GS1 is a not-for-profit organization that maintains international standards for barcodes. Barcodes standardize the sharing of product information among various parties in the global retail industry.
Shane Morris and Megan Baumer of GS1 join Amy Wees and Andy Arnott at the Seller Roundtable. They engage in a meaty discussion about the benefits of barcodes for Amazon sellers. Watch them below:
The Comprehensive Barcode Discussion
Before we got into selling, a barcode was nothing but a sticker with a weird combination of alphanumeric characters. In today’s SRT episode, we’ll learn how barcodes have become more than a product identifier and how they have revolutionized the retail industry. Here are some of the benefits that Shane and Megan discuss in the video:
- UPC (Universal Product Code) started in the grocery industry. It was implemented to allow faster movement of goods – especially in the checkout lines.
- Barcodes differentiate each product – to the variant. This allows sellers to manage inventory more easily and efficiently. Price changes are easily editable in the database.
- Modern barcodes with scannable QR codes now allow brands to engage more with their customers by redirecting to a website, landing page, or published brand content.
- Barcodes improve brand authenticity and provide you with a stronger claim on your intellectual property.
GTIN, UPC, ASIN – What’s The Difference?
So many numbers, so little time. Setting up an Amazon listing with all its requirements and steps can be overwhelming – especially to a newbie small business owner. GS1 is a global organization that helps businesses – both big and small – penetrate the retail industry by assisting them with their barcode requirements. If you find yourself stuck on one of the barcode requirements on Amazon – the video above is an excellent introduction to the application process.
That said, there is quite a number of acronyms that get thrown around like party confetti. Let’s define some of these terms and determine what they’re for, shall we?
- The GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is defined as a number used by a company to uniquely identify all of its trade items. GS1 defines trade items as products or services that are priced, ordered, or invoiced at any point in the supply chain.
- UPC (Universal Product Code) is the GTIN embedded into a barcode. So, GTIN and UPC are technically the same – but GTINs can also be classified as EAN or ISBN – depending on the location (EAN is for European businesses) or the product classification (ISBN is for books).
- The ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Numbers) is an exclusive number identifier for products sold on Amazon. To get an ASIN, your product must first have a GTIN. Amazon uses your GTIN, UPC, EAN, or ISBN to create a specific ASIN code.
- 2D Barcodes are graphical coded images that can store more data than the conventional 1D barcode. Also known as a QR code – 2D Barcode information can be retrieved through any mobile phone.
We hope our little glossary provides some clarity to those who are overwhelmed with all of Amazon’s listing requirements. If not – make sure to watch the video above. Today’s featured Seller Roundtable Episode is a must-watch for all beginners in the Amazon space or even those who are still in the planning stages.
You may also get more details about GS1’s additional tools and services here. Good luck with getting that listing published!
Transcription
Andy Arnott: Hey, what’s up everybody? This is Andy Arnott with Amy Wees. And this is the seller roundtable. And we are super excited to have the crew from GS1 here today. Hey guys, thank you so much for being with us.
Megan Baumer: Thank you for having us.
Shane Morris: We appreciate it. It’s gonna be fun.
Amy Wees: Alright guys, so we, I guess we should start with who wants to be in the hot seat here and who is Gs1 and why are they important? Let’s start out with that.
Megan: Yeah, absolutely. So first to note, GS one US is actually a not for profit organization. And we’re best known as the administrator of the UPC barcode, which all you listeners out there interact with every day when you do self checkout at the grocery store. There is a unique number embedded in that barcode called a Global Trade Item number, we call it a GE 10. Here inside the walls of GE is one us. It’s that same number that you provide generally when you set up your Amazon listing. So we were formed in the early 70s within the grocery industry. That UPC barcode was adopted to help that industry solve for long lines at checkout and pricing confusion at the register. And obviously, the supply chain has gotten a lot more complicated since the 70s. So there are a lot of lot more acronyms we like to talk about today besides just the UPC, but we do continue to work with businesses to design and implement solutions to common problems. We are a neutral organization, which gives us the ability to host companies that might otherwise be competitors, in hopes of seeking solutions that are interoperable across the entire supply chain. And our organization is federated. So GE has won us overseas members and partners that are operating in the United States. But there are 116 member organizations representing countries or regions. So for example, there’s just one Canada, GS one, Indonesia, GS one Mexico, and I wanted to point out that phrase, member organization, any company that comes to us for a G 10 is considered a member. So I’m sure there’s plenty of them in the audience already, and hopefully many more to come as they launch new businesses and products.
Shane: Yeah, I’m gonna just add a little bit onto that. So when she talks about our membership, it includes organizations like the Walmarts, and the Coca Colas. But what we’d like people to know, in fact, over 80% of our membership is actually small business, and it’s our fastest growing segment. We all know how the pandemic accelerated online business over the past couple of years, I mean, Amazon sellers grew by 45%, since 2019. And a lot of these new brands coming into the market became just one of us members if they came to us. So traditionally, when members, so kind of before two years ago, when all this was happening, traditionally, members would come to us. And when they got their G tins, they would license what’s called a prefix. And what that prefix is, it’s a set, it’s a multiple set of G 10. So you can get can 100,000 up to 100,000. Well, we identified that the needs of the small business community was different. And so what we did in 2020, is we introduced the single g 10. And it’s a great option for small businesses who are just starting out and getting online, potentially don’t have a lot of skews. So in the past two years since we introduced this, we’ve gained over 30,000 new members that have come on just by licensing that single g 10. They’re only $30 You get your GS one certificate, then you’re ready for retail. So it’s very simple.
Amy: So when you mentioned Shane, that it was only $30 for this kind of new single g 10. Does that include the cost of your barcodes? Like can you make multiple UPC is from that without paying more? Or is that just for your initial registration of your G 10.
Shane: So what that is, so a G 10? Is that Global Trade Item number? So if you had one item one variant that’s it’s just one, you know, if we want to call it a UPC barcode, it is just one. But a lot of the people that are joining, you know, that are coming on to Amazon, they don’t you know, they have three products, they have three different skews, you know, and so for them, you know, we were saying, Well, you had to buy initially, we were saying you had to buy the minimum of 10. Plus there is a renewal fee on that license every year where that single g 10. It’s one time $30 No renewal fee, and you’re good to go. So it’s a it’s a great option, obviously for the results we’ve seen.
Amy: So what you’re seeing is i I’m sorry that I still don’t understand probably I signed up for GS one a long time ago when I had the minimum 10 required barcodes and then I had to upgrade to like 100 Because I got past my 10 and I Now I have that annual renewal fee. So this is only available for new folks that sign up not people who are under the existing plan, right. And what it is, is you’re able to pay that $30. And if you have less than 10, it’s $30 per barcode. I guess I’m confused because there’s your G 10. Right. But your GTIN, like you explained is essentially your UPC is within that, or you have your G 1014, which is what goes on the outside of your, your cartons when you’re shipping to identify that for US Customs. But I’m confused about what you’re actually getting for that $30.
Shane: So, and Meghan, you can jump in here, if I’m not explaining it correctly, but what you’re getting is, so you’re thinking of a prefix. So you used when you bought the that initial 10, you got a prefix where you could create 10 Different G tents out of that prefix. Yeah, this is just a single g 10. So it is a single. So it’s, it would only be associated with one item.
Amy: Got it. So if you’re just launching your product, and you just need one barcode and you’re like, I just want to get started, I’m not ready for all the stuff with GS one yet, I just want to get out the gate and get my product on the market. It’s a simple solution where you can pay $30 One time, get your get your barcode, get going and go from there. And then later on, if I’m I know I’m going to launch new products, I’m ready to go, then I can join one of the other plans, which allows me to create multiple barcodes. And would that would that barcode I guess be the same, because what ends up happening now Amazon is actually checking and this is why it’s so important for our listeners to to kind of pay attention to this episode, because a lot has changed with GS one. And you guys have upgraded a lot of things and come up with a lot of new options. But Amazon is also now going back and checking to see whether or not that barcode, that number is assigned to the brand. And so if I just do the one time $30, single G 10, right, and then later on I go and I’m like, wow, now I got my trademark, I’m registered and good to go. And I need to go to the 10 The 10 barcode right to move to the next level. Can I guarantee that that initial barcode you gave me is assigned to my brand is the same one that that I’m going to get when I upgrade to the 10? Or is that going to be a mismatch in Amazon’s system.
Megan: So the the single, you know is going to be associated with your brand, as is the prefix. They’re not going to be consecutive necessarily or anything like that. So for your own internal management, you know, you have to figure that out. But as far as the Amazon space is concerned, they will as long as you register both of them to your brand, and they verify it they’ll both registered to your brand.
Amy: Got it? I’m opening up cans of worms over your information, and, you know, opening up all the cans of worms. So,
Shane: no, I think I think it’s good, specifically because you know, the community that you’re working with, and I think you’re asking the questions that they would ask. So what we might think is a good explanation. You know, I think you are doing good at digging down a little bit further. So,
Amy: yeah, thank you. So I guess my next question for you guys is, as we’re getting into, we’re talking about prefixes and all of this is what is the difference between SKUs G tins, UPC and barcodes? Can we talk about that? Because that’s so confusing for folks?
Megan: Absolutely, absolutely. And, you know, this is confusing, particularly because the terms tend to get used interchangeably a lot. So I’d like to get started with this with kind of a real world analogy that makes sense, you know, to my brain. So hopefully it makes sense to some others. But you can sort of think of the G 10. Like a license plate number for your product. A UPC might be like the metal plate that you hammered into, right so the plate carries the number. But the number can also be written on a temporary plate it can go in your registration and it’s always in at least one database linked with your car and maybe many others depending on where you go. Right. So the GTIN is the actual number that is assigned to the product. It’s you know, 14 digits long and it’s always assigned at the variant level, you know, meaning Coca Cola will have a different GTIN for a two liter bottle as for a can and it’ll have a different G 10 For a single can as for a 12 pack of cans, you know and we as consumers see those GTINs every day listed beneath you UPC barcodes that are on most of the products in our home. I have one here. I know
Amy: I’m like ready to grab something. So you’ve got, you’ve got some spices there. So the UPC, which is the how many it’s 12 digits, right, the UPC,
Megan: yes. Right. So a lot of people are gonna say, you know, hey, jeans are 14 digits long when I look at these UPC is they’re all 12 digits, right, you know, because I’m totally normal. And I go around my house looking at UPC codes all the time. So the G 10 is actually formatted to a 12 digit length to fit the UPC. And you know, outside the United States, ein barcodes are used primarily. So that might be familiar, more familiar, some listeners, in which case, it would be a 13 digit format. And this question definitely comes up a lot, I think when people are creating their marketplace listing, because they might have like a drag down where they can select UPC A n or g 10. And then there’s a textfield, supply the number. So it’s generally important to keep in mind there that if you select UPC, you want to use the 12 digit version, if you select the a n, you want to use the 13 digit version. And if you select G 10, you probably want to use the 14 digit version
Amy: got it went in when you’re talking about when you if you select that’s, I guess when people are creating their product listings, if they’re selecting the product ID that they’re using. So if they’re in Europe, they’re going to use an EIN number, or they could use a G 10, when they’re creating a product listing and selecting that product ID. But you know, that’s those are the different the differences. And the other thing that I noticed is whether or not you all the numbers are essentially the same, you know, the the UPC the, the 12 digit, and then the G 1014. It’s just basically like a zero on either end, I think it is right where so if you’re, if you’re looking at the total numbers that are in a barcode, most of the numbers are the same, it’s just the length of it, that’s different, right?
Megan: You know, I think I think they’re not all going to be the same. So like, for example, if you’re using a prefix, depending on how long you know, the prefix length is all different. So I’m trying to think like, in my past life, I was an apparel supplier. And we had, I can’t remember what our capacity was how many we would license at a time. But our prefix length was six digits, so those six digits were always the same. And then it was the digits following that would change, the single g 10. Those are just random. So those are always going to be different. So I think that’s that potentially could be what you’re thinking about, you know, we didn’t want to get too much in the weeds of of how a G 10 is constructed, and show you the formulas, but you’re always going to have a check digit at the end. And that basically is just checking that the formula of the preceding 11 numbers is correct. So again, kind of in the weeds, but yeah,
Amy
yeah. But I, what I’ve noticed in between the different numbers is that that number in the middle is like the same, right? And it’s so it’s, it’s, I think people get worried about that, like, oh, my gosh, if I choose a UPC, and then this other one, I did a G 10. And it’s like, essentially, it’s the same number guys. Like as you know, if you’re worried about the the numbers that are in it, it’s essentially the same number. It’s just the way that it’s presented. So awesome. I think that that helps. And that clears things up. And what are you seeing people use different numbers for different barcodes and different numbers for so like, you have the G 10. You have the UPC, you have the EIN, in what ways do not only ecommerce sellers use these barcodes, or numbers or prefixes. But can you give us some practical examples of how people are using these in their businesses?
Yeah, sure. You know, I think, you know, specifically, you know, the, here’s something to think about the, you know, we encounter all these different barcodes every day. And the UPC has been deployed in the retail market for 50 years. So a long time. And if you think about all the technological, technological advancements over 50 years, I mean, it’s really been incredible. And they say in technology, nothing lasts forever. Right. But the UPC seems to have lasted forever. It’s it’s 50 years. And so what I think’s been really interesting, and again, my background is actually retail is to see how the UPC has been deployed and, you know, started in the grocery industry, like Megan said, started to solve for specific Reasons get faster line, you know, get the lines going quicker at checkout, then it’s, you know, the next evolution of that was they were able to do price changes on the back end, much quicker. You see the it started with UPC that then expanded you, you had mentioned it to a GS, one 128 SSCC barcode. So these are a barcode. So it’s, that’s for logistic units. So again, it’s, you know, kind of one step above. And then what I think is really interesting is once you get online, you know how it’s made the jump from the physical world over to the digital world, where now you’re seeing all these different platforms, Amazon, Google, different marketplaces, utilizing that number to uniquely identify products. So because they’re indexing billions of products out there in the space, you know, one thing we did want to talk about really quick because it’s, it’s kind of new for your listeners. And I don’t know if you’ve heard about it, either. But like we said, that UPC barcode has been in deployed for 50 years, we’re, it’s actually getting ready to go through a transformation, believe it or not, after 50 years. So GS one US is spearheading an industry initiative called Sunrise 2027. In which the retail industry is pushing to have checkout systems ready to read 2d barcodes. So think QR code within the next five years. So it’s pretty interesting. So what how it works is we’ve developed a standardized format, it’s called the GS one digital link. And it can be embedded in a 2d barcode like a QR code. And it’s going to solve for two purposes. So the first one it is, it can replace the UPC barcode, a checkout for price lookup. But it can carry a lot more information than just the G 10 Number, it can carry the price, it can carry the G 10. But it can also carry like expiration date, expiration dates, batch lot numbers, that sell by dates, there’s a lot of use cases on the retail side, you know, for this 2d barcode, what we find really exciting is that this new 2d 2d barcode is going to be smartphone scannable. So it can actually link back to a dedicated webpage that the brand wants to associate with the product. So, for example, if you’re a hot sauce brand, customer, consumer scans that 2d barcode that just got checked out at the grocery store or your let’s say, you’re in the grocery store and you scan it, it could link back to a web page that has ingredients, recipes, where to buy, you know, any additional information that consumer wants to choose, you know, we think this could be a great benefit for Amazon sellers, is they’re looking for ways to identify and connect with their consumers, you know, post purchase. So if a consumer, if a consumer scans their digital link QR code, when they receive their product from Amazon, it can direct them back to a proprietary web page, and then that brand owner, you know, can make that direct connection. So anyway.
Amy
I think that, you know, you guys were telling me about that before about the the kind of transition to the future of barcodes, which is this 2d barcode, which looks just like a QR code. And you showed me how even on some products in retail, that these are being utilized now. And I think it’s going to be such an interesting transition. And it makes sense. What I’m kind of seeing now is Amazon is going back through for all of you sellers who are out there and wondering, why is Amazon shutting down my products that aren’t that, you know, maybe I used a third party barcode before to get that product on the market. And now Amazon is saying I have to have a GS one barcode that is assigned to my brand, or that listing will be shut down and Amazon’s giving people the opportunity to update those barcodes now. And so that’s why it’s so important for sellers to understand what’s coming. And then also why so, you know, if we are transitioning to these 2d barcodes, what I think it’s going to be interesting is Amazon may also have to change their bar coding system, because right now, many sellers don’t have their UPC barcode or their manufacturers barcode on their product. They have an FN SKU, which is Amazon’s version of a barcode. And so I think that it’s going to be interesting to see if how that will play out when we finally do transition. You know, maybe Amazon will start transitioning more to manufacture barcodes. And then by the time we get to 2d barcodes, you know it will there will be an easier transition but do you have any insight into how Amazon is going to handle their requirement right now for most sellers to have fn SKU barcodes as compared to using the manufacturer’s barcodes that are used in retail?
Yeah, I think honestly, Amy, you probably work on that issue more than us. So you probably have a better perspective on it than we do. You know, I mean, I think, you know, Amazon is a very important part of our ecosystem, you know, we, our goal is to, to support sellers in whatever way we can, you know, and it’s something we’re just gonna have to keep working on.
Amy
Yeah, very cool. Yeah, I think that, you know, it’s just good for us to all be aware, right, obviously, Amazon, in order to create that fn SKU, barcode, they require a GS one G 10, or UPC that’s assigned to your brand. And then your fn SKU is created after that your asin is assigned and your fn SKU is created after that. So as long as people understand kind of how that works, you first have to go to GS one and get your get your G 10. And your, your barcodes from there. And then after you use that G 10, to create the product on Amazon, then you’re assigned an asin, which is Amazon’s own unique identifying number. And then Amazon then gives you that fn SKU, barcode to put on your products. But you could be like me, I just use my manufacturer barcode on all of my Amazon products. So I do not have an FN SKU. barcode. So there is that option, and that way you’re retail ready across the board. So it’ll be interesting to see when we transition to 2d barcodes, how that also plays out in retail and in different channels, but very exciting to kind of see what is coming. So all right, the next question I guess we have for you guys is, you know what? Why is it so important for Amazon sellers to understand what G tins are and how are they relevant in E commerce in the Amazon marketplace?
Yeah, I think it’s a good question. What we’d like to how we like to think about is that g 10. As I was stating before, kind of bridges the gap between the physical and digital world. Among other benefits, G tins can be used to boost search engine optimization, they can prove a brand’s authenticity online. And they can create unified analytics across multiple sales channels. So if a brand has his products across multiple SAS sales channels, you know, if you think about it from the crowded, endless aisle, and all the search engines, marketplaces, shopping engines, and retailers, they all rely on the GS one G 10. For the billions of products that they’re indexing in order to accurately identify and return the correct information, the correct webpage or the you know, correct image to the consumer. There’s a lot of benefits. We’re going to highlight like what we see as four of those, if we can real quick and the first one obviously for our audience is marketplaces. You know, when you think of the word marketplace in E commerce, Amazon always comes to top of mind, they’re the largest retailer in the world. 46% of all product searches start on Amazon. But there are other marketplaces out there, you know, there’s a lot of them. And, again, from my background, I like to compare listing on a marketplace as a hybrid business to business scenario code. So as a brand, you have to be approved to list and then once you you know, you get approved to be on boarded, you have to follow the marketplaces requirements in order to get your products published. You’re competing with a lot of other like brands and products. So you have to make sure your product stand out is authentic. And they are what they say they are. Amazon, we know is very consumer centric. And they want to ensure that their customers coming to the platform are dealing with legitimate brands who sell legitimate products. They require brands to license G tins from their you know, well, you know, they require what they did is really pre even pre Amazon and pre internet, the retail industry, they actually have the same standards in place to ensure this legitimacy. So they they exist already. They require brands to license G tins from their chosen authority, just one and associate your products with these numbers. So when a brand does this, one of the benefits is their product will be linked back to their company. And I don’t know how many of your people know that but it does. You know, it links back to the company that that licenses that GTIN and it can be verified. So we know that Amazon is verifying those you know that that linkage The requirement also it negates bad actors for making up numbers sourcing GTINs from third parties or hijacking a brand’s current listing. You know, I like to think of it kind of from Amazon’s perspective, it gives them, you know, their index, the millions of product products, it really gives them visibility and a peace of mind that the products that are being listed are authentic to the companies that are listing them. So that’s one way it benefits on marketplaces.
Yeah, and g 10s. And other GSM standards are essential beyond the marketplace base for really comprehensive omni channel strategy. You know, the Jeton was literally designed to be used across different retailers. And you know, Amy, I think you can appreciate this, but growth oriented businesses are really pushing themselves to go beyond either just Amazon or just their DTC website. Now remember, the first half of 2020 to 85% of retail sales still occurred in person, which means if you really want to accelerate your growth, a great way to do it is in traditional brick and mortar retail. You know, if you want to list on say, range me or applied directly to supply a major retailer, you’re going to need just one issue GTINs. And you’re going to need UPC barcodes on your packaging. And there’s other GS one standards like the global location, number and EDI that you’re going to start to encounter as your business grows, and you’re picked up by larger and larger retailers.
Yeah. So one thing I kind of want to roll into next quickly, sorry, I don’t I’m not sure what I missed. I apologize. Of course, I have this beautiful desktop setup downstairs. And you know, I have all my podcasts, Mike, all the good stuff, and it’s just seems to fail on me. So I want my laptop down. It’s gonna work. So anyway, the question, I don’t know if this has been answered, so I apologize if so. But me being a technology kind of software guy. Whenever I’ve dealt with GS one, and this is not a slam at all, it just it felt very, very clunky. On the technology side of things, it does sound like you guys are starting to streamline that and kind of make make a lot of inroads there. But to me, the biggest gap is not partnering with some of these major retailers like Amazon and and kind of like what they did with insurance providers and things like that, where, you know, you guys would just partner with Amazon, Amazon is in somebody’s trying to spin up a new brand, you know, have some type of integration with Amazon, where they would be able to do a kind of without even having to leave the Amazon Seller platform. Any plans to do that? Or did I if I missed any of that I apologize.
You know, we didn’t address that, Andy and I will say, I can’t speak to it directly. But we are making improvements every day. You know, we do appreciate that feedback. And we understand we are looking to be everywhere where our future members need to be. And we here, you know, we’re again, we’re industry driven. We’re member driven. So you know, people ask for things. That’s the best way to kind of help us make change.
Yeah. Yeah, you know, I’m just going to add in that, I think what you said a great Andy is, ecommerce has changed everything, you know, of how brands come into the market. I mean, it just opened the floodgates of how a brand gets into the market. And it and if the market is having certain requirements, there needs to be as the least amount of friction as possible for these brand owners to fulfill those requirements from the different marketplaces or platforms or whatever the case may be. That and we’re trying to listen to our partners and that’s one of the reasons Megan and I were actually brought on as the E commerce business development team it’s because GS one realized that like, even though they might have had relationships with these small brands, it’s it’s you know, ecommerce has changed so fast. One thing that happened is you have all these enablement companies bubbling up that support and really help these brands optimize and get online and sell, sell. And we didn’t have relationships with the people like amazing at home and Amy and you guys, so they brought Megan and I on to start creating those relationships and you know, what we what we’re here to do is to provide at least that the information right now, you know, we have what we can the information, you become the brand’s trusted advisors, you know, and so what we’re here to do is create relationships with you, because you’re the ones touching those brands on a daily basis. So we want to provide you the information so you can help them navigate the retail waters and solve for our piece of the puzzle. And, you know, I think we’re going to we’re continually exploring and looking for ways to make that process with the least friction as possible.
So I love it. On that same note, I kind of started with the punch line but um, you did kind of talk about like some of the tools and things that you guys are bringing online and kind of how you plan on on streamlining that. Anything else or any other tools or resources that you guys may have that that you know the day to day seller might not know about because I know that especially for me in the early on, it was kind of like GS one was kind of like this dark art, right? Like you don’t really know how to, you know, how to get, you know, how to get your barcodes how to, you know, become a member all these kind of different, which don’t seem very hard. But but back then it was just kind of an added thing to put on my daily task list to try to figure out right, so any, any other resources that you want to sell to or share to make it easier on that on that new seller.
So the first thing along those lines I’d love to talk about is our data hub tool. As soon as like the moment you license either a single GTIN or prefix, you have automatic access to our data hub tool, it comes free. It’s a portal where members can create, manage and store their G tins. So when a member licenses a prefix, they can you know, log into Data Hub, assign their G tins, and you know, to kind of keep track of what you use what you haven’t used to just to make it a little bit easier. You know, Amy, you sort of alluded to previously, the length of the you know, the, the prefix and the GTIN and how to turn that into a UPC. All of that is done automatically through data hub. So you don’t have to worry about making a mistake and doing something incorrect, it’ll automatically do it for you. You can also assign core attributes to your products and data hub. So you things like product description, brand, name, SKU, weight, etc. You know, with the goal that basically this can be a great tool to serve as the foundation of your product catalog. And then you can download it from there and share it with partners who might be working on your products with you. And it’s also a place where you can create barcodes for your for your products. So you can create UPC barcodes, download the image file, you know, send it off to your either your sticker producer or your designer, you know, your packaging designer can do it all right there. So that’s one great tool we
Awesome. Yeah, that’s, that’s definitely a good one. So the other thing that I would like to kind of touch back on, I heard you guys mentioning it a little bit is the reselling of barcodes, right? In the early days, that was super common. I even did it. I’ll admit, back in the day, because, you know, starting out there was not really great information, I was just like, I just want to get my products, you know, in front of the shoppers on Amazon. And luckily, Amazon did a lot of great things in that sense with with the exemptions and things like that. But let’s make it really clear, because you still will sometimes see people still thinking like, it’s okay to do that. So just unequivocally, you know, just let people know if that’s the right thing to do or not, and why not? And why that, you know, you’re enabling them to do it easier.
Well, okay, I Megan and I are looking at each other like, well, I can tell you that we’re you know, we’re we’re what we’re trying to do is just help these businesses and small businesses and people coming online make good business decisions. And, you know, there are other options out there. I think what you have to know about GS one, and GS one, US Meghan kind of explained it at the beginning is that we are not for profit, we’re a neutral organization. We were spun off by the grocery industry. And the retail industry has designated us as their you know, their source for a lot of their retail standards, not just the Global Trade Item number. When you source a Global Trade Item Number from GS one US you here’s the benefits that you’re going to get, it’s going to be globally unique. So there will not be another number in the world that matches that number. It’s also globally interoperable. So if you source a G 10 from GS one us and you want to sell into Europe or Mexico, it will work there as well. We do it’s verifiable. So you do have a lot of these retailers now verifying that that number is linked back to the company for authenticity. And these numbers are stored in our global registry. So those are the benefits that you get with GS one us I don’t know. You know?
And I think that verifiability is really the key you know, because we know that verifications are run and your you know your Jeton should match your you know your company And that’s, that’s something that GS one can provide. You can also use your GS one certificate as well, if you have any issues where something is flagged, and maybe it’s inappropriate, and it is your G 10. And you didn’t come to GS one, you know that that certificate provides you kind of that authentic proof of you as the owner of that Keaton.
That’s interesting. So I didn’t really think about that angle, that is an additional tool, maybe even to go to Amazon if like, say your your products getting hijacked, or somebody’s trying to, you know, sell an inauthentic product, that’s just another layer, you know, besides your trademark, and maybe your patent or, you know, whatever kind of proof you have, that’s just another layer that you can, you can kind of add on top of those things to show that you’re the rightful owner of this and and, and you know, that you need this person off. Yeah, we’ve had, we’ve had lots of that, so. So is that sort of I sorry, like I said, I just switch computers, but it so that is that sort of the driving goal, but behind some of the new things that it sounds like you guys are rolling out, it’s more of like a deeper level of, of verification, ownership, things like that kind of giving these brands, more tools to, you know, prove kind of this product is mine. And this is the model, the exact model that goes with this barcode, etc, etc.
Absolutely. And I think, you know, Shane and I, a big part of why we’re here is we really want to try to reach people early in their journey. No people are going to make the decisions that they’re going to make, but we at least want to make sure they have all of the information to make the best decision for their business going forward. Yep.
Love it. All right. So how can sellers they’re like, Okay, I’m convinced I’m not gonna buy my barcodes on on eBay anymore. Where should they go? And what’s kind of the first steps they should take in order to make that happen?
Go ahead, man. Yeah. So, you know, and you alluded to this sort of, you know, before GS one seeming scary and faceless, I think, you know, one thing to understand is we try to make it as simple as possible, you can come license a prefix or a single GTIN at GS one us.org. It’s a simple checkout process, pretty straightforward. If you have any issues, we have an amazing member support team. They’re real people. And they, they usually their average wait time on a phone call is, is less than a minute, and they usually can reply to an email within 48 hours. So they’re, they’re very available, very knowledgeable, and can help you sort of make some, you know, talk through some of the things that you’re considering in terms of how many out how many GTINs do I need and that kind of thing. So we try to make it pretty straightforward. Come to GS one us.org have any questions, you know, call or email or member support? Yep.
Love it. Okay. So, um, if there’s any looks like we didn’t get anybody to jump in the Zoom today. Amy, did you have any more questions?
Amy
No, I just want to thank both Shane and Meghan for coming on, and just everything you guys do to support the community. I know, You’ve been wonderful at kind of reaching out to organizations like like mine, and coming here on our podcasts and just getting the word out. Because a lot of things have really changed. I know, recently, I know Andy, I don’t know when the last time was that you logged into GS one, you once you create your barcodes you don’t really need to log in that much as an Amazon seller, but, but things have really, really changed, you guys have really made it easier to understand. So I would encourage sellers to get out there and, and log back in, check out everything that GS one has to offer now, because there’s a lot of really great new things coming out. And it’s much easier to create a barcode today than it was, you know, a few years ago when when Andy and I were trying to navigate it. So get out there and check it out. And I just want to thank you guys so much for coming on the show today and enlightening us with all the new things that are coming and also just letting us know about the programs and how easy it is for sellers to just get that one barcode that they need to get started.
Yeah, absolutely. That’s a huge leap forward. You know, we’re always talking about when we’re dealing with EECOM Amazon world how, you know, it seems like they continue to pile new things on top of us, right? Whether it’s like oh, you’ve got a liquid or you know, dangerous you know, all these things that sellers that all these you know, onion layers that are they’re adding on rather than peeling away and I feel like that’s one that you guys feel the way so yeah, that’s awesome. I definitely appreciate that on on the seller side of things. So thank you for that look forward to seeing you guys. You know, kind of sounds like you are upping your technology game so I’m excited to see hopefully get you guys get more integrations and more kind of partnerships and make it you know as easiest possible because I think it’s so important to you know have those verifications have those sellers having you know, legit barcodes and, and being able to defend their products, you know, especially from overseas sellers who are kind of cutting a lot of corners that you know, we can’t control so yeah, thank you guys so much really appreciate it. Did anybody want to give out any of their personal contact info I know like some people like to talk about like their LinkedIn or anything like that. Anybody want to mention that?
Amy
Well, I’d like to
share our corporate socials for sure so you can find a GS one us on LinkedIn or Facebook or Twitter at GS one us and we actually have our own podcast as well called next level supply chain so at some point he’s gonna have to join us there and I’m got a great
YouTube channel Yep.
I always forget the YouTube chat chain is the YouTube
Amy
those links from you guys for sure. I know Shane provided some of them for the show notes so we’ll be sure to add those to the show notes and that way you guys can connect with just one us for sure.
All right, thank you guys so much. Anybody listening if you haven’t done so yet, please rate review, subscribe. Let people know about the podcast. We really appreciate when you guys do that. And we’ll see you next time on the seller roundtable. Thank you
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