Woolworths Australia seeing multiple benefits from 2D barcodes

Woolworths and selected suppliers are using 2D barcodes with GS1 standards to achieve substantial results, including enhancing food safety and reducing food waste by up to 40%.

Facing shoppers with new expectations and suppliers with new challenges, Woolworths Australia knew they needed a way to make available more data—and more granular data—about the products they sold, without causing confusion or wasting precious label space.

By putting product identification and product information into one on-pack symbol, 2D barcodes have unlocked a new dimension of capabilities for Woolworths and enabled a variety of efficiencies for the retailer and for their suppliers.

With 2D barcodes now in place for many items at Woolworths stores across Australia, the retailer can manage store inventory at a more granular level, alert cashiers that a scanned product is past its expiry date—and in the future—connect a consumer to the web to provide traceability information about a product's origin and more.