Integrating 3^rd Party Rich Data

Allow your products to sell themselves!

Benefits of Rich Data

Selling products effectively online generally means ensuring that you provide the most comprehensive and compelling content for every product.

Detailed product data helps in a number of ways:

• Improve Search Engine Optimisation by maximising content
• Provide Powerful Filtering to aid navigation
• Help customers choose the correct item for themselves, meaning
  • fewer phone calls for information
  • fewer returns due to the wrong item being purchased
  • fewer lost sales because the customer cannot find the item they are looking for and goes to a competitor instead

Add powerful and relevant filtering to your website

Ideally, your website should include some or all of the following for each of your products (all of which are supported by axis vMerchant):

• Detailed descriptions and notes
• Specifications
• Multiple Images (possibly including 360° images)
• Video
• Cross-Sells (or alternatives)
• Optional Extras
• Data Sheets

This range of information is known collectively as Rich Data.

3^rd Party Data Providers

Fortunately, for those operating in a number of markets (in particular Office Products, Printer Consumables and Technology), there are 3^rd party suppliers of product data that cover some or all of the areas listed above.

axis vMerchant supports external data from the following suppliers:

• CNet - multiple markets including technology and consumer electronics
• Open Range - office products and technology
• Spicers - office products
• Stock In The Channel - office products and technology
• Toolbank - power tools and hand tools
• Vow - office products

For those who are unable to take advantage of an established supplier of rich data, either because you operate in a different market or because you are producing your own products, all of the data types described above can be maintained in axis diplomat so the tools are available to allow you to maintain this information yourself.

How Does It Work?

Different providers publish updates at varying intervals but your axis vMerchant web server will check every day for updates from your chosen data provider. When an update is found, it is automatically imported into your website and data matched to the stock items published from your axis diplomat system (by either primary or alternative references).

This means that, once configured, you can sit back and leave the automated systems to look after the website's rich product data - there are no imports or manual updates to run.