Is Your Brand Ready for 2027? Takeaway from GroceryShop – 2D Barcodes

Groceryshop 2026 Takeaway: More Ways to Connect Means More Content for Brands

After attending Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, one of the biggest takeaways for our team at OMS Photography was just how many new opportunities brands have to connect with consumers through content, and how that number will likely continue to grow.

One development that caught our attention was the upcoming transition to two-dimensional (2D) barcodes on retail packaging.

According to GS1 US, the retail industry is working toward widespread point-of-sale readiness for 2D barcodes by 2027. Unlike traditional UPCs, these barcodes can connect consumers to additional digital experiences, from product information and instructions to recipes, videos, and more.

From our perspective as a commercial photography and production partner, it’s an interesting shift. Every new place consumers can engage with a product creates another opportunity for brands to tell their story through content.

One Product. More Packaging. More Content.

As the industry moves toward 2D barcodes, brands may find themselves managing multiple packaging versions during the transition, from traditional UPC labels to packaging featuring both UPC and 2D barcodes.

For brands with hundreds or thousands of SKUs, that could mean an increased need for updated product photography to accurately represent different packaging versions across retailer websites, eCommerce platforms, and digital product catalogs.

But the opportunity goes beyond capturing updated packaging.

With 2D barcodes creating new ways for consumers to access digital content directly from a physical product, brands have even more opportunities to bring their products to life.

Think recipe photography accessed from a food package, how-to videos demonstrating a product in action, lifestyle imagery showing real-world uses, or additional product details that help consumers make more informed purchasing decisions.

The physical shelf and digital shelf are becoming increasingly connected, and we see that as an exciting opportunity for brands to get creative with how they engage consumers.

How OMS Photography Can Help

At OMS Photography, we work with consumer brands to create content across just about every place their products show up.

Whether it’s capturing hundreds of SKUs for an eCommerce refresh, photographing multiple packaging variations, developing on-pack imagery, or producing lifestyle photography and video, our team is built to support content needs at scale.

Our capabilities include:

• eCommerce & Product Photography: Consistent, high-volume imagery across SKUs, packaging variations, and retailer platforms.
• On-Pack Photography: Product, food, and lifestyle imagery created for physical packaging and labels.
• Lifestyle Photography: Bringing products into real-world settings with models, environments, and creative storytelling.
• Food & Recipe Photography: Creating engaging recipe content, serving suggestions, and food imagery that can live across packaging and digital experiences.
• Video & Motion Content: From product demonstrations and tutorials to social content and dynamic motion-controlled video.
• Retouching & Post-Production: Keeping imagery consistent and ready for use across multiple channels, formats, and campaigns.

More Touchpoints, More Opportunities

One thing we took away from Groceryshop is that the way consumers discover, research, and interact with products is continuing to evolve.

The transition to 2D barcodes is just one example of how brands may need to think beyond traditional product photography and consider all the different places their content can live.

For us at OMS Photography, it’s exciting to see these new opportunities emerge. We love helping brands think through their content needs, whether that’s a large-scale eCommerce library, a packaging update, a lifestyle campaign, or something entirely new.

More ways to engage with consumers means more opportunities to create great content. And we’re here to help brands make the most of them.

Let’s Talk About Your Next Project