Learn why it's crucial to maintain accurate product mappings, and how SKUtrak helps.
What are product mappings?
Product mappings connect the product codes used by your retailers to the internal product codes your business uses. Most retailers report product-level data using their own codes, which often don’t match your internal SKUs. Product mappings bridge this gap, allowing you to link retailer product data to your own product hierarchy.
Without product mappings, it's difficult to:
- Use your internal hierarchy for analysis and reporting
- Compare performance across different retailers
- Integrate retailer data with your internal systems (e.g. TPMs, ERPs)
Why are product mappings important?
Each retailer uses its own identifiers for the same products. While barcodes (EANs or GTINs) are sometimes included in retailer data, they are often incomplete, inconsistent, or missing entirely. This makes it difficult to rely on them as a single source of truth.
Maintaining accurate mappings between retailer product codes and your internal codes ensures:
- Consistent reporting across all data sources
- Fewer manual workarounds
- Trusted and accurate analysis
- Easier integration with your business systems
Common challenges
Many CPGs manage product mappings in spreadsheets. This can work in the short term, but introduces several issues:
- Manual effort and time spent maintaining the file
- Errors from inconsistent or outdated versions
- Difficulty sharing updates across teams
- Lack of audit history or visibility into changes
These issues often result in broken reports, misaligned metrics, and reduced confidence in your data.
How SKUtrak helps
SKUtrak’s Product Catalogue is designed to simplify and streamline product mappings. It provides a central place to manage your internal product definitions and match them to retailer product codes.
Key benefits:
- ⚡ AI-powered suggestions: SKUtrak suggests the most likely match for new products as they appear, helping you map them quickly and accurately.
- 📈 Visibility and alerts: See what percentage of your retailer products are mapped, and get notified when new items need attention.
- ✅ Change history: Every change is tracked, so you can see who updated what and when. This makes it easier to audit your data and resolve any issues.
Summary
Maintaining product mappings is essential to maximising value from your retailer data. SKUtrak’s Product Catalogue replaces manual spreadsheets with a smarter, more reliable approach - giving you confidence in your data and the insights it drives.
To get started managing your product data within SKUtrak, read our guide on How to use the Product Catalogue.