Getting more information from a barcode
Barcode database sites or apps crawl the internet for information related to a barcode number. The information found is generally the company name and/or contact details and relevant product information. Some results will show where you can purchase a product.
Barcodes themselves do not contain information. Barcodes, or as they are increasingly being referred to as GTIN (Global Trade Item Number), are globally unique numbers. Each product variation has its own barcode number. The same number is never used twice. Retailers scan or enter the number into their database. Then they add product information such as product name, price and stock level. When a customer brings the barcode through the checkout, the checkout database retrieves that information.
You can look up any EAN or UPC barcode on various sites or apps (such as International Barcodes Database, IBNREG, or using smartphone apps). If you own a barcode number and no results are found when you run a search, you can have your barcode registered to ensure your information is displayed when searched.
IBNREG Search Function
You can also use the IBNREG search function on our site here.