In Belgium and Luxembourg, the e-commerce market was worth nearly €17,4 billion in 2024. With 96% of Belgians having already bought online, it would be unthinkable today not to seize this business opportunity. Whether via your own webshop or via one of the many marketplaces out there, such as Bol.com, Amazon, Google, Veepee, etc., what are you waiting for?
No stress, GS1 is here to help you!
The first thing you need are GTIN/EAN codes, also known as Global Trade Item Numbers (formerly European Article Numbers). These codes give your products a unique identification; it’s like your product’s identity card.
With My Product Manager, you have the solution to easily create your product and barcodes!
1. DEFINE how many product codes you need
Before creating a barcode, you first need to determine how many product codes (GTIN/EAN) you will need. Be sure to think long term about this, as your range can always be expanded.
Check here how you determine how many codes you need When do I have to create a GTIN?
2. REGISTER on My GS1
As soon as you have determined how many product codes you will need, you can take out an annual subscription to a code package. Indicate how many codes you need and fill in the necessary company information. We will then provide your unique company prefix that is required for all GS1 codes! Your product codes will always start with this company prefix.
GS1, your online sales partner!
It all starts with the unique identification of your products with a GTIN/EAN code. That’s all it takes to sell online! But GS1 can also help you to exchange data and images in a standardised way with your trading partners. So what standards should be used?
GS1 recognised as a global partner for marketplaces
GS1 is recognised as a partner worldwide for the unique identification of products in the following marketplaces or by e-commerce specialists in Belgium such as:
There are companies that sell individual barcodes or GTINs (or EAN codes). This may seem like a good deal, but only GS1 can offer you all the benefits of official product codes. GS1 is also the one and only issuer of standardised GTINs and barcodes worldwide, so you can sell your products anywhere you want. If you use unofficial barcodes, and this causes problems later on (e.g. because it turns out that the code is not unique), GS1 won’t be able to help you.
So beware of "pirate" barcode resellers!
