The Marketplace Catalog Portal offers suppliers a protected and intuitive environment to securely manage product catalogues and price lists on their own. For retailers, this makes information available more quickly and thus accelerates workflows in marketing and sales. By defining quality criteria, the maintenance and quality assurance of product data at the supplier’s can be easily controlled without having to fear a loss of quality.
Organisation
Supplier self-registration
Providing the data back to suppliers as well
Information pages
Notification of suppliers and internal product managers about processing status and problems
Imports and mappings
Import based on the import formats from the PIM system
Mappings of classifications and values
Visualisation of the progress of imports by supplier/buyer/product manager
Showing deltas and reports during import
Integrated error management
Catalogue management
Upload product data and images in the self-service area
View changes between supplier catalogues and own catalogues
View changes to newly imported products and make them available for editing
Transfer updated data from supplier catalogues to own catalogues
Product preview for the supplier
Data quality and validations
Determine, display and save data and catalogue quality
File checks (e.g. valid XML, size, key)
Format checks (e.g. valid XML or XLS format including product ID)
Definition of specific checks for suppliers
Automation and workflows
Approve catalogues and prices
Checking technical and content-related information via automation
Workflows for supplier integration
Data model and exports
Continuous price history at product level
Versioning at product level
Analysis and data provision in Excel (also for prices)
Export of cleansed data to the supplier in various formats
Supplier catalogues can be easily uploaded in the Marketplace Catalog Portal. Suppliers can upload additional files (images, price lists, operating instructions, etc.) to supplement their catalogue and combine them with the original catalogue file to present a comprehensive source of product information. Product information is provided in a variety of formats. All common formats for importing and exporting catalogues are supported:
File formats
BMEcat, CSV, MS Excel, XML, CUP, Oracle CUP, Fixed Width, MS Access, Pricat, Datanorm
Classifications
Supplier-specific classifications, customer-specific classifications, standard classifications (e.g. Cl@ss, UNSPSC), industry classifications (e.g. proficl@ss)
Data upload and revision
Documents can be uploaded as zip files for a quick manual import of catalogues and contracts
Alternatively, the import can be done through a fully automated process that does not require manual interaction by the supplier
The catalogue file delivered by the supplier is stored as a copy and is thus available for revision purposes
Mapping
Classification mapping enables the assignment of standard classifications or the supplier's specific classifications to goods and material groups of the purchasing company
Support of UOM mappings: Supplier unit systems (e.g. ANSI) can be mapped to the customer's unit system (e.g. ISO) for seamless communication with the customer's backend system
Correction of errors
Suppliers receive a notification of any content-related errors after the import. Detailed protocols provide information about the type of error and the possibilities for fixing it.
Supplier dashboard
Suppliers have access to their own clear dashboard, which can be customised with the help of various widgets
Buyers and product managers receive a notification by e-mail to check and approve the supplier catalogue. In the first step, the content is approved. In the second step, the buyer or product manager checks the prices. Afterwards, the supplier catalogues are automatically transferred to the catalogue search. Product data is automatically checked and suppliers receive feedback as quickly as possible.
Release
Procurement managers release the catalogues and contracts manually. Optionally, an automatic release of catalogues and contracts is possible, if the data of the supplier lies within previously defined tolerance ranges.
Validation of the catalogue data
The purchasing organisation has the option of defining various validation rules for the supplier. The validation results are exported and sent by email to both the purchasing managers (content manager, material group manager, etc.) and the supplier.
Specify field lengths, mandatory fields, field types, etc.
Checking of classification references, UoM validation, etc.
Deposit of permissible commodity groups
Further validation rules can be created according to individual specifications of the purchasing department.
Cleansing during the catalogue integration
The cleansing of the data already takes place before the import, resulting in homogeneous data with high quality. It can be defined whether the cleansing rules should apply to the entire catalogue, a single supplier or only to certain product groups.
Cleansing rules: Checking of preview images, text cleansing, individually defined cleansing rules.
Enrichment of catalogue data
Customer-specific product numbers, such as material numbers from the ERP system
Indicators for products, for example as capital goods for the corresponding valuation in the ERP system
G/L account assignment for items that have been newly added to the catalogue
Depending on the customer's needs, the data enrichment can be extended as required
Trusted Source
Trusted Source offers the possibility of automatic data enrichment. The catalogue data is independently enriched with information with the help of a defined source (= Trusted Source). In this way, missing information can be reliably added. Furthermore, data from different sources can be synchronised to an internal target catalogue by means of Trusted Source.
Possible application examples: Supplementation of manufacturer part numbers, automatic construction of kits and bundles, addition of certain indicators (e.g. for dangerous goods or core assortment).
Contract Manager
The Contract Manager enables an automatic comparison of newly imported catalogues with previously negotiated conditions. For example, discounts and price agreements from the stored contracts are compared with the new data.
Delta Reports
Delta reports compare the data of the current catalogue version, which is used productively in the catalogue search, with the data of the newly imported catalogue.
Delta reports show deleted, added and changed products and prices
Differences are protocolled and displayed both graphically and in tabular form
Quality analyses based on standardised KPIs
Standardised quality indicators (KPIs) are available for supplier evaluation and supplier development. They can be used to compare the catalogues of a supplier or the catalogues of different suppliers. With these standardised parameters, statements can be made about the development of a supplier over time.
KPIs include
Percentage of articles with long description
Long description does not correspond to the short description
Beginning of long description differs from short description
Unique article number
Percentage of articles with EAN number
Percentage of articles with manufacturer name
Percentage of articles with manufacturer's product number
Percentage of articles with keywords
Percentage of products with classification assignment "eCl@ss
Percentage of products with product relations
Percentage of products with accessories
Percentage of products with images
Percentage of products with sales orders
Keywords do not correspond to the short description
Optimisation of quality, appeal and use for vehicle parts ranges – learn more now in the latest white paper (German version).
Meaningful product information for specific target groups as a driving force for growth – learn more now in the latest white paper (German version).
More conversions with relevant and context-specific offers – learn more now in the latest white paper (German Version).
Pools heterogeneous product data in a central system and ensures smooth product data distribution – learn more now in the latest white paper (German version).
For excellent product communication and efficient collaboration with other departments and external partners – learn more now in the latest white paper (German version).
All distribution channels and materials such as web shop, marketplaces, catalogues and data sheets ready to use at any time – learn more now in the latest white paper (German version).
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