Today, with UPCs: We can reckon about whether or not the stuff we buy could be pinned down to a given store, or a transaction. There's lot codes and sell-by dates and stuff on the stuff in my pantry, too. But none of that was recorded when I purchased it.
So it's still a deductive process at best to correlate a lot number and a consumer. If all we have to go on is the implication of a limited range of lot codes, then the results are fuzzy.
Tomorrow, with unique serialization: The right person will absolutely be able to pin down exactly which store a particular can of beans was bought at, and when, and by whom. It's not just something that is made "slightly easier" -- it is instead a fundamental built-in capability of the concept. There's nothing to deduce or to guess at when this unique data is collected and correlated both deliberately, and automatically.
(RFID product tags, commonly known as EPCs, are also usually unique. This property reduces error from duplicate reads. When each tag is unique, it disambiguates a checkout involving 3 packs of #2 pencils from a checkout with just 1 pack of #2 pencils that was read 3 different times.
To pick one standard: SGTIN-96 is often used for EPCs on individual items and includes 38 bits for a serial number. That's enough bits for ~274 billion unique numbers. So with a haystack of 274 billion packages of #2 pencils sold and scattered around the world, the one in my desk drawer is very easy to identify.)