High quality product data – a key success factor

Creating engaging and easy to read content that aims to cater to the customers’ needs is the way to go, rather than overwhelming them with mountains of information that might not be relevant to them. High quality product data is a key success factor in attracting the customers and ensuring they stick over time.

We have all been there - you order something online, excitedly wait for the product to arrive, only to be disappointed to find out that the product is not exactly as advertised. The coat you bought is just a little bit longer than described, or the color of your new shoes is off-white, and not pure white as displayed in the image. The vast majority of ecommerce shoppers returned at least one item they purchased, due to inaccurate information provided to them in the product page. The main cause of such misrepresentation of products is lack of poor quality product data, and shoppers who experience such misrepresentations are most likely never to visit the store again.  

High Quality Product Data Boosts B2B Ecommerce

In B2B online stores, the importance of high quality product data is even more important, since in this case these are other businesses who depend on the accuracy of the information you provide. For example, if a constructor purchases from your handyman store 1,000 specifically sized screws, only to find out that their actual size is different, it now places the customer’s business in a difficult situation, causing you to lose a valuable customer. 

In order for an online store to succeed in the B2B world, it must guarantee its customers a good shopping experience. Since it only takes shoppers a few seconds to make a decision whether to stay in the store or move on to the next one, it is important for sellers to create both attractive and accurate product data. Presenting shoppers with high quality data is a great way to improve the performance of the store. 

Let’s look into why product data is so important, and how it can help your store.

The Importance of High Quality Product Data

Despite, or perhaps thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, ecommerce has been prospering, with a 25.7% surge in global ecommerce in 2020. Ecommerce is quickly becoming the main way to shop for a growing segment of the population. Product pages, which contain the product data, should be used to engage and attract potential customers. Sellers may use the product data to highlight how their products can help the customers, and to set them apart from the competition. High quality product data is essential for every business that wants to succeed in the ecommerce world. 

Product Data and Shopping Experience

Providing customers a good shopping experience is an excellent way to make sure they will come back to the store. Nowadays, online stores must put in a lot of effort in designing the website in a manner that will give the shoppers the best experience, whether it is through easy and efficient site navigation or a speedy checkout process. High quality product data helps sellers provide such an experience. Creating engaging and easy to read content that aims to cater to the customers’ needs is the way to go, rather than overwhelming them with mountains of information that might not be relevant to them.  

It is important to study the behavior of the customers, in order to find out what their preferences are. This information may be gathered from search queries, orders, and customer support, and it will help sellers see the store from the potential customer’s point of view. Knowing what the customers want, sellers then can use this information to optimize their product data accordingly. 

Listening to customers, and acting on the insights gathered, can help sellers create a more personal connection with customers, encouraging them to come back to the store time after time. It only takes a bit of effort to collect and implement the data, to give customers an upgraded shopping experience.  

Personalize the Shopping Experience 

Product data may be used to personalize the customers’ shopping experience. Think of Ebay - it registers which products the customers are browsing, and knows to suggest to them similar or related products as well. Ebay relies on product data collected from specific shoppers, to personalize their experience, meaning that two customers may not see the same recommendations. This type of personalization causes shoppers to stay longer in the store and brings a high conversion rate. Investing the effort in learning what your customers want will help sellers personalize the shopping experience and help the business grow.