How to Solve Product Data Chaos for eCommerce Teams: Guide with PIM

Product data chaos isn’t just annoying; it’s expensive. Companies lose an average of $12.9 – 15 million per year due to poor data quality and broken product info workflows.

Inconsistent or missing product info hurts search, conversions, and customer retention.

For example, errors in product feeds lead to up to 23% fewer clicks and 14% fewer conversions for marketing campaigns.

Why Product Chaos Hurts Ecommerce Teams

Imagine a shopper clicks on a product and finds three different sizes listed, two different colors mentioned, and no clear image. They leave instantly.

This is what product chaos looks like in practice:

• Inconsistent attributes (cm vs. inches, navy vs. dark blue)
• Duplicate product listings
• Missing or outdated descriptions
• Incorrect pricing or specifications

For eCommerce teams, this product chaos means more customer complaints, higher return rates, and lost revenue.

Worse, it wastes hours in manual fixes, leading to broken product data workflows where errors keep coming back.

What is Product Data Cleansing in Ecommerce?

Product data cleansing (or product data cleaning) is the process of correcting, standardizing, and enriching product information so it’s accurate, consistent, and ready for customers.

With clean product data, shoppers trust what they see, and teams spend less time fixing errors and more time selling.

5 Steps to Get Started With Product Data Cleansing

Getting rid of product data chaos starts with small, actionable steps.

Here’s how ecommerce teams can move from broken workflows to clean product data that drives results.

1. Audit your data
2. Standardize data formats
3. Clean & remove duplication
4. Enrich product content
5. Automate workflows

Step 1: Audit Your Data

The first step to solving ecommerce product data chaos is to audit your catalog. Look for duplicates, missing values, and inconsistent attributes that create broken product info workflows.

For example, one product might be listed as “Medium,” another as “M,” and another as “Size 3”, all describing the same shirt. And this can confuse the customer.

With a PIM like Apimio, you can quickly highlight gaps, duplicates, and mismatched attributes, helping you take control of your ecommerce product data.

Step 2: Standardize Data Formats

Once you’ve identified the issues, it’s time to standardize your data. This means choosing consistent naming conventions, attribute sets, and units of measurement.

Instead of mixing “cm” and “inches” or “Dark Blue” and “Navy Blue,” settle on one format.

Standardization prevents broken product data workflows in ecommerce and ensures your team works with clean product data.

A PIM system helps by letting you define attribute sets and validation rules so every product follows the same standard before it goes live.

Step 3: Clean & Remove Duplicates

After setting standards, focus on product data cleaning for ecommerce. Automated tools can flag duplicate SKUs or mismatched codes, while teams verify and correct them.

For instance, two suppliers might upload the same product under different IDs, creating unnecessary product chaos.

A PIM centralizes your data, making it easier to merge or remove duplicates and maintain ecommerce product information management at scale.

Step 4: Enrich Product Content

Cleansing doesn’t stop at fixing errors. You also need to add depth and richness to your catalog.

Adding details like care instructions, size charts, SEO keywords, and high-quality images improves both customer experience and discoverability.

For example, a simple “cotton shirt” listing enriched with fabric details and lifestyle photos not only builds trust but also reduces returns.

A PIM makes enrichment easier by letting you update and distribute product attributes and media across all channels instantly.

Step 5: Automate Workflows

Manual cleansing might fix today’s problems, but without automation, the chaos always returns.

To avoid slipping back, you need product information workflow automation. This includes scheduled audits, real-time validation rules, and automatic updates whenever supplier data changes.

For example, if your supplier updates a color from “Red” to “Crimson,” automation ensures it reflects everywhere without manual edits.

With Apimio PIM, you can automate workflows to keep ecommerce product data cleansing an ongoing process, not a one-time fix.

Beyond Cleansing: How Apimio PIM Fixes Broken Product Data Workflows

Cleansing helps fix errors in the moment, but it doesn’t stop new ones from coming back.

Apimio PIM goes further by preventing broken product data workflows and turning product chaos into a smooth, scalable process.

• Centralizing product information across suppliers and sales channels
• Automating product data cleaning for ecommerce
• Enabling real-time validation and version control
• Making content enrichment easier with structured workflows
• Simplifying ecommerce product information management for teams

With Apimio, cleansing is just the first step; what you get is long-term consistency, accuracy, and efficiency across every channel.

Benefits of Product Data Cleansing for Ecommerce

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a data cleansing process?

It’s the process of identifying and correcting errors, inconsistencies, and duplicates in product data to ensure accuracy and consistency.

2. Why is product data cleansing necessary?

Messy product data causes broken product info workflows, poor customer experiences, and lost revenue. Clean data ensures accuracy, efficiency, and trust.

3. How to maintain ecommerce product data?

By using automation tools, setting data standards, performing regular audits, and utilizing a PIM system like Apimio for ongoing monitoring and updates.

Conclusion: From Broken Workflows to Confident Teams

Product data chaos holds eCommerce businesses back. Cleansing your catalog, auditing, standardizing, cleaning, enriching, and automating is the first step toward order and efficiency.

But to prevent ecommerce product chaos from returning, teams need tools like Apimio PIM that fix broken product data workflows in ecommerce permanently.

The result? Stronger customer trust, smoother operations, and scalable growth.

What to do next?

• See how PIM for brands can help you enhance your brand operations.
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• Try Apimio PIM for free today and transform your ecommerce business!
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