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Do you know that 98% shoppers are dissuaded from completing a purchase due to inaccurate or missing information? Catalog management, if not done properly can be detrimental for the business. But as an ecommerce player you probably are already aware of the fact that a well-managed product catalog acts as a solid foundation that can catapult your business to the next level. Efficient catalog management allows you to better manage an expansive product portfolio across channels, enabling you to get to the market faster.
That said, considering the dynamics involved in managing ecommerce catalog where you need to ensure high-quality, accurate and consistent product data across sales channels – make the process incredibly complex and time consuming. With thousands of SKUs to publish across multiple channels while conforming to their respective norms can easily result in messy and inconsistent product data. That is why, it is no wonder why several online retailers end up with poor product information making their catalog lacking in many ways.
Here’s a quick look at the top three catalog management challenges faced by online retailers.
Updating and Listing Product Information Continuously
Depending on the type of product and target audience, you may need to update product information (SKUs) continuously. Apart from that, you may also need to add or refresh product data in case of listing new additions or changing trends, pricing structure and others. Updating product catalog can also help pique your buyers’ interest. However, lack of proper catalog management tools and process can result in product mismanagement, especially if you have an exhaustive inventory.
Updating and listing product information accurately, creating metadata and digitizing warrants dedicated time, effort and skill. And if not done correctly, you not only risk publishing incomplete/inaccurate product data but also delaying your go-to-market strategies, which can negatively impact your business as well as market share.
Managing catalog across multiple channels
Uploading and managing product information across multiple marketplaces is arguably one of the biggest challenges facing ecommerce players, when it comes to catalog management. Shoppers demand high-quality, accurate and crisp information about the product they wish to purchase. And this becomes a key differentiator especially when you are competing with a large number of sellers in the same segment in a marketplace such as Amazon, eBay etc.
However, from adhering to the specific platform guidelines to ensuring complete and consistent information across channels can be an uphill task. The challenge is further compounded as these guidelines differ from platform to platform making the task complex and arduous. Without the help of right tools, skillset and strategy it is nearly impossible to efficiently manage and maintain catalog data consistency and accuracy across multiple channels.
Maintaining data quality consistency
The importance of maintaining your product data quality cannot be over emphasized. Almost every challenge you face in managing catalog can affect data quality, it is therefore incredibly difficult to ensure data quality consistency at all times. Whether you are scaling your product listing, publishing on various channels, updating attributes, merchandising it or working with suppliers, there is high risk of data mismanagement.
Your catalog may end up with incomplete/missing information, misspelling, inaccurate attributes or descriptions, resulting in poor customer experience and loss of sale. According to a survey 32% participants stated that they would skip the deal every time they come across inaccurate information, whether on app or website. Mass changes and updates can be quite overwhelming, making it a herculean task to maintain a consistent data standard across platform without proper catalog management system.
There are several catalog management solutions available that can help automate the process and address these challenges. However, considering the dynamic, complex, interdependent and exhaustive nature of the process, it is highly recommended that you outsource it to an experienced vendor who specializes in ecommerce services and have the capability to manage tasks of any size.
Talk to us about the challenges you are facing in managing your product catalog and find out how we can help you overcome these issues, streamline the process, optimize your brands potential to drive higher conversions and deeper engagement.
