Practicing old-school methods in running your eCommerce shop can provide you with mental satisfaction but is unable to fetch growth. You need to have knowledge of catalog management in eCommerce to excel in the online product-selling game.
Like before any special occasion comes, retail shops keep changing their display to attract shoppers, catalog updation works in the same way for online stores. In eCommerce, catalog management is a big task and has to be performed in the right way at the right time. Otherwise, it can lead to low product conversion, i.e., no sales.
Salsify's study has revealed some shocking statistics about eCommerce shopping, which we need to consider here. It reports that more than 87% of shoppers check whether the product content is updated or not before making a purchase. Hence, updating the products catalog constantly is extremely important to gain customer's trust at the very first glance.
Well, that's just a separate fact, the importance of optimized catalog management in eCommerce is far more broad. Let's talk more about how to manage eCommerce catalogs with the industry's best practices in this blog.
Let's MOVE into that!
About eCommerce Catalog Management
A catalog is basically a list of items arranged beautifully in a specific order. The role of catalogs is quite wide in eCommerce as it influences the selling of the products. The main idea here is to manage and consistently update the existing information and add new elements to all catalogs.
Catalogs are the first sales strategy that makes or breaks the deal. If shoppers find your catalogs attractive and convincing then it will generate a positive response. Understanding catalog management in eCommerce is important to put all updated data across all your sales channels.
Now, you might have developed an idea that managing an eCommerce product catalog is more like a technical juggle. You have to;
Sometimes you have to manage catalogs for different audiences, especially for logistical purposes. At that time, you can take the help of professional eCommerce catalog processing services to get all products managed perfectly.
Importance of Managing Updated Catalogs in eCommerce
Effective customer experiences can lead to more conversion, which indicates more sales. In eCommerce, catalogs present the first window where shoppers can check out for items. First impression matters in the catalog and thus you need to focus on that.
Updating catalogs for e-commerce selling is essentially important. Because a customer who clicks your page and then checks for your competitors' page might never return to your page again. At the B2C level, losing one customer is not a good sign. But in B2B, losing one customer means a big loss. Therefore, you need to make constant efforts to update catalogs on time to avoid losing clients. Well, the list of benefits for managing an updated product catalog is huge.
Better Customer Experience
Customers experience better when they find items quickly on eCommerce platforms. That's why the role of the catalog is huge in this domain. It navigates customers through all the products via glimpses. You have to make sure that you prepare the best product catalog through which your customers can easily navigate your product range.
Improve SEO Metrics
Frequent updates in product descriptions can boost search metrics. Adding appropriate keywords in the product description and changing them at intervals can significantly boost page traffic. In other words, catalog management in eCommerce with SEO helps your potential customers to find your products easily.
Brand Reputation Maintenance
Consistent updates on product range can help your brand to establish an anchor. It creates a brand image and protects that image for a long time. Also, it helps create a perception in customers' minds about your brand and helps in flourishing that.
Best Practices to Improve Catalog Management in eCommerce
To stand out your eCommerce brand, you need to manage your catalog properly. There are a few practices you can follow to improve managing all your catalogs.
Develop Consistency
Updating catalog information is not just a one-day thing, it's a regular practice. You need to be very consistent in your effort to manage catalogs. Oftentimes, silos take place in the operation and create unnecessary delays in updating the product data. So, you have to break all silos and take charge of your time. Think of updating the overall product information including the images and SKU (stock-keeping units) data. Only this way you can develop consistency in the overall process.
Keep adding alternative products
The best way to perform catalog management in eCommerce is to add alternative products to your product lists. It helps to market your other products besides the main products. Although you display the main product at the top and keep on adding alternate products to that. Suggesting other products alongside the main products helps you diversify your marketing strategy.
Do it innovatively
Your customers are probably bored by seeing the same thing multiple times. Even your competitors are doing the same practices. Amid this, to break the pattern, you need to take an innovative step to strike your audience with great remarks. Try to include recent search queries in your product description to attract intelligent traffic.
Do not forget the traditional ways
Well, printed product catalogs are not out of the trend. People literally search for it. So play smart and add a printed catalog to your website. It will not take much time, you can hire a graphics person to create it within an hour also. With all the details of your products, don't forget to add QR codes to the list.
Lastly, catalog management in e-commerce is a long process and you have to develop it over time. No need to hurry to integrate the product catalogs if you don't know how to do it perfectly. Let professionals help you with that.
