What are ‘smart labels’ and how have these new technologies impacted the way that businesses produce labels? In this article, we’ll look at the main technologies underpinning smart labels and how you can respond to new market demands through your print services. Finally, how easy is it to implement smart labels?
The rise of QR codes in smart labels
QR codes have become a ubiquitous part of the modern consumer landscape, found everywhere from bus stops to soft drinks labels. QR codes – or Quick Response codes – are square-shaped patterned barcodes that can store a greater wealth of information than a traditional linear barcode. This includes URL links, product details, inventory management information, and even promotional content. QR codes are used in labels as a supply chain management tool and to improve the way that consumers are able to interact with product information. For example:
-
Improved product traceability: QR codes create greater supply chain transparency by giving stakeholders access to a product’s provenance, manufacturing process, production date, origin, and authenticity, streamlining processes and reducing risk.
-
Interactive marketing: businesses are using QR codes to create enriched and immersive promotional and marketing experiences for their customers, from embedding discount codes to links to personalised landing pages, and even nutritional information.
-
Data collection: QR code scans give businesses invaluable insights into customer behaviour, including purchase location, device usage, and peak times for purchases. Many dynamic QR codes can even be updated with new content after the product is in the consumer’s hands, keeping their marketing material fresh.
-
Easy to add: The great thing about QR codes is they can be printed easily without any special equipment. QR codes are easy to generate at pre-press through dedicated web sites and apps.
Variable data printing and personalisation at scale - the digital print solution.
If QR codes represent the market need, then variable data printing is the response by the sector. Variable data printing (VDP) is a digital printing technology that allows businesses to customise different elements on each printed label, without needing to produce a new flexographic plate or slowing down the printing process. With a lot of the growth factors in label printing being tied to the need of retailers for unique and tailored labelling, VDP has a variety of interesting applications for print businesses.
In order to produce VDP on the fly, then some form of digital Print integration is going to be required on an analogue printing press, such as a Flexo equipment. This is not as challenging as it might seem and Focus has been producing hybrid equipment for the last 10 years, both Mono & W+CMYK installations.
For example, for many industries, including healthcare and food, businesses have to comply with strict labelling laws, which may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. VDP allows printers to produce the unique codes, expiry dates, and compliance information that customers need to meet these regulations on different batches of a print run, without having to duplicate set up and design costs. You could, for example, produce different consumer labels for the UK, the USA, and the EU, with different relevant information, within the same print run, feeding variable data into placeholders on a digital label template.
This ‘personalisation at scale’ is what allows label printing businesses to adapt quickly to market demands, shifts in regulation, and seasonal trends, positioning them for long-term growth and success.
What next?
Get in touch with Focus Label today to find out how you can future proof your business by adopting the latest smart label-compatible printing technologies. Call us on 01949 836 223, or click here to send us a message.
Image source: Canva
