Glossary
GTIN
Also called: Global Trade Item Number
A GTIN is the number that identifies a product worldwide. The barcode on the box is just a way of printing it.
That is the whole difference, and it is the one people trip on. A GTIN is the digits. A barcode is the picture.
The four lengths
- GTIN-13 is what an EAN barcode carries. Most of Europe.
- GTIN-12 is what a UPC carries. The US and Canada.
- GTIN-8 is the short one, for small packs like lip balm.
- GTIN-14 is used on outer cases, not on the item you sell.
A GTIN-12 becomes a GTIN-13 by putting a zero in front. Same product, same number, one leading zero.
Where it goes in Shopify
In the barcode field on the variant. Shopify does not have a field called GTIN, and it does not need one. Type the digits printed under the bars and you have stored a GTIN.
Google Merchant Center, Amazon and most marketplaces read that field. A feed that fails validation on missing GTINs is usually a feed whose barcode field is empty, not one with the wrong kind of number in it.
Where it goes wrong
Somebody puts the SKU in the barcode field. A SKU is yours. A GTIN belongs to whoever registered it with GS1, and it means the same thing in every shop on earth. Two shops with the same product share a GTIN, and they never share a SKU.
The other one is invented digits. A made-up thirteen-digit number scans fine in your own stockroom and fails the moment a marketplace checks it. Which number belongs in which field is covered in barcode types for Shopify stores.
Related terms
EAN
Also called: European Article Number, EAN-13
An EAN is the thirteen-digit retail barcode used across Europe and most of the world outside North America.
UPC
Also called: Universal Product Code, UPC-A
A UPC is the twelve-digit retail barcode used in the United States and Canada. It is the North American cousin of the EAN.
GS1 company prefix
A GS1 company prefix is the block of barcode numbers a business rents from GS1 so its products can be identified worldwide.