No, Your Barcodes Aren’t Disappearing: 7 GS1 Sunrise 2027 Myths, Debunked

Sunrise 2027 used to be a topic you only heard about at a GS1 conference or in a supply chain newsletter. That changed this summer. A video from The Hustle about the barcode industry pulled in over a million views, and suddenly a lot of people who’ve never touched a labeling system are talking about barcodes, GS1, and labels in 2027.

That’s a good thing. More awareness means more businesses getting ahead of this instead of scrambling in late 2026. But wider attention also means more confusion, half-right takes, and outright myths circulating. If you’ve seen the comments under that video (or one like it), you’ve probably noticed the same handful of misconceptions coming up again and again.

We covered the practical side of getting your labels ready in our Sunrise 2027 overview. This post is the mythbusting companion to that one. Let’s clear a few things up.

Myth 1: “1D barcodes stop working in 2027”

This is the biggest one, and it’s not true. Sunrise 2027 marks the point by which retail point-of-sale systems are expected to be able to read 2D barcodes. It is not a shutoff date for UPCs.

In practice, most products will carry a 1D barcode and a 2D barcode side by side for years after 2027. The industry calls this dual-marking, and it exists specifically so that older systems that haven’t upgraded yet can still scan a product while newer systems get the added benefit of the 2D code. Nobody is pulling the plug on UPCs on January 1, 2027.

Myth 2: “This is a government mandate”

It isn’t. GS1 is a global, nonprofit standards organization, not a regulator. Retailers, brands, and industry groups are adopting Sunrise 2027 because they’ve collectively decided it’s worth doing, not because a law requires it.

That said, “voluntary” doesn’t mean “optional for you” if your retail partners are requiring it. If Walmart, Dick’s, or another retailer you supply updates their vendor compliance specs to require 2D barcodes, that requirement is coming from the retailer’s contract with you, not from the government. Worth knowing the difference, since it changes who you talk to about deadlines and exceptions.

Myth 3: “2D barcodes need an internet connection to scan at checkout”

This one comes from a real feature of GS1 Digital Link getting confused with how checkout actually works. GS1 Digital Link means a 2D barcode can encode a URL that links to a webpage with more product information. That’s a real capability, and it’s part of what makes 2D exciting for things like ingredient transparency and recall information.

But the GTIN and core product data in a compliant 2D barcode scan exactly the way a UPC does today: locally, at the register, with no internet connection needed. The web link is an additional layer for consumers or supply chain partners to use later, not a requirement for the barcode to function at checkout.

Myth 4: “If a barcode fails to scan, cashiers just type in the number anyway, so why bother upgrading?”

Manual entry as a fallback isn’t going anywhere, and that’s fine. It’s a backup for damaged, dirty, or misprinted codes, and it’ll keep working the same way with 2D as it does with 1D.

But that’s an argument for having a good fallback, not an argument against the barcode carrying more data. A UPC can only hold a GTIN. A 2D barcode can hold the GTIN plus batch numbers, expiration dates, and serial numbers, all in one scan, which is exactly what retailers doing recall management and traceability are asking for. The fallback and the upgrade solve different problems.

Myth 5: “Putting QR codes on products makes shopping less safe”

This concern is legitimate, and it deserves a real answer instead of a dismissal. The risk people are describing is usually about third-party stickers: someone placing a fraudulent QR code sticker over a legitimate one to redirect a scan somewhere malicious. That’s a real scam, and it’s smart to be cautious about scanning random codes in public.

That’s a different situation from a GS1-compliant 2D barcode printed directly on a product’s label by the manufacturer. Those codes are tied to a registered GTIN and, when they include a Digital Link, point to a URL controlled by the brand itself. The sticker-fraud risk is about tampering after the fact, not something inherent to 2D barcodes as a technology.

Myth 6: “We’ll need to replace all our scanning hardware”

Sometimes true, sometimes not, and worth checking rather than assuming. Older 1D-only scanners genuinely cannot read 2D barcodes. That’s a hardware limitation, not something a software update fixes.

But a lot of scanners purchased in the last several years are already 2D-capable, especially if they’re camera-based rather than laser-based. Before budgeting for a full hardware refresh, inventory what you actually have. You may only need to prioritize your oldest or most frequently used stations rather than replace everything at once.

Myth 7: “Every product needs a completely redesigned label overnight”

For most businesses, this is an overcorrection. In many cases, Sunrise 2027 compliance means adding a 2D barcode to an existing label layout, not redesigning the whole thing from scratch. If you have space on your current label, this can be as straightforward as updating your labeling software’s template.

Where it gets more involved is on small labels, where fitting a second, high-density symbol next to your existing UPC takes real thought around size, resolution, and placement. That’s a real design problem worth solving carefully, but it’s a template update and a print-quality check, not a from-scratch redesign of your entire product line’s packaging.

The takeaway

Sunrise 2027 is a real transition with a real timeline, but most of the alarm you’re seeing online is based on a handful of misunderstandings about what actually changes and when. The practical version is simpler: get your labeling software generating GS1-compliant 2D barcodes, confirm your scanners can read them, and give yourself time to test before your retail partners’ deadlines hit.

If you want the full breakdown of what to actually do about it, our Sunrise 2027 readiness guide walks through it step by step. And if you’re not sure where your current setup stands, Pacific Barcode has been in the labeling business for over 27 years and can help you figure out what needs to change, if anything.

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