Free in-store barcodes for your Shopify products
Handmade goods, private label, bundles, second-hand items: many products have no barcode. To scan them at Shopify POS you need one. Often you don't have to buy it.
In-store codes vs. GS1 codes
| In-store codes | GS1 codes | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Yearly GS1 membership |
| Scan at your own POS | Yes | Yes |
| Sell on Amazon, Google Shopping, retail chains | No | Yes |
| Unique worldwide | No, only inside your store | Yes |
GS1, the organisation behind barcodes, reserves EAN-13 codes starting with 200 to 299 for use inside a single company. Scanners read them like any other code, and they can never collide with a real product from a brand. If your products are only sold in your shop and on your Shopify store, in-store codes are all you need.
Rules that avoid headaches
- One code per variant, not per product: a T-shirt in 3 sizes and 2 colors needs 6 codes.
- Never reuse a code, even for a deleted product: old labels may still be on the shelf.
- Keep the check digit right. The last digit of an EAN-13 is calculated from the others; a wrong one makes the code unscannable. Don't invent codes by hand.
- Prefer EAN-13 or UPC-A over Code 128 if you might ever print very small labels: they stay readable at smaller widths.
Generate them in one click
Tagwise lists every variant without a barcode, creates unique in-store EAN-13 (or UPC-A) codes with the right check digit, checks them against every barcode already in your store, and writes them to Shopify only after you confirm. Then print the labels straight away.
Install Tagwise free