GTIN Explained: What It Means and How to Get One

A GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) identifies a specific product or variant across retailers and sales channels. Australian brand owners get new GTINs through GS1 Australia membership. If you resell another brand’s products, use the numbers that brand has already assigned.

The GTIN is the number printed beside a product’s barcode. Keep that same number with the matching variant in your online catalogue, marketplace feed and point-of-sale system.

GTIN Meaning and Formats

GTINs have 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits, including a final check digit. The format depends on the product and where it will be scanned.

Format	Digits	Common use
GTIN-8	8	Small retail products where a larger barcode won’t fit
GTIN-12	12	Retail products using UPC, particularly in North America
GTIN-13	13	Retail products using EAN, including most Australian products
GTIN-14	14	Distribution packaging that isn’t sold to consumers at the till

The check digit is calculated from the preceding digits. It helps detect a mistyped number. Use GS1’s free check digit calculator to calculate the final digit and compare it with your number.

A correct check digit confirms the number’s structure. It doesn’t prove that GS1 has licensed it to a business or that it identifies the product you’re selling.

GTIN vs Barcode vs SKU vs MPN

A GTIN is a product identifier, while a barcode is the scannable symbol that carries data. A barcode can carry a GTIN or another kind of identifier.

Term	Who assigns it	Where it is used
GTIN	The brand or other responsible business, using a GS1 licence	Across retailers, marketplaces and supply chains
Barcode	A printer or software generates the symbol from the chosen data	On packaging and labels for scanning
SKU	The retailer	Within that retailer’s inventory and ordering systems
MPN	The manufacturer	To identify a manufacturer’s product or part

UPC means Universal Product Code and EAN means European Article Number. In product listings, UPC and EAN are older names commonly used for GTIN-12 and GTIN-13 respectively. Both are GTINs. Australian retail products usually carry GTIN-13 numbers in EAN-13 barcodes.

A retailer can print its internal SKU as a barcode for warehouse use. That doesn’t turn the SKU into a registered GTIN for Google or Amazon.

SKU, MPN and GTIN Compared

A stock keeping unit (SKU) is the code your store creates to track a sellable variant. It belongs to your stock system and must be unique for each variant. Another retailer selling the same shirt can use a different SKU.

The SKU isn’t a shared global identifier. You can send it to a fulfilment partner or sales channel as your item reference, but other retailers don’t have to adopt it.

A manufacturer part number (MPN) is assigned by the manufacturer. Google accepts brand plus MPN for products that genuinely have no assigned GTIN. A missing number in your spreadsheet doesn’t establish that the manufacturer never assigned one.

This hypothetical record shows a black medium T-shirt. The GTIN below is an illustrative, check-digit-valid number, not a number to use in your feed.

Identifier	Example value	Catalogue feed field
Store SKU	TEE-BLK-M	Your SKU field, often mapped to Google’s id
Manufacturer’s MPN	CT100-BLK-M	mpn, with the manufacturer’s brand
GTIN	9504000059422	gtin

A shopping agent needs a unique SKU or variant ID to add the chosen size and colour to the basket. The shared GTIN helps identify the product across channels. Keep both attached to the same variant record.

How Identifiers Match a Shopper to the Right Variant

Identifiers connect a customer’s chosen variant to the item your store can sell. Size and colour describe the choice. A SKU or variant ID tells the basket which item to add, while a GTIN helps external channels recognise that item.

Consider a hypothetical runner offered in navy, size 10, and black, size 11. Each variant needs its own store identifier and its own assigned GTIN. The feed must also describe its size and colour correctly.

Catalogue record	Possible result	Correct record
Both variants share one GTIN	An external listing can confuse the variants or reject the identifier	A separate assigned GTIN for each variant
Navy size 10 has an assigned GTIN, but its feed field is empty	The channel loses a matching signal and can limit visibility	The manufacturer’s GTIN on the navy size 10 record
Both variants share one SKU	A chat can describe navy size 10 while the basket receives the wrong item	A unique SKU or variant ID for each sellable option

These are possible consequences of conflicting data, not a rule that every agent relies on GTINs for cart actions. A store’s own agent can use its native variant IDs, but it still needs an unambiguous connection to the selected item.

Check the exported catalogue feed as well as the store’s admin. Each sellable variant must have one unique item ID, accurate attributes and its assigned GTIN where one exists. Group related variants under the channel’s shared product-group field without copying one variant’s identifiers onto another.

How to Get a GTIN Number in Australia

GS1 Australia licenses legitimate new GTINs through membership. It is Australia’s member organisation in the global GS1 network and the only authorised distributor of GS1 numbers in Australia.

For your own brand, obtain numbers licensed to your business through GS1 Australia. For another brand’s products, find the existing number on the packaging or request it from the supplier. Selling the same unchanged product in a second store doesn’t require a new GTIN.

Resold numbers can fail marketplace checks when the GS1 licence record doesn’t match the business information supplied. GS1 Australia reports that Amazon checks UPC authenticity against the GS1 database. Buy your new numbers through GS1 instead of relying on a reseller’s barcode image as proof of ownership.

Getting GS1 Barcodes Step by Step

Join GS1 Australia before assigning new numbers to your own products. Count your sellable variants first, including separate sizes and colours, so your licence covers the range you need.

1. Choose the membership option that fits your turnover and required number allocation. GS1’s application forms and fee schedules distinguish individual numbers from full membership.
2. Receive a GS1 Company Prefix with full membership, or the individual GTINs supplied under the relevant membership option.
3. Assign one GTIN to each product variant. Record its product details against that number and calculate the check digit when constructing numbers from your prefix.
4. Generate the barcode image for the scanning environment. MyGS1 includes tools for creating barcode images from your numbers.
5. Confirm the licence record and match the number to the correct product before sending it to a marketplace or printer.

Fees depend on business turnover and the numbers you need. The GS1 Australia membership fee table sets out annual charges and any joining fee. Use the applicable membership category when budgeting for your range.

To look up a GTIN, open Verified by GS1 and enter the complete number. Compare the licensed company with the brand or supplier’s information, then compare any product details returned with your item. A well-formed number alone doesn’t establish registration.

GS1 Australia members can also open Verified by GS1 in MyGS1 and enter a GTIN in its search box. Its marketplace and retailer guide explains single and bulk searches.

The Global Data Synchronisation Network (GDSN) is GS1’s network of connected data pools for sharing supplier product data with trading partners. A major Australian chain can ask you to publish through a data pool during supplier onboarding, such as the National Product Catalogue used for Woolworths supplier data.

When Google Requires a GTIN

Google expects the assigned GTIN for widely manufactured products that have one. According to its product data guidance, omitting an assigned GTIN can limit visibility, while incorrect identifiers can cause disapproval.

If the product genuinely has no GTIN, supply brand and MPN where available. Don’t invent a GTIN, substitute your internal SKU or borrow a number from a similar product. Ask the manufacturer for an existing identifier before deciding that none exists.

Google’s unique product identifier guidance explains the differences between products with assigned numbers and those without them. For a listing already showing a warning, follow the Merchant Center error fixes to diagnose the specific issue.

How to Add a GTIN in Shopify

Shopify stores GTINs in the Barcodes area of a product or variant’s Inventory section. Add the number to the exact size and colour it identifies.

1. Open Products in Shopify admin and select the product.
2. If it has variants, open the relevant variant, such as black, medium.
3. Find Inventory and its Barcodes area. Enter the complete number and choose the matching barcode type, such as GTIN or EAN.
4. Save the record, then inspect the sales channel’s submitted product data to confirm that the correct number reaches its gtin field.

Shopify supports multiple barcodes per product or variant. If you store additional codes, confirm which value your feed integration submits. A carton identifier mustn’t replace the GTIN of the single item you advertise.

WooCommerce has a “GTIN, UPC, EAN, and ISBN” field in Product Data under Inventory. For variable products, keep the number with the matching variation. Square holds GTINs on item variations: in Square Dashboard, open Item library and the item’s Manage Inventory section.

Other point-of-sale systems can call the field Barcode, UPC or EAN. Keep the licensed number consistent between physical stock and the matching online variant. Export a record after saving to confirm that your sync preserves every digit, including leading zeroes.

GTIN Labels and Barcodes

A GTIN label must scan reliably on the finished packaging. Barcode size depends on the symbol type and scanning environment, so there isn’t one label size for every product.

Keep the required barcode height and the clear quiet zones beside it. Use dark bars on a solid light background, with the number readable by a person. Place the barcode where packaging folds, seams or reflective material won’t obscure it. GS1 Australia’s printing and placement guide explains the requirements.

GS1 barcode verification assesses the printed symbol’s quality and compliance. Some retailers require a GS1 Australia Barcode Verification Report before accepting products. This is separate from a registry lookup that confirms the licensed company.

Artwork can receive an interim report for dimensions and number structure. Print quality grading requires a final printed sample. Use GS1 Australia’s Barcode Check guidance when preparing a sample for a retailer.

GS1-128 is used in distribution, including carton labels carrying a GTIN alongside batch numbers and date data. It uses defined application identifiers to say what each data element means. Choose the symbol required for that packaging level and scanning process.

A barcode generator only draws the symbol from the data you enter. It can’t issue a licensed GTIN. Obtain the number first, confirm its product assignment and have the finished label checked before printing the full run.