Ecommerce Remedy: What to Do If Important Manufacturers are Missing from Your Co-op’s Database
December 4, 2023
If you’ve joined a wholesale distribution co-op or buyers group, chances are you’ve gained access to their manufacturer product database as well. It is very unlikely, however, that all your manufacturers are part of it. Many of these groups are leveling the B2B eCommerce playing field by hosting manufacturer product content databases, but not all manufacturers choose to share their product information with co-ops and other third-party databases. That means you must go directly to individual manufacturers to collect the information.
Making Ecommerce for Wholesale Distributors Less Painful
It’s a common problem most wholesale distributors will face as they grow their online business. Take Glacier Supply Group as an example. Many of this HVAC distributor’s key manufacturers, including Bosch and Napolean, weren’t part of Glacier Supply’s buyers group database. Their eCommerce website wouldn’t be complete without these manufacturers’ product lines, but if Glacier Supply acquired product data directly from those HVAC manufacturers, they would have to clean, format, and maintain the data themselves.
Fortunately there is a remedy. Anarus, with its Grand Anar product data exchange network, offered Glacier Supply a solution that benefited both the distributor and their manufacturers at the same time. Bosch and Napolean joined Grand Anar so their product information would be available to Glacier Supply and any other HVAC distributors the manufacturers chose to authorize. The advantage to them was that their data was standardized for ecommerce, with no effort on their part, as it entered the Grand Anar network.
An Easier Way for Manufacturers to Share and Control Their Product Information
Only Anarus modulates and synchronizes how manufacturers’ products and attributes are categorized across entire industries, allowing authorized distributors to access all the content they need to improve their buyer experience and sell more online.
Every manufacturer in the Grand Anar network has ongoing control over their data throughout their supplier ecosystem because updates and corrections can be pushed out through their Grand Anar connection. If their distributors are using Grand Anar and Stellar eCommerce together, then they have a direct connection that ensures the distributors are always presenting the latest product information. And the manufacturers don’t have to lift a finger.
Headache-free Access to Standardized eCommerce Data for Wholesale Distributors
The advantage to Glacier Supply and other distributors like them? They save hours upon hours of data cleaning and standardization for their website. Plus, they don’t have the ongoing headache of maintaining and updating the data. That makes eCommerce for wholesale distributors a lot less painful and levels the playing field between small wholesale businesses and big online retailers.
Visit the Anarus website to learn how Grand Anar standardizes data in its private cloud network so distributors can get authorized access to all of their participating manufacturers’ parts data in one place and in one consistent, ecommerce-ready format. For more insights, read the Glacier Supply case study or contact us for a demo.