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Compliance Data

Data management11/27/2025Intermediate Level

Product data required to meet legal, regulatory, or industry standards, ensuring products are permissible for sale in specific markets.

What is Compliance Data? (Definition)

Compliance data includes all product-related information necessary to adhere to legal, regulatory, and industry-specific requirements. This data ensures products meet safety, environmental, and ethical standards before being sold in particular regions or channels. Examples range from material certifications and origin information to regulatory approvals like CE markings for the EU or FCC certifications for the US.

Why Compliance Data is Important for E-commerce

Accurate and accessible compliance data is critical for e-commerce businesses to avoid fines, product recalls, and reputational damage. It enables market entry, ensures product legality, and supports consumer trust. Managing this data effectively within a PIM system streamlines the process of validating products for different markets and swiftly responding to new regulations.

Examples of Compliance Data

  • 1CE marking declarations for electronics sold in the European Union.
  • 2REACH compliance data (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) for materials used in textiles.
  • 3Food allergen information and nutritional facts for groceries sold online.
  • 4RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) compliance for electronic components.
  • 5Country of origin declarations for customs and consumer information.

How WISEPIM Helps

  • Centralized Compliance Information: WISEPIM stores all compliance data in one place, providing a single source of truth for regulatory requirements.
  • Automated Validation & Alerts: Configure rules to automatically validate product data against compliance standards and receive alerts for missing or expiring certifications.
  • Channel-Specific Compliance: Tailor compliance information for different sales channels and markets, ensuring products meet local regulations without manual adjustments.
  • Audit Trail & Reporting: Maintain a comprehensive audit trail of all compliance data changes and generate reports for regulatory bodies quickly.

Common Mistakes with Compliance Data

  • Treating compliance data as an afterthought, leading to reactive fixes and market delays.
  • Relying on manual data entry and spreadsheets, which increases errors and makes updates inefficient.
  • Storing compliance information in fragmented systems, making it difficult to get a complete and accurate overview.
  • Failing to monitor and update compliance data in response to evolving regional and industry regulations.
  • Not validating compliance data with suppliers or internal teams, resulting in non-compliant products entering the market.

Tips for Compliance Data

  • Centralize all compliance data within a dedicated PIM system to ensure a single source of truth.
  • Establish clear data governance policies and assign ownership for different types of compliance information.
  • Implement automated workflows for collecting, validating, and updating compliance documents and certifications.
  • Regularly audit your compliance data against current regulations in all target markets to identify gaps.
  • Integrate compliance data management with your e-commerce platforms to automatically display necessary information to customers.

Trends Surrounding Compliance Data

  • AI-driven automated compliance checks and data extraction from supplier documents, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy.
  • Increased automation of regulatory change monitoring and proactive alerts for affected products, ensuring continuous compliance.
  • Integration of sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) data as a core component of product compliance requirements.
  • Leveraging blockchain technology for immutable tracking of product origin, certifications, and supply chain compliance.
  • Headless commerce architectures demanding robust API-driven access to real-time, channel-specific compliance data for various storefronts.

Tools for Compliance Data

  • WISEPIM: Centralizes, manages, and distributes all product-related compliance data across various channels and markets.
  • Akeneo: A PIM solution that helps organize and enrich product compliance attributes for multi-channel distribution.
  • Salsify: A Product Experience Management (PXM) platform that supports managing and syndicating compliance data alongside other product content.
  • SAP S/4HANA: An ERP system offering robust modules for product compliance, regulatory reporting, and hazardous substance management.
  • OneTrust: A specialized GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) platform that can integrate with PIMs for comprehensive compliance management.

Related Terms

data-governanceproduct-data-qualitylocalizationdigital-product-passportdata-validationdata-stewardship

Also Known As

Regulatory datalegal product datacertification data