Arlington, VA – The Industry Data Exchange Association (IDEA) announces new social media and logo fields in IDEA Connector so manufacturers can better facilitate information needed by distributors for eCommerce. These new additions include the ability to populate social media accounts, as well as URLs for logos on each brand.
These new fields are in addition to IDEA Connector’s 500+ fields for digital initiatives, including technical drawings, multiple images (3D, thumbnails, etc.), warranty information, videos, IMAP pricing, certifications (UL, Prop 65, etc.), and multilingual content (Spanish, French, etc.).
Customers will now be able to load their YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest accounts for their trading partners to access. Many manufacturers and distributors use their social media accounts as a source for company updates and communicating with their customers and trading partners. This encourages trading partners to interact and have another stream of communication.
Manufacturers will also be able to include logos for their brands so distributors can brand appropriately on eCommerce websites and product pages.
“It is our goal to be a one-stop source of information and communication,” said Brenda Maxwell, IDEA’s Director of Global Product Management. “In the IDEA Connector platform, manufacturers only have to input their product content once and the information is available for all of their trading partners.”
Although these fields are not required, IDEA highly encourages manufacturers to populate these attributes to support sales in the industry. As a best practice, IDEA recommends manufacturers send a broadcast message in IDEA Connector announcing new information that is available.
IDEA also recommends that manufacturers provide all their product content to IDEA Connector so it is available to their trading partners. IDEA Connector has unlimited capacity for fields and SKUs within its new platform. IDEA Connector currently holds over 250 million product attributes and 2.6 million SKUS from 230 manufacturers across 700 brands.
For more information, contact the IDEA Connector Client Solutions team at ideaclientsolutions@idea4industry.com or call (866) 479-0484.
About IDEA
The Industry Data Exchange Association, Inc. (IDEA) is the official technology service provider and eBusiness standards body of the electrical industry. IDEA helps hundreds of manufacturers and distributors effectively and efficiently exchange transactional and eCommerce content on a day-to-day basis. IDEA was founded in 1998 through a partnership formed by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED). Their applications also bring value to vertical markets such as industrial, retail, and consumer-packaged goods. IDEA is headquartered in Arlington, VA (idea4industry.com).