I’ve spent 25 years learning how product data can transform eCommerce success. And what I’ve discovered is that the companies recognizing this shift are finding new opportunities, while those still learning about product content as a strategic asset are missing potential growth.
Let me start with a story that changed everything for me.
The Endless Aisle
Back when I was managing product data at Lowe’s Home Improvement, we faced an ambitious challenge: take our Kitchen and Bath category from displaying only stocked items to showcasing each manufacturer’s entire selection online. We called it the “endless aisle.”
Suddenly, we weren’t just listing a few hundred products – we were creating digital experiences for thousands of items. And here’s what I learned: when you’re dealing with that scale and complexity, product data isn’t just information – it’s your entire customer experience strategy.
We had to ensure every filtering attribute was populated with normalized, customer-friendly values. We built short descriptions that helped customers instantly understand what made each product unique in a sea of search results. We grouped similar items by size, shape, function, and finish so customers could easily see the full variety of options on a single product detail page. We created robust datasets of related products – because what good is selling an undermount sink if the customer doesn’t know they need a drain and mounting clips?
That project showed me something important: great product content isn’t about having information – it’s about having the right information organized in ways that build confidence and drive decisions.
A Common Starting Point
Over the past decade of building Unilog’s CX1 PIM and expanding our content services (which have been Unilog’s foundation since 1998), I’ve encountered a common assumption: that an image and a basic description are sufficient for B2B eCommerce Platform success.
I understand why this feels logical – it’s how many of us started. But I’ve learned that B2B customers need something deeper.
In B2B markets, your customers are making technical purchasing decisions with real consequences. They need detailed specifications, compliance certifications, dimensional data, and compatibility information. Your product data serves as their confidence builder – the digital equivalent of a trusted sales engineer who knows every technical detail.
Your Product Information Management (PIM) system isn’t just organizing data – it’s building the foundation for customer trust.
Beyond Conversion: The Hidden Power of Quality Data
Everyone talks about how better product content improves conversion rates and reduces returns. That’s true, but it misses the bigger picture.
Quality product data creates something much more valuable: customer loyalty through trust.
When customers know they can rely on the information on your site, you become their go-to resource. Your B2B product data doesn’t just support sales – it positions you as the authoritative source in your market. Think of it as making your site the encyclopedia of your product industry. Customers return not just to buy, but to learn, research, and discover solutions.
This is especially critical for smaller distributors. The volume and cost of comprehensive product data used to be a significant barrier that favored large national players. Now, with sophisticated Content Enrichment Services and Digital Catalog Solutions, independent distributors can compete on equal footing in our digital-first marketplace.
The Reality Check: What We Actually Get from Manufacturers
Here’s something that might surprise you: even with our expertise at Unilog, we regularly receive “data feeds” that are nothing more than pricing lists or PDFs with part numbers. I’ve seen Excel spreadsheets formatted for printing paper catalogs, with column headers scattered throughout to match print layouts – absolutely impossible to work with systematically.
Even with our team’s expertise, these formats challenge us – and I have deep respect for distributors trying to manage and enrich product data while running their core business operations.
This experience has shown me why product content needs ongoing attention. It’s a living asset that requires constant care, normalization, and enrichment. Markets evolve, products change, regulations shift. The most effective PIM and eCommerce software solutions are designed to accommodate this reality.
The AI Revolution (With a Reality Check)
The integration of AI into product data processes is genuinely exciting, but let me share some hard-earned wisdom: AI should be your co-pilot, not your autopilot.
After years of testing with Google, DataRobot, and other AI companies, we’ve never achieved better than 80% accuracy on complex tasks like product classification. When you have thousands of categories and an item gets classified incorrectly, the cascading effects are significant – wrong attributes, poor findability, customer confusion, lost sales.
However, AI excels at providing multiple intelligent suggestions that human experts can quickly evaluate and select. This combination delivers efficiency gains while maintaining the accuracy that B2B customers demand.
My prediction: companies that don’t monitor their AI product data processes will inject inaccurate information into the marketplace, which other AI tools will then pick up as “truth.” This makes trusted, human-vetted data sources even more valuable.
Where We’re Heading
The next 3-5 years will bring unprecedented complexity to product data management:
- Volume explosion: More products, more variants, more technical specifications
- Update frequency: Manufacturers pushing changes faster than ever
- Feature complexity: Next-generation eCommerce capabilities demanding richer, more structured data
- AI proliferation: More automated processes creating more potential for error propagation
For distributors, this evolution presents both challenges and opportunities: invest in professional-grade product content management to stay competitive, or risk falling behind in an increasingly data-driven marketplace.
Your Starting Point: The High-Impact Strategy
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by where to start, here’s an approach that’s worked well for many distributors: focus first on your highest-margin, fastest-turning products that your company is known for.
Invest in enriching these completely – populate all filtering attributes, group products intelligently, ensure high-quality images, and complete sets of related technical documents. Then measure the KPIs before and after deployment. The increases in sales, conversion rates, and organic traffic, combined with decreased returns, will quickly prove ROI to management and fund expansion to your remaining catalog.
The Democratization Mission
What drives me most about our work at Unilog is simple: we’re leveling the playing field. The sophisticated distributor eCommerce solutions that were once available only to massive retailers are now accessible to independent distributors who care deeply about their customers and communities.
After countless demos, the feedback I hear most often is that our CX1 PIM system just makes sense – the UI is clear, the features are intuitive, it meets their needs and budget. That’s intentional. It’s the result of building solutions alongside people who’ve wrestled with these challenges for decades.
The Path Forward
Your product data serves as your online sales team. Just as you invest in training and supporting your field sales team, your digital product information deserves the same level of attention and care.
The distributors finding success today recognize that investing in product content isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s become essential for growth. They understand that in our increasingly digital marketplace, data quality can be just as important as product quality in building customer confidence.
When customers trust your information, they trust your company. And trust, once earned, becomes your most sustainable competitive advantage.
The opportunity isn’t just about keeping up – it’s about positioning your business to lead in your market through superior product content. Some distributors are already discovering that exceptional product data can become a true differentiator.
At Unilog, we’ve spent over 25 years perfecting the tools, processes, and expertise to help distributors not just compete, but find new opportunities through superior product content. Because in eCommerce, trust isn’t just a feature – it’s the foundation that everything else builds upon.
