BISG - The U.P.C. to EAN Bar Code Transition

The U.P.C. to EAN Bar Code Transition

Maximizing Book Sales Across the Supply Chain

Information for GENERAL RETAILERS

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Although initial reports indicated that all the major grocery and mass-market retailers would be prepared to handle EAN-13 bar codes on January 1, 2005, as of the end of 2006 there were still many gaps. The best explanation for these gaps stems from the grocery and mass-market retailer traditional reliance on the 12-digit U.P.C. code structure and the costs in expanding files to accommodate additional digits, making these retailers the most affected by the migration of the book industry to EAN-13 bar coding.

What Is an Item-Specific U.P.C.-12?

It is the usual form of the 12-digit Universal Product Code (U.P.C.) number and the related bar code symbol used in North America in which the first 6 (or more) digits is assigned as a company prefix and the company assigns the remaining digits to a specific product.

What Is a Price-Point U.P.C.-12?

It is a U.P.C. number and the related symbol that can be used on different products (from the same supplier) sold at the same price.

The first 6 digits identify the publisher or the book line and the next 5 digits are the actual price or a price point.

It is often followed by a 5-digit add-on symbol that represents the title portion of the ISBN number assigned to the book.

It is not an unambiguous product identifier.

The U.P.C was originally designed to be used on mass-market paperback books.

Although it is still used on some books, it is being phased out and its continued use on books is discouraged.

What Is an EAN-13?

It is the 13-digit International Article Number and the related symbol used throughout the world. The 12-digit U.P.C. number is a sub-set of the EAN with an implied leading zero.

The EAN is used internationally to identify single units of all types of products.

Sunrise 2005 encouraged all companies in the North American supply chain to ensure that their systems (including point-of-sale systems) could read and store this number as a product identifier.

It includes both the Bookland EAN-13 numbers as well as identifiers in ranges issued by local GS1 agencies.

The EAN is numerically equivalent to the ISBN-13 for products numbered with an ISBN.

What Is a Bookland EAN-13?

It is the International Article Number (in its 13-digit form) and the related symbol reserved for use on books and related products.

It is also known as Bookland EAN/UCC-13.

Bookland EAN numbers are a subset of the larger pool of EAN/UCC-13 product identifiers.

The current EAN ranges reserved for use on books and related products are 978- and 979-.

The EAN should only be used to identify books and related products as defined in the ISBN Standard (and in the contract between ISBN International and GS1).

It is numerically equivalent to the ISBN-13.

It is often followed by a 5-digit add-on symbol that represents the cover price of the book. See Add-On Guidelines for more information.

What Is a GTIN-14?

It is 14-digit Global Trade Item Number used internationally to identify products and groups of products at all of their packaging levels.

It is also known as the EAN/UCC-14.

The GTIN encompasses the EAN/UCC-13 (and the 12-digit U.P.C. number with the implied leading zero) and is created by prefixing a single numeral to the EAN/UCC-13 and recalculating the check digit.

Its use is required in the Global Data Synchronization Network

Thus BISG has endorsed the use of the GTIN-14 as the primary product identifier in electronic communications.

See BISG's A Concise Guide to Product Identifiers for more information.

Benefits of the Transition to EAN-13 Bar Codes

1. Communicating Title-Specific Information

Title-specific sales information is invaluable to keeping proper product inventories moving through

the supply chain:

Reduces lead time
Allows for a tailored assortment
Improves inventory turns
Increases sales

2. Increasing Consumer Marketing

According to IPSOS 2004 data, 67.2% of book sales in supermarkets are unplanned. By tracking

title-specific sales information, general retailers can:

Build customer loyalty
Better compete with bookstores and other retailers who track sales by title
Increase planned purchases

Affected Internal Systems

The internal general retail systems most likely affected by the U.P.C. to EAN transition include:

Accounts payable systems
Accounts receivable systems
Applications that parse or alter the U.P.C. company prefix
Current and future electronic trade applications
Distribution and receiving systems
Order fulfillment systems
Ordering systems
Point of Sale applications
SKU/U.P.C. reference catalogs

Furthermore, BISG recommends that when retailers upgrade their systems to become EAN-13 bar code compliant, they take the extra step of expanding their database to allow for GTIN-14 acceptance. This will bring their company in line with global data synchronization requirements.

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