Blue Dreamer Blog
Written articles and my personal thoughts on web design, ecommerce, the internet and odd ramblings about life, the universe and everything!
Suppliers and their poor web content
At the time of writing I’m working on a few shopping cart sites and relying on my clients suppliers for the product data - text copy, images, codes and so on. Having this data to hand means it can be imported straight into the shopping cart database, thus avoiding lengthy sessions typing everything in by hand. However, sometimes I find that the quality of information provided by suppliers and wholesalers leave a lot to be desired…
Typical examples of poor information
- Over optimised or poor quality images
- Images in all shapes and sizes (no standard sizes)
- Images using inconsistent file names, and even worse spaces in filenames!
- No product descriptions
- Spelling/grammar mistakes
- Products no longer available
- Duplicate products/product codes
- Images and data supplied in a Word document (yes it does happen!)
Any web designer who’s involved with importing to databases will understand!
My suppliers wishlist
- Images supplied using consistent canvas sizes
- Images supplied in at least 3 sizes - thumbnail, normal and large
- Systematic naming convention for product images
- Complete product descriptions, codes options where applicable and wholesale price
- Suggested category name/group
- Product data supplied in .CSV format including image names
- Product updates supplied regularly in .CSV format
That’s not really a lot to ask is it. Surely it’s in the suppliers interest to provide the best information possible to aid sales and present a more professional image?
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