Clear, straightforward answers to the most common questions about purchasing, printing, and using retail barcodes in Hong Kong and internationally.
The primary barcode format used for retail products in Hong Kong is the EAN-13 (European Article Number), a 13-digit Global Trade Item Number (GTIN-13).
12-digit UPC-A barcodes are also accepted across Hong Kong supermarkets, department stores, and POS systems. Books and printed publications require ISBN barcodes, while shipping cases use ITF-14 carton codes.
No, the first three digits of a barcode do not indicate where a product was manufactured.
The prefix 489 indicates that the barcode prefix was originally allocated by GS1 Hong Kong, but the physical product can be manufactured anywhere in the world. A barcode without a 489 prefix works identically in Hong Kong retail stores as long as the GTIN is globally unique.
No, barcodes are not legally mandated by the Hong Kong SAR government.
However, barcodes are a mandatory commercial requirement set by physical retailers (such as PARKnSHOP, Wellcome, and Citysuper) and e-commerce platforms (such as HKTVmall and Amazon) for stock management, inventory tracking, and point-of-sale scanning.
An EAN-13 barcode contains 13 digits and is the standard retail barcode used globally, including Hong Kong, Europe, Asia, and Australasia. A UPC-A barcode contains 12 digits and is primarily used in the United States and Canada.
Both formats belong to the GS1 GTIN system, and modern barcode scanners in Hong Kong can read both EAN-13 and UPC-A formats seamlessly.
To list products on HKTVmall, sellers must assign a unique GTIN (EAN-13) to each product variation (size, colour, flavour).
During the merchant onboarding process, you enter the barcode number into the HKTVmall merchant portal alongside your product title, brand name, and stock details. HKTVmall uses this number to map your listings and prevent duplicate entries.
Yes, every unique product variation requires its own separate barcode number.
If you sell a product in three different colours and three different sizes, you will need 9 barcodes. This ensures the store’s inventory system can accurately track stock levels and register the correct price at checkout.
No, a standard retail barcode image only encodes the 12 or 13-digit sequence of numbers.
No product names, prices, or manufacturer details are stored inside the barcode bars. When scanned at checkout, the store’s point-of-sale (POS) software looks up the number in the retailer’s internal database to fetch the associated title and price.
Whether a barcode expires depends on where you obtain it.
The nominal 100% standard size for an EAN-13 barcode is 37.29 mm wide by 25.93 mm high.
Retailers accept scaled barcode sizes within an allowable magnification range of 80% to 200% (minimum width ~29.8 mm). You must maintain a clean “Quiet Zone” (white margin) on both sides of the vertical lines to ensure scanner readability.
Yes, barcodes can be printed in colors other than black, provided there is high contrast between the bars and the background.
Use our FREE barcode colour checker to test your packaging design.