Traceability and RFID
What is GS1 Digital Link?
GS1 Digital Link puts GTIN, batch and serial into a web address inside a QR code, so one code serves checkout, consumers, authenticity and product passports.
Quick answer
GS1 Digital Link is a GS1 standard that expresses product identifiers such as the GTIN, batch and serial number as a web address. Encoded in a QR code or DataMatrix, it lets one code be scanned at checkout, by a consumer’s phone or by an inspector, with a resolver sending each to the right information.
Updated 30 October 2026. Written by the Ajinkya Technologies engineering team, reviewed by Amey Kadle.
GS1 Digital Link explained
A GS1 Digital Link address combines a domain chosen by the brand with GS1 application identifiers. For example, a path such as /01/09506000134352/10/ABC123/21/12345 carries a GTIN (01), a batch or lot number (10) and a serial number (21). Because the identifiers are in a standard place, any GS1 aware scanner can extract them, while a phone simply opens the link.
The server behind the domain is called a resolver. It can return different content depending on who is asking and why: product information and instructions for a consumer, an authenticity check for an item level serial number, recall status for a batch, or the product passport for a regulator. The code on the package never needs to change when the content does.
This is why GS1 Digital Link sits at the centre of several trends at once: the move to 2D codes at retail checkout under GS1’s Ambition 2027, the EU Digital Product Passport (GS1 has a provisional application standard that uses it as the data carrier), and brand protection, where premium brands give each item a serialised link that proves it is genuine.
Key concepts
- GS1 identifiers expressed as a web address
- Encoded in a QR code or DataMatrix
- Application identifiers: 01 GTIN, 10 batch, 21 serial
- A resolver returns the right content per use
- One code for checkout, consumers, authenticity and passports
Questions
Is a GS1 Digital Link QR code different from an ordinary QR code?
It is an ordinary QR code whose web address follows the GS1 Digital Link syntax, so the GTIN, batch and serial can be read by GS1 aware systems as well as opened by any phone.
Can GS1 Digital Link replace the barcode at checkout?
That is the aim of GS1’s Ambition 2027, under which point of sale systems should read 2D codes by the end of 2027. Linear barcodes remain in use during the transition.
How does GS1 Digital Link help prove authenticity?
With a serial number per item, the resolver can check whether that serial exists, was shipped to that market and has not been scanned suspiciously often, which counterfeiters cannot easily copy.
References
How we help with GS1 Digital Link
We generate serialised GS1 Digital Link codes, run resolvers and authenticity checks, and link each code to production and traceability data; some of these systems already run for premium luxury brands.
Traceability rules by industry, with dates and sources, and how to build for them.
Related terms
Want this measured on your own line?
Tell us your process, machines and ERP. An engineer, not a salesperson, replies within 24 hours with what we would measure first.