EAN (European Article Number)
The EAN (European Article Number) is an internationally unique, usually 13-digit number for identifying retail goods, printed as a barcode on the packaging. It identifies an article unmistakably worldwide and has officially been called the GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) since 2009.
The EAN (European Article Number) is a globally unique identification number for retail articles, applied to products and packaging as a barcode. In its common EAN-13 form it consists of 13 digits that unmistakably identify a specific article from a specific manufacturer. At the checkout, in goods receipt or in the warehouse, a single scan of the code is enough to recognise exactly that article and call it up in the ERP system.
Since 2009 the term EAN has officially been superseded by GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) – with it, the standardisation body GS1 groups the European EAN and the North American UPC under a single term. In practice, in software screens and in everyday retail, the term EAN is still used in German-speaking countries and refers to the same number. EAN and GTIN are therefore technically identical.
At a glance
- Globally unique product number for retail goods, shown as a barcode
- Standard EAN-13 form: 13 digits; for small products the shorter EAN-8 exists
- Officially the GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) since 2009 – technically the same
- Assigned via GS1 based on a licensed company prefix
- Stored on the item master in the ERP; basis for scan processes and marketplace listings
How is the EAN (European Article Number) structured?
The widely used EAN-13 is made up of 13 digits, arranged in three logical blocks plus a check digit. At the front is the GS1 prefix (two to three digits), which does not indicate the country of origin of the goods but rather the GS1 member organisation with which the company licensed its numbers. This is followed by the company base number (the GS1 company prefix), then the individual item number that the manufacturer assigns itself. The final digit is a check digit.
The split between company prefix and item number is not fixed: those who label many products receive a shorter prefix and thus more positions for their own articles; small ranges make do with a longer prefix and few item positions. What matters is that each complete number is only ever assigned once worldwide and remains permanently bound to exactly one trade item.
EAN-13 and EAN-8
The EAN-13 is the standard for almost all consumer goods. For very small packaging on which a 13-digit code does not fit – such as cosmetics or confectionery items – the shortened eight-digit EAN-8 exists. It is assigned separately by the GS1 organisation, because its stock of numbers is scarce, and is suitable only for selected very small products.
The check digit
The last position of the EAN is a check digit calculated using the modulo-10 method. It results from a weighted sum of the preceding digits and serves to detect scan and typing errors immediately: if the check digit does not match the rest of the number, the checkout or warehouse system refuses the posting. This built-in self-check makes the EAN robust against faulty capture.
Distinctions: EAN, GTIN, UPC and ISBN
Several similar terms circulate around the EAN and are easy to confuse. GTIN is today’s umbrella term and covers all GS1 article numbers – this includes the former EAN as well as the American UPC. So when an online marketplace requires a GTIN, a valid EAN-13 is always an accepted form.
The UPC (Universal Product Code) is the North American counterpart with twelve digits. It can be represented as an EAN-13 with a leading zero and is fully compatible with the GS1 system. The ISBN (International Standard Book Number), finally, identifies books; its 13-digit form is technically an EAN with the reserved prefix 978 or 979 and is read at the bookshop scanner like any other EAN.
EAN vs. SKU
The EAN is often confused with the SKU (Stock Keeping Unit). Both identify articles but differ fundamentally: the EAN is a global, standardised code that is the same for every market participant and is licensed by GS1. The SKU, by contrast, is an internal item number that each company assigns freely according to its own logic and that has no meaning outside its own organisation. In the ERP system both sit side by side on the item master.
The EAN in the ERP system
In the ERP system the EAN is kept as an attribute on the item master – usually in a dedicated field next to the internal item number or SKU. From there it feeds into numerous processes: in goods receipt the delivered goods are reconciled against the order by scan, in order picking the scan ensures that the correct article was actually taken, and at goods issue the shipment can be verified. The barcode translates the sequence of digits into a machine-readable signal that hand scanners and checkout systems resolve in fractions of a second.
In e-commerce and multichannel retail in particular, the EAN has become indispensable. Large marketplaces such as Amazon require a valid GTIN/EAN for many categories in order to assign offers to the same product and avoid duplicates in the catalogue. Via the article data – often maintained in a PIM and distributed to shop systems and marketplaces via API – the EAN travels into every listing. If it is missing or wrong, offer creation and stock reconciliation fail.
Because the EAN is assigned per article variant, every product variant – every colour, every size – needs its own number. A T-shirt in five sizes and three colours therefore needs fifteen EANs. The ERP has to map this assignment cleanly on the variant model so that stock, shipping label and marketplace listing are correct for each variant.
Why the EAN matters in retail
The benefit of the EAN lies in uniqueness and automation. Because a number belongs to only one article worldwide, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and marketplaces understand each other about the goods without prior arrangement – the EAN is a common language of the supply chain. At the point of sale the scan speeds up the checkout process and prevents pricing and capture errors; in the warehouse it makes stock-ins and stock-outs fast and reliable.
For online retail the EAN is moreover a prerequisite for visibility: price comparison portals, search engine shopping and marketplace catalogues use it to consolidate identical products from different suppliers. Without a correct EAN an article often remains undiscoverable in the catalogue or is listed as a separate product. Consistent maintenance of the EAN on the item master therefore pays off directly in terms of sales and data quality.
DACH specifics and assignment via GS1
EANs are not freely invented but licensed through the national GS1 organisations. In the German-speaking region these are GS1 Germany, GS1 Austria and GS1 Switzerland. A company acquires a company prefix there and may form its own item numbers within that number range. The GS1 prefixes typical for DACH – such as the range 400–440 for numbers assigned via GS1 Germany, 900–919 for Austria and 760–769 for Switzerland – indicate with which organisation the licence was taken out, not where the product was manufactured or sold.
A common misconception is therefore to try to read the country of origin from the prefix. An EAN with a German prefix can be attached to an article manufactured in the Far East – the only thing that matters is where the company holds its GS1 licence. For own brands and merchandise without a manufacturer number, retailers have to assign EANs themselves and license their own prefix for this; the ERP or an upstream PIM manages the allocated stock of numbers so that no number is used twice.
Example
Example: fashion retailer lists variants on several marketplaces
A mid-sized fashion retailer sells not only through its own online shop but also via two large marketplaces. For its own brand it licenses a company prefix with GS1 Germany and from it assigns a dedicated EAN-13 to each combination of model, colour and size. The numbers are maintained centrally in the PIM and distributed to all channels via the ERP interface.
When the marketplace requires the GTIN for a new dress, it is already stored on the item master – the variant is assigned to the correct catalogue entry without a query. In goods receipt the warehouse staff reconcile the delivered cartons against the order by scan, and at shipping a second scan confirms the correct variant. In this way stock, listings and shipping stay consistent across all channels.
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