How to create perfect order in goods: implementing a single standard for the product base

The reason for this chaos is the lack of unified standards for working with information. In large businesses, this problem is solved by MDM (Master Data Management) — an approach that creates a single, reference, and error-free source of data.

For retail and working with Torgsoft, MDM means one simple thing: perfect order in product directories, so business scaling does not turn into a disaster.

Why does «junk» data appear?

Most often, the database turns into a dump of duplicates because of several typical mistakes:

1. Different price list formats from suppliers. In one Excel file, the barcode is recorded as a number, in another — as text. The program reads them differently and creates duplicates.

2. Human factor. Salespeople enter names differently or create new categories on their own (one created the branch «Toys», another — «Toy»).

3. Incorrect import settings. The program searches for a product only by name and, if it does not find a 100% match with the supplier's price list, creates a new card instead of updating the existing one.

5 steps to perfect order (MDM) in Torgsoft

To minimize manual work and always trust your reports, configure the system according to five rules.

1. Centralized control (Data Governance)

The main rule of order: only one responsible person (for example, the owner or the chief merchandiser) should have the right to change the database structure.

• How to do this in Torgsoft? Go to the user role settings. For all regular salespeople and trainees, be sure to uncheck «Allowed to change product types». This will instantly protect your «Product Type Tree» from duplicate categories and chaos across different retail locations.

2. Proper price list preparation (Data Quality)

Most errors are brought into the database at the stage of importing invoices from supplier Excel files.

• Excel hygiene. Always select the entire table before import and convert the cell format to «Text». This is critically important. If you do not do this, Excel may «eat» the zeros at the beginning of barcodes or turn article numbers into dates. Also make sure that the product description does not contain hidden line breaks (pressing the Enter key). For speed, you can use a special text macro in Torgsoft.

3. Smart search during import (Data Matching)

For the program to clearly understand where an old product is in stock and where a new one has appeared, you need to configure the recognition logic correctly.

• How to configure it in Torgsoft? In the import form, set priorities in the «Product search parameters» field. Set the search first by barcode and only then by article number. If the barcode matches, the program will simply update stock balances and prices.

• Update, do not create. Enable the «Update product parameters» switch. Then, if the supplier sent a price list with a better description or new characteristics, Torgsoft will automatically enrich the existing card instead of creating a new one. And if there are no category columns in the price list, use the «Parent node» function so the batch automatically goes into the correct branch.

4. Name automation (Data Standardization)

Do not let employees invent product names manually.

• Solution. Use the «Product name generation rule» setting. Torgsoft can build names automatically using a formula. For example: [Product type] + [Manufacturer] + [Model] + [Color] + [Size].

• During import, simply enable the «Lock product name» checkbox, and all your thousands of items will have perfectly uniform, standardized names (for example, «Nike AirMax Sneakers Black 42»). This is ideal for uploading to Prom or Rozetka.

5. What should you do if errors have already occurred and the database is cluttered? Do not search for them one by one.

• Merging duplicates. Go to Merchandising -> Error Diagnostics. The system will find products with the same barcodes but different names. You can merge products: the program will remove the unnecessary entries and carefully combine the entire movement history and stock balances into one correct (reference) card.

• Bulk classification. On the «Directory Assignment» tab, filter all «orphaned» products (where product type or manufacturer is not specified). Select them as a list and click «Edit» to assign hundreds of products to the correct branch in one click.

Summary

Програма обліку товару для інтернет-магазинів, крамниць, торгових точок, складів та виробництва