FeedwatchInstall on Shopify

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My Shopify variant has several barcodes. Which one does Google get?

Short answer

The first one. Since September 2026 a Shopify variant can hold up to 20 barcodes, and Shopify says its sales channels and feeds keep reading the first. So the first position has to hold the GTIN of the single item a shopper buys: the UPC, EAN or ISBN printed on that item. If a case code, an ASIN or an internal number sits in first place, that is what goes to Google as the product's GTIN.

What changed

On 8 September 2026 Shopify added multiple barcodes per variant. A variant can hold up to 20, and each can have a type: UPC, EAN, ISBN, GTIN, ASIN or Custom. You add them on the variant's page in the admin, in the bulk editor, or through the Variant Barcodes column of the product CSV.

Nothing moves on its own. The barcode a variant already had stays in first place. If you never add a second barcode, nothing changes for you.

Why the order matters for Google

Shopify says the first barcode is still the one used wherever a single barcode is expected. Channels, labels, feeds and apps that have not been updated read only that one. They get no signal that others exist.

Google expects the GTIN of the product being sold. A GTIN is 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits. An ASIN is Amazon's own code, not a GTIN. A code printed on a carton identifies the carton, not the item inside it. Either one in first place means Google gets a value that is wrong for the product, and a wrong GTIN is worse than none: it can get the product disapproved.

How to check your store

  1. Open a product that has more than one barcode and open one of its variants.
  2. Look at the first barcode in the list. It should be the UPC, EAN or ISBN printed on the single item.
  3. If something else is first, fix the order. The admin has no way to reorder barcodes: remove the ones above the item's own barcode, then add them back with Add barcode, which puts them at the end.
  4. After a bulk edit or a CSV import that touched barcodes, open a few variants and check the first position again.
  5. The Google & YouTube channel sends the change on its next sync. Merchant Center re-checks the product within a few days.

Apps and feed tools

An app that builds your Google feed, prints labels or syncs to a marketplace may still read the single barcode field. It will keep working and will keep sending the first barcode. Ask the app's maker whether it reads all of a variant's barcodes or only the first, before you rely on the extra ones.

Questions

Each of my variants has one barcode. Do I need to do anything?

No. Shopify keeps the existing barcode in first place, and channels keep reading it.

Can the item's barcode and the carton's barcode live on the same variant?

Yes, a variant holds up to 20. Keep the item's barcode first. Shopify POS can find the variant by scanning any of them.

Should I add the ASIN as a barcode?

You can, with the ASIN type, as long as it is not first. An ASIN is not a GTIN, and the first barcode is the one Google receives.

Related guides

Sources

Last reviewed 2 October 2026