4 key principles of eCommerce product data governance

4 key principles of eCommerce product data governance

What is Product Data Governance?

Product data governance is a crucial process for any business that wants to succeed and grow in today’s digital age. Having checks and balances for the product information for an item you are selling is more important than it might seem. It includes procedures and standards a retail organisation sets for the collection, processing, and distribution of product data ensuring secured storage and accurate and structured information for customers across all channels.

Key Principles of Product Data Governance

1. Data Quality Management: Ensuring that product data is accurate, reliable, complete, and consistent. This involves setting quality standards, conducting data profiling, and implementing data validation and cleansing processes to maintain data integrity.
2. Data Ownership and Accountability: Defining clear roles and responsibilities for product data management. Assigning data ownership to specific individuals or teams who are accountable for the accuracy and maintenance of product information.
3. Data Security and Privacy: Implementing measures to safeguard product data from unauthorised access and data breaches, ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations. This is particularly important as product data may contain sensitive information that needs protection.
4. Data Standards and Taxonomy: Establishing a standardised data model and taxonomy for product data. This ensures consistency in how product information is classified, labelled, and organised, making it easier to search, retrieve, and share data across the organisation.
   
   By adhering to these principles, organisations can build a strong foundation for effective product data governance, which is crucial for making informed decisions, improving operational efficiency, and delivering high-quality products and services to customers.

How does Iksula ensure proper product data governance?

Iksula firmly believes in ensuring proper product data governance through a combination of strategic planning, process implementation, and continuous monitoring. Here’s how we achieve effective product data governance:

1. Define Data Governance Strategy: Our first step involves developing a clear and well-defined data governance strategy that aligns with our overall business objectives. This strategy outlines the goals, scope, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for product data governance.
2. Establish Data Governance Framework: We create a comprehensive data governance framework that includes the necessary policies, procedures, and guidelines for managing product data. This framework defines data ownership, roles, and responsibilities, as well as the processes for data quality management, data security, and data lifecycle management.
3. Stakeholder Collaboration: We actively involve relevant stakeholders from different departments, such as marketing, sales, manufacturing, and logistics, in our data governance process. We strive to understand their data needs and requirements to ensure our data governance initiatives are closely aligned with business needs.
4. Training and Awareness: We prioritize providing training and awareness programs for our employees to help them understand the importance of data governance and their roles in maintaining data quality and security.
5. Continuous Improvement: We consistently monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of our data governance practices. We carefully use feedback and data analytics to identify areas for improvement and refine our data governance processes over time.
6. Technology and Tools: Iksula uses its in-house data governance tool ATHENA to support data quality management, data security, and data integration.

The benefits of data governance include

1. Data Accuracy and Consistency: Ensures that product data is accurate, consistent, and reliable across all systems and channels, leading to better decision-making and improved customer experiences.
2. Efficient Operations and cost reduction : Streamlines business processes, reduces data errors, and increases productivity by providing employees with access to high-quality and up-to-date product information. Not only will audits become quick and easy, but day-to-day operations will become more efficient and effective.
3. Enhanced Customer Experience: Consistent and detailed product data improves customer trust and enables informed purchasing decisions, leading to a better overall customer experience. Clear and accurate product data reduces the likelihood of customers receiving products that don’t meet their expectations. This, in turn, reduces the number of product returns and associated costs.
4. Compliance and Risk Management: Helps organisations adhere to data protection regulations and reduces the risk of data breaches, ensuring data security and compliance.
5. Improved Supplier and Partner Relationships: When organisations maintain accurate and consistent product data, it fosters better collaboration with suppliers and partners. This improves communication, reduces errors in product listings, and strengthens relationships in the supply chain.
6. Optimised Inventory Management: Access to real-time and reliable product data enables better inventory management. Organisations can avoid overstocking or stockouts, leading to cost savings and improved cash flow.
7. Data-Driven Innovation: Enables organisations to gain insights from clean and reliable product data, facilitating data analytics and fostering data-driven innovation and business growth.

Overall, effective product data governance contributes to improved operational efficiency, better customer experiences, reduced risks, and enhanced competitiveness in the market. It empowers organisations to make data-driven decisions and adapt to changing market dynamics effectively.