Web-addressable products” sounds like jargon. By leading with how it sounds , you’re letting the abstraction sit in the room longer than it should. Hui prefers to collapse the abstraction fast  and anchor the idea in behavior or impact. A web-addressable product is one that can be identified, reached, and responded to digitally at any point in its life. GS1 Digital Link makes that possible by turning a product identifier into a web address. What changes is not just what the p

Why this misunderstanding keeps happening When people hear “GS1 Digital Link,” they often picture a familiar marketing QR code. A square on the pack that sends shoppers to a campaign page, a video, or a promotion. That association is understandable. QR codes have trained us to think in short-lived campaigns and surface-level engagement. But GS1 Digital Link is not a prettier QR code.It is a different way of structuring how products exist inside digital systems. Confusing the

A system that did its job remarkably well In 1974, the first UPC barcode was scanned on a pack of chewing gum in Ohio. It marked a turning point in retail. For the first time, products could be identified instantly at checkout. Prices no longer needed to be printed. Inventory could be tracked. Operations scaled. For decades, the UPC barcode did exactly what it was designed to do. It provided a simple, universal product identifier. One scan. One number. One database lookup. Th