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The U.P.C. to EAN Bar Code
Transition
Maximizing
Book Sales Across the Supply Chain
Information
for WHOLESALERS
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Some general retailers have not implemented the recommendations
in GS1’s 2005 Sunrise initiative and continue to insist that
suppliers provide books with U.P.C. bar codes. Faced with this
problem, wholesalers receiving books with only EAN-13s from
publishers sometimes place a sticker with a U.P.C. bar code over the
EAN-13 bar code printed on the book. This is a time-consuming,
inefficient and therefore costly process and it is not unusual for
wholesalers to charge publishers for the costs they incur.
Some publishers have responded to this situation by printing
both the EAN-13 and U.P.C. on their books. However, this practice
conflicts with BISG's Policy 0701: Elimination of Dual
Identifiers on Books & Related Products which states that
books contain only one bar code, the EAN-13. This policy has been
endorsed widely in the U.S. book industry and by bodies such as the
U.S. ISBN Agency, GS1 US, the Association of American Publishers (AAP),
the American Bookseller Association (ABA), the Evangelical Christian
Publishers Association (ECPA), PMA, the Independent Book Publishers
Association, the Association for Christian Retail (CBA), and Map
Link.
Other publishers have responded by dual printing or by stickering
over the EAN-13 themselves.
In discussions with some general retailers, the BISG EAN
Transition Task Force has found that some of them are ready to
receive the EAN-13 bar codes on books but have failed to communicate
their barcode policies to all their staff. It is recommended that
wholesalers and publishers actively pursue contacts among general
retailers to ensure that the individual retailer’s bar code
requirements are being communicated reliably to all relevant staff.
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