GS1 India: A Standards Organisation

In order to survive in today’s competitive market, manufacturers and brand owners have now become conscious to share not just accurate and reliable product information but also consistent and seamless information with their trading partners and consumers to build trust and enhance their confidence. Labelling a product with all the required information, from across departments including marketing, packaging details, legalities, accurate images, quality, regulatory, etc., is challenging for brand owners. Mostly, the process of collating and updating product information requires collection of data from emails, messages, several excel spreadsheets, resulting in data discrepancies, solving which is a tedious and time-consuming process. Moreover, despite all these efforts, this often results in inaccurate and incomplete product information, resulting in generation of wrong purchase orders by buyers and thereby delaying the product from reaching on shelves in time, leading to fill rates and...

E-commerce has transformed the traditional way of retailing with an increasing number of consumers accepting it as the new normal. It has opened doors of opportunities for small and medium product manufacturers by enabling them to reach out to their customers to sell products and services at competitive prices. E-commerce also enables them to expand their product’s market reach. To take full advantage of this opportunity, SME manufacturers need to make sure that their products get recognized and become visible in the online marketplaces. And the best way to do this is to label them with globally recognized identification standards. GS1 identification standards are used to uniquely and unambiguously identify everything as a supply chain, including all products (trade items), logistics units, locations, entities, etc. GS1 is best recognised for its barcode standard, which is scanned over 6 billion times each day — from scanning groceries, or buying products online, to locating e...

In today’s competitive market where brands are working tirelessly to make their products or services available to their targeted consumers, mobile applications have fundamentally changed the digital landscape worldwide. Millennials in this 21st century are moving at the full pace to catch up with emerging technology in order to stay up-to-date with all things that are occurring around them. Mobile applications in today’s time have become the most customizable weapon that engages and attracts consumers. Mobile applications have become a revolution that is ruling a digital world and making brands more visible to consumers and the market as a whole. Around the world, mostly all the brands are now launching their mobile applications so that they can digitally connect with consumers, know their preferences and try to make amends in their products according to their feedback so that they can make informed purchasing decisions for themselves. One such mobile application is launched by GS1...

Smart Consumer mobile app empowers consumers to access detailed product information in the digital format by scanning barcodes, starting with 890, on the product label. This is especially helpful in case label information is not legible due to small font size or damage on the label. The app provided digital product information in product’s name, date of manufacture, MRP, net content, manufacturer details and consumer care details, etc. Also, the app helps brand owners to share products’ additional features and information which is not printed or inaccessible on product description like ingredients, consistency, life, calories, recipes and much more. Additionally, Smart Consumer mobile apps enable consumers to verify information on product licenses, including the license number and its validity date, such as FSSAI, ISI and BEE. All this is aimed at empowering consumers to make informed purchases and consumption decisions.  The application further enables consumers to s...

Product traceability is becoming an essential business prerequisite in today’s world, largely because customers are becoming more mindful of the goods they purchase and use, and would want to verify items, besides tracing its origin. This information is critical for consumers to make informed purchase decisions and has helped them shift loyalties from one company to another that can build and maintain a sense of trust and transparency. So let’s understand what exactly a traceability system for businesses is and how an effective traceability solution works. Traceability refers to the organization’s ability to identify, track and trace various elements of a product/consignment as it moves along the supply chain from raw goods to finished products. Effective traceability solution provides end-to-end visibility in the whole supply chain process. To fulfill the requirements of today’s business and ensure what is lying where at all times, GS1 India introduced a traceability solut...

Did you know that the products you are consuming could have an expired FSSAI license or ISI mark and could yet be using their quality mark on the product labelling? Moreover, at times, the product information printed on its label is not legible? The bigger question is how to access authentic and complete information on products in legible form? The answer lies in the scanning of product barcodes. Yes, those black and white parallel lines printed on the label that we most often ignore. Every barcode has a unique 13-digit code encoded in it, known as GTINs. These are based on global GS1 standards , which are used by manufacturers across the globe to identify their trade objects (products) uniquely. This number is often linked to the reliable, accurate and complete product details. This is why barcodes are scanned at billing counters in shops to fetch its price and other related information, while recording a purchase. To help brand owners share accurate, reliable and complete informati...

In retailing, accurate product information is important for several retail processes, related to merchandising, purchasing, shipping, record taking, planograming, FIFO & expiry control, stock tracking, customer marketing, etc. In many instances, retailers/retailers struggle to get trusted product information which is consistent & accurate. Several instances of incomplete information or wrong depiction of products resulting in loss of consumer confidence. Brand owners/manufacturers share data with multiple retailers, vendors, partners and distributors in their different/proprietary data masters which are tailored to their needs. In the process of presenting information multiple times in multiple buyer formats, a lot of data discrepancy occurs resulting in the passing of inaccurate and inconsistent product information. In 2014, when GS1 India presented the idea of building a GTIN management module to Indian retail industry, the industry members collaborated with GS1 Ind...