What is EAN/UPC symbology?
EAN/UPC symbology is the most recognizable family of barcodes in the GS1 System. EAN/UPC symbology includes the UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-13, and EAN-8 barcodes. These barcodes were initially developed for grocery stores to speed up the checkout process, reduce errors, and improve inventory management. And due to their success, the adoption of the GS1 System quickly spread to other retail products.
Examples of the barcodes are shown below.
How is it used?
EAN/UPC symbology is specifically used for retail point-of-sale (POS). These barcodes are especially suited to be scanned by the typical “flat bed” scanners that are commonly found at your local grocery store. Today, EAN/UPC symbology is the only type of barcodes allowed for trade items scanned at point-of-sale. The symbology may also be used on trade items that are not intended for point-of–sale scanning such as logistics units. However other barcode types such as GS1-128 and ITF-14 are much more common for those applications.
What are the benefits of using these barcodes?
Marking your products with EAN/UPC barcodes ensures their acceptance at retail point-of-sale terminals on a worldwide basis, speeds data collection, and improves inventory data for retailers by eliminating errors. The improved inventory data drives more efficient operations for trading partners throughout the supply chain.
The GS1 System, the world’s most accepted standards system, provides globally unique identification numbers and barcode marking for trade items. Companies in the US must obtain a GS1 Company Prefix from GS1 US to create unique identification numbers for their trade items. The trade item identification number, referred to as the Global Trade Item Number® or GTIN®, forms the foundation needed for electronic commerce including the synchronization of data between trading partners in the Global Data Synchronization Network® (GDSN®).