What is an EAN?
EAN stands for European Article Number and is a standard format for describing a barcode symbology and a numbering system. The term is used in global trading to identify a type of product or, more specifically, to identify a product from a certain manufacturer. In addition to searching for global products, the EAN number can also be used for other functions, such as ordering and accounting. There are two versions of the EAN. One is the EAN-13 that has 13 digits. It is a superset of the original 12-digit Universal Product Code (UPC-A). For smaller packages with not much space on the package the 8-digit EAN-8 was introduced.