New GS1 Guideline Helps Grocers Share Product Info

GS1 US, headquartered in Lawrenceville, N.J., has launched a new guideline to help grocers best share details and descriptions of products, allowing for trading partners to better keep pace with sharing of product information and transparency.

“GS1 US Guidance for Sharing Product Attributes via GDSN in Retail Grocery” was developed by a group of retailers, manufacturers distributors and solution providers working collectively as the GS1 US Retail Grocery Initiative Product Information and Images Workgroup.

The document supplements the GDSN Retail Grocery Attribute Interactive Spreadsheet Tool, which provides exact product attribute definitions and classifications for GDSN users. The guideline offers more specific guidance to help increase consistency and ease of implementation of the tool by explaining GDSN terminology and providing real-world examples of its use. Major topics in the guideline include technical GDSN terminology such as element naming and code lists, hierarchy information, units of measurement, attribute pairing and more.

"The guideline provides a roadmap for using GS1 Standards to convey detailed product information. Industry leaders rely on GDSN to exchange crucial information ranging from trading partner details to consumer facing attributes," said Angela Fernandez, VP of retail grocery and foodservice, GS1 US. "By leveraging GDSN as one source of the truth, they can more effectively fuel the online product listings and seamless ecommerce experiences that consumers have come to expect."