Key Takeaways

• Royal Brass and Hose made the transition from traditional industrial distribution to business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce as part of a long-term growth strategy.

• Clean, accurate product data is the foundation of any successful B2B ecommerce platform in the industrial distribution space.

• Product Information Management (PIM) software played a key role in organizing and publishing the Royal Brass and Hose product catalog online.

• Attending the B2B Online conference provided the team with a roadmap for the ecommerce transition and reinforced the importance of data quality.

• The ecommerce journey required investment in systems, processes, and partnerships, including working with Ntara on product data strategy.

Making the move from traditional industrial distribution to business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce is not a simple task. It requires a commitment to clean product data, the right technology, and a willingness to navigate unfamiliar territory. Royal Brass and Hose embarked on this journey with the goal of making it easier for customers to find and purchase the products they need, wherever and whenever they need them.

How Did Royal Brass and Hose Start Its Ecommerce Journey?

For decades, Royal Brass and Hose operated as a traditional industrial distributor, relying on in-person sales, phone orders, and branch locations to serve customers. As customer expectations shifted and competitors began moving online, the team recognized that ecommerce was not just a trend but a fundamental shift in how industrial buyers source products.

The decision to pursue B2B ecommerce was not made lightly. Industrial distribution involves thousands of SKUs, complex product specifications, and customers who require accurate technical information before making purchasing decisions. Getting the product catalog online in a usable, searchable form was the first major challenge.

What Did We Learn at the B2B Online Conference?

The Royal Brass and Hose team attended the B2B Online conference, one of the leading events focused on digital commerce for manufacturers and distributors. The conference provided a framework for thinking through the ecommerce transition: what it takes to launch, what the common pitfalls are, and what separates companies that succeed from those that struggle.

One of the clearest takeaways from the conference was that product data quality determines ecommerce success in industrial distribution. Companies with clean, complete, and well-structured product data are able to launch faster and serve customers more effectively than those who try to build their platform on incomplete or inconsistent data.

What Is Clean Product Data and Why Does It Matter?

Clean product data means that every SKU in the catalog has accurate, complete, and consistent information: product name, description, dimensions, specifications, images, and category assignments. In industrial distribution, where products may be defined by thread type, pressure rating, material, and a dozen other attributes, this level of detail is not optional. It is what allows customers to find the right product and make confident purchasing decisions.

Royal Brass and Hose worked with Ntara on product data strategy and implementation of Product Information Management (PIM) software. A Product Information Management (PIM) system provides a central location for managing product content, making it possible to organize, enrich, and publish product data to the ecommerce platform in a consistent and scalable way.

The work required to clean and structure the product catalog was significant, but it was the essential foundation for everything that followed. Without clean data, even the best ecommerce platform cannot deliver the experience customers expect.

Learn more about the Royal Brass and Hose ecommerce platform

Royal Brass and Hose continues to invest in its digital platform to make it easier for customers to find and purchase industrial products online.

Need Help?

Contact our team at 800-669-9650 for assistance with product selection or sourcing.