How Can We Help?

GS1 Digital Link

← All Topics

The GS1 Digital Link standard extends the power and flexibility of GS1 identifiers by making them part of the web. This means that GS1 identifiers, such as the GTIN, are now a gateway to consumer information that strengthens brand loyalty, improves supply chain traceability information, business partner APIs, patient safety information, and more.

The standard makes 2D barcodes, such as QR codes and Datamatrix, contain data that both smartphone apps and other scanners, e.g point-of-sales scanners, can understand and make use of the information the barcodes contain.

For instance, a QR code that contains a GS1 Digital Link, when scanned by a smartphone app will lead to a web page, whereas the same QR code when scanned by a POS scanner will have relevant data extracted for looking up a product in a similar way that they do for 1D barcodes.

Ventipix Asset & Inventory Manager platform enables you to generate GS1 digital links, update destination URLs for various link types, and scan them with the smartphone app to extract identifiers such as the GTIN or the entire elements string. URL redirections work with our compliant resolver.

The information in this section is useful if you already know where you want QR codes to redirect to once scanned by smartphone apps.

From your account, go to the Manage GS1 Digital Links page.

At the top-right of the page, you will find options to either import many URLs at once using a CSV file or a form for manual entry.

Manual Entry

If using this option, select Enter URLs manually.

On the new page, in the first section of the form, enter a title (or a description) to identify the record that you are setting up, a valid GS1 elements string (data value of the barcode), and the main destination URL to redirect to.

This URL will be used when no other URLs that satisfy the GS1 link types are available.

Under the GS1 Digital Link Types section, you can enter multiple URLs that correspond to the ones defined in the standards. URLs entered in this section can be viewed by any app that implements the GS1 standards.

Under the Custom Link Types, you can enter destination URLs that only work with our smartphone app. You can also assign access to who should view the URLs.

In the Custom Attributes section, enter a short description to identify what a corresponding URL redirects to, .e.g, product reordering.

Importing URLs for Digital Links

If using this option, select Import URLs in bulk from CSV.

On the new page, import a CSV file using the template provided on the page.

After importing the file, go back to the GS1 Digital Links table and use the checkbox to select records with the title named “unlinked”. You may need to search or use the filter to find the unlinked records.

Once the table shows the correct records, click on the Generate GS1 Digital Links button at the top of the table.

On the new page, click on the Save button to save the generated links.

The information in this section is useful if you want to generate the GS1 Digital Links first then update their destination URLs later.

From your account, go to the Manage GS1 Digital Links page.

At the top-right of the page, you will find options to generate GS1 Digital Links either by importing many barcode values (GS1 element strings) at once using a CSV file or by filling out a form for manual entry.

Manual Entry

If using this option, select Generate Digital Links Manually.

On the new page, in the first section of the form, choose a barcode type, a primary key such as GTIN, a corresponding primary key value, and optional data attributes.

Once you click on the submit button, a GS1 element string and a GS1 Digital Link will be generated and added to the queue spreadsheet.

Click on the Save button to save the links that have been generated.

Importing Barcode Data (GS1 Element string) for Digital Links

Use this option if you have a list of valid GS1 element strings in a CSV file. The CSV file should only contain a single column with the barcode data.

Select Generate Digital Links in Bulk From CSV.

On the new page, import the CSV file then click on the submit button.

If valid GS1 element strings (barcode data) are found in the CSV file, GS1 Digital Links will be generated and added to the Queued Digital Links section on the page.

Click on the Save button to save the links that have been generated.

For single records, find the particular record on the table, then go to the Actions > Edit option.

For many records, you can update URLs by importing a CSV file.

First, download a CSV file with records you want to update.

You can do so by going to Options > Export.

Alternatively, you can filter the records on the table then use the Export Selected function at the top of the table.

Make the necessary changes to the URLs then import the file by going to Actions > Import URLs in bulk from CSV.

From the GS1 Digital Links table, use the checkbox to select the records with the element strings (barcode data) that you want to print, then click on the Print Barcodes button.

On the page that follows, review the links that will be printed, then click on the Print button.

Follow the guidelines on printing here.

From the smartphone app, go to Services > Write NFC Tags.

On the new page, under Source of Data to Encode, choose the CSV option.

With the CSV file to upload, you can either have it contain the GS1 digital links that have already been generated or the element strings which the app will use to generate the links.

The CSV file should only have data in a single column.

Scan Counts

You can view the number of times a GS1 Digital Link has been visited, and the types of links visited.

On the table, under a record’s Action menu, go to View Reports.

Google Analytics

You can add Google Analytics UTM parameters to all the links being redirected to.

To do so, you can either update the UTM parameters for many links at once by using the Add Google Analytics UTM Codes option at the top of the table or by editing a particular record’s setting using the Update Google Analytics UTM Codes under its Actions menu.

Topics