Barcoding Variable Measure Trade Items
What is a Variable Measure Trade Item?
Variable Measure Trade Item is an item which is priced, ordered or invoiced in quantities which can vary, such as fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, rope, chain, fabric, carpets on a roll, etc. For Variable Measure Trade Items the quantity of the given unit must be included in the barcode to be read at the checkout. The encoding and marking of such products differs whether it is intended for retail or wholesale.
Download a short guide with information about barcoding variable trade items as a producer or supplier.
Variable measure trade items for retail
A variable measure item when scanned at the point of sale must include in the barcode its weight, so to calculate the price per kilo of the specific item. Examples of such products are a tray of chicken fillets, a piece of cheese, a net of oranges, a bream in a disk.
Given the fact that barcodes are used on packaged products in retail, they cannot depict information about the weight, therefore a special structure of the GTIN-13 is used only as a national solution.
The prefix for variable measure products issued to a business by GS1 Association Greece consists of 5 digits, that remain invariable, beginning with the digits 25 or 26 or 27 or 28 or 29.
Responsible for the encoding of variable measure products, going into retail, is usually the producer or supplier of the product.
If you are a producer/supplier and want to distribute variable measure items, apply for your variable measure prefix. In continuance you must contact the supplier of your weighing machine, so he can incorporate in the settings your variable measure company prefix e.g. 27123.
Symbol
At points of sale the symbol used is the EAN-13. For printing, a weighing machine with the feature of barcode printing is required or the combined use of a weighing machine and a barcode printer.
Exportation of variable measure retail items
The GTINs for barcoding variable measure products are national solutions. Companies that export must adopt the solutions in force in the country of destination. Sent us your request and we will mediate with the corresponding GS1 office for the issuing of your variable measure company prefix, you will receive all related specifications. There is no additional cost for the procedure.
The need for more product information at the point of sale leaded to the creation of the GS1 Databar, where with the use of Application Identifiers more data is revealed towards the retailer and consumer e.g. weight, expiration date, lot number, country of origin. The symbology is expected to be widely applicable in the next years, for the moment the application in our country is limited due to the need for changes in POS information systems.
Non-retail Variable Measure Items
The GTIN-14 Identification Number with the indicator "9" is used to identify such variable measure trade items. To complete the identification of a trade item the presence of the specific measure of the item is mandatory. Information about the weight is additional data, that is included on the label/etiquette.
Symbol
The GS1-128 symbol is used for the labelling of non-retail packages, it can include both weight and code information on the same symbol as well as additional data e.g. lot number, expiration date etc. Presently many retail chains require from their suppliers the use of GS1-128 for the improvement of managing their products during delivery and storage
Πρόκειται να εξάγετε ζυγιζόμενα προϊόντα χονδρικής πώλησης στο εξωτερικό;
Exportation of non-retail variable measure items.
Η συγκεκριμένηThis solution for non-retail variable measure items is suitable and accepted globally and does not differ depending on the destination country of the products.
Example for Retail Units
Example for Non-retail Units
6kg and 245gr
