Comprehensive data distribution for providers of home technology products

05.11.2024 | Author: Thomas Kern

Who hasn't experienced this in practice: A customer contacts you and wants the relevant product data for the product range purchased from you. The customer expects the data from you as the supplier in a specific format, e.g. BMEcat or Excel. As customers are already very well informed, the requirements for the expected content, image data, texts and product features are also supplied. 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 are happy because you can systematically click the data together in a short space of time, or you are horrified by the days of effort required to search for and copy the content.

Requirements for supplier data

Especially for the building services sector, including sanitary, heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology, wholesalers, specialist retailers and planners are now required to provide a wide range of data. Here are some typical requirements:

• BMEcat (ETIM, ETIM MC)
• Excel
• ARGE New Media (BDMG)
• OXOMI
• AUSSCHREIBEN.DE
• BIM
• Datanorm

Data provision: mandatory and optional

The obligation can be described simply: First of all, 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 supply 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 data provision. Or you can use a PIM such as crossbase, which offers this functionality in an integrated form.

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 requirements for formats and classifications 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 us.