For years, retail inventory has largely answered one question: How much product do we have?

Sunrise 2027 has the potential to change the question entirely.

As the industry moves toward 2D barcodes, retailers can gain access to richer product information including expiration dates, lot and batch codes, production dates, and unique identifiers. By December 31, 2027, point-of-sale systems are expected to be capable of scanning 2D barcodes alongside traditional 1D barcodes.

But being able to scan a 2D barcode is only the beginning.

We’ve previously explored how retail inventory is evolving from visibility to accuracy to intelligence and why that evolution is helping retailers move toward greater inventory confidence. Sunrise 2027 creates an important new piece of that foundation: richer product-level data.

The bigger opportunity is turning that new item-level data into better decisions across the store.

Sunrise 2027 Is a Starting Line, Not a Finish Line

There is an important distinction retailers should understand about Sunrise 2027.

December 31, 2027 is a scan-readiness milestone, not an overnight transition from 1D to 2D barcodes. During the transition, suppliers are expected to print 1D and 2D barcodes side by side as retailers, suppliers, and consumers adapt.

That gives retailers an opportunity to think beyond compliance and hardware readiness.

A simple way to think about the journey is crawl, walk, run:

  • Crawl: Make sure your scanning infrastructure can read 2D barcodes.
  • Walk: Begin incorporating 2D barcodes into products you control, including private-label and fresh items produced in stores or commissaries.
  • Run: Put the richer item-level data to work across inventory, production, waste, ordering, and compliance.

That final stage is where Sunrise 2027 becomes more than a barcode initiative.

It becomes an inventory opportunity.

Fresh Gives Retailers an Opportunity to Start Now

Retailers don’t necessarily have to wait for every supplier to make the transition.

Fresh departments produce and label many of their own products. Commissaries do the same before distributing products to stores.

That creates an opportunity to begin generating richer item-level data within operations retailers already control.

With 2D-enabled labels, a retailer can associate information such as the GTIN, expiration date, production information, and a unique serial identifier with individual products.

Instead of knowing simply that there are 10 units on the shelf, retailers can begin understanding that two expire tomorrow, five expire three days from now, and three have additional shelf life.

That distinction changes what the store can do next.

2D Provides the Data. RFID Provides the Speed.

2D barcodes and RFID are often discussed together, but they solve different parts of the inventory challenge.

2D barcodes create a richer data foundation. They allow more information to travel with the product than a traditional 1D barcode.

RFID makes capturing that item-level information faster and more accurate.

Consider a fresh associate completing an on-hand count.

Today, that associate may need to manually identify products, count individual units, and inspect expiration dates. Products stacked behind one another can make that process even more difficult and introduce opportunities for inaccurate counts.

With RFID-enabled products, an associate can scan a case or shelf and capture multiple unique items at once, including products that may otherwise be difficult to see individually.

During the Inventory Intelligence webinar, Upshop demonstrated this within a Fresh 360 production workflow. The scan identified 23 individual units across 10 unique products and immediately surfaced an expired item, allowing the associate to remove it before continuing with the production plan.

The result isn’t simply a faster count. It’s better information feeding the next decision.

Better Counts Create Better Decisions

This is where the value begins to compound.

If the system has a more accurate understanding of what is actually on the shelf and when those products expire, that information can improve decisions throughout store operations.

  • More accurate production plans because teams know what they already have before producing more
  • Better forecasts based on a more reliable picture of available inventory
  • Earlier expiration and markdown actions that can help reduce unnecessary waste
  • Better ordering decisions based on stronger perpetual inventory
  • More targeted inventory work instead of repeatedly counting everything
  • Greater traceability as lot, batch, and product-level information becomes available

Inventory Intelligence connects this information across Upshop 360, including Inventory 360, Fresh 360, Waste 360, and developing Compliance 360 use cases around recalls and FSMA traceability.

The goal isn’t to give store teams more data to manage.

It’s to use better data to reduce the work required to make the right decision.

Not Every Product Needs RFID

Operationalizing richer inventory data doesn’t mean applying the same technology to every item.

A product expected to sell or expire within a single day, for example, may benefit from a 2D barcode without justifying the additional cost of an RFID tag.

RFID may provide greater value for products with longer shelf lives, higher values, or inventory processes where faster counting and expiration visibility can meaningfully reduce labor.

The right approach depends on product mix, shelf life, equipment, volume, and the economics of the use case.

That’s why Sunrise 2027 shouldn’t be viewed as a technology replacement project. It is an opportunity to determine where richer data can create the greatest operational value.

Don’t Wait Until 2027 to Build the Foundation

Retailers don’t need to wait until the end of 2027 to begin getting value from better inventory operations.

The transition provides time to establish the infrastructure, workflows, and inventory foundation that will eventually make richer 2D barcode data useful.

Start with the questions that matter operationally: Where are associates spending the most time counting inventory? Where are inaccurate on-hands affecting production or ordering? Which products create the greatest expiration and waste challenges? Where could item-level visibility eliminate manual work?

Those answers can help determine where 2D barcodes, RFID, and Inventory Intelligence can have the greatest impact.

Because the real promise of Sunrise 2027 isn’t simply a better barcode.

It’s knowing more about every product on the shelf and turning that knowledge into faster execution, more accurate inventory, less waste, and better product availability.