Linear barcodes are not disappearing overnight. What changes in 2027 is which symbol the retail world is building toward: Sunrise 2027 is the industry's target for checkouts everywhere to read 2D codes, and that quietly redefines what a well-dressed pack looks like at the till, on the label and in your data.
What each symbol can actually carry
An EAN or UPC linear barcode encodes one number, the GTIN. That number is the key to everything, but it is only a key: price, name, batch and recall status all live in databases the symbol cannot reach. A 2D code carries the GTIN plus, optionally, batch, serial, expiry and, written as a GS1 Digital Link, a working URL. Same identity, radically more payload, readable by both retail scanners and every phone camera made in the last decade.
What changes at the checkout
Sunrise-ready tills read the 2D symbol and extract the GTIN from it exactly as they would from stripes, so the transaction flow is unchanged. What retail gains is the extra data: expiry-aware selling, automatic markdowns near date, and recall blocking per lot rather than per product. None of that is possible with a symbol that carries only a number.
What changes on the label
During the transition, packs carry both symbols, and GS1's dual marking guidance asks for them within 50 mm of each other so one scanning gesture finds both. That is a real constraint on small labels; the size arithmetic decides whether your label width survives, and the free generator runs the check before a designer spends an hour.
What changes in your data
The under-appreciated difference: a linear barcode scan tells the brand nothing, ever. The scans happen at tills and in warehouses and none of that signal reaches you. A 2D code carrying a URL you control turns every scan, from a phone or a machine, into a data point: which product, which country, human or machine. That analytics layer is the return on the artwork investment, and it starts the day the code ships.
The practical position for a brand in 2026
Print both. Encode the 2D symbol as a Digital Link rather than a bare number, because the marginal cost is zero and the capability difference is the whole future: web, checkout, regulation and analytics from one symbol. Ride your normal reprint cycle so the transition costs artwork hours, not stranded inventory. The checklist sequences it.
Common questions
Will QR codes replace barcodes completely?
Eventually at retail, but not in 2027. Sunrise 2027 makes checkouts able to read 2D codes; linear barcodes continue working and packs carry both during a transition measured in years.
Which is better for packaging, QR or the linear barcode?
They answer different questions. The linear code is universal at every till today; the QR carries far more data and works with phones. Until the transition completes, the correct answer is both, within 50 mm of each other.
Do phones scan linear barcodes?
Camera apps can read them, but a linear barcode only yields a number, which means nothing to a shopper without an app looking it up. A QR carrying a URL opens something useful directly.
Does the switch cost anything at the printer?
No. Both symbols are ordinary ink. The costs are artwork space and making sure the code resolves, both of which are solvable free.