Accra, April 7, GNA -GS1 Ghana, a global organisation made up of over a million members, has held a seminar for its member companies to help them to keep abreast of recent developments in using and applying barcodes in their businesses, notably the transition from 1D to 2D barcodes.
The seminar on the theme: “2D barcodes – infinite possibilities for brand owners and retailers” was to get industry players, manufacturers, and retailers ready for the shift towards the use of 2D barcodes scheduled for 2027.
Mr Kofi Nagetey, Chief Executive Officer GS1 Ghana, said Ghanaian businesses needed to know about the developments and prepare to ensure a smooth transition to the 2D barcodes.
He said while the GTIN 1D linear barcode had been a trusted and ubiquitous data carrier for facilitating the price look-up function at retail point-of-sale, it had some limitations.
For instance, Linear barcodes require a mobile device app to access online information and are not as consume-friendly as other data carriers like QR codes, which allow consumers and businesses to access additional product data and online information directly.
“Linear 1D barcodes, therefore, provide minimal information. Consumers, brand owners, retailers and regulators want to know more about products. As a result, everyone is looking for better ways to access information about a product by scanning a code on its packaging,” he said.
To better enable the digital consumer and unlock current and emerging business use cases, such as sustainability and circular economies, the retail industry is embarking on one of the most significant changes since the original introduction of the GTIN barcode, the adoption of the 2D barcode.
“The momentum for change, to use more capable 2D barcodes, is driven by industry’s need to encode more data on-pack and to allow consumer engagement through links to web-enabled information,” Mr Nagetey said.
This meets the growing information demands of consumers and regulators, enables additional supply chain efficiencies, creates new circular economies and builds brand trust by providing more accurate, complete and up-to-date product information, all the while enabling existing POS processes.
This is focused on the considerations and implications for brand owners, manufacturers, retailers, and solution providers regarding the use of 2D barcodes encoded with GS1 barcode syntaxes at retail point-of-sale (POS). 2D barcodes, such as GS1 DataMatrix, Data Matrix, or QR Codes, can be encoded with more data than the linear barcode.
Additional data and links to web-enabled information can be included within these 2D barcodes using GS1 Digital Link URL in Data Matrix and QR Codes.
Data might, for example, include the products’ expiry date, batch/lot number, or serial number.
Access to additional information on the web can include ingredient and allergen information, product pictures and videos, consumer reviews, recycling information, services related to the product, and more.
This additional information and data, made possible by 2D barcodes, has the potential to revolutionize consumer engagement, making it more interactive and informative.
He said 2D barcodes unlock a unified strategy, allowing brand owners to improve consumer engagement, streamline supply chains and more.
The initial goal is for retail POS scanning to be globally capable of reading and processing the GTIN from existing linear and 2D barcodes by the end of 2027.
“We want to alert this because it will require industry to make adjustments in their production line by installing new scanners that can scan the 2D barcode and also retailers also to have new scanners that can scan 2D barcodes,” he said.
“So, this, we are just alerting the public and also manufacturers, retailers, that there is a need for us to prepare to transition from the normal barcode that we see, to the 2D,” Mr Nagetey added.
He urged every business to get on board, especially those who are in the manufacturing, exporting, and retailing, to get prepared to make the necessary adjustments and investments to get the 2D barcode scanners.
Mr Kofi Essuman, the Chairman of the Management Board of GS1 Ghana, who was the main speaker on the 2D barcode, said globally barcodes were used to track and trace products for sales, but gradually there was a move away from the linear barcode to a 2D barcode.
He said the shift to 2D barcode would enable businesses to become more efficient in their operations, effectively monitor inventory and communicate or engage with consumers.
“And when you are trading globally, your goods will be accepted all over. Because many countries have started shifting into the 2D barcodes. It is for this reason that we need to sensitize the Ghanaian business community to become aware of what is ahead in the future,” Mr Essuman added.
He said it was important for Ghanaian businesses to prepare themselves for what will come during the period when people had migrated from the single or the linear barcode to the 2D barcode.
“So, the point that has been made is that by having this 2D barcode on a leaflet or on a product, you can scan and it will give you so much information. You don’t need to get a salesman by you telling you what is available, what is not available,” he added.
However, he said, the biggest challenge to the transition to 2D barcode, especially in our part of the world, was the fact that over 80% of trade in the informal sector, where people really did not use barcode or technology to trade.
“And so when you are bringing this new technology into the market, they may not find any relevance for it. That is one challenge,” he said.
Another challenge is the replacement of equipment or the tools currently in use for scanning barcodes with new ones, which could be expensive.
There is also the need for retraining of employees in the manufacturing industries or in the shops to change their mindsets from the linear barcodes into the 2D barcodes.
“You need really to invest in that,” he added.
Professor Alex Dodoo, Director-General of the Ghana Standards Authority, who chaired the seminar, urged the businesses to stay in touch with current trends in technology to keep pace with the competition.
“So, I think the point is that as technology evolves, rather than being afraid of it, you must embrace it. Because if you do not, your competitors will, and be ahead of the game, and your business will suffer,” he said.
GNA
CA