GTIN/UPC/EAN/ISBN field for FluentCart
Hi
We're currently migrating several clients sites from WooCommerce to FluentCart, and we have SKU and EAN codes for every single product variation. We noticed that while FluentCart has a SKU field per variation, there's no dedicated GTIN/UPC/EAN/ISBN field (WooCommerce has had this for years, right next to the SKU field in each variation).
This field is essential for us, and for most e-commerce stores, for several reasons:
- Google Shopping / Merchant Center – GTIN is required for most product categories in Shopping feeds; without it, listings get rejected or deprioritized.
- Marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Cdiscount, etc.) – nearly all require a valid GTIN/EAN to list a product.
- Price comparison engines (Idealo, etc.) – use GTIN to match products across sellers.
- Ad platforms (Meta, TikTok Shop, Pinterest) – increasingly rely on GTIN for product feed validation and enrichment.
- Universal product identification – unlike SKU (internal/seller-specific), GTIN uniquely identifies the physical item across systems, avoiding duplicates and mismatches.
- Logistics/physical barcodes – EAN is typically the barcode printed on the product itself, needed for warehouse and supplier syncing.
This is a pretty standard e-commerce field, and its absence is currently a blocker for properly migrating and exporting our catalog.
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About GTIN and how it should be placed in FluentCart
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To be very clear GTIN is the international name for the code used to identify a product (Global Trade Item Number). Depending on the country, it may be referred to differently but GTIN is the standard name: GTIN = UPC = EAN = ISBN, etc.
So GTIN is a unique code for each product variant
This code is used to identify products across Google Shopping, Merchant center, price comparison websites, advertising platforms, shipping systems, and many other services.
It is essential to be able to assign one GTIN code to each variation of a product.
Otherwise it is impossible to use all those essential services for an Ecommerce site
This is an international standard used across ecommerce websites.
For example, in WooCommerce, as shown in the first screenshot attached, each product variation has 2 different codes: SKU, which is an internal inventory/tracking code. (so for an internal use) GTIN, which is the unique product identifier for each specific variation.
As you can see in the second screenshot attached, FluentCart would therefore need an additional GTIN field directly below the SKU field when editing each product variation.
Thanks for the great work on FluentCart otherwise 👍
Nicolas
Shahjahan Jewel Sarkar Ripon thanks for your help on this
This is a feature we are currently working on for our addon we are about to launch. We are currently moving our books store away from Shopify and need some for these exact features so I’m building it for my fluentcart store. Here is where it will be available when it’s live soon. https://upfluent.io/meta-fields/
Aaron Smith awesome, but it should be a core function.
Aaron Smith Thanks for your plugin but as Sander said this GTIN field has to be in the core Shahjahan Jewel
Sander W. agreed but until then it will be available in the free version of the plugin. Hope it helps while we wait.
Aaron Smith respect for building this and putting it out there.
That said, in my opinion these meta fields belong fully in the core, most SaaS and open source platforms already have this out of the box. And I expect the devs will implement this in the core as well, knowing their vision and motivations for FluentCart.
Which raises the real question: once it does become core, how do you handle it for your customers already using your plugin? Migrate the data, or disable the core field?
Sander W. Thanks Sander, appreciate that. I agree some of this may land in core someday, and the plugin is built for that day.
Your fields are stored as plain WordPress post meta on the product: the field ID is the meta key, with nothing proprietary around it. GTIN, MPN and brand are also stored as meta, per variation. There's no lock-in, and the data is readable by anything, core included.
If/when FluentCart ships native custom fields or GTIN, the plan is:
- Migrate, not disable. A one-click tool copies your values into the core fields, variation by variation for GTINs.
- No double output. Once core provides a field, the plugin stops adding its own product schema for it, so Google never sees two GTINs.
- Nothing breaks on the storefront. Existing shortcodes keep working and read from core, so you don't have to rebuild templates.
- The plugin gets smaller. It keeps doing whatever core doesn't: checkout fields, file uploads, repeaters, importers.
If core covers everything you use, you migrate and uninstall, and your data goes with you.
Sander W. Jorge de los Reyes Aaron Smith Shahjahan Jewel I've updated my post and attached screenshots to show how it should be implemented in FluentCart.
i saw you "liked" my post above, does that mean this will be implemented in FluentCart that way soon ?
thanks 👍
How does this look
Hey guys, I just launched the free version of my custom meta fields plugin. The GTIN fields are in the free version. Please let me know what you think. Or if there are any issues. https://upfluent.io/fluentcart-custom-meta-fields/