What are the Different Types of Catalog used in Reseller Business

As we all know, an online catalog is a part of database that stores the categories, products and SKUs. It is a computerized index of product that enables you to search products by using various parameters such as product name, mfr. Part no, keywords etc.

When you are setting up your ecommerce store, you simply cannot ignore the process of designing your own online catalog. Irrespective of whether you want just one catalog for all your customers or multiple catalogs, each designed for a specific B2B client, it is important that you take your catalog creation and management process very seriously.

If you are an IT reseller, you will be dealing mainly with three types of catalogs. They are discussed below:

Aggregated Catalog

As a reseller, if you are connected to multiple distributors, you will have to create and maintain an Aggregated catalog. This will enable you to easily identify the distributors and the products they are offering. An aggregated catalog is created by combining catalogs coming from multiple distributors so as to give you a single window view of all products. Having all product information at one place is critical to run your online business in an efficient manner.

Having an up-to-date aggregated catalog is useful particularly when you are creating quotes for your prospects/customers. It doesn’t make sense to browse through multiple catalogs to view price of a specific products. Having separate catalogs can make your quoting process very time consuming. It can take hours to create a single quote as you have to search through different catalogs to get the best product price that you are looking for.

An aggregated catalog will enable you to streamline your quoting process. Since product data is available at a single location and easily accessible, you will be able to create quotes in minutes. To create and maintain such a catalog, incorporate an IT product catalog management software into your business. The software will automate your catalog management process.

In a B2B environment, every client has unique catalog requirements. So you simply cannot show the entire aggregated catalog to all your customers. You will have to display a unique selection of products in each catalog. Depending upon the requirements, you will have to include product categories that are specific to each catalog. In other words, you will have to tailor your aggregated catalog to the needs of your specific site users.

Custom Catalog

Depending solely on distributor products for growing your business is not a good option. No wonder, many times, IT resellers, apart from dealing with the distributors’ products, also sell their own products that do not flow through their distributors. These are commonly referred to as custom products that can also help to grow their business. In most cases, custom products available are in the form of bundles or additional services. Offering custom bundles for customers has shown to improve VAR business.

When it comes to maintaining custom catalog, do not depend on manual methods that requires considerable resources including staff and time. Make your process efficient and enhance productivity of your team by using a Custom catalog management software.

Contract Catalog

As a reseller, if you are dealing with State, Local or the Federal Govt., it is important that you maintain a separate catalog for such customers. The catalog is commonly referred to as contract catalog to keep track of all products that are to be sold for Government customers. There are resellers who do business with various schools and universities. Such resellers should also maintain a contract catalog.

Federal contracts that include SEWP, FirstSource, Netcents, DHS etc., or other government contracts like GSA Schedules & BPA are often managed by resellers. When you have a government contract, creating a contract catalog is necessary. You simply cannot use aggregated or custom catalog to handle your GovEd business. To put in the right perspective, if you are serious about growing your GovEd business, make sure to create a contract catalog.

In today’s times, it doesn’t make sense to manage contract catalog manually. Adding or deleting products manually from contract catalog is too time consuming. If you want to manage multiple government contracts effortlessly, automate the process by using a Contract catalog management software.

Arnaldo is content contributor wrote article on VAR business management, eCommerce, B2B business and trending topics.