Having quality, organized product data is essential for helping customers find what they need and complete purchases. Product Data Quality is the third of Layer One’s 14 Focus Points for manufacturers and distributors.
In this article, we share some of the tactics Layer One uses to help clients achieve product data success and improve their eCommerce performance.
Channel Readiness
We begin by collaborating with your product management team to establish both the minimum acceptable threshold for product publishing and the targeted data standard. While we provide guidance on best practices, the final standards are determined by your business goals.
Our automated processes regularly:
- Audit data for required platform-specific fields (titles, descriptions, manufacturer numbers, etc.)
- Ensure attributes critical to search accuracy are complete (for example, dimensions placed correctly so a 4” pipe filter returns accurate results)
- Confirm product imagery is present, consistent, and properly scaled across similar products
Taxonomy
The structure of your data, your taxonomy, is fundamental to a smooth customer experience and increased conversions.
Our team can:
- Consolidate multiple taxonomies into a single ingestion point for your platform
- Design or restructure your taxonomy to fit customer needs
- Reduce or simplify overly complex hierarchies
- Right-size category depth and alignment with filters
- Align taxonomy with product categories, search, and navigation
Brand Pages
Some platforms, like Optimizely, include brand page templates that primarily serve SEO indexing. We take these pages further, transforming them into strong conversion tools for brand-loyal buyers.
We help clients:
- Define what brand-focused content should be displayed
- Enrich and enhance data to improve customer engagement
- Organize products by type and usage
- Highlight the most purchased and highest-margin products
- Ensure proper product linking and live data feeds
- Configure search and autofill to surface brand pages effectively
Product Availability
While most eCommerce platforms support real-time pricing and stock levels, displaying raw data isn’t always ideal. We help clients design smarter availability experiences that improve usability without revealing sensitive data.
- Custom stock icons (Green, Yellow, Red) to show inventory levels
- Display next closest location with stock when primary is out
- Round stock levels to protect sensitive information
- Show “Call for Quote” for zero-stock items
ERP Integration
Transitioning from a catalog-only or quote-driven site to a transactional eCommerce experience often requires ERP integration. We build more than simple data connections—we design reliable, scalable, and flexible integrations.
- Fault-tolerant: No lost orders, with error checking and alerts
- Performant: Uses caching to maintain storefront speed
- Scalable: Built to support long-term growth
- Expandable: Can support multiple storefronts or business units
- Flexible: Easily adapted as business or data structures evolve
Final Thoughts
These are just a few of the ways Layer One helps manufacturers and distributors achieve online success through better product data. From channel readiness to ERP integration, we ensure your data drives visibility, efficiency, and sales.
Let’s talk about your product data challenges and how we can help.
Product Data Quality is the third of Layer One's 
See the other 13 Focus Points for Manufacturers and Distributors here!