Go-UPC is excited to announce support for GTIN-14 barcodes. This development comes on the heels of our recently added support for EAN-8, and is an addition to our longstanding support for EAN-13 and old-fashioned (12-digit) UPCs.
What is GTIN-14?
GTIN-14 is a barcode standard used for cartons, cases, and pallets of products. It's kind of like “UPCs for big boxes”, and has even been referred to as ‘UPC Case Code’ and ‘UPC Shipping Container Code’.
Unlike UPC (12-digit) and EAN (13-digit), which are primarily used for inventory management and sales on consumer-level products, GTIN-14 is geared more for logistics and shipping purposes.
GTIN-14 numbers are typically used on boxes that house multiple units, as opposed to the individual items that are scanned by a point-of-sale device at the check-out counter. And generally the GTIN-14 number (on the case) will closely relate to the UPC or EAN of the retail-level product inside. Often one number can even be inferred from the other (e.g., you can deduce the associated UPC from a GTIN-14, or vice-versa).
GTIN-14 is one component of the broader GTIN — Global Trade Item Number — standard. Other barcode schemes that are now part of GTIN include UPC (GTIN-12), EAN (GTIN-13), and EAN-8 (GTIN-8), among others.
Other aliases for GTIN-14 include SCC-14 and ‘Master Carton Code’.
Looking Ahead
With this announcement, Go-UPC now supports all of the major GTIN barcode formats: GTIN-14, GTIN-13 (EAN), GTIN-12 (UPC), and GTIN-8 (EAN-8). And given its close relation to retail barcodes (UPC and EAN), you can already find millions of products (example) by GTIN-14 using our API or barcode-lookup tool.
As we continue to build the world's largest barcode and product-data solution, expect additional developments in the near future. Up next: keyword search (search on product name and other attributes) and ingredients support (for food, health-and-beauty items, and more).