Alibaba Group recommends GS1 standards

Alibaba Group is the world’s largest online and mobile trading market, which runs various online and mobile platforms, covering Retail, Wholesale and Cloud Computing. There are 423 million active buyers on China’s retail platform of Alibaba Group. Alibaba looks to expand and create more value for merchants and consumers with global brand owners.
Alibaba Group, GS1 and GS1 China have announced that they will work together to standardise product information for the benefit of all supply chain participants, including consumers. Brand owners are now invited by Alibaba to adopt GS1 standards for product information management and use the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) for uniquely identifying their products in global eCommerce.
All Alibaba users are encouraged to join the Global Data Synchronisation Network (GDSN) for online exchange of product information. This means that Alibaba will now be able to receive product and pricing data from brand owners and suppliers via the National Product Catalogue.
Chief executive officer of GS1 Australia Maria Palazzolo said this major development in global eCommerce will not only help brand owners to manage their supply chain more efficiently, it will also help to provide the standard information that complies with the laws and regulations.
“Consumers today demand transparency in their online transactions. Investing in the GDSN and GS1 standards will provide accurate and complete product information up and down the supply chain. The GDSN will also provide consumers with access to authentic and rich product content, which helps brand integrity and improves the consumer experience in today’s global eCommerce industry.”
All eCommerce trading platforms of Alibaba Group will actively expand the application scenarios of the GS1 standards and use the GTIN as the product identifier. This will be provided to brand owners in key links including product exhibition, information presentation, quality verification and shopping experience.
To promote the standardisation of product information, Alibaba Group plans to carry out the GDSN project in stages. In stage 1, brand owners in the categories of Health Food, Maternal and Child, Beauty and Make-up, Personal Care will be invited to join the project. Alibaba Group will identify the products with GTIN to obtain the product information of the international brand owners, and thereafter, by leveraging GTIN, populate all pre-packaged categories.
GS1, GS1 China and Alibaba Group together invite enterprises to join the project, and by usage of GS1 standards, help enterprises provide consumers with high quality product information and manufacturer/brand information verification, enhance the brand image and its international influence.