A retailer of wall paint, fence panels and metal profiles has three audiences for the same product: the customer choosing it, the customer using it a year later, and, increasingly, an inspector or a recycler. One code on the product can serve all three.
One code, three moments
Each product gets a product passport and a GS1 Digital Link: one symbol that a 2D-ready till reads as the GTIN and a phone opens as a page. Stores that sell with their own barcodes keep them; the Digital Link sits beside them, or replaces them when the scanners support it.
In the aisle, the passport answers what the customer actually asks: coverage per litre, drying time, which primer, what the fence panel is made of and how it is fixed. At home, months later, the same code still answers: care, the safety data sheet, the warranty, how to dispose of the empty can.
A batch can say something different
Paint is made in batches. A passport can be registered for a single batch (GS1 AI 10), so if one batch has a problem, scans of that batch show the notice and every other can keeps showing the normal passport. Nobody reprints anything.
Every change is kept
When the formulation or the documents change, the passport is published as a new version. The previous versions stay readable, each with a SHA-256 fingerprint of exactly what was published, so the store can show what the passport said on the day a customer bought the can.
Fence panels and the Construction Products Regulation
Fence panels and metal profiles used in building can fall under the Construction Products Regulation (EU) 2024/3110, which will carry the declaration of performance and conformity in a digital passport. The date depends on a delegated act that has not been adopted yet, so the template is voluntary today. It is also a good place to keep the declaration now.
Which shelf works
Shelf strips, tester stations and the window poster are separate placements of the same codes. Analytics shows which ones people actually scan, by day and by city, so the next print run goes where it pays.