GTIN
Colloquially, many know GTIN as a barcode, but technically, GTIN is the number found beneath the barcode symbol itself, and can therefore also be used for other technologies such as 2D barcodes and RFID tags.
Colloquially, many know GTIN as a barcode, but technically, GTIN is the number found beneath the barcode symbol itself, and can therefore also be used for other technologies such as 2D barcodes and RFID tags.
As a concept, the Digital Twin is only 6-7 years old and is used by companies like IBM in an Internet-of-Things context to describe a virtual representation of something physical, ranging from an aircraft engine to a building.
In our e-commerce context, it is simply about the consumer being able to find a digital version of your product when they search for it online. This is extremely important because, in online shopping, the consumer cannot first hold the product in their hands, feel the nice packaging, and read all the information on it.
But how do you ensure that your product's digital twin is actually a good twin that represents your product in the best possible way?
Hollywood has taught us that evil twins are always out to harm their own good twin. Which can be translated to: Your brand.
You undoubtedly have the most brilliant products in the world, but as an e-retailer, it is of no use if the digital twin does not show this.
Incorrect or missing information in a webshop can easily deter the consumer from buying – or lead to purchases made blindly and thus potential regrettable return scenarios.
If you sell your own products through your own webshop, you can control the "upbringing" of your digital twin yourself, because you are in charge of which master data you make available: Images, size, content, color, ingredients, claims – you name it.
If, on the other hand, you use others as retail channels (e.g., marketplaces), the task is more complex, because they generally often have the right to sell them as they please. Here, you become dependent on others' "upbringing" of your brand's digital twin. And if they haven't received all the info they want, you risk them filling in the blanks themselves. Not an optimal solution, right?
An important question to ask yourself is whether you believe the future belongs to the independent webshop? In Germany, Amazon and eBay together account for 66% of all e-commerce, and if we look at China, the share is even larger – here the marketplaces are just called, for example, AliExpress, Taobao, JD.com, and TMall. Today, statistics show that only 10% of Danish companies have experience with sales via global marketplaces.
Whether your products end up on marketplaces or not, we recommend that you consider how you can best help your B2B customers pass on the right information to consumers. And we naturally believe that the solution is standardized master data exchange, based on unique identification of your brilliant products.
GS1 Denmark provides free advice to its members on how to optimize their trade and logistics – including from an e-commerce perspective. Salling Group, Coop, Dagrofa, Reitan, Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba are among those using GS1 standards. Contact us and find out if we are relevant to you, too.
GS1Trade Image provides professional marketing and planogram images that meet retailers' requirements and imaging guidelines.
If you want to create your own product photos, we can also help you get certified.
GS1Trade Sync is a data pool for product data exchange that your trading partners can access.
GS1Trade Sync streamlines data exchange between trading partners because data only needs to be entered in one place. This increases the quality of product data and creates value for you - and the entire value chain.
GS1Trade Packaging is a packaging data system that gathers your packaging data in one place. The system ensures efficient collection, structuring, and declaration of packaging data, and makes it easy to exchange packaging data with other companies.
GS1Trade Exact ensures the quality of your product data. All physical products are checked against the data registered in GS1Trade Sync.
With this service, you get verified and quality-assured data that benefits the entire supply chain.
GS1Trade Transact handles the digital receipt of orders and the sending of documents to your customers. You can choose whether to integrate it with your financial system or access it online.
GTIN (also known as EAN) stands for “Global Trade Item Number” and is the number sequence shown beneath a barcode symbol.
GTIN (EAN) is a global standard used to uniquely identify digital and physical products, allowing the barcode to be scanned anywhere in the world throughout the supply chain.
A GLN (also known as EAN) allows you to uniquely identify physical, functional, legal, or digital entities. This can include the sender, receiver, buyer, seller, supplier, manufacturer, delivery location, billing location, store, or internal departments.
