QR code glossary · Formats and payloads
GS1 Digital Link
Also called: GS1 Digital Link URI
Definition
GS1 Digital Link is a GS1 standard for writing product identifiers, such as a GTIN with an optional batch or serial number, as an ordinary web address, so one QR code can open a page for shoppers and also give the product number to checkout and supply-chain scanners.
How it works
A GS1 Digital Link URI puts GS1 application identifiers into the path and query string of an https address. The product’s GTIN follows /01/, always written as 14 digits, padded with leading zeros. Qualifiers that narrow it to a batch (/10/) or a single serialized item (/21/) follow in a fixed order, and attributes such as an expiry date (17) go in the query string:
https://id.gs1.org/01/09520123456788/10/ABC1/21/12345?17=180426Any domain can be used, including the brand’s own; id.gs1.org is the canonical form. A phone simply opens the address, where the brand’s server, called a resolver, decides what to show or redirect to. A retail scanner instead parses the GTIN and other identifiers out of the address without going online.
Why it matters
Retail is moving toward 2D barcodes at the checkout. GS1’s 2D retail guideline sets an ambition for checkout scanners worldwide to read the GTIN from both linear and 2D barcodes by the end of 2027, known in the US as Sunrise 2027. The guideline covers QR codes carrying a GS1 Digital Link address as well as GS1 DataMatrix, and a QR code lets the same symbol serve consumers’ phones and the till. GS1 calls the transition voluntary and says linear barcodes will stay, so packaging keeps its UPC or EAN.
You need GS1-issued GTINs to use it; a QR code that simply links to your website is not a Digital Link. Because the address is printed on products that may be kept for years, the domain behind it has to stay live for at least that long.
Example
https://example.com/01/09506000134352, a GTIN on a brand’s own domain, is 37 characters and fits a version 3 code (29 × 29) at level M; the GTIN is encoded compactly in numeric mode.
Related terms
- 2D barcodeA 2D barcode is a barcode that stores data across both the width and the height of its pattern, unlike a 1D (linear) barcode such as a UPC, which stores a short number in the widths of its bars; QR codes, Data Matrix, Aztec and PDF417 are all 2D barcodes.
- Encoding modesEncoding modes are the ways a QR code packs characters into bits: numeric mode for digits, alphanumeric mode for a 45-character set of capital letters, digits and a few symbols, byte mode for any data such as UTF-8 text, and kanji mode for Japanese Shift JIS characters.
- Short URLA short URL is a brief web address, such as example.com/r/A7K2Q9, that a server forwards to a longer destination; dynamic QR codes encode one so the printed pattern stays small and the destination can change without reprinting.
- RedirectA redirect is an HTTP response with a 3xx status code and a Location header that tells the browser to load a different address; it is how a dynamic QR code’s short link forwards each scan to the code’s current destination.
- QR codeA QR code (Quick Response code) is a square two-dimensional barcode, standardized as ISO/IEC 18004, that stores data such as a web address, contact card or WiFi login in a grid of dark and light squares that a phone camera can read in any orientation.
Learn more
- QR codes on packaging and products: GS1 Digital Link, Sunrise 2027 and EU e-labels.
- QR codes for product packaging: What brands put behind the code.
- Free URL QR code generator: Encode any address, including a Digital Link URI.
Sources
Last updated . Written by the CirculateQR team; technical facts follow the sources listed above. Example codes and sizes are computed with the open-source qrcode encoder that CirculateQR uses. Spotted something wrong? Email support@circulateqr.com. QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.
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