How to outsource product data entry

For a buyer on an e-commerce platform, it could not get any easier. If he has a need to buy a product or service, all he has to do is visit a website where the product is available. It could be the seller’s website or that of an aggregator like Amazon. It might also be based on the nature of the product needed. For example, if you need to order a supply of milk, Amazon may not be the place for it. It might be a more localised business aggregating dairy produce, or the producer’s website directly. Once on the website the buyer navigates to the product he wishes to buy. If he is unsure, he can even use the ‘Search’ option to reach the target product. Thereafter, he would either do some ‘shopping around,’ which means that he would compare prices and features, just on that platform or across platforms, before finalising, or, if it is a standard product he routinely buys, like a certain brand of shaving blades that fit into his razor, directly add the product to his ‘Cart,’ go to ‘Checkout,’ make the payment, and be done with it.
One can almost imagine the buyer whistling or singing or cooking as he navigates the super simple process of an online purchase.

What is product data entry

But there is a backstory. A reason why this is so simple. Behind this convenience lies a complex web of enabling processes that are often referred to as product data entry services. That enables the buyer to find the product easily and in the right location. That provides a description and minimises the need to navigate to other pages to know more about it. That provides attractive images of the product. In short, that compels the buyer to press the Buy button in the shortest time. And maybe upsell more products to go along that he had not intended to buy originally.
Product data entry solutions constitute one of the bedrocks on which the tall edifice of e-commerce stands and grows taller by the day. Though it needed external help could be questioned, but if it did need one it arrived in the form of Covid-19. With people confined to their homes for long periods of time and essential activities being carried out online, e-commerce has received a boost like one which a business seldom receives.

Why should you outsource product data entry

Blessings are rarely unmixed. While e-commerce has opened up the world for entrepreneurs and businesses enabling them to set up ecommerce stores, sell online and potentially reach anyone, anywhere in the world, equally, it has become more and more competitive. That is the other side of the coin.
To outsource product data entry as a seller, it means that not only does your product data entry need to be done correctly, but it also needs to be done quickly and efficiently. In business terms, it translates to ‘at a low price’ or ‘with minimum consumption of resources.’
Booming e-commerce has created an entirely new business which perhaps did not even exist a couple of decades back, that of the data entry BPO, which specialises, among other things, in providing product data entry solutions.
‘Outsource product data entry’ is the norm today and no longer the exception.
We know that in a competitive world, a customer has choices. He may not find the right combination of features, he may find it exceeds his budget, he may not like the color choices. There could be a variety of reasons. Each buyer has a unique perspective. Some will find our offering suitable and some will not. That is how it is. Some will buy and some will not.
But what we don’t want is the customer to go away because of inadequate or incorrect or delayed or unimpactful information about our product on the platform he has visited.
A product data entry solutions outsourcing partner, being a specialist in this nature of work, with experience of executing it again and again for different clients, will help us avoid this happening. By updating relevant information about our products accurately, speedily and impactfully.
They will also enable us to focus our energies on what we know best, our business.

Selection of Outsourcing Partner

Product data entry services require careful consideration in the selection of an outsourced partner, or vendor, as it is a critical decision for your business. What should you consider while evaluating prospective vendors?

Quality of Work

This will be a key factor to be considered while evaluating prospective vendors to outsource product data entry to.
There are many different parts of product data entry solutions and it needs to be ensured that the partner has facility in all of them. The major ones are listed below:
Updating product information – Starts with data entry to make a product available, but expands to updating of product information as and when required, and eventual deletion and archiving at the end of product life.
Cataloguing and Indexing – Ensures products are correctly categorised and tagged in order to facilitate browsing and shopping.
Coding – Assigning identification codes to products to track inventories and post-sale services.
Image processing – Ensuring that the product has a high-quality image attached to it
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – Everyone is looking for good SEO karma today since most new business will come via search engines. This is a key objective of all product data entry services for a product; description, categorising, indexing, etc. The product should be easy to search and rank high enough to be reachable.
Ongoing support – Apart from updating product information from time to time, promotions and campaigns need to be supported by the vendor.

Value added services

Product data entry services work might technically finish with data entry, but there are many other related services that form such a core part of the overall ecommerce proposition that it becomes difficult to segregate them from data entry.
Choosing and buying the product is only the start of the process. An important aspect is post- order fulfilment that would typically require goods to be shipped and inventories to be maintained and updated.
The other aspect is customer handling, which is always a sensitive subject. Is the vendor equipped to handle your customers in a satisfactory manner? What are the hours of support available?
Evaluation of vendors should include as assessment of their capability on value-added services.

Capability across platforms

An e-commerce platform is also a product. In a competitive world, there are many such products, or platforms. Some popular ones are: Magento, 3D Cart, Volusion, Zen Cart, Presta Shop, X Cart, Amazon, Shopify, eBay.
Your business could be using one or more of these platforms. While each has the same eventual objective, of facilitating the buying process for a visiting customer, each one would do it in its own unique way.
To outsource product data entry, it becomes important to evaluate the partner’s capability of handling data entry on the platform that your business rides on. It is also possible you could change or add platforms at a later date. Hence, the wider the coverage a vendor provides, the more suitable it would make them.

Industry capability

When you look for a smartphone online, you may be presented with information like screen size, processor speed, storage capacity, camera capability, and other information relevant for the product.
If you are looking for a book on an ecommerce platform, will you still be presented with screen size and processor speed as relevant parameters? Obviously, no. Not only are they not relevant, a book does not even have these attributes. The site may present information like author name, publisher name, ISBN number, etc..
If it is a pharmaceutical product, the information could include its chemical composition and expiry date.
As the nature of products and services sold online is vast, and increasing, it becomes important for the vendor to know about the product they are supporting, so that they know what information is relevant, be able to access sources for the information and present it in a manner that enhances the product.

Business considerations

There are many factors that come into play while doing work for a client which can enhance or mar the capability of the team.
Technology – The vendor should be using technology that is current and demonstrates a willingness to upgrade as technology evolves and changes. Technology is the backbone of the outsourcing world. It is often referred to as Information Technology Enables Services (ITES).
Security – While technology is obvious, since most processing will be done on tech platforms, the vendor should be in a position to control access to the site where an individual client’s work is being carried out to ensure client data is not compromised. Business information is valuable.
Turnaround time – The partner should be equipped to deliver the required service speedily. It could be a 24×7 working facility, or it could be a different time zone which facilitates overnight processing, or another suitable arrangement.
Free Trial – For most data entry outsourcing arrangements, this serves to bring the outsourcing client onboard and builds confidence. Even more so where the outsourcer is a small business owner.
Pricing – Of course, pricing can never be an unimportant consideration in any commercial arrangement. It needs to be ensured that the pricing adds value to the business.

Organisational support

The outsourced business process will operate under the larger umbrella of the contracting organisation. The organisation needs to provide support to the processing unit in many areas without which it cannot succeed. Hence, an evaluation of the organisation is a necessity.
Financial health of the organisation is essential to ensure continued delivery. If compromised, it will cut corners, leading to delivery issues and a possibility of a sudden stop.
Hiring is done at the organisational level. This is normally the case since hiring is an activity that interfaces with the external world. Organisations like to maintain uniformity in their external face. Besides, it is more efficient and economical. The organisation’s hiring engine should be well established and regarded in the community to provide this support.
It should provide a quality monitoring support that is external to the processing unit but internal to the organisation. This acts as a check before
There are many other services that the organisation needs to provide in order that your work can continue smoothly. Like Facility Management, to ensure people have a clean and hygienic workplace. Like Legal, that ensures compliance with required regulations. Like Workforce Planning, that ensures all processes are adequately, but not inefficiently, staffed and is able to project future requirements to head off challenges early.

Contracting and monitoring

Identifying the vendor and initiating the work is an important step. However, equally important is the process of ongoing engagement and monitoring.
While responsible and successful BPO organisations offering these services will work hard to ensure client satisfaction, it must be remembered that, at the end of the day, they are running their own business first. That business is likely to involve the provision of similar services to many other clients and cannot be expected to look out for your requirements above every other client.
So, how do we ensure that the services provided to us are not putting our business at a disadvantage?
This can be ensured by entering into a contract with the vendor that clearly defines your major requirements and expectations against each.
Thereafter, you need to put in place a mechanism to ensure that you monitor the process and the services provided by the vendor to ensure that you are getting services as required, expected and contracted.
To outsource product data entry work, while not a unique requirement for this kind of work, it is an essential consideration.
What are some of the terms that a contract should cover?

•   Definition and interpretation of ambiguous terms
•   Term (Tenure) of contract with conditions and process for engagement, disengagement, premature termination, extension and change management
•   Deliverables and obligations of each party involved, especially the hand-offs from one to the other, and the point at which each party’s responsibility begins and ends
•   Payment terms, price, credit period, liability for taxes, and penalty, if any
•   Defining the unit of work, FTE hour, units produced, or some other
•   The nature of services to be performed and the parameters must be specified in detail, including performance during the “ramp” phase and duration of such phase
•   The qualification and experience of personnel required to perform the particular service
•   The steps for escalation of a dispute/ issues, with the hierarchy for resolving disputes at each stage; arbitration arrangement as well as jurisdiction of courts
•   The various technical requirements like hardware, facilities and the systems requirements required to provide the services and who would provide
•   The hours of operation and the Time Zone to be followed for providing the services, including Seat Utilisation
•   Handling of impact of events outside control, like Exchange Rate movement, or a natural catastrophe
•   Work hours, list of holidays applicable and rules applicable to working on holidays
•   Nature and frequency of reports and MIS to be provided

Of course, these are guidelines. Small businesses may like to focus on a few key terms that impact their business. What this list does is give everyone an opportunity to consider whether they should include a particular item or not.

Conclusion

As a pure-play data entry BPO organisation, Oworkers stands unique in the industry and has been ranked in the Top 3 globally for data entry services. It offers scalable solutions, with the ability to make changes at short notice, like ramping up by 100 resources within 48 hours. It works with staff, not a ‘cloud’ team. With support for 22+ languages, ISO 27001:2013 and 9001:2015 certifications, 24×7 operations and centers in Europe and Africa, Oworkers should be your first choice to outsource product data entry to.