: serialization, cold chain, and provenance.
• Omnichannel consistency: one symbol works across apps, scanners, kiosks.

GS1 Digital Link: A New Standard for Contextual Information

GS1 Digital Link turns a product identifier into a resolvable URL so different audiences get the right data from the same code. A scan can route consumers to product pages or sustainability data, while trading partners receive technical specs or recall notices—context determined by device, location, or role. The code on the pack stays the same; the experience changes with context, aligning physical packaging with dynamic, cloud-managed information (see GS1’s anniversary materials: 50 years of barcode overview).

The Role of GS1 Germany in Barcode Evolution

The barcode shares its 50th anniversary with GS1 Germany, the not-for-profit steward of GTIN (formerly EAN) and related standards for products, shipments, documents, and machines. Companies obtain GTINs and guidance from GS1 Germany to ensure identifiers resolve correctly at checkout and in digital channels. A global network of 116 GS1 organizations supports more than two million companies across 150 countries and 25 industries, coordinating updates from linear EAN-13 to 2D implementations such as GS1 DataMatrix and QR.

From an editorial standpoint, the practical value of GS1’s stewardship is consistency: when identifiers and resolution rules are uniform, retailers can upgrade scanners and backend systems with fewer edge cases, and brands can adopt one global artwork instead of country-by-country variants.

How will the new barcode generation change retail operations?

Expect fewer separate labels and manual workarounds, faster exception handling, and more accurate inventory and recall processes—especially where batch, expiry, or regulated attributes matter.

At POS, 2D scanning allows a till to read price plus additional fields in one pass. In fresh, pharma-adjacent, or high-shrink categories, this reduces keystrokes and shrink-related errors. In e-commerce and reverse logistics, the same symbol ties returns to order metadata without extra QR stickers. For shopper experience, one on-pack code can open a trusted product page that meets disclosure rules and supports loyalty or promotions—without relying on app-specific codes.

When will 2D codes reach the checkout?

Broad readiness is targeted for 2028, with retailers upgrading scanners and POS software so a single 2D code can be used at the lane alongside (and increasingly instead of) UPC/EAN.

Timelines vary by market and retailer, but the direction is consistent: enable 2D scanning at the point-of-sale and begin phasing artwork toward a single, prominent 2D symbol. In the interim, dual-marking (EAN/UPC plus a 2D code) is common. Industry communications around the 50-year milestone point to 2028 as a practical horizon for mass-readiness, after pilots prove throughput parity and staff training is complete. As always, legacy fallback remains important where older scanners persist.

Enhancing Business Efficiency with Digital Solutions

"With our universal standards, we make a practical contribution to the value creation process of businesses," notes Thomas Fell, CEO of GS1 Germany. Developed with practitioners and maintained on a neutral platform, GS1 standards aim to simplify e-commerce and satisfy rising information demands—precisely the jobs the new barcode generation takes on. While the exact ROI is case-dependent, the pattern is familiar: cleaner data capture, fewer exceptions, and better customer information flow, which collectively improve economics across the value chain.

Fazit

The barcode’s first scan on June 26, 1974 kicked off automated checkout; the industry now stands at a similar inflection point. The new barcode generation—2D codes plus GS1 Digital Link—consolidates pricing, compliance, and content into one symbol. Retailers are targeting 2028 for broad POS readability, with coexistence during the transition. For brands and merchants, the payoff is operational efficiency and a direct bridge from shelf to trusted product data. The beep endures—only now, it carries much more information.

The journey of barcodes began with a simple beep 50 years ago. Since then, they have revolutionized the retail industry. Today, a new generation of barcodes is emerging, promising even greater efficiency and innovation. This evolution is not just limited to retail. It impacts various sectors, including technology and data management.

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In the realm of artificial intelligence, the Leibniz University Hannover AI research is making significant strides. Their work in AI is pushing the boundaries of what is possible, contributing to the advancement of technology and its applications in various fields, including retail and logistics.

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As you can see, the evolution of barcodes is part of a broader trend of technological advancements. These innovations are not isolated; they are interconnected, driving progress across various industries. By staying informed about these developments, you can better understand the future landscape of technology and its impact on everyday life.