Consumer Products Industry Embraces Global Barcode Upgrade and Product Digitization to Deliver Direct-to-Consumer Experiences at Scale

NEW YORK and LONDON, Feb. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- EVRYTHNG, the Product Cloud providing digital identities for the world's consumer products, today announced its support for GS1 Digital Link 1.1 also released today. The GS1 Digital Link global standard upgrades the ubiquitous barcode used by two million manufacturers across the $13.5-trillion consumer products industry so that every product can now be web-connected and smartphone-interactive. EVRYTHNG's CTO, Dr. Dominique Guinard, co-chairs the GS1 Digital Link working group that manages the standard, and reports significant momentum globally with brands adopting it as a scalable, future-proof solution to deliver direct-to-consumer experiences, transparency, and proof of brand integrity.

"GS1 Digital Link has gained significant momentum over the past 18 months since its first release, and EVRYTHNG is pleased to be working with global brands who are using the standard to connect their product items with Active Digital Identities in the cloud," said Niall Murphy, CEO & Co-founder of EVRYTHNG.

According to FMI, 74% of consumers say they'd switch to a brand that provides more in-depth product information beyond what is on the physical label. While the US Census Bureau reports the majority of retail sales growth in the US last year happened in eCommerce. "Product digitization for direct-to-consumer relationships and omnichannel supply chain visibility is now table-stakes for brands," added Murphy.

Gaining Global Momentum
EVRYTHNG is working with global brands using the GS1 Digital Link standard to have one code on their product packaging for both consumer engagement and supply chain applications, each item connected with an EVRYTHNG Active Digital Identity(TM) (ADI) in the cloud. Mowi ASA, the world's largest producer of Atlantic salmon, has rolled out the new standard at mass scale. A GS1 Digital Link-enabled QR code on each pack connects to a unique EVRYTHNG ADI managed in the EVRYTHNG Product Cloud. Consumers simply point their smartphones at the QR code on the Mowi package to access item-specific provenance information on their fresh seafood products.

"Beyond supply chain traceability, the real-time engagement data and insights help us learn about consumer behaviors so we can meet future needs," said Ola Brattvoll, COO, Mowi. "With the help of EVRYTHNG, we're now able to forge direct customer relationships to build trust and ultimately grow sales."

GS1 Digital Link 1.1: Transforming an Industry
Today's news is industry-shifting for two big reasons:

    --  Thanks to compression, the expanded standard supports smaller codes
        opening the door for a wider range of product types to benefit from
        product digitization at scale; and
    --  With the introduction of link types, direct-to-consumer (DTC) apps can
        now request specific content when a product is scanned (e.g.,
        nutritional facts, provenance data, etc.). This allows product brands to
        take full advantage of dynamic, DTC experiences. Consumers scanning
        products results in 10 x more engagements than paid digital ads.

Rapidly Changing Consumer Behavior
In the US alone an estimated 11 million households will scan a QR Code in 2020, according to a recent Statista survey. This is an increase from 9.76 million scans in 2018. Some 2 billion iOS and Android smartphones around the world are able to natively scan QR codes without the need for special apps.

"The rapid rise of consumers scanning makes this newest release of GS1 Digital Link a game-changer for the consumer products industry -- in particular, apparel, beauty, and luxury brands but also brands desiring to deliver very specific targeted content to their customers such as nutraceuticals," said Dominique Guinard, CTO and Co-founder, EVRYTHNG and Co-chair of the GS1 Digital Link Standard Development Work Group. "EVRYTHNG makes adoption of this future-proofed standard quick, simple and cost-effective for brands at mass scale."

EVRYTHNG co-chaired the GS1 Standards Development Work Group that defined the new specification and also provides patented technology to GS1 for use in the standard so consumer product brands can maximize its full potential. As part of its collaboration, brands using the GS1 Digital Link standard receive a royalty-free license to these patents when they register with EVRYTHNG. By connecting GS1 Digital Link to EVRYTHNG ADIs, brands can apply data science and intelligence to every product's journey, and to every product experience for the consumer.

To learn more visit: https://evrythng.com/gs1digitallink/

About EVRYTHNG
EVRYTHNG helps consumer product brands operate with data-driven intelligence through the digitization of their products and the data they generate. The EVRYTHNG Product Cloud manages an Active Digital Identity(TM) for each product item, gathering and applying data from and about each item from sourcing to manufacturing to the consumer to recycling or reuse. Global consumer brands in apparel, beauty, CPG, and wine & spirits work with EVRYTHNG to manage billions of digitized product items, gaining visibility across their supply chains, providing transparency and traceability, and connecting directly with their customers through their products. EVRYTHNG has been named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, originated the technology driving the GS1 Digital Link global barcode upgrade, and was recently identified as one of the 50 most disruptive companies in the UK. Learn more at https://evrythng.com and @EVRYTHNG.

SOURCE EVRYTHNG