A good photograph and a price are not enough to make a product orderable. You also need to know which unit is sold, how many a case contains, and which reference the ERP, the distributor and the warehouse will recognise.
Give each identifier a role
The SKU is your internal reference. The GTIN identifies a trade item in the supply chain. According to GS1, a trade item is any product or service that can be priced, ordered or invoiced. The identifier is therefore not reserved for what passes through a till.
Keep the SKU, the GTIN and the partner’s code separate. A distributor can use its own item code without changing yours. A mapping table should record the partner, its code, the unit concerned and the period of validity. Replacing your SKU with the latest code received makes earlier exchanges hard to reconcile.
Describe the units before the prices
| Level | Description | Data to transmit |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer unit | One 200 ml bottle | Reference, net content and the identifier for that unit |
| Order pack | A case of 12 bottles | 12 units per case, matching identifier where applicable |
| Logistics unit | Pallet made up of cases | Composition, dimensions and weight for the configuration |
| Pricing unit | Price expressed per bottle | Currency, excl. or incl. VAT, validity date and reference quantity |
The GS1 data model distinguishes the packaging levels. In your catalogue, make the conversion explicit: ordering 3 cases of 12 means 36 bottles. “Quantity: 3” with no unit does not allow a reliable delivery to be prepared.
- Product sold
Identify the 200 ml bottle and its reference.
- Packaging
Describe the case of 12 bottles and its identifier where applicable.
- Price and quantity
State the pricing unit, the currency and the period of validity.
The SKU, the GTIN and the partner code each keep their own role; keep the mapping between them.
Build a common data core
- →Identification: stable SKU, short description, range, variant, active or discontinued status.
- →Ordering: unit sold, multiple, minimum, conversion and whether references can be mixed.
- →Price: amount, currency, applicable taxes, customer group concerned and effective dates.
- →Logistics: dimensions and weight with their units, storage constraints, lead time and packaging.
- →Presentation: accurate description, images matching the variant and documents useful to the buyer.
Add the regulatory information relevant to your product category with the person responsible for it. A commercial catalogue does not replace labelling obligations. Avoid carrying over a claim from an old document without checking that it is still justified for the reference and the market concerned.
Check the files before publishing them
Structural checks
An identifier can start with a zero: import it as text so a spreadsheet does not transform it. Check the encoding, the decimal separator and the unit of measurement. A dimension of “15” must come with “cm” or “mm”. An empty cell must mean “unknown” or “not applicable” according to a documented convention, never both without distinction.
Business checks
An active reference must not have a case pack of zero. A promotional price must have a coherent period. Two variants must not accidentally share the same identifier. A reference that has been discontinued but is still in stock may need a status distinct from a product that cannot be ordered at all.
Test the file with a real order: search, choice of variant, quantity, discount, confirmation and picking. The guide to B2B order-taking software gives the scenarios to include in the pilot.
Manage changes without rewriting history
A price list can change on 1 October without changing the price of an order accepted on 20 September. Keep the values applied to the transaction and a dated version of the catalogue. The same principle applies to case packs: going from 12 to 10 units per case must not retrospectively change the quantities of an old delivery.
For a change of product or packaging, check the applicable GTIN allocation rules with GS1. Do not decide that a change has no consequence simply because the commercial name stays the same. Inform partners with an effective date and a mapping between old and new references where that makes sense.
Assign the correction to the right team
Marketing can own the description and the visuals, logistics the dimensions, sales the terms and finance the taxes. Even so, appoint someone responsible for publishing the catalogue. Without a final review, everyone can hold locally correct data while the customer receives an inconsistent assembly.
Keep a log of the corrections, who made them and who needs to be told. When a partner reports an error, fix the source before sending another file. Otherwise the next export will reintroduce the problem. That discipline also makes EDI or API exchanges easier: automation speeds up the circulation of good data and of bad data alike.
By Anatole Briant
By Pierre Lerebours
By Anatole Briant
COO of Salesia
Pierre Lerebours is COO of Salesia. He is your contact for implementation, training and ongoing support.