Why synchronize data?
While EDI is great in eliminating manual functions and reducing transcription errors, it remains highly dependent on good information. Automating wrong information just makes the bad stuff get there quicker – not much of a gain!
Initiating a supply side process with up-to-date product information allows corporations to greatly reduce mistakes in ordering the wrong product, which leads to lost sales and logistics mayhem. With vendors populating the right product data on a catalogue, you can ensure that your next purchase order will be based on good information which will lead to a swifter, more efficient procure to pay process.
More and more, retailers are putting programs together to synchronize data with vendors in an effort to streamline their procurement process. InterTrade facilitates both ends of the equation by allowing retailers to connect to large pools of data as well as give interesting low cost alternatives to vendors who are required to participate in such programs.
Private catalogue or data pool?
From a retailer stand point, you can select either mode. The price structure is a little different and the functionalities vary but the essence of sharing data and aligning the purchasing cycle can be reached either way.
While data pools are great to share data with a large number of retailers, some organizations feel that the data format and orchestration limits the data elements and special functionalities they require. Private catalogues offer more flexibility but require vendors to produce data information that is sometimes more complicated to assemble.
It really boils down to what is the quickest and easiest way to reach your community.
Can I do both?
Retailers will typically choose one or the other, but depending on what their vendors use, they may select use both. Very few integrators can allow you to use both, but InterTrade has put together a single interface that allows you to do so.
Whether you are a vendor required to post your product information on a catalogue or a distributor needing to capture that same data to prepare labels or initiate a picking process in a third party distribution center, InterTrade can make your life easier by giving you a common access to both data pools and private catalogues. Our platform allows you to post information in a single entity and communicate or retrieve data through a single tool. Data synchronization made easy, the InterTrade way!