FP-012
People make decisions about product catalogues every day, often under different job titles and across different parts of an ecommerce business.
A supplier changes a specification and someone updates the product page. Customers keep asking whether a replacement part fits a particular model and someone adds the answer. A footwear retailer sees repeated questions about fit and improves the sizing information.
Which specifications actually matter to someone choosing a product? Is the supplier description enough? Why are customers still struggling to choose between two products when both pages contain accurate information? Does a recurring customer question reveal something the catalogue should explain?
This publication investigates what this work requires of the people doing it, and what makes Catalogue Optimisation a professional practice.
Much of the work we now describe as Catalogue Optimisation has been happening in ecommerce businesses for years.
Product information is checked and corrected. Categories are reviewed. Customer questions lead to changes on product pages.
An ecommerce manager may notice that customers cannot distinguish between two similar products. A merchandiser may identify products in the wrong category. A customer service team may know that the same sizing or compatibility question is being answered every week.
If a manufacturer changes the width of a dining table from 90 centimetres to 95 centimetres, the specification needs to be updated.
A product page may contain every specification supplied by the manufacturer and still leave out information customers need before buying. Two products may both be described accurately while the differences between them remain difficult to understand. A size chart may be correct while customer enquiries show that people still need help choosing the right size.
Customers need different information depending on what they are buying, whether furniture, cosmetics or electronics.
Even products within the same category can require different treatment. The person reviewing the catalogue has to understand the product, the available information and what customers need to know.
Products change, customer questions change, new alternatives appear and compatibility expands. Information that was sufficient when published may need attention later.
Catalogue Optimisation becomes a profession when maintaining the commercial effectiveness of a product catalogue requires a distinct body of knowledge, professional judgement and continuing responsibility.
What makes Catalogue Optimisation a profession rather than simply a collection of tasks performed on a product catalogue?
Consider a retailer adding a new cordless drill to its catalogue.
The supplier provides a product name, description, photographs and specifications.
Someone can check that the voltage is correct.
They can confirm the dimensions and weight.
They can make sure the images belong to the correct model.
Then the questions become different.
Which specifications will actually help a customer decide whether this drill is suitable for the work they intend to do?
Which batteries and chargers are compatible?
Does the page explain what is included in the box clearly enough?
Should the drill be compared with another model in the range?
Some answers may be available from the supplier. Others come from customer enquiries, product knowledge or experience with similar products. Someone still has to decide what belongs on the page.
A footwear retailer can publish the manufacturer’s size chart. Someone still has to decide whether customers need additional fit guidance for a particular boot.
A cosmetics retailer can list the ingredients and application instructions for two moisturisers. Someone still has to decide whether the differences between them are clear enough.
The Work Already Exists In many ecommerce businesses, people are already doing Catalogue Optimisation work without calling it Catalogue Optimisation.
A customer service team notices that customers repeatedly ask whether a particular television bracket fits a newer television model. Someone checks the manufacturer’s latest compatibility information and updates the page.
A merchandiser reviewing a homewares catalogue finds products assigned to categories that no longer make sense after the range has expanded. The category structure is reviewed and products are reorganised.
A content specialist reviewing a cosmetics range finds several moisturisers with accurate descriptions, but little information explaining why a customer might choose one over another. The information is revised to make those differences clearer.
The work may be handled by people in merchandising, ecommerce, content, product management or customer service. In a smaller retailer, one person may do several of these things. In a larger business, the work may be spread across several teams.
Completing the Task Is Not the Same as Knowing What the Catalogue Needs
A manufacturer changes the dimensions of a dining table.
The catalogue says the table is 90 centimetres wide. The latest manufacturer specification says 95 centimetres.
Update 90 to 95.
The task is complete.
Now consider a pair of walking boots.
The product page contains the manufacturer’s size chart. The measurements are correct. The materials and construction are described accurately. Several photographs show the boot from different angles.
Customers still contact the retailer about fit.
They want to know whether the boot runs narrow. They ask how it compares with another style from the same brand. Returns show that some customers are choosing the wrong size.
There may be nothing factually wrong with the page.
Someone reviewing it has to decide whether the existing information is sufficient and, if not, what customers need instead.
An electronics retailer faces a similar decision with two wireless routers.
Both pages contain complete technical specifications.
Customers comparing them can see wireless standards, port configurations and supported features. What may be less clear is which model suits a larger home or why someone would choose the more expensive model.
Adding more specifications may not solve that problem.
The Same Answer Does Not Work Everywhere Consider what customers need to know about a dining table.
Dimensions matter because the table has to fit the room. Materials and construction affect how it looks, feels and wears. Seating capacity helps customers judge whether it suits their household. Assembly requirements may affect the purchase.
Now consider a facial moisturiser.
The dimensions of the container are unlikely to help someone choose between two formulations.
Customers may care about skin type, ingredients, texture, application and how one formulation differs from another.
An electronics accessory creates another set of questions.
Compatibility may be one of the most important pieces of information on the page. A technically detailed description is of little use if the customer cannot establish whether the accessory works with the device they already own.
A standard structure can keep product information consistent, but it cannot tell us which information matters most for every product.
Someone still has to decide which information matters for that product and its customers.
Over time, people working with product catalogues learn what to look for.
They learn that dimensions can be commercially important for furniture but less useful for other products, and that compatibility information needs particular attention when related products change frequently. Repeated customer questions can also expose information that appeared complete when the page was first published.
They have seen supplier information arrive incomplete and dealt with products that do not fit the existing attribute structure. They also know that a page can contain accurate information and still generate the same customer questions every week.
A practitioner may never have worked on a particular horse rug before. They still know to ask what customers need to choose the right product and whether the supplier information provides it.
They may encounter a new hardware range and know that importing every available specification may not make the products easier to understand or compare.
A missing attribute can affect filtering, poorly structured specifications can make comparison harder, and incomplete compatibility information can create customer enquiries and incorrect purchases.
The practitioner needs to understand how customers use catalogue information to find, compare and choose products, and decide what needs attention.
The work also continues as products and catalogues change.
The riding boot with better fit guidance may later be produced in a new size, while the router with current compatibility information may need another update when new devices enter the market.
The furniture range may expand until the category structure that worked previously becomes difficult to use.
The practitioner has to judge the catalogue again.
Product specifications need to be checked, descriptions maintained and categories organised. Customer questions need to be answered, while product relationships and compatibility need to remain useful.
There is a difference between completing an assigned catalogue change and being responsible for deciding what the catalogue needs.
Someone responsible for the catalogue needs to understand the products, the product information, how the catalogue is organised and what customers need when buying.
They need judgement because what the catalogue needs depends on the product and situation.
Products and catalogues continue to change, so those decisions have to be made again.
This does not mean everyone who edits a product page is a Catalogue Optimisation Professional.
Nor does it require every ecommerce business to create a new job title.
Catalogue Optimisation becomes a profession when maintaining the commercial effectiveness of a product catalogue requires a distinct body of knowledge, professional judgement and continuing responsibility.
Think about how catalogue responsibility is divided inside an ecommerce business.
Customer service may know which questions customers repeatedly ask, while merchandising may understand how products relate within a range. The ecommerce team may maintain categories, attributes and product information, while content teams write descriptions and buying information.
The catalogue, however, brings those decisions together.
A customer does not experience the product description separately from the specifications, categories or filters.
They use whatever information the catalogue provides to understand the product and decide whether to buy it.
It does not necessarily follow that one person must perform all of the work.
A large retailer may continue dividing the work between several specialists. A smaller retailer may have one ecommerce manager responsible for most of it. An agency may perform some of the work for its clients.
What matters is whether the catalogue is considered as a whole and whether it helps customers find, understand and choose products.
Instead of asking only whether the product information has been entered, the category created or the description written, the practitioner also has to judge whether the result is helping customers find, understand and choose products.
Some Catalogue Optimisation tasks have clear answers. A specification changes and the catalogue is updated. An incorrect category assignment is corrected.
Other catalogue decisions require judgement.
Accurate information may still be insufficient. Complete specifications may not help customers compare products. The information needed for furniture may be very different from the information needed for cosmetics or electronics.
Products change, customer questions change and catalogue structures change.
Professional Catalogue Optimisation involves more than completing individual catalogue tasks.
It requires a distinct body of knowledge, professional judgement and continuing responsibility for the commercial effectiveness of the catalogue.
FP-012 is the final publication in the twelve-part Foundational Publication Collection.
Together, these publications establish the foundations for understanding the field of Catalogue Optimisation and why it matters to ecommerce.
The next two collections explore how the discipline is understood, applied and developed in practice.
Business of Building Sales-Ready Catalogues — For agency owners and optimisation professionals.
Building Sales-Ready Catalogues — For ecommerce operators and catalogue managers.