Proper data management is an essential part of any online store’s success.
Multichannel sellers use data to chart information related to their products, customers, sales strategies, marketing, revenue, and other vital parts of their business.
Having the correct data in a single centralized system can be one of the multichannel sellers’ most valuable operational resources.
The access helps you do data management right, which can lead to growth and help improve established processes. Properly managed product data can help you create more valuable listings and improve your search engine optimization for e-commerce listings.
The only problem is that it's tough to manage data well.
We want to help you identify mistakes and clean up your product data management, so we put together this list of warning signs and solutions for common mistakes sellers often face with product data.
Warning Sign: Excessive Time Wasted
Find yourself manually entering every bit of information typically stored in a product listing?
Are you having to go in and calculate your revenue figures in an Excel sheet (or worse, a calculator!)?
Do you find yourself redoing the same thing for every sales channel?
If so, you probably have some poor data management processes in place.
Data management will always involve some work on your company's end, but it shouldn't require you to hire a whole team of people to do minuscule tasks.
Solution: Use a PDM Software To Reduce Manual Entries
Having a product data management (PDM) software helps you build automated workflow-driven processes and empowers you to easily create:
- Bulk listings
- Customized fields
- Kits and bundles.
These features reduce wasted time while also enabling you to input data with greater precision and specificity.
This software can be beneficial for stores operating on multiple channels simultaneously. At the very least, you won't have to click through a bunch of tabs or windows to copy the same text over and over again.
Warning Sign: Needing Special Technical Knowledge
Data management is a complex piece of a business. There's so much information to sift through for multichannel sellers:
- Sales
- Website Visitors
- Returns
- Abandoned carts
- Customer behavior
- Contacts
And all that barely skims the surface.
Without the right tools, the number of technical specifications, jargon, and acronyms can feel overwhelming for anyone without a degree in computer engineering.
That overwhelming feeling is a sign that something's not right with your product data management.
Solution: Incorporate a User-Friendly PDM System
As the owner and operator of an online store, you're too busy to become an expert in data management. Let your software do the work for you. Isn't that why you acquired it in the first place?
A user-friendly product data management solution will make it easy for you to add, edit, and monitor your data in one centralized system.
Warning Sign: Missing Information Related to Your Products, Customers, or Store
Between all the data you naturally build-up and the data you create yourself, it can be easy to lose some pieces along the way.
Think about how much information goes into a single product listing with multiple variants. You might have varied information for things like size, color, or material type.
Then you have to think about your product lifecycle management and how that factors into your data. Maybe you need to freshen the listing copy to see if it helps breathe new life into the sales. Or maybe it's time to update the description to reflect a seasonal change.
All that data needs to be entered and kept up with for every one of your channels. When you start realizing that pieces – even the little ones – are getting missed somewhere in the workflow, you'll know something's wrong with your product data management.
Solution: Aggregate Data in One Centralized Software System
Moving from channel to channel updating every piece of content is just too much, and mistakes will happen as nuanced data slip through the cracks. These minor errors can not only confuse customers but can also potentially drive them away.
Consistency is key for multichannel sellers. Customers want experiences that look and feel the same across all channels, so having data that doesn't align on all platforms won't cut it.
Having your data in one centralized system allows you to add, edit, and make changes without having to toggle between various web pages or browsers. Then, you can add and edit all product data, no matter the channel, and adequately represent your product and brand to your customers.
Warning Sign: Lack of Security
The information you collect from customers is sacred for your business.
Data breaches can affect just about everything in your organization. When your data isn’t secure, employee relations, search results, revenue generation, and customer relationships are all at risk. For e-commerce stores specifically, the problem can damage your brand and mess with your products.
That's why secure data management is not an option. It's a necessity.
Solution: Check Your PDM Systems' Security Capabilities
Any business user wants external partners they can trust. That's true with software, too.
Make sure your PDM system has the technical capacity to offer you a safe platform that guarantees secure data management for all your channels.
Warning Sign: No Actionable Insights
Data itself won't get you much if you can't interpret it. The value it brings comes from the insight it's able to give you.
Poor data management will leave you with excess numbers and figures, but it won't necessarily give you information that makes your business better.
This lack of insight should be a significant warning to any company looking to manage their data better. If you find yourself with no informed plan forward, it might be time for a change.
Solution: Get Detailed Analytics Across All Channels
A sophisticated software solution will help you update and manage your product data and give you the ability to analyze your data on every channel.
With this information, sellers can make better decisions as they plan their future strategies. Your multichannel analytics should give you insights on various aspects of your store, including:
- channel sales
- individual product performance
- profitability
- best sellers
- variant performance
Warning Sign: Low Search Ranking
E-commerce marketplaces prioritize their search results the same way search engines do. You need to show that you're the best option for them to recommend to their customers.
One significant way you do this is by being a trustworthy and reliable seller. Poor data management shows that you're neither.
Even if you have a great product or excellent service, insufficient data will push you further away from the front pages and make it harder for shoppers to find you.
Solution: Optimize Content with Listing Software
Multichannel listing software helps you create product listings that rank higher on any marketplace’s search engine. They enable you to:
- Improve the quality of listings
- Create templates that adapt to different marketplace criteria
- Manage your prices
- Create marketing data feeds
- Add customized fields and targeted keywords
Adding in the correct data in the most efficient way will help you rise through the ranks on any e-commerce site, getting more eyes on your products and leading to greater revenue.
Discover a System that Goes Beyond Product Data Management (PDM)
StoreAutomator exists to improve multichannel operations in every way. From better product data management to multichannel listing to inventory monitoring, our easy-to-use platform will adapt to your unique needs so you can utilize it in a way that's right for you.
If you're interested in hearing more about how StoreAutomator can help your multichannel store improve your product data management, book a free demo with us whenever you're ready.