Connecting a store, suppliers and stock

Assign a source to every value

A supplier’s price, your selling price and your own stock are different pieces of information. Assign a source and an update rule to each catalogue field. Decide which values staff can override and whether later imports may replace them. Otherwise a price update can overwrite an approved price or product description.

Match products with stable identifiers

Names are unreliable as the only matching key because suppliers write them differently. Use product identifiers, manufacturers and explicit variant rules. Collect examples of duplicates, bundles, packaging and replacements. When one source counts individual items and another counts boxes, agree on unit conversion before importing the whole catalogue.

Treat availability as time-sensitive

Decide how old stock information may be and what happens when an update is delayed. An uncertain item can require confirmation rather than promise availability. Specify when a reservation is created and who confirms it. Discuss the case where two customers simultaneously order the last available item, including the operator’s recovery workflow.

Make import results understandable

Staff need the last update time, processed item counts and a list of problematic rows. One failed product must not disappear among thousands of successful records. A trial import and change comparison help review large updates. Assign responsibility for unusual price changes and specify which operations require approval before they run.

Connect the catalogue to the order

Check the complete journey: find the product, understand its specifications, confirm the price, calculate delivery and produce documents. Minpromarket connects its catalogue to supplier price and stock imports, ordering and paperwork. PGS needs technical specifications, variants and alternatives. Catalogue structure should follow how the customer actually chooses equipment.

What an estimate needs

Prepare real anonymised supplier files, information about access, catalogue size and the required update frequency. Include several difficult product examples and an order with delivery. This makes it possible to estimate matching, cleanup and failure handling separately from the storefront, and identify external dependencies before development begins.