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Here’s assuming that Seller A and Seller B are using online classifieds to sell a pair of identical-looking row houses in the same neighborhood. While Seller A goes through great lengths to include metadata such as a well-worded description of the house, insights into the local community, pictures, unique features, and interesting tidbits, Seller B posts a straightforward “4 Bedroom House for Sale” advertisement devoid of additional details. It goes without saying that Seller A has exponentially greater odds of completing a sale. In the same vein, when an identical product is being funneled through multiple channels—be it ecommerce, B2B, B2C, POS, or direct-to-consumer—the platform with the superior product catalog is bound to hold a distinct advantage. Besides providing the consumer with in-depth product information such as title, dimensions, pricing, and imagery, the online platform must have the SEO capability to ensure that a simple keyword search entry such as “latest smartphone 2019” drives traffic to their website, to ensure that their product line is duly discovered. The third critical requirement for retailers is to comply with quality constraints and best practices followed by the likes of Amazon, eBay, and Shopify. Easier said than done, considering the hoards of distributors, wholesalers, and retailers leveraging the same channels, fighting tooth-and-nail to ensure their products are competitive, complete, and compliant.

SKUmagic, which specializes in product catalog diagnostic AI and analytics for the ecommerce sector, is equipping retailers and shopping platforms with tools to unlock their full potential. “By providing sellers channel-specific scorecarding, we grade their potential success rate across channels such as Amazon and eBay.

We’ve built a flexible cloud database with analytics as the queen, which layers over content, the king

Just like a car mechanic, we pinpoint everything wrong with their product catalog while using the barometers of best practices, data quality rules, SEO, image analytics, and cognitive sources such as computer vision. The product catalog score lets them know if they are ready to blossom across channels,” explains Anand Ayyar, Managing Partner of SKUmagic.

To determine said product catalog score, SKUmagic offers its clients a Microsoft Azure cloud-based content analytics platform with built-in big data, analytics, product management, business intelligence, and SEO elements. The platform automatically generates data readiness reports so sellers can align the actionable insights with their omnichannel sales. “We’ve built a flexible cloud database with analytics as the queen, which layers over content, the king. Once we ingest data from a client’s existing Product Information Management (PIM) system, we’re able to display actionable insights such as charts, graphs, pie charts, and gaping holes in their product catalog. Bad data isn’t good for commerce, and that’s what we’re eliminating,” adds Ayyar. Depending on the time taken to retrieve data from a client, SKUmagic is able to onboard a customer within two weeks. While also offering an easy-to-deploy SaaS platform, SKUmagic follows a “pay-as-you-go” model, which is favorable for startups and capital-strapped firms looking for quality solutions to gain a competitive edge.

The analytics-based SaaS platform is a boon for agencies that don’t have resources to deploy for software development or maintenance. Rather than leveraging an expensive product information management (PIM) software, ecommerce agencies can focus on improving their product catalog based off of the actionable insights generated by SKUmagic. As part of the SaaS, SKUmagic assigns a dedicated account manager for every agency.

In another added benefit, agencies can rebrand the interface and login screen as per their requirements.

The SKUmagic content analytics platform was particularly helpful to a client in the tech industry. A Fortune 100 company, the organization needed over 5,000 sales reps to access product details such as launch dates, pricing, videos, and descriptions on their mobile devices in real time. This was a complex project since SKUmagic had to work alongside dealers, distributors, and internal sales reps of the client. After working with vendors who collaborated with the client in designing the products, SKUmagic ensured the customer’s master cloud database was compliant with quality standards. “We collaborated with writers, copywriters, image specialists to create a quality product catalog. We also developed a vendor onboarding tool so vendors of the client could collaborate easily. Today, the customer has successfully created a massive data repository while complying with industry-regulated guidelines,” says Ayyar.

SKUmagic’s value proposition isn’t restricted to just existing and prospective brands. Any ecommerce retailer or agency can visit SKUmagic’s official website and upload their product catalog file (CSV) to access a demo version of the SKUmagic content analytics platform. The demo version automatically runs a 31-point checklist of best practices and displays results using charts and widgets. Upon using the demo, agencies and businesses can discover the ailments that are curtailing their sales and ability to compete in the cutthroat marketplace.

A bright future awaits SKUmagic in a digital world where products get increasingly complex, and so do the challenges faced by sellers. By referencing the annual blood test analogy, Ayyar believes retailers would need to undergo regular content diagnostics to know where they stand in terms of dealing with data care, and the ailments facing them. SKUmagic will continue to refine its platform with deep machine learning and AI capabilities. “Everyone wants to be Amazon but lack the tools. We are providing them the tools,” concludes Ayyar.