Putting a traceability QR code on your product: the step-by-step guide

A badly applied QR code is not visible at the time of printing: it shows up three months later, when a customer scans a label and lands on a 404 page, or when a supermarket reader cannot read a code that is too small under the aisle lighting. This guide describes the order of steps that avoids these disappointments — from the product identifier to the printed carton.

Before generating anything: the identifier

A traceability QR code does not point directly to an arbitrary web page — it encodes a structured identifier (GTIN for the product, lot number for the instance). Two mistakes recur among first-time users:

• A single QR for the whole range. If the same code is used for a raw-milk cheese and its pasteurised version, there is no traceability any more, only a shop window. One GTIN per product reference, one lot number per production run.
• An identifier that cannot be reused after a recipe change. If an ingredient changes, the product changes, even under the same trade name. The product page must be versioned by lot, not only by product reference, otherwise a customer who scans an old lot sees the composition of the current lot.

Without an existing GTIN (small producer, direct sales), a stable internal identifier is enough — what matters is that it is never reassigned to another lot, even a year later.

GS1 Digital Link vs a “home-made” QR

Two ways of encoding the URL behind the QR code:

• A “home-made” QR directly encodes the URL of the product page (https://exemple.fr/produit/12345). Quick to set up, but only one use is possible: opening that page, in that browser.
• GS1 Digital Link encodes the identifier in a structured URL (/01/GTIN/10/LOT) that different systems know how to interpret: a checkout scanner reads the GTIN in it like a classic barcode, an inspection reader reads the lot, a consumer smartphone is redirected to the product page. A single code, several uses depending on who reads it.

For a product that only circulates through direct sales, a “home-made” QR is enough. As soon as a product goes through a distribution chain that scans barcodes at the checkout, GS1 Digital Link avoids putting two different codes on the same packaging.

What the product page must contain — and what it must avoid

The page opened by the scan is not a marketing page. A consumer who scans is looking for a precise answer, not a sales pitch:

• The exact lot and its date, not only the product name.
• The origin (field, livestock farm, workshop) at the level at which it can be proven — not a map of the region if the real information is more precise, not a promise of origin if it cannot be proven.
• The stages passed through, with dates: receipt, processing, dispatch.
• If a recall is active on this precise lot: the information must appear here first, not only on the company’s news site.

What has no place on this page: the newsletter, the sales contact form, a photo carousel unrelated to the scanned lot. A consumer who does not get their answer on one screen does not come back for a second.

Generating and testing the QR

A correctly generated QR can still fail once printed. Four points to check before sign-off:

• Minimum size: 2 cm per side for reading with a smartphone at arm’s length, 1.5 cm if the product is meant to be scanned up close (a label handled in the hand). Below that, the read failure rate climbs quickly on entry-level sensors.
• Contrast: black on white remains the most reliable. A white QR on a coloured background, or a QR embossed on glossy packaging, fails more often than it seems under shop lighting.
• Quiet zone: a white margin of at least 4 modules around the code. A QR pressed against the edge of a label or overlapped by another graphic element loses reading reliability.
• Multi-reader test: test with at least two different smartphone models (not only your own) and, if the product goes on the shelf, with the distributor’s checkout reader if possible. A QR that scans on a recent iPhone guarantees nothing on an entry-level device with a scratched screen.

How many dynamic QR codes, and at what price

A sizing question people ask too late, once the labels have been ordered.

A dynamic QR — one whose destination can be changed without reprinting — is counted, because it uses a maintained redirect. With us, the free plan covers 25 dynamic QR codes and 5 micro-sites, and an active subscription lifts both caps.

The figure to remember is not ours, it is the reasoning: count your QR codes by product reference, not by finished product. A range of ten product references available in three sizes means thirty distinct destinations if the QR points to the exact product sheet — and only ten if you accept that it points to the reference. This trade-off is made before printing, because afterwards it costs a reprint.

Where to print it

The placement depends on the physical constraints of the product:

• Self-adhesive label: the simplest medium, but beware of ink bleeding on low-grade paper and of humidity in a cold room, which can peel the label off before the product leaves the cold chain.
• Direct printing on the carton: more durable, but the print resolution on corrugated board is lower — compensate by increasing the size of the code, not by reducing its complexity.
• Crimping or engraving (cheese, bottle): the contrast is often low (same material, same colour) — plan a reading test in real conditions before the first full run, not only on the mock-up.

Common mistakes

• Dead link after a change of recipe or supplier. The QR stays on the packaging, but the page it opens has been replaced or unpublished. A product page versioned by lot, never deleted, avoids this trap.
• A QR too small “to be discreet”. A code shrunk for aesthetic reasons simply ends up not being scanned — which amounts to not having applied one.
• Broken redirect after a website migration. If the encoded URL points to a domain or a path that changes one day, all the packaging already printed becomes obsolete. A stable identifier (GTIN + lot) resolved on the server side avoids depending on a fixed, hard-coded URL.
• No test in real conditions. The QR displayed on screen during design always scans. It is the printed code, under the lighting of the point of sale, that must be tested.

Checklist before a full print run

1. A unique identifier per product reference, versioned by lot.
2. Choice of GS1 Digital Link or a “home-made” QR depending on the distribution channels.
3. Product page ready, with the exact lot displayed — not only the product name.
4. Size ≥ 2 cm, black/white contrast, quiet zone respected.
5. Real test on at least two devices, on the final print medium.
6. Procedure for updating the page in the event of a recall on this lot.