Comprehensive data distribution for providers of home technology products
Item master data for specialist retailers
Who hasn't experienced this in practice: A customer contacts you and wants the relevant product data for the assortment purchased from you. The customer expects the data from you as the supplier in a specific format, e.g. BMEcat or Excel. As the customer is already very well informed, the requirements for the expected content, image data, texts and product features are supplied straight away. And often also the customer article numbers of the article range for which the data is required.
Now there are two ways in which you could react: Either you rejoice because you can systematically click the data together in a short time, or you cringe at the days of effort required to search for and copy the content.
Requirements for supplier data
Especially for the building services industry, including sanitary, heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology, wholesalers, specialist retailers and planners today demand a wide range of provisions of data. Here are some typical requirements:
- BMEcat (ETIM, ETIM MC)
- Excel
- ARGE New Media (BDMG)
- OXOMI
- AUSSCHREIBEN.DE
- BIM
- Datanorm
Provision of data: mandatory and optional
The obligation can be described simply: First, it must be possible to provide the content for the products. These are: Product features, product relationships such as accessories and spare parts, images, documents, drawings, documents such as operating instructions and data sheets, texts. And all of this in the relevant languages. Secondly, the data must be provided in a format that the customer can read, for example BMEcat, Excel, Arge or Datanorm.
The freestyle? In my view, to be able to provide the data in standard classifications, for example ETIM or ECLASS. Or for portals such as OXOMI or AUSSCHREIBEN.DE. Of course, this makes you comparable, but in some cases you will only be listed if you can provide this standardized form.
Support systems and tools
There are essentially two ways to meet these requirements. Either you dock a tool for the provision of data. Or you can use a PIM such as crossbase, which offers this functionality as an integrated feature.
As always, there are advantages and disadvantages that need to be weighed up individually:
A tool has the advantage that the investment is lower. The disadvantage is that interfaces to upstream systems or file imports have to be created. In addition, conversions are necessary and the update process is time-consuming as the systems are separate.
A PIM with fully integrated export options has the advantage that data can be provided directly and updating is simple. The personnel effort is therefore minimal. On the other hand, it has the disadvantage that not all format and classification requirements may be covered.
In the course of digitization, it is crucial to have the data under control and at least meet the needs of customers. In my experience, our customers who are leaders in this area are also doing very well in business terms. That's why it's actually desirable for customers to want data from you!
Thomas Kern is Managing Director and founder of crossbase. He came up with the idea for the software and has more than 25 years of experience in PIM, MAM, print, e-commerce and everything that goes with it. As a mechanical engineer specializing in applied computer science, he can therefore provide our customers from industry with comprehensive advice.
He also advises new customers on the introduction of crossbase and is responsible for project management. His main areas of expertise in the projects are analysis, data model and ERP interface.
He also shares this knowledge with you in our blog and is happy to answer your questions:
t.kern@crossbase.de
I look forward to a personal consultation with you.
Call now +49 7031 9881-770
or send me a message
Herby Tessadri
Sales Manager and Authorized Signatory
