Where are barcodes accepted?

What restrictions do retailers place on barcodes??

These are common and important questions about the use of barcodes.

Broadly speaking, there are three main groups of retailers, as outlined below –

1. One small group of retailers effectively require you to be a member of GS1 (& hence pay GS1’s joining fees and annual fees).
2. Another larger group of retailers require barcode verification reports – we can supply these for you if needed – we are the only barcode reseller (that we know of) who can provide these for you.
3. The majority of retailers worldwide will accept any legal and legitimate barcode.

NOTE – While this list is as comprehensive as possible, there are thousands of stores in Singapore and millions of stores worldwide. Hence we cannot be certain of all of the restrictions on barcode use worldwide. Please check with your retailer(s) before buying barcodes, or contact us if you have any questions.

NOTE – we often get customers saying, “I want to sell my product to XYZ, e.g. Walmart”, – yet when they realise that barcodes for this will cost them hundreds of dollars more each year, they often decide to purchase our barcodes and accept that if they ever receive an order from XYZ, it will be wonderful. Hopefully, large, and they will happily get a barcode from GS1 then.

Barcode Restrictions Retail Category (see details below)	Specific Retailers (see details below)	Barcodes Ltd (that’s us).	Other Barcode Resellers	GS1
The places that FORCE you to become a member of GS1 (very expensive)	Australia Super Retail Group (Amart Sports, BCF Boating Camping Fishing, Goldcross Cycles, FCO Fishing Camping Outdoors, Ray’s Outdoors, Rebel, Supercheap Auto and Super Retail Commercial) – requires their suppliers to prove that they are a current member of GS1 – hence they will effectively only accept barcode numbers that have come directly from GS1. USA Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club, Kroger/Fred Meyers, Macy’s/Bloomingdales, & J.C. Penney’s in the USA apparently require you to be a current member of GS1 – you should check with these stores directly if you intend to sell to them NZ Foodstuffs, There are products using our barcodes in Foodstuffs NZ stores – however Foodstuffs NZ has been changing their requirements, so we advise that you contact Foodstuffs NI & SI and check their requirements before purchasing barcodes. Many of our customers hope to get their products into major retail chains, but realise that they have a low chance of success and also it may take many years, so they start with our barcodes realising they MIGHT need to switch to GS1 barcodes if they somehow manage to get an order from a large retail chain – and that order should be large enough to justify the additional expense of GS1’s costly joining fee and annual fees. Super Retail Group, which runs the Supercheap Auto stores in NZ, requires their suppliers to prove that they are a current member of GS1 – hence they will effectively only accept barcode numbers that have come directly from GS1. NOTE that Super Retail group also owns Rebel Sports in NZ – but we have customers using our barcodes on products within Rebel Sports NZ, so it doesn’t appear that there is any restriction. The only known restriction is Supercheap Autos in NZ. China Some distributors mistakenly believe that the barcode shows the country of origin of the product. Hence, they prefer or require barcodes that come directly from GS1.
Our Barcodes Work Here These companies accept our barcodes – but often require Barcode Verification Reports &/or GLN numbers (which we can supply)	UK ASDA – All ITF-14 Barcodes must pass ISO/IEC Barcode Verification Reports. Any printed stickers must achieve a minimum ‘C’ grade Tesco – Require GLNs (Global Location Numbers) for their suppliers Homebase – Require GLNs (Global Location Numbers) for their suppliers Ireland Musgraves – Require barcodes from us to be listed on their buyer form as UPC and entered without the leading ‘0’. If this is done, they have no problem with our barcodes. SuperValu – Is part of the Musgrave group – see note about Musgraves above. SuperValu appear to be starting to request barcodes that are ‘authorised’ by GS1, or for a GLN (Global Location Number) that has been issued directly by GS1. This might be part of their implementation of an EDI system. However, SuperValu are part of the Musgrave Group, and Musgraves have informed our customers that they will accept our barcodes (entered as UPC without leading 0). A customer recently contacted SuperValu to ask about barcoding requirements, but could get no definitive answer from them. Due to the connection with Musgraves, SuperValu should accept our barcodes. Australia Coles suppliers are required to “submit the Bar Code Verification Report” – see here ie require Barcode Verification Reports Metcash – require Barcode Verification Reports (for each level of packaging, i.e. retail unit, Inner and Outer) Myers – require Barcode Verification Reports IGA (some stores) – some stores require Barcode Verification Reports Bunnings Australia – require all new lines to have a ‘Barcode Testing Report’ ie a Barcode Verification Reports, which we can provide. Mitre 10 – require Barcode Verification Reports for products going into their stores. The Good Guys – are implementing an EDI system, so they might require a GLN (Global Location Number) for their suppliers – if so, we can supply them (our customers report that The Good Guys have accepted products with our barcode numbers on them, and using a GLN supplied by us. Woolworths Australia central branches – require all products to have a Barcode Verification Reports. Previously this had to be done by GS1-Australia. However, now Woolworths accepts Barcode Verification Reports undertaken by other companies – we can supply these. You will need to provide the actual verification reports for both the retail products and any cartons (ITF-14 barcodes) being used. Woolworths also say that they “only re-sell products that have GS1-system barcodes” – our barcodes come from the GS1-system. We have customers in Australia using our barcodes on products they supply to Woolworths Australia. NZ Foodstuffs NZ require Barcode Verification Reports, which we can provide, for all products entering their stores Foodstuffs Note – There may be some restrictions on food and drink products going into Foodstuffs. This doesn’t restrict our barcodes entirely, but makes the process more complicated. Please contact us for the latest information. Progressive Enterprises NZ? – require adherence to barcode specifications, and possibly require Barcode Verification Reports Countdown – require Barcode Verification Reports for all retail products and cartons – we can provide these. Bunnings NZ requires Barcode Verification Reports, which we can provide. Placemakers NZ – requires Barcode Verification Reports, which we can provide. Four Square NZ – some Four Square stores are now (from August 2016) requiring Barcode Verification Reports, which we can provide. All other stores including Mitre10, Nosh, Farro, Huckleberry etc etc accept our barcodes.
No specific barcode restrictions	Most retailers in the world.

 

If you have any questions about this, please contact us.

NOTE – we endeavour to make this as accurate as possible – however, tens of thousands of retailers in NZ and Australia and millions worldwide can each impose any restriction they wish. Please let us know if you are aware of any other restrictions.

NOTE – this is the most comprehensive list of restrictions we know of on the internet (please tell us if you find a more accurate one). Other resellers give no warnings or are vague – so don’t trust them. We put a lot of time and effort into making this as accurate as possible – we doubt that you will find a more accurate list of restrictions on the internet (let us know if you do).