Does this sound familiar? You have a huge amount of data in different places. Getting and managing the right information for your product catalogs is a time-consuming task, and you aren’t 100% sure your data meets the quality standards necessary to keep each sale from becoming a return: accurate, complete and up-to-date.
In 2024, There is a New Way to Manage Data: A Data Management Hub
A data management hub, equipped with the appropriate resources, gives companies of all sizes the tools to succeed in ecommerce, measured by more efficient processes with lower costs and greater effectiveness that can increase customer satisfaction. With the right system, the unthinkable can happen — you can turn your product data from a challenge into a primary business asset.
Data management is a necessary part of a company’s digital strategy but is especially important for online retailers. As this data becomes product information and data-driven content that must answer customers’ questions, fulfill their desires, and lead to sales, better data makes all the difference.
What to Look for in a Data Management Hub
A user-friendly interface.
Product managers, data analysts, inventory managers, and ecommerce specialists all have reasons to access product data, but most likely they have vastly different levels of experience. Consistent use of a system depends on having a straightforward, intuitive design. A user-friendly system encourages frequent use which leads to timely updates, more oversight and less chance that errors or absences make it to your ecommerce marketplace. Plus your IT department will love you.
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Designed for data integrity.
When using the Data Management Hub, data is imported into a single system where it can be viewed and verified. In disparate data silos, inconsistencies, inaccuracies and duplicates between data sets are harder to spot. Since sales and marketing depend directly on the accuracy and completeness of product information, strengthening data integrity through a centralized system directly impacts your bottom line.
Customizable controls.
The Data Management Hub offers a balance between quality control for format and structure within the system and the flexibility to customize the data to your exact requirements. You want a system that allows you to import and export data in any file format — XML, JSON, CSV — and that ensures consistency with a structure you define. And finally, you want to be able to synchronize your data across different platforms.
On-the-spot communication.
Full communication in the Data Management Hub allows teams to meet at the point of reference and have direct access to all data, tickets and communication/update records. Sharing live systems makes group sessions more productive overall. By supporting rapid communication, a Data Management Hub speeds up decision-making so you can get back to business.
Complete coverage.
The next essential feature of a Data Management Hub is coverage. Studies show that missing and inaccurate product information leads 49% of consumers not to purchase a given product or choose another — even if it has a higher price.
A data management hub should not only be able to process the full range of data types but also explicitly deliver customers’ product requirements. Based on our analysis of customer needs, we can conclude the following:
- The platform should not only offer all currently available data but also be able to provide you with any additional product data you require.
- Data must include product images, product data sheets, videos, product texts and translations.
- The data should be immediately available and easy to integrate into your system.
According to Gartner, poor data quality costs companies in all industries an average of $12.9 million every year.
Bad data is information in a dataset that is incorrect, incomplete, outdated or irrelevant. It is an inaccurate set of information that can cause widespread damage. On the other hand, quality data from a Data Management Hub supports a much bigger list of benefits.
- Resource management
- Attracting the perfect customer
- Customer experience
- Customer loyalty
- Converting shoppers into paying customers
- Product returns
- Optimizing costs
- Faster time-to-market
- Customer expectations
- Omnichannel growth
- Staying competitive
With the right Data Management Hub, this is what your data quality performance indicators can look like:
- Accurate: This increases sales, reduces the return rate and strengthens trust in your company.
- Unique: With the right data, your products surprise and delight customers.
- Complete: There are no unanswered questions that can prevent a purchase.
- Reliable: You can rest easy knowing that every product is covered.
- Current: Your data stays current so you stay competitive.
If you want to improve or grow your ecommerce business, reduce costs and increase sales, upgrading your data management system is a smart place to start.
Leslie Gray is Head of Communication at ContentFactory1, a global ecommerce solutions company. With 24 years of industry experience, ContactFactory1 has learned what is important in a data management system. Its Data Management Hub combines all the necessary functions for collecting, processing and managing product data on a web-based platform. This system is free to use.