Protect Your Identity
You can no longer identify your products with an expired GS1 Company Prefix. Maintaining your GS1 Company Prefix now allows you to sell new products, or sell your existing products to any retailer in the future, without the extra expense of getting a new GS1 Company Prefix.
If your products have already been assigned a GTIN, you need to maintain your GS1 Company Prefix – even if you’re not creating any additional products.To continue using these unique numbers on your current products, your prefix must remain up-to-date. Use of the prefix after its expiration is in strict violation of your license agreement with GS1 US. Maintaining your prefix now allows you to continue using your product identification.
Increase your channels to market
More and more online retailers are requiring unique product identification. And, if you decide to sell your products in physical stores, you’ll need to barcode those products. The same identifier (called the GTIN® or Global Trade Item Number®) is used to identify products whether they are sold in a physical store or online. Both stem from the GS1 Company Prefix.
Be Visible
Did you know that many retailers are requiring that barcodes link back to the brand owner of the product? While the U.P.C.s you can obtain through other sources may scan, the numbers contained in them will not identify your company as the brand owner. Only barcodes created with your unique GS1 Company Prefix will reflect your company as the brand owner in the global GS1 Database.
Sell More
Did you know that you can create higher level packaging for your products with your GS1 Company prefix at no extra charge? Cartons, cases, and pallets need to be identified separately from your U.P.C. code. In order to continue to ship in large quantities, you’ll need to maintain your company prefix.
At GS1 US, our members have exclusive access to GS1 US Data Hub® | Product, the tool that leverages GS1 Standards to generate GTINs with accurate product information every time. More than 17,000 GTINs are created in Data Hub every day. Keeping your products in the Data Hub tool will also give you exposure to potential customers. To retain access to Data Hub, you’ll need to renew your GS1 Company Prefix.
GS1 US has education and training courses available to help you better understand how to leverage your GS1 Company Prefix. Increasing your knowledge about GS1 Standards can provide your business with powerful capabilities to improve efficiency and set a strong foundation to grow your business. Use these GS1 US educational and training resources to help you.
