EAN (GTIN) – Number Required to Sell on Amazon

EAN and GTIN – what are they?

  EAN (European Article Number) is a barcode in which GTIN is encoded. In this way, EAN is the visual representation of GTIN. While these term are often used interchangeably, they are not fully synonymous. GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) – It is a universal and unique identification number used to products worldwide. GTIN might consists of 8,12,13, or 14 digits. The only authority entitled to assign GTIN is GS1.

What is GTIN used for?

GTIN is a mandatory attribute on most marketplace selling platforms, including Amazon. What are its main features? ● It is unique in the world. ● It identifies the product in an unambiguous manner. ● It facilitates product search in an on-line store, data base, or warehouse. ● It enables supply chain tracking. ● It helps to improve positioning in on-line stores. GTIN allows you to build a good quality product database, conduct product optimisation, and manage products more efficiently. GTIN plays a key role in omnichannel communication. It is used by many off-line and on-line entities. GTIN supports clarity and correctness of data, which is the foundation of smooth business operation.  

GTIN and Amazon

  Amazon’s platform works on the principle of a product catalogue – it combines listings of the same products from different sellers into a single product card. Because of this, the customer sees a page for one specific product with offers from multiple merchants. From among these, the customer chooses the one that is best for them. The linking of offers is made possible, among other things, by the GTIN identifier on which Amazon’s product catalogue is based. One of the mandatory product parameters that the seller must provide on Amazon is the GTIN (EAN code). This requirement applies to the majority of product categories. Some products, however, are exempt from this requirement, including giftsets containing products with different GTINs, works of art, or crafts works. In order to be able to add a listing without a barcode, you will need to submit an application to Amazon. Good to know: When you want to add a product on Amazon, you must fill out the “product ID” box. There are several variations of GTIN  (GTIN, EAN, UPC, JAN), but in Europe the following two are most commonly used:  (a) “GTIN” – this field stores the data in a 14-character structure When choosing this option, you must fill in the GTIN with zeros at the front, making it 14 digits in length.  (b) “EAN” – this is a multi-character field. By indicating this option, enter the GTIN as it originally appears – 8/13/14 digits

Does every product need to have its own GTIN (EAN)?

Each product type and each product variant must be assigned a separate GTIN. The most important thing when labelling products is whether they are different from each other from the customer’s point of view. Variants that differ in shape, colour, smell, size, taste, design, material, quantity, packaging, functions, weight, etc., must have different GTINs.

How to obtain GTIN?

The only source for obtaining legitimate and reliable GTIN (EAN) numbers is GS1.  Participants in this system are assured that their products have correct and unique codes, which enable them to sell on Amazon and facilitate supply chain tracking. The right to assign codes belongs to the brand owner. In practice, this is typically the manufacturer.  

Code Pool for the Brand

  Are you a brand owner or manufacturer and want to start applying GTINs to your products?  To apply for a code pool, please visit GS1 Poland’s website and submit an application: https://www.gs1pl.org/zamow-kod-kreskowy. Each GS1 System Participant has to keep a record of its GTINs and the products that have been labelled with them. The tool used for this is MyGS1 – it allows you to generate and activate new GTINs and to prepare barcodes for printing.  The quality of the data that the participant enters into the system is vital – this information is displayed on the eProducts platform, which is used by many companies to verify the correctness of EAN codes and to download the database; product descriptions and images are a source for many applications and external catalogues.  

Make sure that the GTIN (EAN) is legitimate!

  Do you sell products that have already been assigned codes? It’s possible that they are incorrect. GS1 Poland offers eProducts, which is an effective tool to verify the legitimacy of GTIN numbers. Make sure that the GTINs your trading partner provides to you are correct, and you can use them without fear.  Because Amazon verifies the validity of the codes, it’s worth taking steps to protect yourself before you start listing products. eProducts provides data from the GS1 global database, which you can use to check that the GTIN is correct and to which product it has been assigned. By reaching out to a verified source of product information, you can improve the quality of the data in your own database – product management will become simpler as duplicates disappear, and any gaps are filled.

GTIN problems on Amazon

As a seller, you need to know that GTIN numbers are checked by Amazons’ system to make sure that they are correct and legitimate. Amazon will reject the listing if the GTIN number is incorrect. Occasionally, even if you enter the correct number, you will still receive an error. How should you proceed in this circumstance? GTINs can vary in length.  There is a standard field for entering a number of 14 digits (a variant of “GTIN” among several available for “product ID”) on Amazon.  If the product number is shorter, the appropriate number of zeros must be entered before it.

Report to Amazon Seller Central

If the error still occurs, you can use the Amazon Seller Central reporting procedure. You must send the GS1 certificate and any other documents that Amazon requests to describe the problem that is occurring in detail. Do you want to report a procedure but don’t know how to do it correctly? Contact us. We are experts with experience in solving even the most complicated cases!  We will compile the necessary information and help you deal with errors.

GS1 Certificate

It is a document that confirms the correctness of GTINs and indicates which company licenses them – the key information contained on the certificate is the company’s GS1 prefix, which is the unchangeable part of all GTINs that can be generated from a given code pool.  As a GS1 System Participant, you can generate the certificate yourself from the MyGS1 platform. EAN codes (GTINs) constitute the universal product identification language used by companies all over the world. As such, they cannot be overlooked, as they are a key element for every manufacturer and e-commerce trader.  If you are looking for help concerning use of EAN codes, please contact our Partner – GS1 Poland.  

Learn more about GS1

  GS1 is an international organisation that develops and maintains the most widespread global business communication standards. it is best known for its barcode on the market. Visit our Partner’s website: gs1pl.org