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A product catalogue website fed from your own product data

Your part numbers, their variants, datasheets and CAD files, published on your website and updated from a single source: a spreadsheet or an ERP export in the base price, a PIM or the ERP’s API as an optional module.

Updated

From

£7,000 ex VAT

Timeline
5 to 9 weeks
Pricing
Fixed price per stage
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A sample screen, for illustration. The companies and data are made up.
ERPDatasheetsPIMCatalogue siteERPDatasheetsPIMCatalogue site

You need one if

  • The catalogue is a 300-page PDF that nobody updates between editions.
  • A customer looks for a part number on the site, cannot find it and rings the sales office.
  • The datasheets exist, but on an internal drive or in an engineer’s inbox.
  • Every new product means changing the website, the PDF and the price list by hand, three times over.
  • Your distributors retype your product data into their own systems, mistakes included.

What the catalogue contains

  • Product data model

    Families, ranges, part numbers, variants, attributes and units. It is the plan of the catalogue, agreed with you before any page is designed.

  • Search and filters

    Search by part number, superseded numbers included, and filters by technical attribute: diameter, material, voltage, standard.

  • Product pages

    One page per product, generated from the data: variant table, specifications, photos, related products.

  • Documents and CAD files

    Datasheets, manuals, certificates and 2D or 3D files to download, attached to the right part number.

  • Optional

    Spare parts and accessories

    Each machine or product is tied to its parts and accessories, with the parts list or exploded view where one exists.

  • Import and synchronisation

    Automatic import from the spreadsheet or the ERP export, with a report of rejected lines: missing attribute, duplicate, no photo. Synchronisation with a PIM or the ERP’s API is an optional module.

Example: adding a range of cylinders

A typical sequence on a two-language catalogue, to illustrate. The products and the figures are fictional.

  1. 1

    The design office adds 40 cylinder part numbers to the data source, with their specifications.

  2. 2

    The overnight synchronisation rejects 3 lines with no bore size and sends the report to the product manager.

  3. 3

    The other 37 pages are created in English. The German version waits for the attribute labels to be translated.

  4. 4

    The "stroke" and "bore" filters pick up the new values with nobody touching the site.

  5. 5

    A buyer finds the part, downloads the 3D file and sends a quote request that carries the part number.

How the project runs

  1. Audit

    State of the data: where it sits, who keeps it, what is missing. List of families and documents to publish.

    1 to 2 weeks

  2. Specification

    Data model, mock-ups of the listing, the filters and the product page, synchronisation rules, price fixed.

    1 to 2 weeks

  3. Build

    A first family is imported for the first delivery, then the others, with a delivery every two weeks.

    2 to 4 weeks

  4. Launch

    Your team checks the pages, old product pages are redirected, and we train whoever will keep the data. One month of fixes against the specification is included.

    1 week, then a month of fixes

Durations to scale, using the longest stated

What the price covers

The starting price is for a catalogue in one language, fed from a spreadsheet or an ERP export, with search, filters, product pages and documents. It includes the specification; the audit is priced separately. The final price is fixed after the specification, before the build.

Estimate my projectSee pricing

Catalogue: data model, filters, product pages, documents
from £7,000 ex VAT
Synchronisation with a PIM or the ERP’s API
from £2,600 ex VAT
Spare parts module on exploded views
from £5,300 ex VAT
Audit and roadmap, deducted from the first project we build for you
£1,650 ex VAT
Maintenance
from £390 ex VAT a month

Payment, for each stage

30%
on order
70%
on accepted delivery

Spreadsheet, PIM or ERP: where does the catalogue data come from?

An online catalogue is only as good as its source. There must be one, kept by a named person. Three set-ups are possible, and the simplest is often enough to start.

Set-upSuits you ifAdvantageLimit
Spreadsheet + siteA few hundred to a few thousand part numbers, one or two languages, one person who keeps the file.Nothing to buy, quick to start.No checks on entry, no history; fragile as soon as several people edit it.
PIM + siteMany attributes, several languages, data that also goes to distributors and marketplaces.Checks, permissions, translations and completeness tracking in one place.One more system to set up and keep alive; pointless if nobody owns it.
ERP as the sourcePart numbers, prices and stock in the ERP are reliable and should show on the site.No double entry for what the ERP already knows.The ERP seldom holds the copy, photos and specifications: they have to be completed elsewhere.

A common set-up combines the last two: the ERP supplies part numbers, prices and stock; the PIM or the spreadsheet supplies the rest. To choose a tool (Akeneo, Pimcore or another), read the guide to PIM software for manufacturers.

Catalogue website, flipbook PDF or online shop: the differences

"Online product catalogue" covers three things that do not do the same job. The right one depends on what your customer comes to do.

What it isWhat the customer does thereWhen it is enough
Flipbook PDFThey leaf through it, like the printed catalogue.A short range that changes once a year, and customers who already know your products.
Catalogue websiteThey search, filter, compare, download a datasheet, request a quote.Thousands of part numbers, or technical products chosen on their specifications.
B2B ecommerce siteThey order and pay, or order on account, at their own prices.Repeat orders, known prices and reliable stock figures.
If you sell twenty products configured to order, a filtered catalogue is no use: a few well-written pages as part of a website redesign will do. The catalogue can also come first and online ordering later, on the same data. For the rest of a manufacturer’s site (company pages, distributor locator, export languages), see manufacturing web design.

What drives the price of a catalogue website

The number of part numbers matters little: once the model is in place, importing 500 lines or 50,000 takes almost the same development. The weight is elsewhere.

FactorWhy it counts
Number of familiesEach family has its own attributes and filters. Ten consistent families cost less than forty mismatched ones.
State of the dataMixed units, duplicates, attributes typed as free text: cleaning can take longer than development.
VariantsA product offered in sizes, materials and options needs rules to show a readable table.
Documents and CAD filesAttaching them to the right part number is simple if they are named methodically, slow if not.
Source and frequencyA nightly file import costs less than continuous synchronisation with the ERP’s API.
LanguagesAttribute labels are translated once; descriptions, product by product.

Getting your data ready before the project

You can make progress before you even contact us, and the work will serve you whoever builds the site.

  • Name one person responsible for product data. Without them, the catalogue starts ageing on launch day.
  • Pick a pilot family. Complete and representative, not the easiest one.
  • List the attributes people choose by. The ones customers quote on the phone, not everything the design office knows.
  • Fix the units and the permitted values. "316L stainless" everywhere, not four different spellings.
  • Name files after the part number. A datasheet named after its part number attaches itself.

The audit measures the gap between your current data and that model, family by family, and prices the cleaning.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a product catalogue website cost?

From £7,000 ex VAT for a catalogue in one language with search, filters, product pages and documents, fed from a spreadsheet or an ERP export. Synchronisation with a PIM or the ERP’s API is priced separately.

How long before the catalogue is live?

Allow 5 to 9 weeks from the audit to launch. The timescale depends first on the state of the data for the first family.

How many part numbers can the catalogue hold?

From a few hundred to several tens of thousands. The number of part numbers has little effect on price or speed; the number of families and the quality of the data have a lot.

Do we have to buy a PIM?

Not to start. A well-kept spreadsheet is enough for a few thousand part numbers in one or two languages. A PIM earns its place when several people enrich the data or when you send it to distributors. The PIM guide helps you choose.

Does the catalogue connect to our ERP?

Yes. Reading a file export is in the base price; synchronisation through the ERP’s API or a connector is an optional module, from £2,600 ex VAT. That can be done with Sage 200, Access Dimensions, Pegasus Opera, Odoo, SAP Business One or an in-house system. The audit checks what the ERP can export.

Can we show prices and stock?

Yes, as list prices or for logged-in visitors only. Different prices for each customer belong in a customer portal or an ordering site, which reuse the same catalogue.

Who updates the catalogue after launch?

Your team, in the data source: the site updates at the next synchronisation. The repository and the hosting are in your name, and maintenance stays optional.

Read next

Start with a fixed-price audit

In one to two weeks you know what to build, in what order and in what price range. The audit fee is deducted from the first project we build for you.

£1,650 ex VAT 1 to 2 weeks See a sample report

Request an auditEstimate my project