UPCEAN

UPCEAN, or UPC/EAN, is a family of barcode standards used to identify retail products. It is administered globally by GS1 and includes UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-13, EAN-8, and optional add-on symbols such as EAN-2 and EAN-5. The system encodes Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs), which uniquely identify trade items at the point of sale and support product tracking, inventory management, and checkout operations.

UPC-A is a 12-digit barcode widely used in the United States and Canada. UPC-E is a zero-suppressed version of UPC-A designed for small packages; it encodes the same 12-digit GTIN in a shorter six-digit form and can be expanded back to UPC-A when necessary. EAN-13 is a 13-digit barcode used worldwide outside North America, while EAN-8 is an eight-digit version for very small items. Both EAN-13 and EAN-8 can incorporate a single check digit and are compatible with UPC-A in that UPC-A data can be represented within the EAN-13 format by adding a leading zero.

Add-ons, such as EAN-2 or EAN-5, provide ancillary data like price or issue numbers and are commonly used on books, magazines, and other periodicals. The GTIN length varies depending on the symbol (8, 12, 13, or 14 digits) and the packaging configuration.

Usage and governance: the UPCEAN system is the global standard for retail item identification, enabling standardized scanning, logistics, and interoperability across international supply chains. It is maintained by GS1 and widely adopted in commerce worldwide.