What is the EAN of a product and why is it important for your e-commerce?

Look at any product: it almost certainly has a barcode with numbers underneath. That number is the EAN, and in an online shop it does a lot more than get scanned at the till.

The EAN is the 13-digit number that uniquely identifies each product in trade worldwide: the one you see printed under the barcode. The letters originally stood for “European Article Number”, but today it is called the International Article Number, and GS1, the organisation that manages the standard, calls it GTIN-13. For an e-commerce business, it helps you control stock, meet Amazon and Google Shopping requirements and recognise the same product across different stores.

When people talk about EAN codes in general, they almost always mean the EAN-13. Its ease of use has made it a basic tool for manufacturers and distributors in almost every sector, online stores included.

As well as helping you keep your inventory in order, the EAN makes something very valuable much easier in a market as competitive as online retail: knowing what price your competitors charge for exactly the same product. It is the foundation of price monitoring and dynamic pricing tools.

Key points

• The EAN-13 (GTIN-13) is a 13-digit number that identifies a specific product, the same in every country.
• It holds no product data: it is a key for looking the product up in a database.
• The first digits show which GS1 organisation issued the code (84 for GS1 Spain, for example), not the country of manufacture.
• You get one by joining your country’s GS1 member organisation, which assigns you a company prefix; with it, each brand creates the codes for its products.
• Amazon and Google Merchant Center ask for the GTIN on branded products, and buying resold EANs is a bad idea.

What is an EAN code and what is it used for?

An EAN code is an internationally standardised identifier assigned to each commercial product. Put simply, it is a product’s universal code: the same item carries the same number in any store and in any country.

The system was born in Europe in the 1970s, based on the UPC code already in use in the United States. The EAN association, the forerunner of today’s GS1, was founded in 1977. GS1 now coordinates the standard worldwide through national member organisations such as GS1 UK or GS1 Spain.

The EAN lets you identify the same product wherever it is bought. That is why it is so useful when selling or importing goods, and also for comparing the name and price of an item across different sellers or e-commerce platforms.

If a shopper is unsure whether they are comparing two identical items, the EAN is the first clue: if it matches, it is normally the same product. But that isn’t always enough, as you’ll see further down in the limits of the EAN.

Types of EAN and UPC codes

EAN and UPC codes are the most widespread GS1 formats in the world. They let companies and customers identify a product instantly in any country, although each has its own use.

For years the practical difference was geographical: UPC was used in the United States and Canada and EAN everywhere else. Since 2005, retailers in the United States and Canada also accept EAN-13. In fact, a 12-digit UPC-A is equivalent to an EAN-13 starting with 0, so the two systems are compatible.

How much information does an EAN code contain? What its digits mean

The EAN contains no information about the product: no name, no price, no expiry date. It is a unique key that points to the product record in a database, such as a store’s catalogue or the GS1 registry. What it does have is a structure, and each block of digits means something.

• GS1 prefix: the first 3 digits show which GS1 organisation issued the code. GS1 Spain, for example, uses 840 to 849, which is why Spanish codes start with 84. They don’t indicate the country of manufacture, and not always the company’s country either.
• Company prefix: together with the previous block, it forms the code GS1 assigns to each brand. It usually has between 7 and 10 digits in total, depending on how many products the company needs to code: the shorter the prefix, the more item codes are left available.
• Item reference: the digits needed to make up 12. The company itself assigns them to each of its products.
• Check digit: the 13th. It is calculated from the other 12 and is used to detect scanning or typing errors.

A made-up example makes it clearer. Take the code 8412345678905, issued through GS1 Spain:

The number is fictitious, although it follows the rules of a real EAN. Its check digit is worked out like this:

1. Add up the digits in odd positions (1st, 3rd, 5th…): 8 + 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 = 33.
2. Add up the digits in even positions and multiply by 3: (4 + 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 0) × 3 = 24 × 3 = 72.
3. Add the two results: 33 + 72 = 105.
4. Work out how much is needed to reach the next multiple of ten: from 105 to 110 is 5. That is the check digit. If the sum were already a multiple of ten, the digit would be 0.

On the printed barcode, the digits are grouped 1-6-6: the first sits outside the bars and the other twelve are split into two blocks of six.

How do EAN codes work?

EAN numbers are turned into barcodes so that a laser scanner or a camera can read them. The scanner translates the bars back into the 13 digits and the system looks that number up in its database.

EAN codes can be read in both directions, left to right or right to left. With omnidirectional scanners, like the ones at supermarket checkouts, they can also be read at any angle. The number is usually printed under the bars, so if the scanner fails it can be typed in by hand.

Reading an EAN is that simple, and it makes everything easier, from inventory control to comparing prices for the same product across different sellers.

Why is it important to include the EAN code in your product listings?

Adding the correct EAN to every product listing saves you trouble in internal management and opens the door to the big sales channels. These are its main advantages:

• It lets you identify the product quickly and accurately.
• It makes inventory control easier, because you can look up any item by its barcode.
• It makes database management and per-item sales analysis more efficient.
• It lets you compare the same product across different sellers and platforms.
• It helps you track the product throughout the supply chain.
• If you want to export, most international distributors and marketplaces will ask for an EAN or UPC code. It isn’t a legal requirement, but in practice it is hard to sell without one. If you’re thinking of making the leap, go through the requirements for taking your e-commerce international.
• Amazon requires a GTIN (EAN, UPC or equivalent) to list most products, unless the brand obtains an exemption. You will find the requirements and the exemption request in Seller Central.
• According to Google Merchant Center Help, the GTIN is required for branded products that have one assigned by the manufacturer. If it is missing or wrong, your ads may be shown less or be disapproved. We cover this in the guide on how to sell on Google Shopping.

How to get an EAN code

If you are the manufacturer or brand owner of the items you sell, you manage the EAN code yourself through GS1. You do it with the GS1 member organisation in your country (GS1 UK, GS1 Spain and so on), a not-for-profit body that is part of the international GS1 network.

1. Join your local GS1 organisation. You fill in the registration form, send the documents requested and pay the fee, which depends on the size of your company and how many codes you need.
2. Receive your company prefix. GS1 doesn’t send you a list of EANs, but a prefix that identifies your company.
3. Create the code for each product. Starting from the prefix, you assign an item reference to each product and calculate its check digit.
4. Register the products and label them. You record each code in the GS1 database along with the product details, and then print it on the label or packaging.

An important warning: don’t buy cheap resold EANs from third-party websites. Those codes belong to another company’s prefix, not to the product’s brand. Amazon checks them against the GS1 database, and Google may flag the GTIN as incorrect; either way, you risk having your listings or your ads blocked.

Joining has a cost, but it pays off if you want to sell on marketplaces, on Google Shopping or export your products.

The limits of the EAN when comparing products

In theory, comparing prices across stores is as easy as matching EAN codes. In practice, the EAN fails more often than you might think:

• Listings without an EAN. Many stores don’t publish it, or don’t have one for own-brand or handmade products.
• Wrong codes. Copying mistakes, the EAN of another size or colour, or codes reused by the manufacturer after discontinuing a product, something the GS1 GTIN Management Standard no longer allows.
• Variants sharing one code. Some stores use a single EAN for every variant of an item, or a multipack’s code for the single unit.
• Resold codes. Prefixes that don’t belong to the product’s real brand.

For reliable price comparison, the EAN is a starting point rather than the whole answer. If you rely on it alone, you may end up comparing your product with one that isn’t the same, one of the price comparison mistakes that eat into your margin.

How do you compare prices with competitors when the EAN isn’t enough?

Comparing prices reliably means cross-checking EAN and product reference, reviewing doubtful matches and refreshing the data often. Boardfy is a SaaS platform for competitor price monitoring and dynamic pricing for e-commerce, with direct price updates on Amazon, eBay, Google Shopping and Mirakl marketplaces.

• Boardfy matches products by EAN or reference, with its own algorithm for the cases where the EAN falls short.
• Boardfy can monitor your products on the main marketplaces and reads their prices every 6 hours.
• Boardfy helps you find out which of your items have no competition.
• Boardfy shows you which products are competitively priced so you can optimise your Google Shopping campaigns around them.

Boardfy doesn’t decide your strategy: it applies your rules. Try it in the 7-day free trial, no card required.