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Vendor Product Data (VPD)

Data management1/5/2026Intermediate Level

Vendor Product Data (VPD) refers to the product information received from suppliers, manufacturers, or distributors.

What is Vendor Product Data (VPD)? (Definition)

Vendor Product Data (VPD) is the information a business receives from its suppliers, manufacturers, or brand owners. This data includes basic details like names, SKUs, and descriptions. It also covers technical specs, prices, stock levels, and media like photos or videos. Retailers use this data as the starting point for their own product catalogs. Suppliers often send this data in many different formats, such as spreadsheets or PDFs. The quality and completeness of the information can vary a lot between vendors. This makes it hard for businesses to organize the data for their own websites. A PIM system helps by collecting this raw data and making it consistent for every sales channel.

Why Vendor Product Data (VPD) is Important for E-commerce

Vendor Product Data (VPD) is the information that suppliers provide about their products. In e-commerce, managing this data well helps you launch products faster. Messy or missing data causes delays and leads to mistakes in your online store. These errors confuse customers and lower your sales. A PIM system like WISEPIM collects and organizes this data in one place. It automatically fixes formatting issues and fills in missing details like images or descriptions. This process ensures your product pages look professional and accurate. By using a PIM, you reduce manual work and get your items in front of buyers much sooner.

Examples of Vendor Product Data (VPD)

  • 1An electronics store receives TV data from 20 brands in different formats. They use a PIM to make all the information consistent.
  • 2A fashion boutique adds a new brand using data from a PDF catalog and image folder. Staff enter these details into their PIM to get products ready for sale.
  • 3A hardware store uses a PIM to manage safety sheets and technical specs from suppliers. This helps the store follow safety rules and keep customers safe.
  • 4An online shop automatically pulls daily stock updates from distributors into its PIM. This ensures the website shows accurate stock levels to customers.

How WISEPIM Helps

  • WISEPIM makes it easy to import vendor data from different files and sources. It automatically cleans up and organizes the data for you.
  • You can set rules to check the quality of incoming data. WISEPIM automatically flags missing details or errors so you can fix them quickly.
  • Use WISEPIM to add marketing text, images, and translations to raw vendor data. This helps you build complete product pages in one place.
  • WISEPIM helps you manage how suppliers send their data. It gives vendors a clear, structured way to submit product information directly.

Common Mistakes with Vendor Product Data (VPD)

  • Accepting data in too many formats like PDFs or different Excel files instead of using one standard.
  • Not checking if data is correct when you receive it. This causes errors in your shop and makes customers unhappy.
  • Entering vendor data into your system by hand. This takes too much time and leads to mistakes that slow down sales.
  • Not having a plan for when vendors update their product details. This leaves you with old or wrong information.
  • Storing vendor data in different spreadsheets or separate systems. This makes it hard to find the correct version of the information.

Tips for Vendor Product Data (VPD)

  • Create clear rules for how product data should look. Share these standards with your suppliers early so they know what you expect.
  • Set up a check for all new data. This ensures the information is complete, accurate, and in the right format before you use it.
  • Use a PIM system like WISEPIM to store and improve vendor data. It helps you change the information to fit the needs of your different sales channels.
  • Give your vendors feedback on their data quality. When they know what is wrong, they can provide better and faster updates.
  • Automate how you collect and update vendor data. This reduces manual work, prevents errors, and helps you launch products more quickly.

Trends Surrounding Vendor Product Data (VPD)

  • AI-driven Data Enrichment: Leveraging AI to automatically enrich incomplete VPD, suggest missing attributes, and standardize descriptions for better consistency.
  • Automated Data Ingestion: Implementing automated workflows and APIs to directly pull VPD from vendor systems, significantly reducing manual effort and speeding up onboarding.
  • Data Quality as a Service (DQaaS): Utilizing external services for continuous validation, cleansing, and standardization of incoming vendor data.
  • Headless PIM Integration: Connecting PIM systems via APIs to various vendor data sources and output channels, enabling flexible and scalable data flow.
  • Sustainability Data Integration: Vendors increasingly providing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data (e.g., carbon footprint, certifications) as part of VPD, driven by consumer demand and regulations.

Tools for Vendor Product Data (VPD)

  • WISEPIM: A comprehensive PIM solution for centralizing, enriching, and distributing vendor product data across multiple channels, ensuring data quality and consistency.
  • Akeneo PIM: A leading open-source PIM platform that helps businesses collect, enrich, and distribute product information from various vendor sources.
  • Salsify PIM & DAM: Combines PIM and Digital Asset Management capabilities to streamline the collection, management, and syndication of VPD and associated digital assets.
  • Shopify (with PIM integrations): An e-commerce platform that relies heavily on accurate product data, often integrated with PIM systems to efficiently handle complex VPD.
  • Magento (with PIM integrations): A robust e-commerce platform that greatly benefits from PIM solutions to manage and organize extensive and complex VPD structures.

Related Terms

data ingestionproduct data qualitydata validationproduct onboardingproduct data syndicationdata enrichment

Also Known As

Supplier Product DataManufacturer Product DataThird-Party Product Data