Electronic cataloging and inventory controls have revolutionized the way business partners communicate with one another and how they provide information to consumers. The Internet is an incredibly efficient way for end users to find products, educate themselves about product benefits and specifications and find the best retail option available. If properly managed and maintained, electronic product information systems can reduce ordering errors and returns and increase bottom-line profits. The key is to put product data into an industry-standard format that allows the computer systems of all participants—manufacturers, distributors and jobber/retailers—to read and recognize product information. That includes everything from part numbers and pricing to descriptions and dimensions. [Read more]

While technology has been an undeniable force in the evolution of the automobile, it has determined how cars and car parts are sold. From the first handbills to newspaper and magazine advertising to broadcast media and now the Internet, technology inevitably changes the way manufacturers, distributors and retailers sell their wares. As electronic cataloging has evolved over the past decade, the availability of parts suppliers, sellers and end users to source and find parts has gone from tedious to instantaneous—so long as sufficient and correct product information is available. Simply put, ample and easily understood information helps sell products. [Read more]