Barcodes: Why They Matter in E-Commerce

Whether you're buying or selling a book, a telephone case or a vacuum cleaner... All these products have one thing in common: the presence of a barcode. Also known as barcodes, these symbols are made up of lines, spaces, characters and numbers. Ubiquitous in our daily lives, they are also indispensable in e-commerce, particularly for selling your products online on a marketplace like Rakuten.

In this article, we explore the crucial importance of barcodes, how they work and how to use them. Do you want to sell your products online? Then this article is for you!

What is a barcode?

Barcode definition

Bar codes are printed on product packaging. It consists of thin parallel bars that allow data to be identified and displayed using an optical scanner. This data is used for information and marketing purposes, to track the traceability of a product throughout the supply chain (procurement, inventory management, in-store or online purchase tracking, etc.).

The code is materialized by a series of 13 digits and is known as the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN). In other words, this code is a product's identity card. Thanks to this unique codification, all product information can be identified: composition, country of manufacture, manufacturer's identity..

For the record, the barcode turns 70 in 2022! The first patent was filed in 1952 by two American engineers seeking to automate the registration of manufacturers' products. Twenty years later, the technology was developed for a first development in supermarkets. The first deployment was in supermarkets. And today, the barcode is also indispensable in e-commerce and virtual marketplaces like Rakuten. But you still need to know how it works..

How a barcode works

Let's start by deciphering the composition of a GTIN/EAN (European Article Numbering) barcode: this is the most common type of barcode, used for products sold internationally.

The first digits generally indicate the product's country of manufacture (or, in some cases, the country where the company's head office is located). The 3rd to 7th digits indicate the manufacturer number. The 8th to 12th digits indicate the item number. Then the last digit represents the check digit confirming the barcode.

Among the best-known barcodes are :

• UPC barcodes: mainly used in North America.
• 128 barcodes: used for logistics and internal tracking, they include silence sections, a start character, an FNC1 function code, a control character and an end character.
• 39 barcodes: used for marking medicines and certain industrial products. These codes can be up to 43 characters long, with symbols at the beginning and end.

Scanners read and interpret these number sequences, to track the traceability of an item. But do you know why this data is important, especially for e-tailers?

The importance of barcodes in e-commerce

Here are the advantages of barcodes:

• Precise, rapid stock tracking : thanks to these symbols on products, you can improve your inventory management. This helps reduce human error and improve internal efficiency.
• Better management of shipments: by facilitating product traceability (from the warehouse to the end consumer), barcodes enable better management of returns or complaints.
• Speeding up the logistics process: using a barcode is particularly useful for limiting data-entry errors and speeding up the sales process (and time-to-market!), especially on a marketplace like Rakuten. Barcodes provide information almost instantaneously, without the need for research. It also makes restocking easier.
• Enhanced compliance: barcodes are a lever in the fight against fraud, as the system prevents embezzlement. E-merchants who buy their products from suppliers can have better control over what they buy.
• Improved natural referencing: Google considers the GTIN/EAN to be a unique key for verifying product identification. By adding this barcode to the product data sheets on your e-commerce site or marketplace, Google enhances the referencing of your products. Internet users will find them more easily. Practical for boosting your online sales!
• Increased customer loyalty: this barcode system has enabled the development of loyalty cards, initially in physical stores, but now also online. Thanks to barcode data tracking, online stores can keep track of shoppers' preferences, and offer them personalized loyalty operations (such as promotional codes).

Let's find out how to use this coded system to sell your products in the marketplace.

Using barcodes on marketplaces

Would you like to sell your products on a marketplace like Rakuten, targeting 13 million regular buyers? The presence of a barcode on your items is essential. In terms of standards and requirements, marketplaces like Rakuten France require a unique GTIN/EAN barcode for each product. This is a security feature, to guarantee the precise identification of products and verify their authenticity. In this way, we can protect buyers from counterfeit products and guarantee the quality of their purchases.

What's more, the use of barcodes can improve the SEO and visibility of your products on the platform: ideal for increasing sales and boosting your growth!

They can also improve product catalog management, by grouping similar offers from different sellers on the same product sheet. Internet users benefit from a better user experience: they can compare prices and purchase options, before making their decision.

So, are you ready to take action? Here are a few tips for getting started on a marketplace like Rakuten:

Tips to add barcodes on a marketplace

• When creating your product listing, you'll need to enter a product code such as EAN/UPC/ISBN (GTIN), depending on the type of product concerned.
  
• If your item doesn't have a barcode, it's possible that the database of products available on Rakuten contains an identical item. Use the "Search" function to find it. If you find this item in the results, open the file, check that it's exactly the same product you're selling, then click on "Sell yours". Be sure to comment on any differences with the description in the listing.
• If your barcode is not recognized when you enter it, try entering all the digits without spaces or dashes. For CDs, DVDs and video games, the code is a unique number, often with 13 digits. If there are only 12, add a 0 at the beginning. For books, an ISBN number and an EAN13 code can be found on the back or inside the book. Rakuten is able to recognize both: enter one or the other, without spaces or hyphens.

To create product sheets that convert, filling in the barcode is the first step. Now discover the next steps. Here are the 17 criteria for creating high-performance product sheets:

How do I create a barcode?

Step 1: become a GS1 member

To create a barcode for one of your products, you must first become a member of GS1 France. This non-profit organization is responsible for allocating barcodes in France. Once on the GS1 website, fill in the form with your details (business e-mail, company details, etc.).

Depending on your turnover, you'll then have to pay a registration fee to be able to register your barcodes. These fees include:

• An entry fee, paid on registration.
• An annual fee, paid each year. Membership is renewed by tacit agreement. If you no longer wish to use barcodes, you can

The membership fee depends on your company's sales. For example, it is :

• 99 € for annual sales of less than €50,000 (then €99 each year) ;
• 177 for annual sales between €500,000 and €1 million (then €177 each year)

Good news: this fee is fixed, regardless of the number of barcodes generated. Even if your catalog is very extensive, you'll pay the same price.

Step 2: Use a barcode generator

Once you've finalized your membership, all that's left to do is generate your barcode. First, choose the type of barcode that best suits your needs. For sales in Europe, the most common format is EAN-13.

Then go to one of the many barcode generators available online. You'll then need to enter a GTIN code created by GS1. You can generate these codes from your customer area on this platform. Once the code has been generated, you can download it and use it on the e-commerce site or marketplace of your choice. And that's it!

Good to know: GS1 France offers its own barcode generator. Handy for retrieving the information you need directly!

Use barcodes to sell on Rakuten

Now you know the definition, operation and use of a barcode in e-commerce or marketplace. A veritable identity card for an item, this type of code is essential for efficient management of your e-shop. Not only does it ensure product traceability and authentication, it also enables you to better manage your product inventory,improve your online natural referencing and optimize the user experience.

On a platform like Rakuten, the presence of a barcode on your items is mandatory. Far from being a constraint, this system is actually beneficial for our 7,000 professional sellers: once the barcode of their products has been entered on their e-shop, they can sell their products to Rakuten's 13 million loyal and regular buyers.

Would you like to increase your sales easily? Join our marketplace today: