With an estimated 12 to 24 million e-commerce sites worldwide, the e-commerce sector is characterized by constant change, fierce competition and high margin pressure. For many companies, this raises the question of how they can stay one step ahead of the strong competition. The only thing that is clear is that a lot needs to be invested in a smooth online customer experience. But how can the right offers be correctly described and displayed to the desired customer group at the best time? This can only be achieved with a well thought-out product experience.
New retail realities demand long-tail, multi-channel, omnichannel, and marketplace models. High-quality product data is indispensable for the successful implementation of these strategies, because 66% of customers drop out if product information is missing and prefer to shop elsewhere. But how does a company obtain product data of the desired e-commerce quality? In most cases, a lot of data is stored in different places or available from different sources, but there are no processes in place to intelligently prepare and centrally store existing product data. There are also ways to automate these product data processes and thus invest in the product experience in a sustainable, constant and efficient manner.
Those who invest in product data quality in the long term win. Because basically, the goal for companies is always the same: to quickly expand their own product range both in breadth and depth in order to increase sales. According to a study by Mirakl, established marketplaces expanded their product ranges by 29%. This means that 62% more products are offered today than was the case in the fourth quarter of 2019. Why more and more products are offered online? Because it has been shown that 79% of end customers who shop online at least once a week see marketplaces as their most convenient shopping method. So it's time to fundamentally rethink product data onboarding.
If we put the entire topic of automated product data onboarding in the right context, we can see that major players need to quickly find software solutions that can centrally map products in the best possible product data model, correctly classified and in the right place. Or to put it another way: Today, an ERP implementation should no longer take years. Why then should typing product data sheets and tables into rigid templates take days or weeks? How can this still be done manually in view of the ever-increasing e-commerce demands in the next few years?
This is no longer possible because online stores have long had more than 50,000 products that need to be managed. Therefore, software solutions are needed that can automatically process and prepare high volumes of SKUs. Another process that is becoming increasingly important in this context is the sourcing of product data, i.e. the connection of supplier and manufacturer data to the company's own systems. Thanks to the clearly structured and AI-supported onboarding process, old, time-consuming and rigid processes can be completely replaced. With the first intelligent product data platform for the sourcing, preparation and syndication of product data, Onedot has the only software solution which automatically turns unstructured data into usable product data at this level and with this degree of automation.
In principle, Onedot's product data platform is designed in such a way that all supplier or manufacturer catalogs, which are available in a wide variety of data formats, are brought directly into an importable ERP or PIM format. This preparation can only be achieved through the auto-mapping functionalities of machine learning, as these enable the AI-supported software to perform fast and seamless processing for importing the data into the desired target system. These processings are done along clearly structured steps, which can be viewed on demand. This means that data teams can use their time wisely by contributing their own expertise instead of spending their time on manual and therefore very time-consuming processing steps.
The focus of Onedot's product data platform is the product experience. This means that the product data platform goes beyond classic automated product data onboarding. For example, the sourcing of product data via a supplier portal is also simplified, as this allows retailers and suppliers to exchange information directly in the platform and to send or receive targeted data requests. In addition, suppliers can make their catalogs available on the platform themselves, which further reduces the effort for manufacturers.
Intelligently prepared and managed product data provides a competitive edge that is key in the highly competitive e-commerce market. The cornerstone of any modern data management is automated product data onboarding. This is the only way companies can ensure that product data is always updated and available in the desired e-commerce quality. Thanks to Onedot, tedious manual data processes can be replaced, which means that products can be played out five times faster in significantly higher quality on the desired channels. This has a positive effect on the conversion rate and sales. This clearly shows that straight-through product data processing is at the heart of any modern data management system.
