A Global Trade Item Number, or GTIN, is the standard number used to identify a trade item such as a packaged product. It is the number encoded in most retail barcodes and is managed by the global standards body GS1, which has a local organisation in Australia.
GTINs come in several lengths, including 8, 12, 13 and 14 digits. In Australia and much of the world, the 13-digit version, often called EAN-13, is common on retail products, while 12-digit UPC is used in North America. A brand owner obtains a company prefix and assigns a unique number to each product variant, such as each size and colour.
Retailers use GTINs to match a scanned barcode to a product record in the POS and inventory system, to share product data with suppliers and to list on marketplaces, many of which require a valid GTIN. Using the same number across channels keeps stock and sales data consistent.
Pitfalls include making up or reusing numbers rather than obtaining genuine ones, giving two variants the same GTIN, or entering digits wrongly in the product file. A wrong GTIN causes mis-scans, rejected marketplace listings and stock errors.
Correct GTINs underpin accurate scanning, ordering and online listings, and are the starting point for most product data.