Product Data Isn't an IT Problem — It's a Commercial One

From the Supplier & Manufacturer Perspective

For years, product data has been treated as a technical concern. Something for IT teams to "sort out" once the real business problems are dealt with.

After more than three decades working inside real retail and supply-chain environments, we can say this with confidence:

Product data problems don't show up as data problems. They show up as commercial, operational, and relationship problems.

Delayed listings.
Frustrated resellers.
Lost trust.
Missed revenue.

And yet, many suppliers and manufacturers are still trying to manage this with spreadsheets, emails, and workarounds that were never designed to scale.

A Note on Perspective

Before going any further, it's important to be clear about the lens this article is written through.

This piece is deliberately written from the supplier and manufacturer side of the fence.

Retailers and resellers face their own product data challenges - but the roles, responsibilities, pressures, and incentives are very different. Having worked extensively on both sides, this article focuses specifically on the organisations expected to create, maintain, and distribute accurate product information to multiple downstream channels.

That distinction matters.

We've Seen This Before — Long Before PIM Was a commonly used term

Our experience with product data didn't start when PIM became fashionable.

It goes back to the early 1990s, implementing ERP systems and integrating POS and WMS platforms in large retail environments such as Woolworths.

The tools were different. The terminology didn't exist.

But the challenge was exactly the same:

Getting accurate product information to the right systems, at the right time, so the business could trade.

Since then, we've worked across the full end-to-end supply chain, implementing and integrating ERP, WMS, POS, ecommerce, and PIM solutions for organisations including Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Sainsbury's, JD Sports, and Toolstation.

Across every business — retailer or supplier — one pattern has remained remarkably consistent.

How Product Data Problems Really Show Up (for Suppliers)

When product data breaks down, nobody raises a ticket saying "We have a PIM issue."

Instead, in supplier and manufacturer organisations, what happens is this:

Product launches get delayed
Trade account managers can't answer reseller questions confidently
Different channels show different versions of the same product
Teams spend time firefighting instead of moving the business forward

The burden often lands on two roles — particularly on the supplier side.

Product Data Managers (Supplier-Side)

Often the accidental owners of product truth within supplier organisations.

They're accountable for accuracy across:

Resellers and wholesalers
Marketplaces
Owned ecommerce channels
Product or brand websites

But they rarely have full authority, clear ownership boundaries, or tools designed for that reality.

Trade Account Managers (Supplier-Side)

The people managing reseller and wholesale relationships every day.

They're measured on:

Responsiveness
Confidence
Trust

Yet they're often dependent on product information they don't control - and are the ones left explaining inconsistencies to frustrated partners.

This isn't a people problem. It's a structural one.

Why Spreadsheets and Emails Don't Scale

Many suppliers accept manual product data management as "just part of the job".

But the moment a supplier supports:

Multiple resellers or wholesalers
Its own ecommerce site
Marketplaces
Product websites that redirect customers elsewhere

Manual processes become organisational debt.

Every spreadsheet becomes another version of the truth. Every email attachment becomes another opportunity for error. Every "temporary workaround" quietly becomes permanent.

In supplier organisations - where product data must flow outwards to many different partners — this debt compounds very quickly.

We've seen this at every scale.

The Enterprise PIM Trap

On paper, enterprise PIM platforms promise to solve all of this.

In practice, many implementations:

Take months (or years) to deliver value
Require heavy consultancy and specialist teams
Focus on complex data models and attributes instead of day-to-day workflows
Assume a level of internal maturity that many suppliers simply don't have

Having implemented PIM solutions for both large retailers and the suppliers that support them, we've seen how often these tools struggle once they hit operational reality.

Too often, teams end up with a powerful system — and still rely on spreadsheets and emails to actually get work done.

What Suppliers Actually Need

After decades inside real businesses, one thing is clear:

Suppliers don't need more complexity. They need control.

They need:

One trusted version of product truth
A practical way to share product information across channels
Faster onboarding of resellers
Confidence that what's being shared is accurate and up to date

Most importantly, they need tools designed around how supplier organisations actually operate, not how idealised process diagrams say they should.

Why We Built VendorSauce

We built VendorSauce because we kept seeing the same problems repeat - regardless of industry, size, or systems in place.

After building a fully-fledged PIM and working closely with over 800 suppliers through large distribution groups, the insight became unavoidable:

Suppliers are expected to power multiple selling channels - even when they don't control the checkout - but are given the worst tools to do it.

VendorSauce exists to change that.

It's a practical, supplier-focused way to own one version of product truth and share it confidently with resellers, marketplaces, internal teams, and owned channels - without enterprise theatre.

Product Data Is a Commercial Asset

Whether you sell direct, indirect, or both, your product information shapes how your brand is perceived long before a customer reaches checkout.

Treating product data as an IT problem guarantees one outcome: commercial teams end up paying the price.

Treating it as a commercial asset changes everything:

Faster time to market
Stronger reseller relationships
Less internal friction
Better use of people's time

That's not theory. It's what we've seen play out, repeatedly, over decades.

Final Thought

Product data doesn't need to be exciting.

But for suppliers and manufacturers, it does need to work - reliably, consistently, and at scale.

The organisations that recognise this early, and treat product data as a core commercial capability rather than background admin, are the ones that grow with confidence instead of chaos.

Interested in learning how VendorSauce can help your organisation take control of product data? Get in touch to discuss your specific challenges.