Retail barcode or marketing QR: decide what the scan must do

Define the receiving system

A code that opens a product story on a phone and a code that identifies an item at a checkout perform different tasks. Before printing either, name the system that must read it and the information that system needs.

GS1 US distinguishes barcode types and their intended uses. For many retail products, it identifies a GTIN encoded in a UPC as a starting point. The appropriate choice depends on the selling channel and its accepted specification.

Separate navigation from product identity

Our recommendation is to record the consumer link and the retail identifier separately, even when a supported barcode solution can serve multiple purposes. Opening the correct website is useful evidence for a marketing link; it does not establish that a checkout system receives the required product identity.

  • Marketing task: identify the destination page and who maintains it.
  • Retail task: obtain the identifier and symbol requirements from the channel and relevant standards guidance.
  • Product match: confirm which item or variant the encoded data represents.
  • Verification: arrange the required barcode-quality and receiving-system checks.
Four records for a printed code: marketing task, retail task, product match and verification.
Record the consumer link and the retail identifier separately, even when a supported barcode solution can serve multiple purposes.
Do not replace a supplied barcode with a visually similar symbol or regenerate it from an incomplete number.

Approve the encoded data before the artwork

Have the responsible product-data owner confirm the content of the code. Then prepare the final artwork using the accepted specification. Do not replace a supplied barcode with a visually similar symbol or regenerate it from an incomplete number.

Imagine a maker prints a website QR on packaging and expects a retailer to use it at checkout. This is a hypothetical example. Ask the retailer which barcode and data it accepts before removing another required identifier. A compatible retail QR solution may be possible, but compatibility must be established.

Release the final graphic with its purpose recorded

Use the artwork guide for file preparation and share the approved graphic specification. The UV-DTF collection supplies a possible decorative-graphic route for suitable objects; ordering a printed code does not allocate product identifiers or certify retail scanning.

Back to blog