Glossary
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.
The North American cousin of the EAN. Same idea, one digit shorter, and the last digit is still a check digit.
UPC and EAN are the same number
Put a zero on the front of a UPC-A and you have a valid EAN-13. The product does not change. The number does not change. It gains a leading zero.
This matters when a US supplier sends you twelve digits and a European one sends you thirteen for the same item. They are not two products. Store one of them, consistently.
What to store in Shopify
Store what is printed on the item you actually receive. If the box in your stockroom shows twelve digits, put twelve digits in the barcode field.
A scanner reads the printed symbol, so the stored value has to match the print. Padding a UPC to thirteen digits in your admin means the scan never finds the product, which is exactly the fault it was meant to prevent.
Where it goes wrong
Spreadsheets eat the leading zero. Open a supplier file in Excel, let it treat the column as a number, and 012345678905 becomes 12345678905. Eleven digits, scans nowhere.
Format the column as text before you import, or import the file straight into Shopify without opening it. The wider set of barcode types is 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.
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.
Check digit
A check digit is the last number in a barcode. It is calculated from the others, so a scanner can tell when a digit has been read wrong.