A normal dynamic QR code carries an opaque short link — a random string that only means something to the service that issued it. A GS1 Digital Link is different: it is a web address built from the product’s own identifier, the GTIN (the number under a retail barcode). One code can then answer more than one question about the product.
The shape of a GS1 Digital Link
A GS1 Digital Link is an ordinary HTTPS URL with the product’s identifiers in the path:
https://brand.example/01/0950600013435201 is the GS1 Application Identifier for a GTIN, and 09506000134352 is the 14-digit GTIN. You can add a batch/lot (10) or a serial number (21):
https://brand.example/01/09506000134352/10/LOT42/21/SER7Because it is a normal URL on a domain you control, any phone camera opens it — no special app. A GS1-aware system can also read the GTIN straight out of it.
One code, many destinations
The part that makes it more than a link is link types. A resolver sitting on your domain can send the same code to different places depending on what the scanner asks for: a product information page by default, assembly instructions, certification information, a recycling or sustainability page, and so on. If a requested link type is not defined, a conformant resolver returns a 404 rather than guessing; ask for the full set and it returns a list of every link (an RFC 9264 “linkset”).
That is the difference in one sentence: a short link points at one destination; a GS1 Digital Link resolves, by purpose, to many.
What you need to use one
Two things, and only one of them is on us:
- A GTIN you are licensed to use. GTINs and GS1 Company Prefixes are issued by GS1, not by a QR vendor. This is the one hard requirement, and it sits with you — GS1 US, for example, sells a single GTIN outright, or a Company Prefix for a range of products. We do not issue GTINs and could not.
- A resolver on a domain you control. GS1’s guidance is that the resolver runs on the brand’s own domain, so the link is yours and cannot be taken hostage by a vendor. This is exactly what redireo does: your GS1 Digital Links resolve on your own verified custom domain, and you edit where each link type points at any time — the printed image never changes.
Why this is coming up now: Sunrise 2027
GS1 is encouraging retailers to upgrade point-of-sale scanners to read 2D barcodes (a QR code carrying a GS1 Digital Link, or a GS1 DataMatrix) by 2027. At checkout the till reads the GTIN out of the code locally; the web resolution is a separate action a shopper’s phone takes later. It is an industry-readiness milestone, not a law, and during the transition packaging carries both a 1D and a 2D code. Source: GS1 US, Sunrise 2027, reviewed July 2026.
What redireo is — and is not
redireo builds your GS1 Digital Links to the GS1 Digital Link standard, resolves them on your own domain, and publishes the resolver description file that lets a GS1-aware system recognise a conformant resolver. We are honest about the edges: we do not issue GTINs, we are not a GS1 certification, and creating a GS1 Digital Link does not by itself make a product compliant with a regulation such as the EU Digital Product Passport — that is a separate obligation on the manufacturer. What we give you is the resolver layer: one code, many link types, edited without reprinting, measured per scan, on the domain that is already yours.