Web research
Build products from a barcode Specs and images come back
Scan a barcode with your camera, or give WISEPIM an EAN, UPC, MPN or model number. It runs a cited web search for the product and writes the specs, copy and images it finds into the fields you allow.
- 6 identifier types
- Sources cited per product
- Invalid barcodes skipped for free
Key features
A cited search, not a database
Each product gets one web search that reads the live web and returns the pages it cited, within the sites you allow or block.
You decide what it may write
Results apply automatically by default, only to the fields you switch on and only to empty ones unless you allow overwrites. Switch automatic applying off and the findings wait in the Research tab.
One product or the whole import
Run it on a single SKU while you test, then on a supplier's entire feed; the run works in the background with progress per product.
Six ways in
Not every product arrives with a barcode
Pick the identifier your supplier actually sent. EAN and UPC match most precisely because they are unique worldwide; the other four cover the products that never got one.
EAN
The 13-digit European Article Number. Unique worldwide, which makes it the most precise of the six. If you have it, use it.
UPC
The 12-digit North American barcode. As precise as an EAN, and the one you usually get on catalogs sourced from the US.
Model number
The manufacturer's own model ID. Strong for electronics, appliances and machines, where the model number is what people search for.
SKU
Your internal code. It only works when your SKUs follow an industry convention or match the supplier's own, so it is worth testing on a handful first.
Brand plus product name
A natural-language search for products that never received a barcode, such as own-brand goods and niche assortments.
Brand plus MPN
The manufacturer part number with its brand. This is the pairing that works for spare parts, components and B2B catalogs.
How it runs
From codes to filled-in products
The same four steps whether you are testing one product or working through a supplier's whole feed.
01
Select the products
Filter down to what is actually empty, with no description, no attributes and no images, and select those. There is no point researching a product that is already complete.
A selection that is worth spending credits on.
02
Pick the identifier
Choose the identifier type. Research reads it from a fixed field on each product, such as the EAN field, and falls back to the next identifier a product has, so a mixed supplier file can run as one selection.
The research knows what it is searching for.
03
Let the research run
Each product gets one web search, and the answer comes back with the pages it cited. The run works in the background with progress per product, so you can leave the page.
Values for your fields, with the sources behind them.
04
Check what was written
Results are written to the fields you allowed as each product finishes. Open a sample in the Research tab and compare it with the packaging. Quality Guard rules can check the values before they reach an export.
The catalog only gains the fields you allowed.
What comes back
Specifications, not just a description
The research fills the structured fields as well as the prose, which is what marketplaces reject products for.
Attributes in your own structure
Dimensions, weight, materials, power and compatibility, all mapped into the attributes you already defined rather than dumped into a text field.
Every value has a source
The research keeps the pages it cited, so when a value looks wrong you can open the source and check it yourself.
Images and market prices too
Product photos and the prices other shops ask come back alongside the text, so a barren product row becomes a listing in one pass.
EAN lookup basics
What a barcode can tell you, and what it cannot
An EAN is a key, not a product record. It points at one trade item, and the facts about that item still have to be found somewhere.
EAN, UPC and ISBN are all forms of the GTIN, the Global Trade Item Number that GS1 issues to brand owners. A manufacturer licenses a company prefix from its local GS1 organisation, numbers its products under that prefix, and prints the result as a barcode. Every size and every colour of a product gets its own number, which is why the code identifies a single sellable item so precisely.
What the number does not contain is the product itself. There is no title, weight or material hidden in the digits. The first digits say which GS1 organisation issued the prefix, not where the product was made, and the last digit is a check digit that only proves the number was typed correctly. An EAN lookup therefore means taking that number to the places where the product is described (manufacturer pages, retailers, distributors) and bringing back what they say about it.
That is the job WISEPIM does. You give it products that carry a barcode or another identifier, it searches the web for each one, and it writes the specifications, copy and images it found into your own product fields, with the market prices it saw in a panel next to them. Before any of that, it checks the barcode itself, so a mistyped code never costs you a search.
| Identifier | Format | Where you usually find it | How precise a lookup is |
|---|---|---|---|
| EAN (GTIN-13) | 13 digits, check digit last | European packaging, supplier price lists, most marketplaces | The most precise: one number, one trade item |
| UPC (GTIN-12) | 12 digits, check digit last | Products made for the North American market | As precise as an EAN; a UPC is an EAN with a leading zero dropped |
| Brand + MPN | Brand name plus the manufacturer part number | Spare parts, components, B2B and electrical catalogs | Precise when the brand is set; the MPN alone is not unique |
| Model number | The manufacturer's model code | Electronics, appliances, tools and machines | Good, because buyers and spec sheets use the same code |
| Brand + model | Brand name plus the product or model name | Products that never received a barcode | Broader: it relies on the name matching how others list it |
| SKU | Your own product code | Your ERP, webshop or supplier file | Only works when your SKU matches the supplier's or manufacturer's code |
From barcode to product
Build a product from a barcode in five steps
The fastest route starts at the scanner page, where a barcode becomes a product record and the research starts on its own.
01
Scan or type the code
Open Scan EAN from the command menu or go to the scanner page. Point a phone or laptop camera at the barcode, use a USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner, or type the digits. The camera reads EAN-13, EAN-8 and UPC-A.
02
The check digit is verified
WISEPIM recalculates the GS1 check digit before it does anything else. A code that fails is rejected on the spot, so a smudged label or a typo never reaches your catalog. You can test a code first with the free EAN and GTIN validator.
03
An existing product is matched, or a new one is made
If a product in your project already carries that barcode, the scanner opens it. If not, and saving to the project is on, WISEPIM creates a product with the barcode as its EAN and SKU and a temporary name you replace later.
04
Research starts automatically
With automatic research on (the default), the scanner starts an EAN search for the product straight away, unless research for it already exists or is running. You can switch both behaviours off in the scanner settings.
05
Open the result in the product editor
The product's Research tab shows the answer, the sources it cited, the market prices, and which fields were written to the product and when. From there you finish the record or hand it to AI enrichment for the copy.
The scanner suits a stockroom or a sample table: one item at a time, with the product in your hand. For a supplier file with hundreds of codes, import the file first and research the whole selection from the product grid, as described below.
Many products at once
Research a supplier file in bulk
Most catalogs arrive as a spreadsheet with a name, an EAN and a price. Research turns those rows into products you can sell.
01
Import the rows
Load the supplier file through product import. Map the barcode column to the EAN field and, if you have them, the brand and manufacturer part number. Research reads those fixed fields, so getting the mapping right here is what makes the lookups work.
02
Filter to what is actually missing
Filter the grid to products without a description, attributes or images and select them. A product that is already complete gains little from research and still costs credits.
03
Choose Web Research and an identifier
Open Enrich with AI, pick Web Research and choose the identifier type. The picker starts on the default from your settings, which is EAN unless you changed it.
04
Let it run in the background
Each product is researched as its own job and the run shows up in the process tracker with progress per product. If a run stops early, Resume finishes only the products that were never processed, without charging again.
05
Check a sample, then the rest
Open a handful of products, read the Research tab, and compare what was written with the packaging or the supplier's sheet. When the sample holds up, move on to the next batch.
Research can also run without you: as an action inside an automation, so newly imported products get researched as they arrive, or as the research step of a catalog job that fills gaps across a filtered segment. If you select a configurable product together with its variants, WISEPIM researches the parent once instead of paying for every size.
Choosing the identifier
Which identifier to use, and what happens when it is missing
You choose the identifier type for a run. WISEPIM reads the value from a fixed field on each product, and falls back when that field is empty.
EAN reads the EAN field
The barcode stored on the product. It is checked against the GS1 check digit before the search, and an invalid code is skipped without a search and without a charge.
UPC reads UPC, then EAN
A UPC search uses the UPC field and, when that is empty, the EAN field. A UPC-A is an EAN-13 that starts with a zero, so one converts into the other exactly.
Brand + MPN needs both
The brand field plus the manufacturer part number. Part numbers repeat across brands, so the pair is what makes the search specific.
Model number reads the model attribute
The model number or model attribute on the product. Strong for appliances and electronics, where spec sheets and reviews are filed under the model code.
Brand + model searches by name
The brand with the product name. Use it for own-brand goods and older stock without a barcode, and expect it to miss more often than an EAN does.
SKU is a last resort
Your own code only finds something when it matches a code the rest of the web uses. Test it on ten products before you run a batch.
When a product lacks the identifier you picked, WISEPIM does not give up on it. It walks down a fixed order (EAN, UPC, brand plus MPN, model number, brand plus model, brand plus name, then SKU) and searches with the first one the product has. A mixed supplier file, where some rows have a barcode and some do not, can therefore run as one selection.
Where the data comes from
One cited web search per product, inside limits you set
WISEPIM does not sell access to a barcode database. It searches the open web for each product and keeps the sources it used.
Each research run sends one search per product to an AI search engine that reads the live web and returns its answer with the pages it cited. WISEPIM then turns that answer into structured values for your fields. Results lean toward your project's main language and market, so a Dutch project sees Dutch retailers and euro prices first.
Because the answer is only as good as the pages behind it, you decide where research may look. This is set once under Settings > Web Research and applies to every run, whether you started it by hand, from the scanner or from an automation.
- All sources is the default and gives the widest coverage.
- Only these sites limits research to up to 10 domains you trust, such as the manufacturer and your main distributor.
- Exclude these sites keeps up to 10 domains out, for example an aggregator that copies wrong specs or a competitor you do not want to borrow from.
- Research focus is free text of up to 500 characters that tells the search what matters in your catalog, for example the certifications or the dimensions you always need.
- Freshness window skips products researched in the last 30 days by default, so re-running a selection only pays for products that are new or stale.
What WISEPIM does not do is check the barcode against GS1's own registry, or compare several independent searches and vote on the answer. The citations are there so you can check a value against its page yourself.
What gets written
Nineteen fields you switch on or off
Research only writes to the fields you allow, in the structure you already have. Barcodes follow stricter rules than everything else.
- Empty fields first. By default research fills only fields that are empty. Turn on Overwrite existing content when you want a stale catalog refreshed instead.
- Specs land in your attributes. Dimensions, weight, materials and power ratings are written into the attributes you defined, not pasted into the description.
- Barcodes are never replaced. A found EAN or UPC is checksum-validated, and identifiers are written only to an empty field, even with overwrite on. A barcode that differs from the one you hold is recorded, and yours stays.
- Writing is automatic by default. Results are applied as soon as a product's research finishes. If you want to read everything before it touches the product, switch off Automatically apply results and the findings stay in the Research tab for you to copy across by hand.
| Group | Fields | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Content | Product name, long name, description, short description, features, meta title, meta description, meta keywords | On, except the long name |
| Product data | Brand, specifications mapped to your attributes, physical properties, category suggestions | On |
| Compliance and shipping | Country of origin, customs (HS) code, warranty, certifications, dangerous goods flag, fragile flag, handling instructions | Warranty, certifications and the three shipping flags start off |
| Identifiers | EAN, UPC, MPN, model number, plus UPC from EAN and EAN from UPC | On, and only ever written to empty fields |
Images
Product photos come back with the specs
A row with a barcode and no photo is not a listing. Research can fill the gallery in the same run, at no extra credit cost.
- Three new images per run by default, configurable up to ten, until the gallery holds eight images, configurable up to thirty.
- Small files are skipped. Images below 300 pixels on the shortest edge are treated as thumbnails or icons and left out.
- Plain backgrounds first. The default prefers packshots on a plain background; you can require them, or prefer lifestyle shots instead.
- Watermarks and logos are filtered. Stock-photo hosts, watermark markers, logos, badges and banner-shaped images are dropped, and images from the brand's own site are ranked first.
- Variants get their colour. Colour variants without a photo of their own can receive the matching image, filling empty galleries only.
- The first image becomes the main image when the product has none. Images go to the media library even when automatic applying is off, so look through them before you publish.
Market prices
See what the market charges for the same EAN
A barcode is the cleanest way to compare prices across shops, because every retailer selling the item lists the same number.
When the sources include shop pages, research collects the prices it finds and shows them in a market price panel on the product: the lowest, the highest, the median and the average, with a list of prices by retailer. Outliers, prices in a different currency and duplicate listings from the same shop are left out of the statistics and labelled as such, so one odd price does not drag the numbers.
You can turn those numbers into a recommended price with a strategy (match the average, match the lowest, undercut, or price at a premium), an adjustment, rounding to .99 or .95, and guardrails for a minimum margin over cost and a minimum or maximum price. VAT is normalised to the basis your prices use, and variants of a configurable product can each get their own figure.
Writing the recommendation to the product is off by default. Most teams leave it off and use the panel as a reference, because a scraped price can be wrong and a wrong price is worse than a missing one.
Credits and plans
What a lookup costs
Web research uses AI credits from your plan. You pay for answers, not for failed lookups.
- 5 credits per researched product, charged only when the search returns sources.
- Invalid barcodes cost nothing. A code that fails the check digit is skipped before any search.
- Recent research is not repeated. Products researched inside the freshness window are skipped at no cost.
- Variants are researched once. Selecting a configurable product with its children researches the parent.
- Images ride along. Fetching photos uses the credits of the research run itself.
- Paid plans only. Web research is included from the Starter plan up; the free plan does not include it.
| Plan | Products | AI credits per month | Per month, billed yearly | Per month, billed monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 100 | 50 | €0 | €0 |
| Lite | 500 | 2,000 | €119 | €149 |
| Starter | 1,000 | 4,000 | €299 | €399 |
| Starter Plus | 2,500 | 10,000 | €399 | €529 |
| Growth | 5,000 | 20,000 | €499 | €649 |
| Growth Plus | 7,500 | 30,000 | €599 | €779 |
| Business | 10,000 | 40,000 | €699 | €899 |
| Business Plus | 15,000 | 55,000 | €849 | €1,099 |
| Scale | 20,000 | 70,000 | €999 | €1,299 |
| Scale Plus | 30,000 | 100,000 | €1,149 | €1,499 |
| Pro | 40,000 | 120,000 | €1,299 | €1,699 |
| Pro Plus | 50,000 | 150,000 | €1,499 | €1,949 |
Before your first run
A checklist for clean barcode enrichment
Most disappointing results trace back to the input, not the search. Ten minutes here saves a batch of rework.
- Validate the codes. Run a sample of supplier EANs through the EAN and GTIN validator. A file that lost its leading zeros in Excel is the most common cause of failed lookups.
- Fill the brand field. Brand plus MPN and brand plus model only work when the brand is set, and a brand also helps the search pick the right product for a barcode.
- Decide which fields research may touch. Leave compliance fields off until you trust your sources, and switch off fields your team writes itself.
- Decide on automatic applying. Keep it on for a new, empty catalog. Turn it off for a catalog with content you care about, and read the Research tab first.
- Restrict the sources to the manufacturer and your distributors if your category has a lot of copied or grey-import listings.
- Test ten products, then a hundred, then the rest. Read the results in the editor, not just the progress bar.
- Add a quality check. Quality Guard rules can check the researched values against your own standards before a product goes to a channel.
Where it stops
When an EAN lookup comes back thin
Research finds what the web publishes. Some products are simply not described anywhere.
Own-brand and private label
Products made for one retailer often have a GTIN but no public spec sheet. Brand plus name may find a little; your own supplier data will find more.
Made to order
Custom and configured goods usually have no GTIN at all, and Google's own guidance is to submit brand and MPN for them instead of inventing a number.
B2B items with prices on request
Technical specs are often public; prices are not. Expect a complete spec table and an empty market price panel.
Brand-new launches
A product released last week may not be listed by any shop yet. Run research again after the freshness window, or set the window shorter for launches.
One language at a time
Research writes in the language of the sources it read, steered by your project's main language. Translating the result is a separate step with AI translation.
Facts, not finished copy
Research gathers facts. For a description in your brand voice, run AI enrichment afterwards on the now complete record.
Sources
Barcode facts on this page
GTIN formats, validation and listing rules come from GS1 and Google's own documentation, checked in October 2026.
- Google Merchant Center Help, GTIN [gtin]https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324461
- GS1 UK, what is a check digithttps://www.gs1uk.org/knowledge-hub/what-is-a-check-digit
- Google Search Central, using generative AI contenthttps://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/using-gen-ai-content
FAQs
EAN enrichment questions
What the research can find, and where it stops.
Still have questions?
Can't find the answer you're looking for? Please get in touch with our team.
Contact SupportTry ten barcodes before you commit
Select a handful of empty products, run the research on their EANs, and see how much of the row fills itself in.
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