Why You Should Barcode Every Product

Barcodes might seem like mundane black lines on packaging, but they represent one of the most transformative technologies in eCommerce. When Jersey Beauty Company moved operations from Jersey to the UK, implementing a barcode scanning system saved tens of thousands of pounds monthly by eliminating shipping errors. That simple decision—scanning products before dispatch—transformed the business from amateur to professional overnight.

Lorna Leaver, Engagement Manager at GS1 UK, has witnessed countless brands struggle with barcode implementation, particularly when selling on Amazon. With experience on both sides of the table—managing marketplaces for major retailers like Missguided and Boohoo, then joining GS1 to help businesses navigate barcode standards—she brings unique insight into why proper barcoding matters more than most entrepreneurs realise.

The Foundation: Understanding What Barcodes Actually Are

Before exploring implementation strategies, it's worth understanding what barcodes represent fundamentally.

The technology celebrated its 40th anniversary recently, evolving from simple checkout convenience into sophisticated supply chain identification. The black and white lines represent a visual translation of numbers—specifically, the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) printed below. Think of it as a passport number for products, enabling identification throughout their journey from manufacturer to consumer.

Originally, barcodes eliminated human error at checkout. Today, they serve multiple critical functions across warehousing, inventory management, marketplace listings, and brand protection. The evolution reflects broader changes in how commerce operates—from local transactions to global supply chains requiring standardised identification.

Decoding the Terminology Confusion

One of the first hurdles businesses encounter involves terminology. References to UPC, EAN, and GTIN create confusion, yet they essentially mean the same thing.

UPC (Universal Product Code): The American terminology for barcodes, using 12-digit numbers.

EAN (European Article Number): The European equivalent, using 13-digit numbers.

GTIN (Global Trade Item Number): The modern global standard that encompasses both formats.

The terminology persists because old habits die hard. When barcode standards became global, GTIN emerged as the unified term. However, regional preferences remain strong, with American partners sometimes requesting UPCs specifically whilst European counterparts reference EANs.

For practical purposes, businesses should focus on GTINs. A very small number of outdated American retailers still require 12-digit UPCs because their systems haven't updated, but these represent exceptions rather than rules. When trading partners request specific formats, it's usually terminology preference rather than technical necessity.

The Amazon Imperative

Amazon's requirements make proper barcoding non-negotiable for most eCommerce businesses. Every product listed requires a GTIN—even if never using Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA). The number acts as a key enabling product identification within Amazon's catalogue system.

Here's where businesses encounter their first major hurdle: Amazon downloads GS1's database daily to verify barcode authenticity. Numbers purchased from eBay or unofficial sources fail this verification, preventing listing entirely. Only GS1-licensed barcodes guarantee global uniqueness and Amazon acceptance.

The verification serves multiple purposes beyond authentication. It enables Amazon to consolidate listings—multiple sellers offering identical products appear on one product page rather than creating duplicate listings. It also facilitates brand protection by confirming who legitimately owns product identifiers.

The Listing Identifier Trap

A common mistake trips up even experienced sellers. When creating Amazon listings, the platform offers multiple identifier options: UPC, EAN, GTIN, and others. Naturally, businesses select "GTIN" after obtaining their numbers from GS1.

However, Amazon's system expects 13-digit numbers when "EAN" is selected and 12-digit numbers when "UPC" is chosen. Selecting "GTIN" confuses the system because Amazon hasn't fully unified its terminology globally. The workaround? Select "EAN" for standard 13-digit numbers and reserve "UPC" for the rare 12-digit exceptions.

This quirk reflects Amazon's global platform challenges. Standardising terminology across all regions represents a massive technical undertaking they haven't yet completed. Understanding this mismatch prevents frustrating listing failures.

The Hierarchy of Product Identification

Products exist at multiple levels within supply chains, each requiring separate identification.

Base Level (Individual Units): The standard 13-digit GTIN identifying single products—one jar of moisturiser, one t-shirt, one supplement bottle.

Case Level: When packaging multiple units together (six moisturiser jars in one case, for example), the outer packaging requires a 14-digit GTIN. This additional digit signals that the package contains multiple individual units rather than representing a single product.

Pallet Level: Larger shipments require different barcode formats optimised for scanning corrugated cardboard at scale. The principles remain consistent—unique identification at each hierarchy level.

Amazon's requirements encompass all levels because they sell both individual units and multi-packs. A case of six items and each individual item within require separate GTINs. This catches businesses off guard, burning through allocated barcode numbers faster than anticipated.

Each base-level GTIN generates up to nine possible extensions (digits 1-9), representing different case configurations. This flexibility accommodates various packaging scenarios without requiring entirely new number sequences.

Brand Protection Through Proper Licensing

Beyond operational necessity, proper barcode licensing provides crucial brand protection—particularly on marketplaces like Amazon.

Every GTIN's initial digits (the "company prefix") uniquely identify the licensee. GS1's database associates these prefixes with specific companies, making verification straightforward. Tools like GEPIR (Global Electronic Party Information Registry) allow anyone to scan barcodes and identify the registered owner.

This creates powerful brand protection mechanisms. When someone attempts listing products using barcodes not licensed to them, Amazon's verification identifies the mismatch. If a bakery's barcode appears on skincare products, Amazon flags the inconsistency and prevents listing.

Brands increasingly leverage this system to control their marketplace presence. By ensuring their products carry only GS1-licensed barcodes registered to their company, they create barriers preventing unauthorised sellers from listing their products easily. It's not foolproof—Amazon had periods before partnering with GS1 when verification was less rigorous—but the net continues tightening.

For brands frustrated by unauthorised Amazon sellers undercutting prices, proper barcode licensing represents one piece of the protection puzzle. Combined with brand registry programmes and marketplace policies, it helps maintain control over product listings.

The Core Principle: One Product, One Code

Understanding this fundamental rule prevents numerous implementation mistakes.

Think of GTINs like passport numbers—each person has one unique passport enabling travel worldwide. Similarly, each product should have one unique barcode accompanying it wherever it's sold. This consistency enables identification across retailers, marketplaces, warehouses, and regions.

The principle extends to product variants. A t-shirt sold in three colours and four sizes represents twelve distinct products, each requiring its own GTIN. Why? Warehouse staff need to identify which specific variant customers ordered. "Medium blue t-shirt" and "Large red t-shirt" are different products requiring different identification.

The variant requirement surprises businesses, particularly in apparel where colour and size combinations multiply quickly. What seems like "one product" becomes dozens of variants, each consuming a barcode number. This explains why GS1 membership tiers offer different quantities—brands grow into their allocations faster than expected.

The 20% Change Rule

Products evolve over time, raising questions about when changes necessitate new GTINs. GS1 provides guidance through allocation rules focused on three scenarios.

Consumer-Facing Changes: If customers need to know about modifications, new GTINs are required. Different materials, altered patterns, modified designs—anything affecting what customers receive necessitates new identification. If someone orders based on a product image but receives something noticeably different, that's a problem.

Regulatory Changes: Legal requirements often mandate new GTINs. The sugar tax provides a perfect example. Products subject to the tax that reformulate to eliminate sugar need new numbers, ensuring the supply chain distinguishes between versions affected by the tax and those exempt.

Supply Chain Changes: Modifications affecting logistics require new identification. Reducing aerosol canister sizes by 20% to improve sustainability impacts warehouse space calculations and shipping logistics. New GTINs ensure supply chain partners understand they're handling different specifications.

The threshold? Approximately 20% change to product contents. This provides practical guidance whilst acknowledging that some changes—even minor ones—might require new GTINs if they fall within the three categories above.

Next time you purchase biscuits advertising "20% Extra Free," check the barcode. It's almost certainly different from the standard package because the size increase crosses the threshold requiring new identification.

The Reseller Dilemma

Businesses selling others' products face unique challenges. If sourcing products from China or other manufacturers, barcode responsibility becomes critical.

The ideal scenario: manufacturers assign GTINs before shipping products. The barcode should reflect the brand owner or manufacturer as licensee, not the reseller. This maintains consistency across all sales channels and retailers.

However, some imported products arrive without proper barcoding. The temptation exists to obtain GTINs independently and apply them to products. This creates problems. When reselling branded goods on Amazon, the barcode licensee must match the brand owner. If barcodes show the reseller as licensee for Nike trainers, Amazon's verification identifies the mismatch and prevents listing.

The solution requires working with suppliers to ensure proper barcoding before shipment. For businesses building their own brands—increasingly common on Amazon—this isn't an issue because they own both the brand and the barcode licence. Generic products present more complexity, though Amazon's focus on branded goods makes this less common.

Before committing to large inventory purchases, verify barcode authenticity using GS1's GEPIR tool. Scanning or entering the number reveals the licensee. If it doesn't match the manufacturer, problems await.

The Hidden Costs of Unofficial Barcodes

eBay and various websites offer barcodes at seemingly attractive prices. Why pay GS1 when cheaper alternatives exist?

The answer lies in uniqueness and verification. GS1 guarantees global uniqueness—no two products worldwide share the same GTIN. Unofficial sources cannot make this guarantee. Worse, they often resell numbers legitimately licensed to other companies, creating verification failures.

When Amazon checks its daily GS1 database download, unofficial barcodes fail verification. Either they don't exist in the database, or they're registered to unrelated companies. Both scenarios prevent listing, rendering the "cheaper" barcodes worthless.

Beyond Amazon, major retailers increasingly verify barcode authenticity before accepting products. Tesco, Sainsbury's, and other chains want assurance that GTINs genuinely identify products correctly. Unofficial barcodes undermine this trust.

The legitimate cost? GS1 UK membership starts around £40 annually for small businesses, varying based on turnover and quantity needed. This represents approximately £3.33 monthly for global uniqueness, verification confidence, and marketplace acceptance. The calculation becomes obvious when considering that a single failed listing attempt costs far more in lost opportunity.

Implementation Best Practices

Understanding principles matters less than executing them correctly. Here's a practical framework for implementation.

Start With Audit: Catalogue every product and variant requiring GTINs. Remember that colour and size variations need separate numbers. This prevents underestimating requirements and necessitating additional purchases later.

Choose Appropriate Allocation: GS1 offers different membership tiers based on quantity needed. Whilst 1,000 numbers seems excessive initially, apparel brands and growing catalogues consume allocations surprisingly quickly. Better to over-allocate slightly than require additional purchases frequently.

Maintain Accurate Records: GS1's database increasingly includes product information beyond basic identification. Maintaining accurate, detailed product data within the GS1 system benefits future marketplace integrations and retailer relationships. Many businesses neglect this, updating it later proves more difficult than maintaining it properly from the start.

Verify Before Purchasing Inventory: When sourcing products from suppliers, use GEPIR to verify barcode authenticity before committing to large orders. This prevents discovering problems after inventory arrives.

Apply Consistently Across Channels: Use the same GTIN across all sales channels—website, Amazon, physical retail, other marketplaces. This consistency enables better inventory management and prevents confusion.

Plan For Changes: When reformulating products or making significant modifications, budget for new GTINs. Don't attempt stretching existing numbers beyond their appropriate use—the short-term savings create long-term problems.

The Warehouse Transformation

Beyond marketplace requirements, barcodes transform operational efficiency dramatically.

Jersey Beauty Company's experience illustrates this perfectly. By implementing barcode scanning in their warehouse—scanning order numbers and verifying each product before dispatch—they eliminated tens of thousands of pounds in monthly errors. Wrong shipments cost multiple times: the original shipping expense, return shipping, customer service time, upset customers, and replacement shipment costs.

Barcode scanning introduces a simple verification step preventing these cascading costs. When the computer screen turns green confirming all correct products were scanned, staff know orders are accurate. This systematic approach catches human errors before they become expensive mistakes.

The investment? Modest. Barcode scanners cost relatively little, and most eCommerce platforms integrate scanning functionality. The return on investment appears within weeks for most businesses experiencing any order accuracy issues.

The Future of Product Identification

GS1 continues evolving beyond basic barcoding. The organisation explores enhanced data sharing, enabling richer product information exchange between brands, retailers, and marketplaces. As Amazon and other platforms demand more detailed product data, maintaining accurate information within GS1 systems becomes increasingly valuable.

Digital product passports—concepts being explored globally—would leverage existing GTIN infrastructure whilst adding layers of information about sustainability, sourcing, and product lifecycle. Businesses maintaining accurate GS1 data position themselves advantageously for these developments.

The fundamental principle remains unchanged: unique, standardised identification enables global commerce. As commerce becomes more complex, these standards become more critical rather than less.

Your Next Steps

For businesses not yet implementing proper barcode systems, the path forward is straightforward.

Assess Current State: Determine whether existing products have proper GS1-licensed barcodes. Use GEPIR to verify licensee information matches your company.

Calculate Requirements: Count products and variants needing GTINs. Include future launches planned within the next year.

Join GS1: Contact your local GS1 office (GS1 UK for British businesses) to establish membership. The process takes minimal time, and support teams guide businesses through setup.

Implement Systematically: Start with highest-priority products—those selling on Amazon or major retailers requiring immediate barcode verification. Expand to remaining catalogue systematically.

Train Staff: Ensure teams understand the "one product, one code" principle and when changes necessitate new GTINs. GS1 offers training resources including quizzes testing knowledge application.

Monitor Compliance: Regularly verify that barcodes appear correctly on packaging and listings. This prevents discovering problems only when customers or marketplace partners flag issues.

Barcodes might seem like unglamorous technical details, but they represent foundational infrastructure enabling modern eCommerce. The businesses treating them as afterthoughts encounter unnecessary friction at every turn—marketplace listing failures, retailer rejections, operational inefficiencies, and brand protection vulnerabilities.

Those implementing proper barcode systems from the start build on solid foundations, enabling growth without later backtracking to fix fundamental identification issues. The investment required pales compared to the problems it prevents.

Oh well hello and welcome to another
curious to curiosity podcast that's not a good way to start is it welcome to another curiosity podcast with me your
host Matt Edmondson as we get into all things ecommerce and we're gonna have an
interesting choice and I believe it or not we are going to be talking about barcodes now I appreciate at the at the
outset you can hone barcodes okay it's why we're talking about barcodes well let me tell you these things transform
your business you know they've transformed my business I can explain to
you why I'm probably already during the show and they've they're also critical if you sell on Amazon and we've got a
very special guest Lorna leaver who is getting leaders in that whole side of things in the
conversation tonight so do get involved you come join us add your comments if
you're on Facebook live you can add your comments and questions and we'll come to those at the end of the show if you are
listening to the audio version of this it is great to have you with us and you
can subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcast from a big hearty welcome to you and if you do happen to
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is going on here on this ecommerce podcast the curiosity podcast we just love doing it and and yeah the world at
the time of recording the world is in a very funny place right now and e-commerce is one of those things where
actually for us I was I did a facebook live earlier talking about how my sales
yesterday on my e-commerce website were four times bigger than a typical Sunday
since the pandemic has happened now if you're listening to this on audio it's going to be a couple of weeks before we
release the audio version of it I don't know where we'll be with the pandemic at that particular point I can tell you that this particular juncture ecommerce
is a great industry to be in and there are some great great opportunities let
me tell you for those of you who are thinking about setting up and we're your own e-commerce business I said
earlier there's never been a better time to do it really I'm just convinced of it so watch this space as we get into that
more and more right now without further ado let's bring on today's guest I'm
gonna bring in Lorna Lorna hello can you
Introduction
hear us hi yes good we can hear you too which is a wonderful thing always good in fact
let me do this guess who's got some new
technology on his desk and is playing around with it right that'll be me yes ladies and gentlemen that'll be me we
now have the road procaster desk um thing on my desk which enables me to do stuff like that which is fun so Lorna
forgive me if occasionally I just drop in a few of the you know sound effects just for fun but it's great to have you
on the show thanks for joining that's great for you to be here great really looking forward to it and always good to
get involved with different channels and ways of getting pocket the BOK you should change your job
because at the moment you're the engagement manager at gsI think you should change it to barcode evangelist
because that it sounds much better they say is that a map of the world
behind you that I see in that same
situation working from home right now are we sort of the dream destinations
the dream destinations well let's let's
Lornas background
well why don't you introduce yourself a little bit about sort of bit of your background where you've come from really so we know a bit more about you fully
crack onto the barcode evangelism so I've been in eco met quite a while I've
been in gsjust over three years now working as the Engagement Manager she mentioned and so we're kind of the the
middle guys that sit in between the likes of the marketplaces and Detailers
kind of the online world and our members so we have membership organization which hopefully
quite a lot of new listings already one of our members and we provide dominantly
be the barcode numbers to enable you to trade we do a lot of other things within the supply chain and standards helping
you trade better with each other basically it's always it yeah before that I was kind of the other side
of the table working for the likes of Medicare boohoo and June managing their
marketplaces so I've experienced quite a lot of the problems that a lot of your listeners will go through and hence why
I'm now sitting on the Jews one side of the table to help the guys work puppets
so you've actually said on both sides of the table yes and it's worth pointing out right
here at the start I mean we have had a pre call and I'm I did mention to you then I am actually a customer of gswe
do use your services and disclosure because you're not paying me to say that
at least if you are I don't know about it and make sure there's four zeros at least definitely if you do anyway um the
we are a customer of gsand we've been using your service for a number of years
and I tell you how we got started with the barcodes was and we decided one day
to make our own skin care products and so we figured we'd need a barcode for our own skin care products and we spoke
to gsand and sort of that's where our journey began really and so let's get
What is a barcode
into this first and foremost what is a barcode it's an obvious question right
but I appreciate someone listening to this mic there's going to be that one person right who's never has no idea
what we're talking about so let's explain what is a barcode well it's technology that's been around for forty
years now and it had its forty and fortieth anniversary last year and so I
would imagine that the majority of the people do know our barcode is but obviously it's that black and white line
II thing that you see on your products that most of you used to be able to do the beat through the checkout and but
what people don't realize a lot at the time is that the number that sits below it the the black and white lines are
just a visual representation of those numbers and it's a predominantly used to be able
to do point-of-sale so the check out for customers but it is used all the way through the supply chain and also in
other industries to be able to identify and basically just remove the human element of ties and stuff in yeah it's a
way of capturing yeah no additional I mean this was one of the things I said it stole the show you know and barcodes
saved as a chunk of cash and a chunk of problems right at the start of our business when we moved Jersey Beauty
company from Jersey to the UK one of the things that we did was we wrote our own
warehouse management system but don't ask me why we decided to write our own at this video is maybe the anything we
could do at this point in time in hindsight there may have been better solutions anyway one of the things that we we realized was every product had
this I like how you call it the black line II thing on the back of the product
so we had this black line anything on the back of the product and and that was great and we started to scan that and I
calculated very quickly that by scanning our orders and scan in that barcode before they went out so we we printed a
barcode on every order the computer scans the barcode to get the order number and the computer knows what
products are then in that order and we would scan each of those products and only when she'd scanned all the right
products did the computer screen turn green it was very simple I'm a very simple kind of guy I need simple rate
and it would turn green and the order would be sent out well it saved us tens
of thousands of pounds every month in terms of literally the cost of sending
out the wrong order because you'd send out the wrong order would you then go and pick up that order then there's a cost of return there's a customer who's
hacked off on either the phone cuz you know was great they've got something but where's the stuff they order and so that
for me was the sort of the turning point I think for us as a business where we went from being amateur to professionals
are on face but your honor me it was a bit of a massive game changer for us yeah so yeah yeah
fascinating how it works okay so when we set up our barcodes on our own
What are the different barcodes
skincare range one of the things that massively confused me was when I went on
to book a barcode to ask me a question do I want gdo I want an en I had no
idea all of this sort of terminology that's behind it and I still see it a lot so can we go through some of that
and explain to us what all these different things mean and well and generally why we should care about them
yeah so that's probably pretty much the top question I get off so you know we're
not understanding that but it because the as I mentioned is the barcode is evolved over years that's where the
different names have come in so the UPC is predominately used in America so it's
the American kernel code name for the for the number okay EAN is the European
one and then when it become a global standards that is when we know the word gt-r so global trade item number so
obviously old habits die hard so EAN and new piece theory is still quite well
used within sort of just within the market to be honest at G is one we we
call it a gbut basically it all means the same thing there is a technical difference with them in that the
original EB UPC's is actually a -digit number EAN is a digit number but the the
kind of the term that is used nowadays is Jatin Flores and how so how many numbers are in the gnumber so
the G has and if I was gonna get a barcode or if I needed a barcode is the
G the GTIN the global trade an identification number you know that's good pub quiz knowledge right there is
there is that what I should be aiming for or looking at that's the one I should get and should I forget about all
the others again it's the same thing it's just terminology but if you're good
if you're going to get one or a trade important partners asked you is sometimes it is that they will have said
you PC or EAM but it all means the same there is a very very few retailers in
America that will say to you I need a UPC and when they say that they do physically mean a -digit number
because they can't take a but they are very very out of date in terms of
changing their systems to be label it so if you're dealing with the states if you're trading with the states west is
something worth bearing in mind you may have to produce a different product with a different barcode on it to mean yeah
you need to come back to us and get a specific UPC but really they shouldn't be doing that now like if the sunset
date for that was I want to say so this cyka yeah a long time ago yeah we
do histories of them saying it but usually it would just be a terminology thing people say I need a UPC so they
come to ask and say no it's a UPC that I need but actually it's not actually not so where do we I mean it's obvious for
me if I'm gonna manufacture products and I'm gonna the reason I went and got the barcode was like you know what I can see
this being on somebody's shelf right you know in a store and they're gonna want to be able to scan it so I'm going to need some way identifying this product
for those guys and and what but when we were talking you didn't talk about that
Why do we need barcodes for selling on Amazon
as much as you talked about Amazon and why we should care about barcodes especially for selling on Amazon wife
why is that what what's going on there well I guess I'm biased in the new
e-commerce world so that is when what is best fine so that's where I see it and
that's the guys that I look after they trade on they trade through marketplaces if you speak to the retail Engagement
Manager Cynthia's one then that conversation will probably be naturally skewed towards the Tesco so to sign up
the grocer's of the world but it's the same situation so whether you trade with those guys online or offline you're
going to be needing a barcode and so they say to you you need that number so whether you you're physically sending it
in through the supply chain and to their warehouses so for the Tesco's example and but also if you're just doing a
listing on Amazon or quite well most of the big market places will require that number as well even if that
never touches Amazon even if you don't use FBA it's also fulfilled you will need the number to produce the listing
because we liken it to the passport number for the product so it's like a key that enables you to understand what
product that is okay so if you're selling and this was something that you
you mentioned last time which really intrigued me if you're selling a product on Amazon every single product you sell
has to have this sort of barcode doesn't have to has to have a gso they can
scan it in and put it into their system yeah and does that code have to meet any
sort of set requirements or does it how does that work Amazon require you to have at least one
number because they actually take a daily file from us to check the database to make sure it's within that because
okay so if if I'm going to trade on Amazon just to clarify sorry and if I'm
going to trade on Amazon the barcode that I put on those products has to come from
gswhich is your global company isn't it it's that you know yeah okay and you
send all the products information over to Amazon at the end of every day we send the information to them we're
working towards do the product information as well but we need to make
sure that our members are put in the product they are in in the first place to be able to send that over to this yeah that's quite handy to know actually
because I'm not sure how carefully we put the product data in on the gs
website I'm sure I'm not the only person that does not do that that well but I will definitely be checking now that's
for sure make sure that the the product
data you're giving us is consumer-facing so that we can we're working on a big global registry project great great so
Barcode hacks for Amazon
what are some of the things and if i'm going to be selling on amazon what are some of the barcode hacks for wanted a better expression that i need to be
thinking about as a supply so obviously every product has to have a gsnumber
or a ggsnumber I just think we need to throw more layers into this thing yeah but everyone has to have a number
from you guys what else is some of the other things some of the other parameters that you found with people
selling on Amazon that we just need to think about so probably the second query
most common thought ladies that we get after what we talked about earlier is actually when you listen it on Amazon
Amazon have the UPC ein and you can listed as separate identified as yes
people come to us they get their Deaton's they put the number onto the listing and then they select Chetan has
the identifier because Amazon actually accepts quite a big range so obviously you've got the ace in you ji n which is
a Japanese one you've got quite a big rain others that you can use so naturally people would say right I've
got my GTS which is one I go into Amazon I put the number in and I select gbut
what Amazon is actually expecting for that is a digit number they are it's
respect in a digit number to be an EIN and they are expecting a -digit
number to be a UPC okay they actually spread it all out and if it's something
that we're trying to work on just to make sure that we're all speaking the same language but as yet because it's a
global site is quite a big change for them to make which they haven't made yet at the moment it's a little bit
confusing right if if the Antonis digits but they're expecting to be
digits it's because you know when you have cases you are able to so when you
have the packet that goes around the the single units so say Gumpel you send it into amazon in a case of or the
number that you put on the outside of it so the case that represents the six or the will have a gteen so it has an
additional number to identify that it's the level up if that makes sense
okay so sorry this is why we offer
barcode training yeah it's starting to get a little bit
more complicated isn't it so yeah so a basic cheating number is digits if we if we put it in cases so like you say
six of an item six skincare items say we sell the case of six right then the
number on the outside of that box is a digit number to show to show the
world but actually this is not a single product this is multiple products is that right that's going to be broken
down and the reason that Amazon accept that is because you can buy it as the
the unit of six rather than the singles they sell it the base level and and the
packet level as well well and so this is something that you guys help people with
to get right because I'm I'm assuming this is easy to screw up right I'm confused and I and we actually do trade
with Amazon so and is this is this an
Amazon thing or is this a worldwide thing that actually the gnumbers can have different lengths for different
quantities of that product is one standard that is correct yeah so that's
that's a standard which you guys have set and working with yeah we'll just get
confused by it because Amazon sell both the cases and the singles okay so they can sell six a case of six and they can
sell each individual item what about then if you take it up to the next level
How to barcode pallets
so let's say you've got a pallet with cases of six items on if that makes
sense does the barcode change again then as we go up higher it depends on the materials that you were using
so ordinarily you would need like a bigger barcode so we have one two ways
my training manager can go through all of these kind of stuff but mainly because it's for speed obviously the the
sort of the barcode the more accuracy that you need but and also when you're talking big pallets and things like that
you've got kind of corrugated cardboard that don't scan very well unless it's on a bigger scale right it works slightly
differently once you get up to pallets but then you are able to generate nine sheets in four teams from every
cheating that you have so you've got quite a lot that's very bored you can you could get
hey yeah yeah and that's because yeah
yeah okay so you've got the digit number with nine possible extensions to
which of the digits one to nine I take it and they will represent different case sizes now and this is
this has become more obvious or more acute to me of a recent years when dealing with Amazon and trading with
Amazon because obviously their warehouses are I mean they're massive on
that they're like small countries and so it's so critical for when you're sending goods in that they nail it straight away
with the barcode right so part of me understands it part of me thinks just if
you're a small little guy this is just really awkward and yet another expense or yet another thing to think about if
Barcode standards on Amazon
I'm bringing in products if I'm selling somebody else's products and I want to
sell it on stores like Amazon then I take it I need to be aware of the
barcode standards so understand whether or not I can actually sell that product on Amazon would that be does that
question make sense yeah I think you try to say is if you're if you are not the
manufacturer or the brand owner then you be a member of just one you wouldn't be applying your own
numbers to it what you would need to do if the product doesn't physically have
the barcode on the packaging you would need to go back to the manufacturer or brand owner to ask for it because as
soon as you start the listing process that is what it's going to ask you for and that's how it matches it up with the
rest of the catalog to see if anybody else is selling it because obviously with Amazon it's a it's a listing page rather than sorry page rather than a
listings page it works like different to for example the like some eBay where it's all fans and collate all of the
offers together and produce it as one product rather than different version
okay so that's something to to sort of hold into your head isn't it I mean if
Is it always the manufacturer
you're buying a product in say from China and it doesn't come with a cheatin number could I come to gsand get a
cheating for it so I could then sell it on Amazon is that a common thing or is
it always a manufacturer that has to resolve this particular problem in the
ideal world we always want it to be the manufacturer so it's high up to the manufacturer and stop when as possible
so if if when you're getting something from Amazon
ninety-nine percent at the time it's going to be a brand that sorry when you're selling on Amazon you it's going
to be something that you're going to have your own brand for because obviously you're probably building the
whole company around that and the junit generic products are a little bit more difficult which is obviously a lot of
them don't have the logos but it should always be the manufacturer and/or the brand owner that is putting the barcode
on themselves yes well okay well that's that's quite handy to put on my little checklist of products that I can sell is
to check it never would have been on it obviously now it needs to be on this
check a digit number and how can it can I check to see if a barcodes genuine
or real head away if I if I found a problem thing oh I could start selling this first thing I want to do is check
that barcode number how do i how do I do that can I do that on your website do I give you guys a ring how does that work
so we have a on our website it's called get it GE PIR there is actually an app
that goes with it as well that you can download and then it will tell you the licensee for that number so you can scan
that in and/or just type the number in to me on our website and give you the link yeah that'd be great we'll put that
in the show notes yeah we'll tell you who that number is licensed to and so we just need to make
sure it's actually licensed to the manufacturer of that product okay that's super cool super handy so top
tips there guys if you're selling on Amazon before you go to the expensive
buying a you know a container load of the product check out the barcode assuming is simple right what are some
Problems with barcodes
of the other problems that people are found then or that you've come across with barcodes that we we should be aware
of or think about if that makes sense I would say that is usually the main one
people try to list onto Amazon and then realize that Amazon don't let them
because it doesn't match the company that they in so this the barcode that is
licensed the number that hoots sorry get more we don't know perfect
right yes when you have your barcode number then number company that that's
licensed to has to match the seller and obviously if it doesn't comes in like set up and doesn't allow you to list it
so a little time we get or they're not allowing me to list and then we realize it's because the names don't match oh
it's because someone has got a cheating from somewhere else and then that will show in Amazon's files as the original
licensee of that product so for example obviously your skincare could then come
up as it does a bakery in America and then that gets flagged within the amazon
system and they will ultimately won't let you list because obviously they want to make sure that you are the licensee
of that when you're listing a new product okay so what happens then if I I've got here
in my notes the example of the Nike trainers for some reason but what happens if I want to sell Nike trainers
on Amazon but obviously I'm not the manufacturer I'm you know max trainers
calm so my company name is not going to match the licensee on the bar code how
does that work it's kind of outward the hands of gsthat is between yourself as
your business and the brand that you're trying to sell so obviously if you're buying the units of night trainers
nyquil if you some kind of approval to show that you're a licensed seller of
that and then Amazon will ask to see that there's quite a big list I want to say
it's up to about now a brac that they have kind of kind of ones that they
check to understand who is licensed sell out of those so if you're part of that
and night will definitely be on that list I would imagine and they will ask to see an approval a kind of certificate
that you're they sell that so this I mean again in a pre call this was one of
the things that fascinated me with out of the conversation was actually one of the things that men just sort of
following on from the conversation about the Nike trainers is one of the things that brands can do to protect their
brands on sites like Amazon and well
let's just pick on Amazon because it's you know took a life that we all talk about and I always come across companies
that you know just like all my friends being decimated on Amazon people are selling it super cheap on Amazon from
what I understand from what you've just told me this could be a way that brands could protect themselves on Amazon if
Brand protection
they're correctly licensed through the barcode system is that right yeah
digit number that we talked about and the first part of it is actually unique to your company and hence why we're able
to show things like get gear to show who that number is licensed to so that does
give you a kind of an element of brand protection obviously it's just one piece of the puzzle there's quite a lot that
go into the world of mind protection of trademarks and all of that other stuff but making sure their license of the
barcode is registered to yourself is definitely one part of that sure and I'm
just thinking actually of a few clients where that's not actually the case and so this is this is very helpful for me
to understand this because if you are if you are the right licensee of the
barcode the first part so what how many numbers would you know maybe a strange question how many of those numbers
represent the brand it varies depending on how many you licensed for gs
obviously if you've only licensed a thousand you're going to have a lot longer company prefix than if you've
license I'm with you so depends on what's gonna okay cool so as long as I've I've
correctly licensed myself with the actual barcode and then obviously I can
have conversations Amazon about who is actually licensed to sell this branded product yeah and that's really
fascinating and the mass of conversation tab with Amazon obviously but I know that there are now brands which are
starting to do that which and they're starting to restrict you know who is licensed to sell their brands on their
platform really quite a fascinating conversation it really intrigues me how
they can do anyway yeah well ultimately they shouldn't actually be able to get onto the listing in the
first place but obviously Amazon had a period before they were partnered up with us and check in so there will be
some that have got through the net as it were so but but ultimately they
shouldn't be able to get on there now yeah yeah I definitely can point you in
places where it's contradictory to what happens but I imagine over the next few
months for years this will all get straightened out with Amazon as they assuming they sir right survived the
pandemic that's another question entirely anyway so if I if I'm gonna
Where to get bar codes
sell on Amazon if I'm gonna manufacture a product and I need a bar code number
can I just get them from literally anywhere can I buy them on eBay can i
yeah so there's other places that you can get them a baby being one of them
but really are we basically we can't guarantee that they unique and they're
not unique that defeats the entire purpose of them being identification
alright so you need to make sure that you're getting them from gsand also for the example that we talked about earlier I was in are actually check-in
and so as some of the other retailers they're making sure that they can't find
us one because then that way they know that they are globally unique and if you don't like I said it can it will relate
back to the original owner of that and then that there could be any other company and obviously there is a hundred
and fourteen offices of just one around the world so wherever you are wherever you sell from there probably is a gs
office there and so there's quite a few to choose from you just need to pick whatever language and timezone it works
best for you so if I'm if I'm a British company and I want to sell an America
for example should I contact you guys or should I contact the u.s. office and obviously you are free to choose which
one and but you should basically go for where your headquarters the kids okay yes I'm a British company talk to you
guys okay makes all the sense in the world now though the idea that sort of
popped into my head is actually you you need to buy the bar codes from a
reputable company because that comes like you say down to this licensing the first part of the number representing
the brand and so I have I don't know how many numbers probably a thousand numbers
registered with you guys right because that's my my membership and I assume
that's standard and I kind of think you know what I'm never gonna use a thousand numbers and I only need a hundred so it
gives me numbers I could use I'm kind of answering my own question here
What stops you from using bar codes
what stops me putting those numbers on eBay and is it a case of all anybody
that uses them the first part of that number is gonna be registered to Matt's company and not their company is that is
that yes and I think you say oh I'm never gonna use them but actually if you're growing a brand then you probably
will go through a particular apparel retailers oh guys go through them super
fast because they have to be at the variant level so the child's view the base level there's quite a few different
names in the market for that so for example if you had a t-shirt in three colors and four sizes just for that one
t-shirt you are going to be going through twelve numbers so I think you
will actually burn through the numbers quicker than you would expect and then also if you make any changes to that
products so that the supply chain and anyone affected by that product knows
that it is a different version of that product you need to change the number so the number doesn't remain static forever
so if you change the ingredients for example you would need to make sure that you put a different number one it's that
your trading partner can identify it on this one has got the salt this one hasn't got the salt example okay that's
a nice segue into the next part of my notes actually is what are some of the key principles here so and some of the
key things that I need to understand when it comes to bar codes right so there's a couple of things you've mentioned there if I can if I can go
back on them back to your example of selling t-shirts where I sell it in four
sizes and three different colors which gives us you know what however many hundred and sixty simple combination I
don't actually know but I'm not that good at doing the mass that quick but it gives me a lot of combinations right a
lot of possibilities of t-shirts and so and I have to have a number for each one
of them so the variance needs their own individual number is that is that what I
heard you say yeah yeah because if you think collect your warehouse right someone that P shirt but how do you know
which size in which color they fit so you're having you identify that through the barcode yes you have to be each
variant level okay and do the variants have to the variant barcode numbers
Do variants have to relate to the main product
do they have to relate somehow to the main product in other words do they have
to have a similar set of numbers of more than and or does it no doesn't matter ok have a a global global
model number which is kind of a parent number that you can use but predominantly most people just have the
base level and whether they are completely different numbers or in
sequence there's no relevance to that at all ok so every variant needs its own barcode
which I get and I understand and I've got here in my notes one product one
code yes what do we mean by that so if you
use a lot be excused but basically if you got one product it should always
just have one barcode with it because that is the unique identifier so if you
think about what about or passport number though people have more than one passport but really you should just p
one person has one passport and then that takes them wherever they want to go in the world in same weather product
this is this this thing this needs to know what it is and then it goes
everywhere and wherever you may want to trade okay so we've got one product one
code every variant and needs its own code what is the twenty percent change
What is the change rule
rule and you've briefly alluded to and I just want to draw that out a little bit more so we do have quite imprint support
so we have deets and allocation Bulls and this is what I was talking about earlier so the the three main pillars of
the allocation rules are if someone a consumer needs to know that there's been
a change to that product a regulation change has happened for that product or
a supply chain has changed so basically if I'll give you an example for each if
a consumer for example it's a different material or it's a different look so a different
pattern on there a slightly different piping around the edge for example a
customer is ordering so they've got a photo of one and they ordering that but
actually what you're the product is slightly changed you need to have them as two separate ones so that what make
think they're getting it's not what actually arrived sure and then a regulation so if the sugar tax is a
perfect one for that and yeah so the guise of a subject to the products that
subjects if sugar touch and they don't want to for example and they take the sugar out they need to make sure that
they change the duty on the product so that you know that this version of it this G tin has not got the sugar in
and then the supply chain one is it basically comes down to the sizes so if
for example you change the the volume of your aerosol and you made it a lot of
smaller to make it equal more eco-friendly less packaging for example that also takes a lot less space in the
in the lorries in the warehouse so you need to make sure that the supply chain can identify what the differences are
because obviously they're going to be able to fit a lot more in the lorries and it may be money so those are the
three guiding principles whenever you make a change and what we usually say the threshold is it is around percent
so it is about a percent change tipping besides percent change to the
contents of it then you need to make sure that you're changing the numbers okay so if I go to the supermarket and
buy not that I would because I'm a super fit healthy guy but buy a packet of biscuits it says % extra free that's
probably got a different barcode to the normal one because it's passed the
twenty percent rule it was a bit of a
try example I suppose but if I go to the supermarket and buy a packet of biscuits it's got % extra free whole packet of
cookies for American lessness and then that's probably got a different barcode number than the standard packet exactly
next time I go to the supermarket and I'm gonna see I'm gonna have a look and I'm gonna go it's a twenty percent
change or if there's more than percent change you need to have a different barcode I've become like the vodka I don't be such a fun guy to be
around it's gonna be incredible in the supermarket so the % change well
that's really fascinating as well so if you have changed the product by around percent you need to have a different barcode one product one code one code
for each of the variants and gosh there's a whole bunch of stuff there is
there anything else that we should be thinking about when it comes to products
and selling on our sites with barcodes anything from your
your expertise darkness hey the main ones and actually we've got a couple of kind of quizzes to test your
knowledge on it it's called in the basics and it we've got two variants of
that so one will kind of go through you they see the scenario do you need a new GPA or do not so you can go and try that
see see how you get on there's a version of actually counts of way and size the
products so the dimensions of it so give that a go as well bossing the basics so that will help you
make decisions as to whether you need to make change to the gor not okay
so when I go onto the site and I I record my product details on there I no
need to put the name and and all that information on there there's the size and there's a weight aspect that I need to know for it as well we haven't got
those attributes just in that moment we're just going for the core attributes so it's literally just a name brand
marketing description at the moment but who's to say that it won't come in the
future very good very good well Lorna I feel like again I've
learned a lot after a pre call and I feel like I've learned a lot again during this actual conversation there
are some changes coming to our barcodes ladies and gentlemen I just want to point that out I've messed it up but but
how do people if they need to reach out see if they've got any questions how do people connect with you as how do they
How to contact Lorna
get hold of you what's a good way to do that we have got a lovely tape on our member support desk that can help you
with all of these queries they are well versed in the world of Amazon as well given that the majority of our members
are Amazon sellers now as well and but so you can contact me directly either
drop me a line on my email or I'm on Twitter all the usual channels or we can
just ping us an email through to the support desk and then they will hold it on as well fantastic and we'll make sure
all of those links are in the show notes of course where you can connect with
Lorne and ask your questions away out of curiosity and do you know what the cost
of an annual subscription is what sort of course would people be expected to pay
yes so it depends on the turnover of the business and how many G tins you need
but the kind of bit starting level is pounds that's creating consistent
price around the world or they very vocal pricing and so very yes okay great
and so it's not actually that expensive is it pounds a month in effect plus the
that ten pounds are meant to to get this done and done right and super important
if you manufacture or if you sell on Amazon to have those barcodes and have them like Lorna listen appreciate your
time thanks for joining us on the show it's been great having you and you've
somehow made the topic of barcodes interesting when pleasure come and speak
to us if you've got any other questions because I do appreciate it can be computed we will do thanks Don I really really appreciate that
I hope you got a lot out of that Lorna sharing her wisdom and her expertise on
the topic of barcodes and like I say how do you make barcodes interesting I was
interested I learned a lot there as I said we will put lawn as information in the show notes and the links to Lonnie
you will be able to connect with Lorna or to gsanywhere around the world feel
free to ask your questions and get involved as I said at the start of the show make sure you subscribe to the
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