One Code . Bridging the World of Business and Consumers

Our Milestone

Throughout the 3 decades, GS1 Hong Kong has been bringing industries together to revolutionise the way they do business. We evolved and stayed relevant with local business communities, helping them to capitalise on smart data, connect the supply chain with innovations, champion omni-channel business, and pioneer IoT for smarter business, better life.

We have celebrated our 30th Anniversary in 2019, please click here to revisit the precious moments here.

Our key milestones and eras at a glance.

Our Key Milestone & Eras:

Era 1 - The Emergence of Unique Product ID, Barcode

Era 2 - Transforming the Data Exchange System

Era 3 - Rejuvenating Supply Chain Management

Era 4 - Unlocking the Power of Global IoT/ EPC Standard

Era 5 - Propelling Seamless Omni-channel Commerce

Era 1

The Emergence of Unique Product ID, Barcode

1989

GS1 Hong Kong (formerly named Hong Kong Article Numbering Association) was founded by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.

1991

7-11, Circle K, Mannings, ParknShop, Wellcome, etc., were among the first group of retailers to adopt the Code of Practice for barcode scanning in retail stores

2005

Officially renamed GS1 Hong Kong.

2009

BarcodePlus platform was launched as a cloud-based products & companies information portal for information exchange among the supply chain stakeholders.

2011

GS1 and Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) collaboratively enabled barcode scanning features to be built directly into mobile devices to allow users scan and access trusted content.

2013

GS1 announced the extension of GTIN to the semantic web.

2017

Ministry of Commerce & Ministry of Finance, PRC, jointly announced the adoption of GS1 Standards to increase the level of supply chain standaisation and digitalization in China.

2018

Activated “GS1 Registry Platform” to create a global platform of unique product identifiers and attributes, and later unveiled “Verified by GS1” initiative to achieve better data quality to share among business partners.

2021

Launched Smart Barcode that bridges offline and online opportunities for increased traffic and sales potentials.

2022

Developed 1QR, a QR code comprising info such as product spec, nutrient values, incentives, certificates, track-and-trace, authentication; at the same time allowing business to use the same code to offer different promotions at different times.

Era 2

Transforming the Data Exchange System

1995

Launched ezTRADE in retail sector to help businesses enhance their competitiveness through electronic trading

1998

Launched a web-based version of ezTRADE for SMEs in Hong Kong

2008

Rolled out ezTRADE services to Mainland China to facilitate electronic trading across the borders

2013

The Hospital Authority of Hong Kong adopted GS1 barcodes and ezTRADE for its 42 hospitals with their major pharmaceutical suppliers

2014

ezTRADE implementation in food services sector including Hong Kong Maxim’s Group and Café de Coral

2015

Developed a mobile-ready ezTRADE interface for SMEs to conduct business anytime, anywhere

2019

Offered LEI (Legal Entity Identifier) issuance service, helping to deliver transparency and security of entity identification among financial parties, enabling traceability of transactions

2022

Launched “GS1 HK Digital Trade Finance Service” that turns the trusted transaction data on ezTRADE platform into working capital for SMEs.

2023

Launched “ezSHIP”, a smart logistic platform, to help shippers search and identify suitable carriers by criteria, assign the right shipment to the right carrier, at the right price.

Era 3

Rejuvenating Supply Chain Management

1996

Establishment of ECR Hong Kong (formerly known as SCM Advisory Board)

1997

Definition of the SCM roadmap “Supply Chain Management in Global Trade” for Hong Kong’s exports industries by KSA

1998

Opening of the SCM Resource Centre

2001

Launch of the 1st SCM Summit in Hong Kong (later named “GS1 HK Summit”)

2005

Introduced Supply Chain Management Maturity Programme (SCMM) to help SMEs achieve SCM best practices

2006

Global traceability standard launched to improve the ability to track movement of products along stages of the supply chain

2011

Launch of Consumer Caring Scheme to honor companies that abide by ECR best practices

2012

Launch of the Synchronized Supply Chain Replenishment solution (SSCR), a best practice on demand-driven inventory replenishment for consumer packaged goods sector

2019

Launch of Supply Chain 4.0 training & Retail Supply Chain & Big Data Analytics to coach on automation standardisation & big data in supply chain

Era 4

Unlocking the Power of Global IoT/ EPC Standard

1999

Launch of the Auto-ID Centre at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in collaboration with GS1, leading to the development of EPC

2003

Establishment of EPCglobal Inc. under GS1’s auspices to steer the continuous development of standards in RFID/ EPC technology

2005

Launch of a two-year multi-pilot research project funded by Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR Government to test and develop the EPCIS network infrastructure in Hong Kong

2007

Establishment of the Supply Chain innovation Centre (SCIC), later revamped and renamed Hong Kong RFID Centre in 2008, then Hong Kong Internet of Things Centre of Excellence in 2013

2008

Launch of ezTRACK, a globalized track-and-trace platform based on EPCIS standard, enabling enterprises to gain real-time visibility of goods and product information and extending their connectivity to trading partners from other countries

2013

Signing of MOU between GS1 Hong Kong and Guangdong RFID Technology Service Centre to foster a global product traceability platform

Formation of the HK IoT Industry Advisory Council and launch of the first Hong Kong IoT Conference

2015

Inauguration of Quality Food Traceability Scheme to recognise companies which demonstrated excellence in food traceability practices, as well as initiating the Food Safety Forum

2015-20

APEC commissioned GS1 HK to carry out Global Data Standard (GDS) Projects, with the use of ezTRACK, to facilitate trade and enhance cross-border supply chain connectivity across 7 markets, also developed APEC Guidelines and Beset Practices for the Adoption of Global Data Standards.

2018-21

Provided standards and technology to enable the APMEN (Asia Pacific Model E-Port Network) Visualisation of Sea Freight Logistics Phase 1 & Phase 2 projects to improve the visibility, integrity and transparency of cross-border trade in the Asia-Pacific region.

2021

Introduced Smart Operations solution, enabling companies to do more with less, achieve operational excellence with technologies like IoT, data analytics, for optimised resource usage, real-time operation monitoring, predicting and acting for better productivity.

Era 5

Propelling Seamless Omni-channel Commerce

2015

Introduced GS1 SmartSearch standard to create structured data about a product which can then be used by search engines, smart phone apps etc

2016

GS1 barcode standard (GTIN) was adopted by major online market platforms like Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, Google, Walmart, etc. to ensure product authenticity and improve searchability

Launched “WeChat Connect” to let consumers scan GS1 HK barcodes using WeChat to strengthen consumer engagement.

2017

Launched “REAL Visibility” solution to protect brand owners and build consumer trust by product authentication and anti-phishing capabilities, while identifying licensed goods to achieve better channel management

2018

Unveiled GS1 HK Digital Coupon Solution, based on Global Coupon Number (GCN) standard, to enable businesses to distribute coupons via mutilple channels quickly, analyze campaign success and optimize promotion effectiveness

2019

Introduced Smart Touch@Store for retail business and extended the breadth and depth of our solutions & services to 5 major categories: Enterprise Trading Services, Smart Business Solutions, Omni-channel Commerce, Brand Protection, Professional Services