Adding barcodes to your products for Shopify Fulfillment Network

Note

This guide is for merchants who started using the Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN) before January 30, 2024. The Shopify Fulfillment Network app has been rebuilt to offer fulfillment solutions in partnership with Flexport. If you use the new SFN app, then refer to the new SFN guide.

A barcode is a machine-readable pattern that's used internationally to store and locate product information. Barcodes contain a series of numbers that can vary in length depending on the type of product. For Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN) to fulfill your orders, the barcodes on your products must be Industry Standard Barcodes. If you have added barcodes to your Shopify admin, make sure you also add them to the SFN app.

Although SKUs and barcodes might seem identical, they have different functions. SKUs are used by retailers to identify and track inventory or stock. Barcodes are used to generate scannable patterns to facilitate fulfillment. Preparing both SKUs and barcodes for your products enables SFN fulfillment centers to quickly fulfill your orders by automating the picking, packing, and shipping of your orders as soon as they are received.

Verify that each product variant has a unique barcode. You can’t use the same barcode for different variants.

You need to enter each product's barcode in your SFN app. SFN currently supports up to 5 barcodes per SKU. If your products don't have barcodes, then SFN automatically assigns a barcode to them when adding products to SFN. An example of when to add an additional barcode would be in the case that your existing barcode is already in use by another merchant using SFN services.

Your product barcodes for Shopify Fulfillment Network need to be an Industry Standard Barcode with a GTIN, this includes UPC, EAN, or ISBN. Learn more about SFN requirements for barcode labels. If you need to obtain a GTIN, then you can use one of the following options:

• Request the GTIN from your manufacturer.
• Buy the GTIN with GS1 standards.

Having correct barcodes is important when you ship your products to SFN. Make sure that the barcode in the SFN app matches the physical barcode that's attached to the product.

Learn more about devices for printing barcode labels.