This is the working checklist for getting a brand's packaging ready for Sunrise 2027, the industry 2D barcode transition GS1 coordinates (program details at GS1 US), ordered so that each step unblocks the next. A small brand can clear the first five in an afternoon; the rest ride on your normal packaging cycle.
1. Inventory your GTINs
List every SKU and its GTIN, and confirm each is a live GS1 licence, not a reused or invented number. The last digit is a check digit computed from the rest, so typos surface immediately when you validate. The generator validates check digits as you type; ten minutes with your catalogue spreadsheet settles this.
2. Decide what your 2D code will carry
Three candidates: a bare GTIN in a QR (satisfies checkout only), a marketing URL (satisfies nobody at the till), or a GS1 Digital Link URI (satisfies checkout, shoppers, regulators and machines from one symbol). The ink costs the same; encode the Digital Link. The reasoning is spelled out in the comparison.
3. Stand up resolution before printing anything
The URL you print must answer scans from day one, for people and for machines. Register your products on a conformant resolver, point each code's destination at your product page (or use a hosted page if you have no website), and verify with a curl that machines get JSON-LD. On Onpack this is a form per product, free.
4. Check the label geometry
During the transition your pack carries both symbols, within 50 mm of each other under GS1's dual marking guidance, and the QR has a minimum printable size driven by scanner optics. The size rules and the 50 mm arithmetic are both automated in the generator: give it your label width and it answers fit or no fit before any designer time is spent.
5. Scan your own proof
Print the generated QR at final size on paper, stick it on the actual pack, and scan it: with your phone camera, from an angle, in bad light, and ideally with a retail scanner if a partner has one. Then check the artwork the printer returns against the original: the artwork checklist catches the classic failures (inverted colors, trimmed quiet zone, resampled modules) before plates are made.
6. Roll out on your reprint cycle, not before
Nothing in Sunrise 2027 justifies destroying good inventory. Sequence the rollout SKU by SKU as each label comes up for its scheduled reprint; the artwork delta folds into work already planned and the cash cost rounds to zero, as the cost breakdown shows. High-velocity SKUs first, since their packs cycle off shelves fastest.
7. Put the scan data to work
Once codes are in the field, every scan reports in: which products, which countries, human or machine, live. That analytics layer is the payback for the whole exercise, and it is also your compliance foundation: the same code now carries passport data for EU scans and recall notices per batch the day you need them.
The one-line version
Validate your GTINs, print Digital Link QRs sized to fit next to the linear code, resolve them somewhere conformant and free, prove it with your own phone, and ride your reprint cycle. Every item above is free to execute except your designer's hour.
Common questions
What is the actual deadline in Sunrise 2027?
End of 2027 is the industry target for retail checkouts to be able to scan 2D barcodes. Your operative deadline is earlier: whichever artwork cycle produces packs that will still be on shelves in 2028.
Which SKUs should move first?
High-velocity SKUs, because their packaging cycles fastest, and any SKU facing regulatory pull such as EU passport categories or batteries.
Do I need both barcodes on the pack?
Yes, during the transition. GS1 dual marking guidance keeps both symbols within 50 mm of each other so any scanner finds a readable code.
How do I prove readiness to a retail buyer?
Show a pack whose QR scans to a working product page, and whose code answers a machine request with structured data. A buyer's technical team can verify both in minutes against the resolver standard.