Can every product be given a unique QR code or serial number?

Yes. Unique QR codes, serial numbers, Data Matrix codes, or other identifiers can be printed or marked on individual labels using variable-data or variable-marking systems. The practical limit is determined by the printing or coding technology, code-management workflow, verification requirements, line speed, and economics rather than by a rule that every order must use one particular press type.

Fully digital label presses are commonly used when the variable element is integrated into the printed design, but variable inkjet, thermal inkjet, laser, or other coding systems can also be added inline or offline to conventionally printed labels. In those workflows, the flexographic or other conventional press prints the static brand artwork and a separate variable-imaging unit adds the unique code. This means serialisation is not limited to all-digital printing.

What determines whether serialisation makes practical sense is less about technical feasibility and more about whether the brand has, or plans to build, the backend infrastructure to use the codes: a database to log scans, a consumer-facing verification portal, and a process for investigating anomalies. Serialising every unit without a system to act on the resulting data delivers limited additional protection beyond having a genuine-looking QR code present. Brands introducing serialisation for the first time often start with their highest-risk or highest-value SKUs before expanding across the full product range.