GS1

In 1969, the retail industry in the United States was searching for a way to speed up the check-out process in shops. The Ad Hoc Committee for a Uniform Grocery Product Identification Code was established to find a solution.

In 1973, the Universal Product Code (UPC) was selected by this group as the first single standard for unique product identification. In 1974, the Uniform Code Council (UCC) was founded to administer the standard. On 26 June 1974, a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum became the first ever product with a barcode to be scanned in a shop.

In 1976, the original 12-digit code was expanded to 13 digits, which allowed the identification system to be used outside the U.S. In 1977, the European Article Numbering Association (EAN) was established in Brussels, with founding members from 12 countries.

In 1990, EAN and UCC signed a global cooperation agreement and expanded their overall presence to 45 countries. In 1999, EAN and UCC launched the Auto-ID Centre to develop Electronic Product Code (EPC), enabling GS1 standards to be used for RFID.

In 2004, EAN and UCC launched the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN), a global, internet-based initiative that enables trading partners to efficiently exchange product master data.

By 2005, the organisation was present in over 90 countries, and it started to use the name GS1 on a worldwide basis. Whilst "GS1" is not an acronym, it refers to the organisation offering one global system of standards.

In August 2018, the GS1 Web URI Structure Standard was ratified, allowing unique ID's to be added to products by storing a URI (a webpage-like address) as a QR code.

Retail was the first industry that GS1 began working with and has remained their primary focus. Today, GS1 operates in four retail sub-sectors on a global level: Apparel, Fresh Foods, CPG and General Merchandise.

Key focus areas in retail include sustainability, data quality, compliance with regulatory requirements, traceability of products from their origin through delivery, and upstream integration between manufacturers and suppliers.

As consumers are recurring to e-commerce more often throughout the years, GS1 has developed standards that uniquely identify products for the benefit of consumers and for search engines, providing accurate and complete product information digitally.

Major e-commerce companies such as eBay, Amazon and Google Shopping require companies to use a GS1 GTIN to sell on their websites.