More than 40 countries, one GS1 Digital Link QR code per product
If your products carry the same GTIN in every market, on packaging already translated into every language, you know the dilemma: each country wants its own product page, yet the printed QR Code is one and the same. Here is how Bonduelle solves it with Unitag: a dedicated URL per product and per country under the same QR Code, more than 40 local teams keeping control of their links, and nothing reprinted.
Recreated illustration of the Unitag console. Fictional data.
2013
platform founded, hosted in the EU
1,000+
recurring clients
2.4M
scans tracked every day
Brands such as Bonduelle, SEB and Migros manage their QR codes on Unitag. Resolver certified by GS1.
Bonduelle in brief
Bonduelle is a world leader in plant-based food, founded in 1853 and present in around one hundred countries across canned, frozen and fresh ranges. The same product carries the same GTIN everywhere, on packaging translated into every language. QR code management used to be split across local agencies, market by market; it now runs on Unitag, covering more than 40 countries and as many local teams.
1853
year founded
40+
countries run on Unitag
40+
local teams federated
GS1 Digital Link
standard adopted
The range on shelf: one GS1 Digital Link QR code per reference.
One GTIN for every market: who decides which page sits behind the QR Code?
The GS1 logic is sound: each product carries a single GTIN, everywhere. The question starts after the scan. Each country wants to send the reader to its own page and its current promotions, in its language; local teams want control without waiting on headquarters; and nobody wants to reprint packaging that already works. This dilemma applies to any brand selling across several markets, whatever the sector.
The same GTIN, different markets
The same product carries the same identifier in Paris, Warsaw and Madrid. Dedicating a QR Code per country would break the GS1 logic and multiply references.
Without country redirection, a single URL has to serve every market: each country loses its language, its site and its promotions.
Dozens of teams to federate
Subsidiaries run their own campaigns and their own link lists. Headquarters needs oversight without becoming a bottleneck.
Without clear scopes, one team can overwrite another’s links, and nobody can trace who changed what.
Campaigns faster than print runs
A promotion starts, a range moves, a batch needs isolating. Content has to follow the commercial calendar rather than the print schedule.
Every extra printed version is stock to clear before anything can change.
Country redirection: the same printed QR Code, a dedicated URL per market
At scan time, Unitag’s Digital Link Resolver (the service that receives every scan and decides where to send it) reads the reader’s country and takes them to the URL meant for their market. The GS1 Digital Link QR code printed on the pack never changes. Teams supply their link lists; the platform applies the rules. That is what a dynamic QR Code is: the destination lives on the platform, never in the ink.
One rule per country, set once
France opens the French page, Poland the Polish one. Opening a new market means one more rule in the console, and packs already on shelves follow.
A fallback rule for the rest of the world
Countries without dedicated content go to the international site. No scan lands nowhere, even on an unexpected export market.
A reader sent to the wrong language closes the page: the scan is lost, and that reader rarely comes back.
Works at checkout and with GS1 scanners
The same QR Code stays readable by till scanners (the product identifier) and by the shopper’s smartphone (the content). Sunrise 2027 is covered by design.
“Unitag’s batch serialisation and traceability tools let us track millions of product units across our entire supply chain, with full regional compliance built in.”
Bonduelle, Packaging & Supply Chain
Planning a multi-country rollout? The rest of this page goes deeper into the method; the essentials live in the kit, and our team answers questions.
Changing the links of six ranges in twelve countries: one Excel file
Teams do not open a thousand product records. They upload an Excel file, and the platform updates links in bulk: by range, by region, by promotion or by production batch. Upstream, the hierarchy keeps it under control: organisations, sub-organisations and roles decide who can change what. This is how Bonduelle federates more than 40 local teams on one account.
Bulk import: recreated illustration, fictional data.
Team federation: recreated illustration, simplified structure.
One upload, the whole campaign
Local teams supply their lists and their links. One Excel import applies the lot, with a preview before anything goes live.
Without bulk import, every campaign is changed link by link, country by country: days of re-entry, and errors along the way.
Sub-organisations and roles
Each subsidiary sees its QR Codes, its links and its stats, and only those (multi-entity: several brands or subsidiaries in one account, with no data mixed). The group keeps the full view.
Per GTIN or through the API
Manage product by product in the console, or drive everything from your own systems through the API, in step with your product information management (PIM).
Measure a campaign’s effect, country by country, with no extra tool
Every scan feeds statistics at the level where your teams work: by country, by range, by product (GTIN), by batch, by campaign and by period. The same granularity serves marketing (where the campaign works, where to reinvest) and quality (which batch is where, for a targeted recall). Export to Excel, connect through the API.
Country analytics: recreated illustration, fictional data.
Granularity that follows your decisions
Compare the same campaign between Germany and Poland, isolate a range, follow one batch: the level of detail matches the decision at hand, from a local media budget to a recall.
Without country-level granularity, a multi-market campaign runs blind: no way to tell where to reinvest, or where to stop spending.
Traceability on the same data
Batch and serial numbers travel with every scan. Quality teams know which batch is in which country, and can target a recall without pulling the whole reference.
Your reports, your tools
Export to Excel for quarterly reviews, connect through the API for your internal reporting. The data stays yours, hosted in the EU.
40+
countries served by the same QR Codes
40+
local teams, each on its own scope
0
reprints caused by content changes
1
platform, one partner for the whole group
The same QR Code, a different priority behind every scan
The mechanics in this study, one GS1 Digital Link QR code per product and one URL per market, do not depend on the sector. What changes is what each business puts behind the QR Code.
Food and beverage
Recipes and anti-waste tips as the best-before date approaches, nutrition and origin, and batch-targeted recalls.
This is Bonduelle’s terrain.
Cosmetics and luxury
Ingredient transparency, serial-number authenticity, and preparation for the Digital Product Passport.
Textile
Composition, care, repair and resale: the first wave of the EU Digital Product Passport.
Industry and appliances
Paperless manuals, warranty registration and spare parts, in the language of the country of sale.
The same QR Code can do more: batch, serial, variant and linkType
The GS1 Digital Link standard encodes several identification keys in a single URL. Each key adds a level of control: finer redirections and statistics, and compliance that grows without changing the printed QR Code.
Key 01
GTIN
The product’s identity, read at checkout like an EAN-13. The basis of every country rule.
Key 10
Batch
The production batch. A targeted recall in minutes, or an end-of-life promotion on one batch.
Key 21
Serial
Down to the unit. Fine-grained traceability and anti-counterfeit checks, unit by unit.
Key 22
Variant
The same reference, two regional recipes or formats: each gets its own content.
linkType
One link per purpose
Product page, recipe, traceability, certificate: the resolver serves the right destination on request.
The full syntax and how the resolver works are covered on our GS1 Digital Link page.
A supported transition, team by team
A multi-country estate rolls out with support, range by range. Our team runs onboarding webinars per country and per function, and paces the switch to your calendar. At every step, our understanding of your organisation and your priorities grows: that understanding is what makes the transition simple.
Our five-step support method.
In real conditions: an onboarding webinar with Bonduelle’s teams, on the Packaging application’s product creation screen.
Webinars per team
Each subsidiary is trained on its own scope, in its own context: create a product, generate its QR Codes, upload a link list and read its stats. This is the routine we follow with Bonduelle’s teams, country by country.
A named project manager
A named project manager runs the rollout with you, from scoping to reviews. Team questions go to a designated contact, with response times set in the contract.
A switch without disruption
QR Codes roll out at the pace of your usual packaging refresh cycles. Nothing is thrown away, nothing is reprinted in a hurry.
A rollout without training leaves subsidiaries behind: the QR Codes live, and nobody uses them.
Making Sunrise 2027 a simple transition
Retailers operating to GS1 standards will need to be able to accept QR codes with GS1 Digital Link at point of sale by the end of 2027. For a brand adopting country redirection today, that deadline is already covered: the same QR Code carries the identifier read at checkout and the content served to the shopper. Unitag’s Digital Link Resolver is certified by GS1 and hosted in Europe (EU data residency and GDPR compliance: the first points your buyers and your DPO check).
Your next retailer listing is when this decision will count: the pilot starts before print approval, while the artwork can still move.
The Packaging application, on the enterprise dashboard
Everything in this study runs from the Packaging application on the Unitag enterprise dashboard: per GTIN in the console, or through the API from your product information system. The plan is built on your estate, under a framework contract.
What the plan includes
- Products, brands and GTINs sized to your estate
- Redirection by country, language and device
- Bulk Excel import and mass generation
- Sub-organisations, roles and per-team scopes
- Analytics by country, range, product and batch
- Unitag’s Digital Link Resolver, certified by GS1
- EU hosting, GDPR compliance, SLA
- A named project manager and onboarding webinars
What teams ask us before starting
Where is scan data hosted?
In Europe. The Unitag platform is hosted in the European Union and GDPR-compliant, a point buyers and legal teams check in the very first conversation.
What happens when a country is added?
You add a redirection rule for the new country and publish the matching content. Packs already printed keep working as they are, everywhere.
What if a country has no dedicated content yet?
The fallback rule takes the reader to the international site. No scan lands nowhere; you add the local page when the team is ready.
Can each subsidiary manage its links without seeing the others'?
Yes. Sub-organisations give each team its own scope: its QR Codes, its users and its stats. The group keeps the full view and the change history.
Does the same QR Code work at checkout?
Yes. The GS1 Digital Link QR code carries the product identifier read by till scanners and takes the shopper’s smartphone to the content for their country. That is the principle of GS1 Digital Link, and the reason the Sunrise 2027 deadline exists.
Start the transition today
A 30-minute call is enough to scope your estate: your ranges, your markets, your teams and your calendar. We come back to you with a structure and a costed proposal, as we did for Bonduelle.
Book a 30-minute callPrefer to try it first? Create a QR code with country redirection on the console.