GTIN Made Simple: Your Go-To FAQ Resource for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
A GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is the number under a product's barcode that identifies it worldwide. In Freshly, barcodes help you find batches and check that the right stock goes into each order. This page covers what a GTIN is, how to get one, and where barcodes show up in Shopify and Freshly.
What is a GTIN?
A GTIN is a unique number for one specific product, including each size or flavor. The familiar UPC barcode on retail packaging is a GTIN printed as bars. The bars are the symbol, and the GTIN is the number they encode.
Many marketplaces and retailers require GTINs.
Can I use my SKUs as GTINs?
No. A SKU is an internal code you make up, so it isn't unique outside your business. A GTIN comes from GS1 and is registered to your company. You can use your GTINs as SKUs if you want one identifier for everything.
How do I get GTINs?
In the US, GTINs are issued by GS1 US. You can:
- License a GS1 Company Prefix to create GTINs for many products, or
- License individual GTINs if you only need a few.
The GS1 US barcode estimator helps you work out how many you need. After licensing, you can create and download barcodes in GS1 US Data Hub, or find a GS1 US Solution Partner to print labels. Outside the US, contact the GS1 organization in your country. For other questions, contact GS1 US support.
Where barcodes go in Shopify
Add your GTIN to each product or variant in your Shopify admin. Shopify lets you add up to 20 barcodes per product or variant and set a type for each, such as GTIN, UPC, EAN, or ISBN. See Shopify's product details page guide.
What is the difference between a UPC and a GTIN?
Some marketplace guidelines will refer to both UPCs and GTINs, however, the UPC is a barcode symbol with black lines and spaces, and the GTIN is the identification number encoded into the barcode. A UPC barcode, together with a product’s GTIN make it easy for businesses to track a product. However, GTINs are increasingly used on their own in online product listings to help form a bridge between a product’s physical presence and its digital identity and to prove product authenticity.
How Freshly uses barcodes
- Batch barcode: each batch has its own Barcode field under Additional details when you add or edit a batch. Use it for a lot or case barcode that's different from the product's GTIN.
- Search: on Inventory Batches, the search box matches both batch barcodes and product barcodes.
- Orders: the Freshly order page shows the product's barcode and the assigned batch's barcode for each line item, which helps when picking and packing.
To print labels that combine product barcodes with batch details, see Print barcodes with Freshly data using Multilabel Barcodes.