The traditional barcode for the retail industry is set to be phased out in 2027 and replaced by QR codes. Orca Scan, an alumnus and contributor to the Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship Centre’s Accelerate programme, has been working with the Accelerate community to beta test the next generation of barcodes. It is championing the adoption of the new GS1 Digital Link barcode standard from GS1 that will connect trillions of products globally to the internet through their pilot programme.
The feedback given by companies participating in their pilot will have a direct impact on the Orca Scan solution for their entire user base. The aim is to help facilitate the transfer to GS1 Digital Link and thereby accelerate its adoption by retailers. Companies which have already participated include Cambridge Accelerate Alumni Jux Foods and Oh Lily!
Orca Scan is a cloud-based barcode tracking platform that simplifies enterprise-grade barcode solutions without the need for coding. Since 2016, they have worked with 300,000+ users worldwide to simplify barcode tracking.
GS1 Digital Link will have a massive impact on retail and supply chains by giving trillions of products globally a unique web address. It will eliminate consumers’ reliance on search engines for product information, eradicate the need for brands to send product details to retailers via spreadsheets, and negate the pre-reloading of databases with product data in POS and WMS systems. We’re excited to bring Orca Scan’s hyper-focus on simplicity to accelerate its adoption.
Orca Scan has made significant progress since joining the Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship Centre’s Accelerate programme. We are delighted they have been able to leverage the network and community to help develop their technology and product offering. The structured support in the form of entrepreneurship training, mentoring and shared workspace provides a highly valuable immersive learning experience. This has a clear impact on startups both during the programme and beyond.
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Retail businesses interested in joining the pilot programme or in learning more about the GS1 Digital Link should contact Orca Scan directly.