Using Your Storefront Data For All Marketing Efforts

Many online merchants have sent me emails recently regarding confusion over what product catalog data they should be using when marketing to CSEs and other marketing channels, i.e. can they use the data directly as it exists within their shopping cart technology or do they need to create another file based off of this data? 

Since you will be marketing your product catalog differently to each marketing channel you are using, it is important that you have a separate file, as it relates to each channel, so you can establish unique business rules and marketing strategies per channel.....BUT....this does not mean that that file cannot be updated automatically from its original destination - it can and SHOULD BE!!!

I contend that many problems of keeping accurate and up to date data, that mirrors exactly what is on your storefront on a daily basis, will occur if an online merchant creates a separate marketing file "based off of orginal product catalog data" and then tries to update that file directly manually to keep it accurate. 

Why not simply have these unique files mirror your product catalog data on a daily basis automatically, while retaining the business rules you have established for each marketing channel?

Merchants were also frustrated over technical process "hitches/issues" involved when using this data to market their storefront using CSEs and were looking for advice as to the easiest process to work with their product catalog data correctly and, most importantly, without having to jump through a lot of technical hoops!

I wrote about much of this in 2007 and wanted to bring some of thoughts back to you today, as they still apply!.

Let's begin... :-)

Many online merchants do not have an effective data management system to market their most up to date product catalog through the various marketing channels. These channels include affiliate sites, comparison shopping engines, mobile commerce and other shopping destination sites available to them online.

Or, if they do have a "data management system" in place, this system relies on methods that often lead to marketing outdated products that are not consistent with the most up to date product catalog information residing within the shopping cart. The result is "outdated" product catalog data marketed into marketing channels which leads to a myriad of issues.

In either scenario, it is essential that:

A. The online merchant understand how critical it is to market data that is functionally the same as the data that is on their online storefront, and

B. That online merchants are provided a methodology and a process to ensure that the data they market is consistent with what appears on their online site.

In the following writings, I will try and answer these questions:

• Why using your storefront data should be the "initial" access point to use when marketing your online storefront, anywhere and anytime?
• What key elements of the data you use for marketing needs to be consistent with what you have on your online storefront "right now", and which should not be consistent (there are times for this too)? and
• How often does your marketing information need to be updated to maintain concurrency?
  Why Using Storefront Data Should Be The "Initial" Access Point For All Marketing Feeds

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to see the full piece I wrote --- I think it is pretty helpful and thorough, so check it out.

(Yes, it is free -- you don't have to enter any information to read it all, PROMISE!!!)

Happy Reading!

-- Chip