Sunrise 2027 | Part 1: What Manufacturers Need to Know

If your products are on the shelves of Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, or any major retailer, a shift is underway that will affect every label you print, every pallet you ship, and every system you rely on to manage inventory. Sunrise 2027 is the global GS1 initiative requiring all retail point-of-sale systems to scan 2D barcodes by the end of 2027, replacing the 1D UPC barcodes that have been on product packaging for decades.

Manufacturers I talk to often start at the same place: they know Sunrise 2027 is coming, but they're not sure what it actually requires, or in what order. So I wrote this four-part series to walk through the answer. Here in Part 1, you'll get the definition of the initiative, the physical label requirements you'll face, and the three systems that have to change. Parts 2, 3, and 4 take the next decisions in turn: the WMS choice, the hardware stack, and the data governance work.

What Is Sunrise 2027?

Sunrise 2027 is a GS1 initiative. By the end of 2027, every retail point-of-sale (POS) system must scan 2D barcodes. The 1D UPC barcodes on packaging today are not going away overnight. They are being replaced.

The new standard, GS1 Digital Link, is a 2D barcode (QR code or DataMatrix) that carries a live web URL alongside the structured product data retailers need. Each scan opens both: the product identity, and the data behind it.

Why Retailers Are Driving the Sunrise 2027 Shift

Retailers have been pushing for richer product data for years. A traditional 1D UPC tells a scanner one thing: what the product is. A GS1 Digital Link 2D barcode tells a scanner (and a retailer's entire back-end data layer) a great deal more:

• Batch and lot numbers for traceability
• Expiration and best-before dates
• Serial numbers for anti-counterfeiting
• Links to live product pages, safety data sheets, allergen info, and sustainability reports

Major retailers are deploying Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs), digital price tags that update in real time using richer 2D barcode data. The 1D barcode cannot carry that payload, which is why your labels themselves have to change first.

What Does Sunrise 2027 Mean for Your Physical Labels?

The physical requirements are not optional. Through 2025 and 2026, the working strategy is dual-marking: printing both the 1D and the new 2D barcode on packaging. Older scanners still work. Newer scanners get the full payload. Your products ship to both.

Physical Label Requirements

• Size: About 2cm x 2cm minimum for reliable scanning
• Placement: Within 50mm of the existing 1D barcode
• Contrast: High contrast (black on white) with a clear quiet zone around the code
• Quality: Compliant with ISO/IEC 15415 barcode quality standards (failing this standard means an automatic 'F' grade and scan failures at retail)

Those are the rules for the labels themselves. The systems that produce them and the data that feeds them have to change too.

What Manufacturers Must Upgrade for Sunrise 2027

A new symbol on the box is not compliance. Three systems have to change before your product lines through retail cleanly:

• Print Infrastructure: High-resolution digital or hybrid printers that print serialized or dynamic 2D codes reliably
• Data Governance: Centralized systems (such as an ERP like NetSuite) that check and sync batch numbers, expiry dates, and lot data in real time across the supply chain. For a deeper look at how this layer fits with warehouse operations, see our earlier post on the ERP vs WMS landscape.
• Standard Compliance: Active GS1 membership and a licensed Company Prefix, the basis for all GTINs and the starting point for GS1 Digital Link rollout

The Sunrise 2027 Timeline

Sunrise 2027 is not a distant concern. The dual-marking window runs through 2025 and 2026; manufacturers should already be printing both. Full retailer POS readiness is the end of 2027. Brands that wait until 2026 face tight timelines, higher costs, and non-compliance chargebacks.

Supply Chain Advisory: How Techfino Can Help Manufacturers

Techfino's Supply Chain Advisory practice, part of Techfino's NetSuite manufacturing practice, has helped manufacturers through shifts where labels, warehouse systems, ERP data, and retailer relationships have to move together. There is no single-vendor fix for Sunrise 2027. The work is a joined-up plan, not a buying decision. (For context on how connected the supply chain layer can be, see our earlier piece on managing supply chain cost variations.)

The three articles that follow take the next decisions in turn: NetSuite WMS vs RF-Smart in Part 2, the scanning and printing hardware in Part 3, and the data governance work behind digital price tags in Part 4.

Want to know where you stand on Sunrise 2027? Schedule a free assessment with Techfino's Supply Chain Advisory team and find your gaps before your retail partners do.