Allocating barcode numbers
Retail trade items
Retail trade items are those items sold to the final consumer through retail point of sale (POS).
There are two types of barcode numbers (Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs)) for retail trade items:
- 13 digit numbers
Referred to as a GTIN-13 identification numbers, which are encoded in EAN-13 barcodes - 8 digit numbers
Referred to as GTIN-8 dentification numbers, which are encoded in EAN-8 barcodes
Retail items are usually identified with an GTIN-13 identification number unless the product is physically too small to accommodate the size of the accompanying barcode, in which case, an GTIN-8 identification number can be requested from GS1 Australia.
Important Note:
Items numbered with GTIN-13 and GTIN-8 identification numbers can be scanned worldwide, with the exception being that they currently cannot be scanned by all retailers in USA and Canada. Items being exported to this part of the world may require GS1 US numbers.
View more information on exporting items to USA and Canada.
