GS1 MobileCom
GS1 Mobile Com is an industry-wide initiative to enable businesses to give consumers access to product information via their mobile phones. The objective is to provide a simple way for consumers and businesses to interact based on an open infrastructure and open standards.
More and more consumers are equipped with camera phones that are technically capable of reading barcodes. As well as the existing barcodes on products packaging (called 1-dimensional or 1D barcodes), new barcodes specifically designed to be scanned by a camera (called 2-dimensional or 2D barcodes) are now becoming available. Barcodes can be “scanned” by consumers to access:
- information currently on the pack in a personalized format (allergens, ingredients, nutrition facts).
- a wide range of information not currently available on packaging
- information that may be currently be handled on paper (such as coupons)
As well as providing additional services to consumers, mobile barcode applications can play a role in improving supply-chain efficiency, particularly where smaller manufacturers and retailers are involved who do not currently use electronic standards and automated processes.