7 Tips For Better eCommerce Product Data Management

Product data management is vital to keep the eCommerce site running smoothly. In fact, product data management (PDM) is one of the essential pillars of online merchants’ business. It helps companies connect with their customers and expand their business.

But enterprises must take their product data management up a notch if they are to run a successful eCommerce site with many products. Research shows that a lot of data feed errors creep in to hinder eCommerce campaigns. These could include shipping issues, GTIN, price, availability, etc.

After all, there’s so much to look at, including managing product attributes, creating custom fields, and more. To that end, it’s essential to improve product data management for eCommerce success. Here’s a rundown of the tips to help realize that:

1. Leverage Advanced Software To Streamline Operations

One of the key aspects of product data management is ensuring that your eCommerce platform is up-to-date and easily accessible. For example, if you’re using an old-fashioned spreadsheet or manual system to track your inventory and orders, it will become a hassle when you get more than a few hundred products in your catalog.

Instead, leverage advanced software to automatically pull data from your eCommerce platform into an easy-to-read format. It will help you keep track of all your products with just a few clicks.

2. Centralized Management

Product data management should be centralized so that all teams (suppliers, distributors, retailers, marketing teams, and more) can benefit from it. By centralizing your PIM (product information management) system, you’ll ensure that each team has access to the latest updates, whether managing customer support or creating new product listings.

A centralized platform helps reduce the time spent searching for product details because everyone has easy access. It’s also essential to ensure all departments use the same terminology when writing product descriptions and titles. Using different terms across your organization can lead to confusion among shoppers who might pick up different versions of your products in search results.

3. Automate Manual Processes

PDM is not just about creating and updating product data - it’s also about ensuring that this data is consistent across all systems so that customers have an authentic experience when browsing or searching for products.

However, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the data you need to manage, especially if you’ve hundreds or thousands of products. That’s why it’s crucial to automate as much as possible and let the software do the heavy lifting. This will reduce the amount of time spent manually adding details to each product and eliminate the risk of human errors.

4. Establish A Standardized Format For Product Data

Using a standardized format when listing the products helps ensure that the feeds can be easily accessed and imported by other channels and eCommerce platforms. Customarily, you’ll need to stick to their rules using an EDI service. But if you’re not using an EDI service, then there are still some best practices that you can follow:

• Use consistent terminology across all of your channels (e.g., if one channel calls a product attribute “size,” then use the same term everywhere else too).
  
• Be consistent with how much information is included in the description field (e.g., don’t include details about size and color on one channel but leave them out on another).

5. Share Product Data Across Channels

The key to better eCommerce product data management is to share data across all channels. This means that the same information about a product should be used on multiple websites, social media platforms, and marketplaces. For example, use the same product data for your Facebook store, eCommerce website, and Amazon marketplace.

But this is not always easy. Different systems will have different requirements for receiving and storing this information. For example, Amazon requires SKUs, while Etsy does not. Your website might need UPCs, but your other channels may not accept them. The solution is to ensure that all channels are talking to one another somehow - even if it’s through a third-party software service.

6. Embrace Product Content Syndication

Product data management is a complex process. Keeping all the different factors in mind while working on your site design can be difficult. Thankfully, some approaches can help you out. One such method is product content syndication, which allows you to pull data from trusted sources like Amazon, Walmart, and eBay so that you don’t have to spend time entering it all yourself.

With this, you can create a single “master” file containing the product information for all your products and then automatically add those items to your website. This makes it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for when they visit your site or search for it online - without having to wait for you to manually enter all the information into each product page on your site.

7. Work with a Strategic Partner

When considering eCommerce product data management, it’s essential to envision the big picture. This means working with a strategic partner who has the experience, resources, and expertise to help you get the most out of your product data management system.

This can include a team of specialists who can act as your product data experts, advising you on all the aspects of eCommerce PIM, catalog management, digital asset management (DAM), etc. Plus, working with a strategic partner makes it easier to maintain the platform and integrate it with other systems, if required.

Wrapping Up

All in all, there are several ways to ensure that your eCommerce product data is as organized and efficient as possible. The tips above should give you an excellent roadmap to follow when it comes to improving your workflow. Contact EnFuse Solutions for more information on how to streamline and manage your product data.