Packaging teams have always operated with the same constraints: protect the product, print the required information, and minimize costs. Labels offered fixed space, so every piece of content — ingredients, claims, compliance disclosures — competed for the same limited real estate.
That model is ending. GS1’s Sunrise 2027 deadline requires 2D barcodes on consumer-facing products, and what looks like a technical swap is actually forcing a fundamental rethink of what packaging does. Packaging is becoming the most direct connection between a physical product and the digital relationship brands want to build.
Most companies will treat this as a compliance task: swap the code, check the box, move on. Brands that see packaging as infrastructure will capture capabilities that didn’t exist two years ago, i.e., real-time content updates, scannable moments that feed first-party data, and transparency without redesigning every label.
That’s why I predict packaging will become forward-thinking brands’ most powerful digital channel next year.
The Compliance Mandate That Became a Channel Shift
The Sunrise 2027 initiative is meant to help retailers improve their inventory tracking. On paper, this was an operational upgrade.
But the shift from 1D barcodes to 2D codes created an unintended consequence: billions of scannable moments where brands can now reach consumers directly. Traditional barcodes only talked to point-of-sale systems. The 2D codes replacing them — QR codes — work for checkout registers and smartphones. That means the same code managing inventory at the register can also show a customer ingredient sourcing, recycling instructions, or product authenticity when they scan it at home.
Packaging teams now manage a surface that serves compliance, marketing, and data capture simultaneously. A cereal box’s code ensures the retailer’s system reads the correct price while also connecting parents to allergen details, nutrition breakdowns, and breakfast recipes. And it does all of that without adding text to an already-crowded label.
Every scan creates a trackable interaction. Brands can see where products are being opened, what content gets attention, and which SKUs drive repeat engagement. Packaging stops being a passive container and starts functioning as a bridge between physical products and the digital systems brands want customers to use.
What “Packaging as Channel” Actually Means for CPG Operations
Once packaging can talk directly to consumers, teams stop thinking about it as a print job and start managing it as something that needs updating, testing, and measurement. There are a few ways this shift shows up first.
Compliance without redesign.
EU regulations now require ingredient sourcing, allergen warnings, and recycling instructions, often in multiple languages. Seasonal promotions used to lock brands into months-old messaging. Both problems meant reprinting packaging or living with outdated information.
A single QR code solves this by delivering region-specific content based on where the scan happens. Nestlé, for example, uses the same printed code to show French recycling instructions in Paris and German allergen details in Berlin. Similarly, a cereal brand links the same box to summer recipes in June and holiday bundles in December. The physical package stays identical while the content behind it remains current.
Behavioral data from physical products.
Every scan tells you where the product was bought, when it was opened, and what content the customer viewed. Brands can now track which SKUs drive app downloads, which recipes get clicked, and which regions engage with sustainability content. This creates a closed-loop measurement that generates valuable data that keeps you from guessing what customers are generally looking for.
Authentication at the point of doubt.
Counterfeit products cost premium brands revenue and erode trust. Serialized QR codes let customers verify authenticity before they buy. Beauty and pharma brands already rely on this method by using a code that customers can scan to authenticate the product they want to purchase.
That shift from static label to live connection means packaging teams need to manage packaging the way they’d manage any other customer-facing channel.
How Packaging Teams Should Prepare Now
The 2027 deadline is close, and brands need to move now to build infrastructure that compounds over time. Here’s where to start:
- Pick one high-value test case. Don’t retrofit your entire product line at once. Choose an SKU where compliance is already tight, counterfeiting is a concern, or customer questions drain support resources. Test there, learn what works, then scale.
- Coordinate cross-functionally before print deadlines. Packaging decisions now involve marketing (campaign rotation), IT (data systems), compliance (regulatory content), and operations (printing specs). Align on data standards, content ownership, and label placement early. Waiting until print specs are finalized creates expensive delays.
- Plan for dual formats during transition. Most retailers will require 1D and 2D codes for the next two to three years. Design label templates that fit both without crowding the package. Budget for managing parallel systems until the cutover is complete.
- Use dynamic codes, not static ones. Static QR codes lock you into one destination forever. Dynamic codes let you update content, rotate campaigns, and fix broken links without reprinting. Use the GS1 Digital Link standard so codes work at checkout and in customers’ hands. Connect scan data to your CRM so you’re capturing insights, not just traffic.
- Test in real conditions before launch. Codes need to scan under store lighting, on curved bottles, and across every smartphone model your customers carry. Involve warehouse staff, retail partners, and QA teams early. Make sure linked content loads fast and provides more than a generic homepage.
- Build for what’s next. Once the infrastructure is in place, adding warranty registration, authentication features, or digital product passports becomes simple.
The 2027 deadline is coming whether teams are ready or not. There’s a major opportunity in building packages that work as hard as digital channels. Brands that move now will establish infrastructure advantages instead of looking up in two years, wondering how their competitors got so far ahead.
