Catalog and inventory discipline before you go online

Why product data decides your launch date

When an online store launch slips, the cause is often not the website but the product data. Designs are ready, the payment gateway is approved, and then the team discovers that half the products have no proper photos, sizes are recorded differently in three spreadsheets, and nobody knows the correct GST rate for some items. Fixing this during development is slow and expensive; fixing it before is mostly a matter of discipline.

This guide is for shop owners, manufacturers and distributors preparing to sell online. By the end you should be able to build a product data sheet with consistent codes, variants, photos, descriptions, tax fields and stock, and decide who keeps it up to date. Launch tasks such as policy pages, test orders and courier set-up are in our separate e-commerce launch checklist for India.

SKU codes that staff and software can both read

A SKU (stock keeping unit) is the unique code for one sellable item. Every variant a customer can choose, such as each size and colour of a shirt, needs its own SKU, because each one has its own stock. Good SKUs are short, unique, never reused and built from a pattern that staff can read at a glance.

A common pattern is category, then design or model, then the attributes that vary. Keep it to letters, numbers and hyphens; avoid spaces and special characters that break spreadsheets and barcode labels. Do not put prices in SKUs, because prices change and codes should not.

If your billing software already assigns item codes, use those rather than inventing a second set. Two code systems for the same products are a reliable way to create stock errors later.

Variants: decide what is one product and what is an option

A garment shop with one design in six sizes and four colours has 24 SKUs but should show one product page with two selectors, not 24 separate listings. Before data entry starts, decide for each category which attributes are options a buyer selects (size, colour, pack size, finish) and which justify a separate product (a different design or model).

Each variant needs its own stock count, and may need its own price, weight and photo. Agree the exact option values too: "M" or "Medium", "Navy" or "Dark Blue", "1 L" or "1000 ml". Inconsistent values make filters on the website useless. For retailers who already deal with this at the counter, our article on size and colour variants in garment billing explains the variant matrix in more detail.

Photos and descriptions that answer buyer questions

Online, the photo and description replace touching the product. Set a simple photo standard and apply it to every item: the same plain background, the same aspect ratio (square works well for most stores), good daylight or consistent lighting, and colours that match the real product. Name each file with its SKU so photos can be matched in bulk instead of one by one.

Write descriptions around what a buyer would ask a salesperson: what it is, dimensions or size chart, material, weight, care instructions, what is in the box and any warranty. Avoid pasting the manufacturer's text unchanged; many other sellers use the same text, and it rarely answers your customers' questions.

If you sell pre-packaged goods, consumer protection and legal metrology rules require certain details, such as the manufacturer or packer, net quantity, MRP and country of origin, to be shown on the online listing as well as the pack. Check the current requirements with the Department of Consumer Affairs or your adviser, and add those fields to your data sheet now.

Tax and shipping fields: HSN, GST rate, MRP and weight

Every product that will appear on a GST invoice needs an HSN code and the applicable GST rate stored against it. Rates for some products have changed over time, so confirm each rate on the GST portal or with your CA rather than copying from an old price list. Also decide whether your listed prices include GST; consumer-facing stores normally show tax-inclusive prices, and the store and invoice settings must agree. How these fields appear on a shop invoice is explained in our guide to GST billing for retail shops.

For shipping, record the packed weight and packed dimensions of each item, not the product's own size. Most couriers charge on whichever is higher of actual weight and volumetric weight, so a light but bulky item such as a plastic stool can cost more to ship than its weight suggests.

Stock: one source of truth between shop, godown and website

The most damaging catalogue problem after launch is selling stock you do not have. Picture a boutique where the last piece of a saree sells at the counter in the afternoon while the website still shows it in stock; an online buyer pays for it that evening and has to be refunded with an apology.

Decide which system holds the true stock count. If you already use billing or ERP software, that system is usually the master, and the website should receive stock updates from it automatically or at frequent intervals. If the website is the only system, counter sales must be entered there too. Many businesses also keep a small online buffer, showing an item as out of stock online when only one or two remain, to absorb timing gaps. If you run more than one shop or godown, see our guide to multi-branch stock control before deciding which system should hold the master count.

Who owns the catalogue after launch

A catalogue is never finished. New products arrive, prices change, photos need replacing and items are discontinued. Without named owners, these jobs fall between the shop, the accounts team and whoever built the site.

• Adding new products: one person collects data, photos and tax details using the data sheet, and another approves before the product goes live.
• Price changes: only authorised staff can change prices, and changes are logged.
• Stock adjustments: damaged, returned or counted-short items are adjusted in the master system with a reason.
• Weekly review: someone checks out-of-stock items, products without photos and products that have not sold, and decides what to fix or hide.

How MATROP helps load and maintain your catalogue

In MATROP's e-commerce development projects, products, categories and variants are settled in the planning stage before design begins. The admin panel supports variants such as size and colour, bulk upload, low-stock alerts and stock sync, and can be integrated with ERP or billing software so the website and the counter work from the same numbers. For Eleplasht, a Ranchi plastic furniture manufacturer, we built a single product catalogue and order backbone so that prices and variants on the storefront match what admin configures for outlets and dealers; the Eleplasht case study describes how that works.

If you sell fifteen products with no sizes or colours and stock rarely runs out, a carefully kept spreadsheet and a simple store may be all you need for now. Investing in integration makes sense once variants, multiple locations or counter sales make manual stock updates unreliable.

Questions people ask

Can we launch our online store with only part of our range?

Yes, and it is often wiser. Start with your best sellers whose data, photos and stock are complete, then add the rest in batches once the routine for adding products is working.

Should our online prices match our shop prices?

They do not have to, but decide the rule in writing and apply it consistently, because customers compare. For pre-packaged goods, the price charged cannot exceed the MRP printed on the pack.

Do we need barcodes before selling on our own website?

Your own store does not require them. Barcodes become useful when the same stock is billed at a shop counter or picked from a godown, because scanning reduces wrong items being packed.

How many photos should each product have?

Enough to answer what a buyer would check in person: usually a clear front view, another angle, a close-up of material or finish, and something that shows size. Products with colour variants need a photo for each colour.