After 50 years, is this the end for barcodes?

After 50 years the end seems nigh for the humble barcode, which is set to be gradually phased out and replaced with a next-generation upgrade within two years.

About 10 billion barcodes are scanned every day across the world, and there are more barcodes scanned daily than there are searches on Google.

But perhaps not for much longer. GS1, the global non-profit that oversees barcodes, has announced that standard barcodes will be replaced by the end of 2027 with a next-generation barcode: a new square version capable of storing much more information.

About 10 billion barcodes are scanned globally every day and more barcodes are scanned daily than there are searches on Google.

Targeting late 2027 for implementation, GS1 says its new 2D barcodes resemble a QR code and will have significant improvements for both consumers and retailers.

Retailers will be able to scan the 2D barcodes to keep track of stock levels and use-by dates while consumers will be able to see more details about ingredients, supply chain, usage and recycling. The new barcodes will also help reduce goods fraud, which is estimated to cost the Australian industry between $2 billion and $3 billion annually.

Consumers will be able to use their smartphone to see if the product they’re buying contains any allergens, for example, and even get recipe suggestions.

According to GS1, the first small retailer in the world to adopt the new barcodes is a deli shop in Brazil.

“In two months, with the support of GS1 and solution providers, they’ve implemented the technology and the benefit for them was better inventory management – they have reduced waste by 50 per cent,” GS1 president and chief executive Renaud de Barbuat told Euronews.

“We believe that by having more information, the consumers will be able to make smarter decisions ... And this will influence products and the products will become more sustainable progressively.”

“One scan, infinite possibilities,” de Barbuat said.

An example of the new 2D barcode (left) next to a 1D barcode.

Barcodes were invented in the late 1940s by US science graduates Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver. The manager of a Philadelphia supermarket chain had asked the students to come up with a way of reducing checkout delays and stocktaking times that were eating up his profits.

Barcodes then took another three decades to actually hit store shelves.

GS1 Australia CEO Maria Palazzolo.

The first product ever scanned at a checkout with a barcode was a packet of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum sold at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio, USA on June 26, 1974.

In Australia, Sims Supermarkets was the first location in Australia to use barcodes, starting in Melton in 1979.

The upgrade to 2D barcodes means that many retailers will likely need to upgrade their point-of-sale systems, and ensure that their scanners are compatible with the new barcodes.

Maria Palazzolo, chief executive of GS1 Australia, told SmartCompany in a recent interview that while GS1’s goal is for all retailers worldwide to have the capacity to scan the new barcodes at the point of sale by 2027, that won’t necessarily mean an immediate end to old barcodes.

“That’s what we’re aiming for — that at least the retailer has the ability to make a decision as to whether they’re going to scan 2D barcodes or not,” she told the publication.

GS1 Australia is urging retailers to begin planning for the transition from traditional linear 1D barcodes to the 2D variety.

“We don’t want to be saying, ‘If you’re not ready by that date, then your product’s not going to be able to scan at the point of sale,’ ” Palazzolo said. “We want to simply be able to say, ‘Make sure that you’re working towards that date.’ ”

The executive said that Woolworths had begun trialling the 2D barcodes and had already reduced food wastage as a result, given the supermarket can more effectively sell products before their use-by-date.

“The checkout system will be able to stop consumers buying products that have already reached the use-by date, or alternatively, the use-by date products will be marked down a couple of days before.”

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