How do I add a GTIN to my Shopify product?

In Shopify admin, go to Products, select the product, scroll to the Variants or Inventory section, and enter your 8, 12, 13, or 14-digit GTIN in the 'Barcode (ISBN, UPC, GTIN, etc.)' field. For bulk updates, export products as CSV, fill in the 'Variant Barcode' column, and re-import.

What Shopify products don't need a GTIN?

Handmade and custom products, vintage and used goods, private label or unbranded products (if not selling through retail), and digital products or services do not need GTINs. Google Shopping accepts these as valid reasons for not providing one.

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Guidebeginner6 min read

GS1 Barcodes for Shopify: GTINs, QR Codes, and Compliance

Q: Does Shopify require a GTIN?

Shopify does not strictly require a GTIN to list a product. However, Google Shopping strongly prefers products with GTINs for better placement, Amazon and Walmart Marketplace require them, and retail partners need them for point-of-sale. The commerce ecosystem increasingly expects GTINs even if Shopify itself does not block you.

If you sell products on Shopify, you've probably seen the "Barcode" field on the product page and wondered whether you actually need to fill it in. The short answer: it depends on what you're selling and where you want it to show up. But if you're selling branded, manufactured goods, having a proper GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is increasingly important for visibility, compliance, and future-proofing your business.

Here's what you need to know.

Does Shopify require a GTIN?

Shopify doesn't strictly require a GTIN to list a product in your store. You can leave the barcode field blank and your store will work fine. But there are several situations where not having a GTIN will cost you.

Google Shopping and product feeds. If you use Shopify's Google & YouTube channel to list products on Google Shopping, Google strongly prefers products with GTINs. Products without them may be disapproved or shown less frequently. Google uses GTINs to match your listing to its product catalog, which means better placement in search results and comparison shopping.

Marketplace selling. If you sell on Amazon, Walmart Marketplace, or other channels through Shopify, those platforms typically require GTINs. Amazon calls them UPCs or EANs, but they're all GTINs under the hood.

Search visibility. Google's product knowledge graph uses GTINs to connect product listings across the web. When your product has a GTIN, Google can show richer results with pricing, reviews, and availability from multiple sellers. Without one, your product is harder for Google to identify and categorize.

Retail partnerships. If you ever plan to sell through brick-and-mortar retailers or wholesale channels, you'll need GTINs. Every major retailer requires them.

In short: Shopify won't block you from selling without a GTIN, but the rest of the commerce ecosystem increasingly expects one.

How to get a GTIN for your Shopify products

GTINs come from GS1, the global standards organization that manages the barcode system. Here's the process:

Register for a GS1 Company Prefix. In the US, go to gs1us.org. Pricing starts at $250/year for a prefix that covers up to 10 products. Other countries have their own GS1 offices.
Assign GTINs to each product variant. Every unique product (including size, color, and flavor variations) gets its own GTIN. GS1 provides tools to help you manage this, or you can track assignments in a spreadsheet.
Validate your GTINs. Before entering them anywhere, run them through a GTIN validator to make sure the check digit is correct and the format is valid. A single wrong digit will cause problems downstream.

If you already have UPC barcodes on your products, you already have GTINs. The number printed below your barcode is your GTIN. You can learn more about the relationship between UPCs, EANs, and GTINs in our GTIN explainer.

Where to add your GTIN in Shopify

Adding a GTIN to a Shopify product takes about ten seconds:

In your Shopify admin, go to Products and select the product you want to update.
Scroll down to the Variants section (or the Inventory section if the product has no variants).
Find the Barcode (ISBN, UPC, GTIN, etc.) field.
Enter your 8, 12, 13, or 14-digit GTIN.
Save the product.

For bulk updates, you can export your products as a CSV, fill in the "Variant Barcode" column, and re-import. This is much faster if you're adding GTINs to an existing catalog with dozens or hundreds of products.

A common mistake: don't enter a SKU in the barcode field. SKUs are your internal identifiers. The barcode field is specifically for standardized GTINs (UPC, EAN, ISBN). Mixing them up will cause issues with Google Shopping and any marketplace integrations.

GS1 Digital Link QR codes for Shopify products

Here's where things get interesting. Traditional barcodes on your products carry one piece of information: the GTIN. That's enough for a checkout scanner, but it's a dead end for consumers. They can't scan a UPC barcode with their phone and get anything useful.

GS1 Digital Link QR codes solve this. They encode your GTIN into a URL that works both at retail checkout and as a consumer-facing link:

https://id.example.com/01/00614141123452

When a retailer scans this code, their point-of-sale system extracts the GTIN and processes it like any barcode. When a consumer scans the same code with their phone, they're taken to a product page, nutritional info, how-to guide, or whatever destination you've configured.

This is the core idea behind Sunrise 2027, the global initiative to transition retail from 1D barcodes to 2D codes. Major retailers are beginning to accept QR codes at checkout, and the transition is accelerating.

For Shopify sellers, this means the QR code on your packaging can do double duty. Instead of printing a separate UPC barcode for retail and a marketing QR code for consumers, you use one GS1 Digital Link QR code that handles both. You can generate one here if you'd like to see what it looks like for your GTIN.

What about products without a GTIN?

Not every product needs one. Shopify recognizes several categories where GTINs don't apply:

Handmade and custom products. If you make one-of-a-kind items, you're not expected to have a GTIN. Google Shopping accepts "custom" or "handmade" as valid reasons for not providing one.
Vintage and used goods. Pre-owned items sold through your store don't need GTINs, even if the original product had one.
Private label or unbranded products. If you manufacture your own products and don't sell through retail, you can operate without GTINs. However, getting them is still a good idea if you plan to scale into wholesale, retail, or marketplace channels.
Digital products and services. These don't use GTINs.

If you do sell branded, manufactured goods and Google Shopping is flagging your listings for missing GTINs, the fix is straightforward: register with GS1 and assign proper numbers. The cost is modest relative to the visibility benefits.

Getting ready for what's next

The barcode system is changing. The Sunrise 2027 timeline marks the beginning of a shift from traditional barcodes to QR codes across global retail. Shopify sellers who get their GTINs in order now will be well positioned when retailers start requiring 2D codes on packaging.

If you already have GTINs and want to start using GS1 Digital Link QR codes, SunriseQR makes it simple. Add your brand, enter your GTINs, and we host a compliant resolver and generate your QR codes. No infrastructure to set up, no spec to interpret.

Take a look at our plans to see what fits, or try the free QR code generator to get started.