What Happens to Your Product Data When You Switch Platforms
Key Takeaways
- QR codes printed on physical products encode a permanent URL — switching to a platform using proprietary URL schemes means every code in the field breaks, with no way to push an update to shipped packaging
- GS1 Digital Link resolves product codes through a routing layer you control; changing platforms means updating the resolver, not reprinting codes
- The highest-risk data categories for portability are scan event history, troubleshooting logs, and no-code experience content — often excluded from standard vendor exports
- Require bulk export in machine-readable formats (JSON/CSV) as a baseline contractual term, plus a minimum 90-day export window post-cancellation
Most manufacturers ask the right question too late: "What happens to our data if we leave?"
By then, a quarter-million QR codes are printed on products sitting in retail channels, distribution centres, and customer homes. Switching platforms at that point is not a software migration — it is a physical recall problem. Every scan on every printed code returns a dead page, a broken experience, or worse, a competitor's placeholder screen.
Software-as-a-service contracts rarely make this risk visible at signing. But for manufacturers of physical durable goods, the stakes of vendor lock-in are fundamentally different to any other software category. The code is already on the box. You cannot push an update to packaging that shipped two years ago.
Why Data Portability Hits Differently for Physical Products
When a marketing team switches email platforms, they export a CSV and point their domain at a new server. It takes a weekend. When a connected product manufacturer switches platforms, they face a problem that no amount of engineering can fully solve: the URL printed on physical products is permanent.
This is the core asymmetry. Software is mutable; physical products are not.
Consider a mid-size appliance brand that ran a connected product program for three years through a platform that encoded its own proprietary domain into every QR code — something like scan.vendorplatform.io/abc123. When the vendor raised prices by 60%, the brand explored switching. The migration team's first finding: 800,000 units in the field, all pointing to the vendor's domain. Leaving meant every single scan — warranty registrations, spare parts lookups, troubleshooting guides — would fail. The vendor knew this when they wrote the contract.
This scenario plays out repeatedly across the industry, and it is entirely preventable. The manufacturers who avoid it understand one foundational principle: the URL structure of your product codes is a strategic infrastructure decision, not a vendor implementation detail.
The GS1 Digital Link Standard: Your Best Defence
GS1 Digital Link (GS1 DL) is an open international standard — published by GS1, the global non-profit that manages product identification standards used by over 2 million companies worldwide — that defines how product identity information (GTINs, serial numbers, lot codes) is encoded into a URL. A GS1 DL URL looks like this:
https://resolve.brandedmark.com/01/09521234567890/21/000001
The critical insight is that this URL resolves through a resolver — a routing layer that maps the code to whatever destination experience you choose. Changing platforms means updating the resolver, not reprinting the codes. It is architecturally equivalent to changing DNS: the address on the box stays the same; where it points is entirely under your control.
Platforms that use proprietary URL schemes instead of GS1 DL are, intentionally or not, making themselves impossible to leave without a product recall. This is worth understanding clearly before you sign any contract.
For a deeper look at how GS1 Digital Link works in practice, see our manufacturer's guide to GS1 Digital Link.
What Data You Should Be Able to Export
Before committing to any connected product platform, map out every data category your program will generate. Each type has different portability requirements and different risk profiles.
| Data Type | Export Format | Portability Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Warranty registrations (name, address, purchase date) | CSV / JSON | Medium — structured data, but custom fields may not map cleanly to new systems |
| Scan history (time, location, serial, scan count) | JSON / CSV | High — event logs are often siloed in vendor infrastructure and excluded from standard exports |
| Product configurations and experience content | JSON / Markdown | High — no-code builder content is frequently stored in proprietary formats with no export spec |
| Spare parts orders and transaction history | CSV | Low-Medium — order data is usually structured, but linked product associations may break |
| Customer support interactions and troubleshooting logs | CSV / JSON | High — often not included in export tooling at all |
| EU Digital Product Passport records | JSON-LD / GS1 DPP schema | Critical — regulatory data must be portable; verify compliance with ESPR requirements |
| Anti-counterfeiting and serialisation records | CSV | Medium — GTIN + serial pairings are structured but vendor systems may not export full verification history |
The categories most likely to be missing from a standard export — scan history, troubleshooting logs, product configuration content — are often the highest-value data your program generates. The EU's ESPR regulation reinforces this: DPP data must be portable and accessible throughout the product lifecycle, meaning any platform handling regulated data must support compliant export. Ask for a sample export before you sign. If the vendor cannot produce one, the data is probably not exportable.
Red Flags to Find Before You Sign
Most vendor lock-in is not malicious. It is a side effect of building proprietary systems without thinking about exit. But some contracts make exit deliberately expensive. Here is what to look for.
Proprietary URL schemes with no resolver layer. If the platform encodes its own domain into your product codes, you are physically locked in. Ask directly: "Does the scan URL resolve through a standard resolver that I can redirect? Can I bring my own domain?" If the answer is no or vague, treat this as a hard stop.
No bulk export in the base contract. Some platforms offer data export only as a paid add-on or enterprise feature. If your tier does not include it, your data is effectively held for ransom. Require bulk export — all data types, machine-readable formats — as a baseline contractual term.
Short data retention windows post-cancellation. Watch for clauses that delete your data 30 or 60 days after account closure. For manufacturers with products in the field for 10-15 years, this is catastrophic. Warranty records, scan histories, and ownership chains have long legal and commercial lifespans. Require a minimum 90-day export window, and longer for regulated data.
Experience content locked in proprietary builders. If your product experience was built in a vendor's no-code tool with no export spec, switching means rebuilding everything from scratch. Ask for an export of a sample experience in a portable format (JSON, HTML) before committing your content library to the platform.
Contract terms that restrict data use post-exit. Some SaaS agreements include language preventing you from using exported data to "compete with" or "replicate" vendor features. Get legal review on any clause touching data rights after termination.
For a full analysis of the hidden cost dynamics in build-vs-buy decisions for connected product programs, see The Hidden Cost of Build vs. Buy for Product Experience.
How the Major Platforms Approach Portability
A brief look at how the established players in this space handle portability — assessed on publicly available information and platform architecture, not speculation.
Registria is one of the more established warranty and product registration platforms. Its architecture predates the GS1 Digital Link standard, and its URL structures are largely proprietary. Export tooling exists for registration data, but scan-level event history and experience content portability are less well-documented. Manufacturers using Registria should explicitly negotiate export terms for all data categories before signing multi-year agreements.
Brij is a newer entrant focused on QR-linked product experiences for consumer brands. Its URL structure is platform-hosted, which introduces resolver dependency risk. The platform is oriented toward marketing use cases rather than long-lifecycle durability goods, and its portability posture reflects that — appropriate for campaigns, but worth scrutinising for programs that will run across multi-year product generations.
Layerise is a product experience platform with a stronger orientation toward durable goods and post-purchase content. It supports custom domains on some plans, which partially addresses the URL lock-in problem. Data export capabilities vary by tier. Manufacturers should verify whether scan history and serialisation data are included in export, not just registration records.
Across all three, the pattern is consistent with most SaaS platforms: registration data exports are relatively accessible; event logs, configurations, and experience content are harder. The manufacturers who negotiate well get explicit export commitments in writing. Those who do not discover the gap at the worst possible moment.
How BrandedMark Handles Portability
BrandedMark was designed with manufacturer autonomy as a first principle, which shapes every architectural decision related to data and URLs.
GS1 Digital Link URLs as the default. Every product code in BrandedMark resolves through a standard GS1 DL resolver. The scan URL encodes your GTIN and serial number — not our domain. If you ever switch platforms, we update the resolver to point to your new destination. Your printed codes never break.
Full data export, included as standard. All data categories — warranty registrations, scan history, ownership records, spare parts orders, support interactions, product configurations — are exportable in machine-readable formats (JSON and CSV) at any time, on any plan. There is no "enterprise-only" gate on your own data.
90-day export window on cancellation. If you close your account, your data remains accessible for 90 days. For regulated data categories (EU DPP records, warranty compliance data), we recommend exporting before closure and maintaining your own archive.
Resolver redirect on exit. When you leave, we configure the resolver to redirect your GS1 DL URLs to any destination you specify — your new platform, your own server, or a static page — for a minimum of 12 months. Products in the field keep working. There is no cliff edge.
This approach reflects a straightforward view: if your product data is not portable, it is not really yours. Manufacturers who have spent years building warranty registration databases, scan histories, and customer ownership chains should be able to take that asset with them.
For more on the questions manufacturers should ask before selecting a connected product platform, see Questions Manufacturers Ask Before Buying Product Software.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I bring my own domain for product scan URLs?
Yes — in BrandedMark, you can configure a custom domain (for example, scan.yourbrand.com) as the resolver entry point. All GS1 Digital Link codes route through your domain, so even the resolver address is yours. This means the scan URL printed on your products is not tied to any vendor infrastructure at all.
What happens to registered customers if I switch platforms?
With a GS1 DL-based resolver, the scan URL keeps working regardless of which platform processes the scan on the back end. Customer-facing experiences remain live during any transition period. Your customer registration data exports as a structured JSON or CSV file that can be imported into your new platform or CRM. The relationship survives the platform change.
How do I verify a vendor's portability claims before signing?
Request a live demonstration of the export process, not a screenshot or a slide. Ask the vendor to export a sample of each data category — registration records, scan history, experience configurations — in the format they claim to support. Review the contract for data deletion clauses, export restrictions, and any language limiting your use of exported data. If a vendor is reluctant to demonstrate export before you sign, treat that as a strong signal about what exit will look like.
Data portability is rarely the most exciting topic in a platform evaluation. It tends to lose out to feature demonstrations and pricing discussions. But for manufacturers with physical products in the field, it is the question that matters most when the relationship goes wrong — and eventually, with any vendor, something goes wrong.
The manufacturers who sleep well are the ones who asked the hard questions before a single code was printed. Make portability a contractual requirement, not an afterthought.