What is the product GTIN code for?

GTIN code must be provided for all products that are in new condition and whose GTIN code has already been assigned by the manufacturer. However, as of September 30, 2019, products for which the mandatory GTIN has not been specified will no longer be disapproved. Their distribution will simply be limited compared to similar products for which the GTIN has been provided by the merchant. In order to optimize the performance of your items we recommend that you always provide the GTIN when it is mandatory. To know more on the update about unique product identifiers enforcement, click here.

If you have some doubts and you want to check whether in your area you must provide GTIN codes click here.

In PrestaShop, GTIN code is represented either by the EAN13/JAN code (for European or Japanese products) or by the UPC code (for US products).

When a GTIN code has been assigned, you can find it on your product's packaging or book cover, under the barcode. If you can't find the GTIN, you can always contact the product's manufacturer to ask for it. For more tips to find a GTIN code click here.

Be careful: your code must be made up of 13 characters (if it's an EAN-13 code), 8 characters (if it's a JAN code) or 12 characters (if it's an UPC code). If the characters number is different from these three last values, and if the GTIN code is mandatory for your area, Google may block your account because the GTIN will not be recognized.

To check that your GTIN codes are correct, click here and go to the "Make sure your GTIN is correct" part.

Note that if they are required in your area but you have not retreived all of them from your manufacturer yet, you can start sending to Google Shopping only the items for which you have the code. To know how to do it, go to the third part of this FAQ.

However, some products, by their nature, can't have GTIN code (e.g handmade goods, antique products, etc...). Do not submit GTIN code for a product that doesn't have one. If, for example, you sell handmade goods, they don't have GTIN codes. Then you don't need to submit ones.

To view the (non-exhaustive) list of products that may not have GTIN code click here and go to the "Products without a GTIN" part.

If you don't provide GTIN code and that this is not mandatory by the nature of your products, Google will send you a warning message about "unique product identifiers" but this will not block the diffusion of your products on Google Shopping, provided that:

• you make sure the GTIN codes aren't mandatory for your area
• you provide, instead of GTIN codes, the supplier references (MPN) AND the product brands

Please note that if you only have the brand of your products, our module will send, in addition to the brand, an "identifier_exists=false" tag in order to tell Google that your products only have brand and to make their identification easier. Similarly, if you only have supplier references (MPN codes), the module will send, in addition to MPN codes, the "identifier_exists=false" tag to make your products easier to review.
However you must ensure you that, by their nature, you can't retreive your product supplier reference (MPN code) or brand. Indeed, if the tag "identifier_exists=false" is sent when it is proven that you could have provided the MPN code or brand because they exist, your products will be refused by Google.

To know more about the "identifier_exists" tag and its use, click here.

It all depends of the export method choosen for product combinations.

• If you want to export each product combination as a product in its own right (i.e if a product has 5 combinations, 5 products will be exported), you have to enter a GTIN code for each combination:

Example for a PrestaShop 1.6 version:

• If you want to export all combinations of a product in a single product (i.e if a product has 5 combinations, only 1 product will be exported), it's enough that you enter a GTIN code in the main GTIN field of the product file:

Example of a PrestaShop 1.6 version:

Important note:

If you filled GTIN code for each product combination and you don't enter anything in main GTIN fields, if you want to export all combinations of a product in a single product (i.e 5 combinations=1 product) the module will not know which GTIN code to take. In this case, you have to fill out the main GTIN field of each product with its default combination GTIN code.

If GTIN codes are mandatory in your area, but you have not retreived all of them yet, you can start sending to Google Shopping the items that already have code. Indeed, the module allows you to temporarily decide not to export products that don't have GTIN code, until you are able to get all your product codes.

• Go to the module "Product exclusion rules" tab of the "Feed management" section
• Select "YES" for the "Do you want to NOT export products without EAN13/JAN or UPC ?" option

By selecting "YES", only products with GTIN code will be exported.