Why are GTIN numbers missing in Google Merchant Center?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

Main issue: Google Merchant Center is requesting GTINs (Global Trade Item Numbers) for some products, but those GTINs are now missing in Shopify. The merchant believed Shopify had automatically added them when products were created.

Key clarifications:

  • Shopify staff states Shopify does not generate or provide GTINs. They are typically sourced from suppliers, dropshipping/POD apps, or CSV imports.
  • The merchant confirms no app or CSV import was used; they copied product details from the manufacturer site and saw a barcode/GTIN appear automatically after saving.

Hypothesis discussed:

  • Staff suggests a device/browser clipboard or autofill feature may have populated the GTIN field when text was pasted on the Add product page. Shopify wouldn’t natively auto-populate GTINs.

Current status:

  • No confirmed source of the original GTIN entries; reason for their disappearance remains unclear.
  • No concrete resolution yet; next step is to verify how the GTIN field was populated (e.g., clipboard/autofill or external data source) to restore accurate GTINs where required.
Summarized with AI on January 15. AI used: gpt-5.
1

Merchant center is asking for GTIN Numbers for some products, shopify had added a GTIN number automatically when the product was created and added to the website but now there is no GTIN number on those products.

2

Hi, @harrypsico167

Thanks for posting to the Community!

It sounds like there may be some confusion here, as Shopify doesn’t provide GTIN’s, as we don’t know what GTIN would belong to your product. Did you perhaps import your products from a dropshipping or POD app? Or, did you import your products using a CSV which includes the GTINs?

Thanks in advance!

3

no i did not import the products from a dropshipping app or csv file, What i did was just copy paste from the manufacture website and clicked save once saved the barcode / GTIN number had showed up automatically without my input.

4

Thanks for that context, @harrypsico167

On what page did you paste the text? Some devices have a clipboard setting which will auto input what you have copied in your clipboard to a field, but you still need to action the paste. That could have been what happened here, as Shopify itself wouldn’t natively be able to populate a GTIN automatically.

5

pasted text onto the add product page