Tracking Every Step: How Digital Watermarks and QR Codes Are Enhancing Supply Chain Transparency?

Procter & Gamble has introduced digital watermarks to recycle items at sorting centers. The technology is spreading across industries such as pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and retail. Connected packaging has become a driving force to boost ethical product sourcing and traceability.?

Digital watermarks and invisible QR codes provide information on material composition, source, and lifecycle. They bridge the gap between real-time insights and environmental impact. With the Holy Grail 2.0 project mandating traceable manufacturing, let’s understand how tracking technologies are currently evolving.

Why Are Brands Adopting Digital Watermarking and QR Codes?

Product digitisation has become the norm rather than an exception. With 4 trillion consumer products sold globally, intelligent tracking tools are necessary to streamline operations. Digital watermarks and QR codes can help brands reduce GHG emissions and accomplish circular packaging. Here’s why companies will adopt this technology in 2025 and beyond:

1. Counterfeit and Piracy

The World Intellectual Property Organization estimates that the global counterfeit industry damages companies' brand image, leading to losses of US$250 billion annually.?

Digital Watermarks and QR codes are hidden images printed on items. Once scanned, they store a repository of information that is transmitted to a central cloud system. The patterns are detected through specialised software or hardware to verify ownership and authenticity. The design is undetectable to the human eye, making it difficult to replicate.?

Explore how counterfeit products affect businesses in our detailed blog.

2. Sorting, Recycling, and Packaging

One million plastic bottles and five trillion plastic bags are used yearly, and about 90% of all plastic waste is in our oceans. Digital watermarks encode information about the type of material( PET, HDPE, LDPE), additives, or coatings used in the packaging.?

Specialised scanners can detect and classify materials with precision during sorting. This can help workers at recycling centers increase the plastic detection rate by 99%.?

3. Stricter Economic, Regulatory, and Consumer Expectations

Stricter regulations like the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan and changing customer expectations for authentic, verifiable products drive the change for connected packaging.?

According to a survey by McKinsey, 66% of shoppers prefer sustainable products. With environmental stability a priority, brands must adopt technologies that fuel this eco-conscious revolution.?

What’s The Future Outlook for Traceability Technologies?

Digital watermarks and QR codes are changing the way customers experience brand interactions. This is no longer a uni-directional product transaction but an intentional buying decision that puts product information at the center of operations.?

At Qodenext, we are consistently developing seamless traceability technologies like RFID, barcode scanners, labelling, and QR codes to enable companies to transform their supply chain operations. With digital watermarks set to dominate the industry, are you ready to take the next step towards supply chain resilience?

About Qodenext

Qodenext is a pioneering supply chain traceability technology, consulting, and service company and the largest Automatic Data Information Capture solutions provider in India. Using the power of barcode, RFID, vision, cognitive computing, IoT, predictive analytics, and emerging technologies, Qodenext’s solutions enable clients to integrate their supply chains and facilitate end-to-end visibility and connectivity. Born from the coming together of Intellicon Pvt. Ltd., Essae Technology Pvt. Ltd., and Intercode Pvt. Ltd., Qodenext provides its many clients unprecedented solution breadth, specialised domain expertise, and an expansive support network. More information is at Qodenext.