What You Probably Know
If you're enrolled in Amazon Transparency, you know the process: a serialized code, printed and applied to every unit, at roughly $0.05 per code to Amazon — plus whatever it costs you to produce and apply that label.
What You Might Not Know
You're likely already making a packaging change for a different reason — adding a GS1 Digital Link (the 2D barcode replacing traditional UPC/EAN over the next few years, required within 50mm of your existing barcode). That's real packaging artwork work, on its own timeline, separate from Transparency.
If that Digital Link is serialized, it can satisfy your Transparency requirement too. One code, printed once as part of your packaging artwork, doing the job that previously required a separate label — produced, applied, and reconciled on top of everything else on your line.
There's a consumer-facing benefit here too. Transparency codes require a dedicated app to scan. A serialized GS1 Digital Link doesn't — any smartphone camera reads it, the same way shoppers already scan a QR code for a menu or a coupon. Fewer steps between a curious customer and your product page means more people actually scan, and when that scan lands on a page with a clear call to action, engagement compounds.
You're not just meeting a requirement, you're opening a channel.
What Stays the Same
To be clear: Amazon's fees do not change. You'll still pay roughly $0.01 ~ $0.05 per code (depending on order size) for Transparency participation, whether that code is a standalone label or your serialized Digital Link.
This isn't a discount from Amazon— it's the removal of a separate print-and-apply step you'd otherwise be running for Transparency alone.
What Improves
A Serialized Digital Link on your product does more than just replace your Amazon Transparency code. With it, you can have:
Sunrise 2027 and Retail Compliance.
Single source of truth for serialization.
Consistent authentication and messaging, everywhere your product sells.
Scan analytics and engagement tools with the Real Platform.
Where the Savings Actually Come From
(Built as a model, not a single asserted number — your real savings depend on how you're currently producing and applying your Transparency label. Ranges below are general industry benchmarks; use your own numbers for an exact figure.)
Worked example: A brand shipping 500,000 units/year, currently producing and applying a standalone $0.07/unit Transparency label, avoids roughly $35,000/year by having their serialized Digital Link — already part of their packaging artwork — meet the Transparency requirement instead. That's before counting line time, changeover, or QA overhead.
Your Savings, Not Ours
The example above uses industry averages — plug in your own label cost and volume to see what this actually means for your line.
Calculate Your Savings
Why This Matters Beyond the Line-Item Savings
Faster enrollment
If your Digital Link is already serialized, Transparency readiness is a data/integration exercise, not a packaging redesign.
One dataset, not two.
A single serialized code powers Transparency, authentication, and your post-purchase consumer experience — instead of maintaining parallel systems.
Simplier packaging artwork
No reserved space for a second code; one code footprint to design around.
Sunrise 2027 alignment
Brands already moving to serialized 2D Digital Links for Sunrise 2027 get Transparency-readiness essentially for free, rather than as a separate project.
How It Works
Allow space for the GS1 Digital Link on pack.
Serialize your GS1 Digital Links
on the Real Platform, or through your existing serialization provider (RFID or print-based).
Generate exactly the serialization you need.
Authentic Labs syncs
your serialization data with Amazon Transparency — whether it's coming from the Real Platform, RFID tags, or a third-party print partner.
Deliver post purchase value for consumers.
One 2D code on pack
scannable for retail checkout, authentication, Transparency and consumer engagement.
Already serializing with RFID or a third-party print partner? We have integrations in place with several partners for third-party serialization. Sync your existing RFID or print-based serialization with your on-pack 2D code, and our team connects that data to both Amazon Transparency and your Digital Link consumer experience.
Beyond integration, Authentic Labs supports the full lifecycle of your Digital Link program — code architecture, packaging artwork guidance, TrueContent-generated landing pages, and ongoing serialization management — so Transparency readiness is one part of a platform you're already running, not a separate vendor relationship to manage.
The scan is just the beginning.
What happens next matters.
Authentic Labs is a GS1 Executive Partner and an integration partner supporting Amazon Transparency. We specialize in consumer engagement at the moment of scan. Our Real platform powers GS1 Digital Link destinations that build brand trust, drive loyalty, and deliver measurable results.
Authentic Labs didn't start as a software company. We started as Relevant Play, a toy brand that has been placing Digital Links and QR codes on packaging for years — and building tools to make the most of every scan.
