Why Are Barcodes Changing After 50 Years?

AI

Simple Things Revealed

Jul 25, 2026  

Why Do Products Suddenly Have Two Barcodes? and why are QR codes suddenly appearing next to familiar UPC barcodes?

For more than 50 years, traditional barcodes have helped stores identify products and retrieve prices with a single beep. But they usually identify only the type of product, not its individual batch, expiration date, origin, or recall status.

That is why retailers and manufacturers are preparing for a shift toward more capable 2D barcodes.

In this video, we explore how traditional UPC barcodes work, what GS1 Digital Link and 2D barcodes can do, and why many products may temporarily carry both a striped barcode and a square code.

The barcode is not simply being replaced. It is evolving from a price lookup number into a connection between a physical product and its changing digital record.

Would you trust a product more if one scan revealed its origin, expiry date, and recall status?

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