CTVG’s September 13, 2024 quarterly virtual meeting was facilitated by Ed Collupy and featured guest speakers Gena Morgan, vice president of standards and Liz Sertl, senior director of supply chain visibility, both from the non-profit global standards organization GS1, and Randy L. Allen, senior lecturer at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Their presentations provided overviews of Sunrise 2027, the transition from UPC to 2D barcodes, and results from a retail executive survey on AI, respectively. CTVG members had the opportunity to share their experiences and perspectives, leading the way in bringing industry voices together on these hot topics.
The meeting was divided into two sections, each with a presentation and discussion. During the first segment, the industry-supported Sunrise 2027 transition from the 50-year-old UPC barcode to the dynamic 2D barcode was explained in technical and practical terms. By the end of December 2027, retailers and CPG products will work with 2D codes that can be encoded with more data than the historic UPC code. With information beyond product and batch number, the new codes can include consumer-friendly information like personalized content, sustainability information and potentially nutrition information.
In the second part, the group revisited the topic of AI. A study by Cornell’s SC Johnson School of Business and supported by NACS surveyed retailers in Convenience and General Merchandise sectors and found careful adoption and a familiar level of skepticism about AI implementation. Notable uses in each sector included Convenience using AI for mostly backend and HR matters, and General Merchandise retailers using AI for customer engagement activities.
The main topics in this CTVG Vision Report include:
- UPC transition planning
- Foodservice Applicability for 2D Barcodes
- AI’s Challenges for Smaller Retailers and Partnering With Vendors
- AI Use Cases and Practical Applications
Plus, during a fast-paced Lightning Round Review members and guests revisited the topic of retail media networks (RMNs) from the previous June 2024 CTVG meeting. Participants shared updates from their organizations and insights from industry events including the challenges of scaling RMNs, the potential of AI-driven advertising, and the importance of leveraging first-party data. The conversation highlighted varying perspectives on the viability of RMNs, with some seeing promise through collective efforts and personalized advertising, while others questioned the return on investment.
