# QR codes on product packaging

> A packaging QR code has to work for as long as the product exists, which makes permanence the design constraint rather than size. Point it at a stable path on your own domain, never a campaign URL or a third-party shortener, and use error correction Q.

Source: https://useqr.app/docs/ecommerce/qr-codes-on-product-packaging · Last reviewed 2026-08-21 · UseQR is free forever, MIT licensed, no signup.

---

## Permanence is the hard part

A poster lives six weeks. A tin of paint lives ten years in a shed. Every decision should
assume the longer horizon:

- Point at a **stable path on a domain you own** — `example.com/p/1042` — never at
  `example.com/spring-2026-campaign`.
- **Never a third-party shortener.** When it is retired, every unit already in the world dies
  simultaneously.
- **Record the redirect** in your infrastructure documentation. The realistic failure mode is
  not the domain lapsing; it is an engineer removing an unfamiliar redirect rule during a
  site rebuild in 2031.

## Physical constraints

- **2–3 cm** of code, error correction **Q**.
- On a cylinder, keep the code within about **a third of the circumference**; beyond that the
  edge modules foreshorten past what alignment patterns can correct.
- **Never across a crease, glue flap or perforation.** Keep 5 mm clear.
- **Matt** varnish over the code. Gloss and spot UV reflect.
- On **metallised board**, print a white flood beneath the code — metallic substrates have no
  reliable luminance contrast.
- On **corrugated**, run the modules across the flutes rather than along them.
- Uncoated board spreads ink, so keep the payload short and modules at 0.5 mm or above.

## What to link

Ranked by measured value:

1. **How to use it** — reduces returns and support contacts.
2. **Care, ingredients, allergens or safety detail** — but never as the *only* route; see
   below.
3. **Reorder or subscribe.**
4. **Provenance and sustainability** — increasingly expected, and soon required in some
   categories.
5. **Registration or warranty.**

## Never QR-only for regulated information

Allergen declarations, safety warnings and statutory labelling must remain on the pack. A code
may add depth; it cannot replace the printed statement. Anyone without a phone, without
signal, or with low vision must still get the safety information.

Make the linked page real HTML with proper heading structure so a screen reader works.

## Where regulation is heading

[GS1 Digital Link](/glossary/gs1-digital-link) encodes the GTIN, batch and expiry in the URL
path, so one code serves the till, the supply chain and the consumer:

```
https://example.com/01/09520123456788/10/ABC123/17/260901
```

The retail **Sunrise 2027** migration and the **EU Digital Product Passport** are both moving
packaging toward exactly this. If you are redesigning packaging now, encode a Digital Link
rather than a bare URL — retrofitting later means new artwork for every SKU.

## FAQ

### What should a QR code on packaging point at?
A stable path on a domain you own, which you commit to keeping alive for the life of the product. Never a campaign URL or a third-party shortener.

### What size should a packaging QR code be?
Two to three centimetres for a 20–30 cm reading distance, at error correction Q to survive creasing, handling and abrasion.

### Can a QR code replace printed allergen information?
No. Regulated information must stay on the pack. A code can add depth but cannot be the only route, for legal and accessibility reasons.

### Should I use GS1 Digital Link on packaging?
If you are redesigning artwork now, yes. It lets one code serve the point of sale, the supply chain and the consumer, and it is the direction both Sunrise 2027 and the EU Digital Product Passport are pushing.

## Try it

- https://useqr.app/url
- https://useqr.app/validate
- https://useqr.app/size-calculator