Product Catalog Example

If you are looking for a product catalog example, you may be looking for a way to easily and efficiently manage your products to allow customers, third parties, and your employees to access and use data in a simplified manner. You may have a lot of questions, including “How do I make a simple product catalog?” and “How do I create a custom catalog for my products that anyone can use?” Or, you may be asking, “How do I make a sample catalog for my sales team to refer to?”

A product catalog is one of the most important tools for a manufacturer because it creates a single area where all data can be easily shared and communicated. Creating it takes the right tools.

What Is a Product Catalog?

A product catalog serves as a comprehensive inventory of goods offered by a company, providing detailed information such as descriptions, prices, and specifications. It serves as a central resource for customers to browse and select products, facilitating sales, marketing efforts, and informed purchasing decisions. A product catalog is sometimes called a product guide, product catalogue, or product list. It should include all of the related products that your company produces or sells in one location.

There are many ways to create them. It used to be very common to have a printed version, and that is still important in certain situations. However, digital product catalogs are increasingly important, especially if customers and others around the world need access to your data and product list. That digital version could be static, such as a PDF file that lists all of your products and related data. However, the most dynamic product guide is one that is created as a digital experience. The digital product guide needs to be connected with a product information management (PIM) solution in order to display real-time product information, ensuring customers always see the most up-to-date data.

What Is the Purpose of a Product Catalog?

A product catalog is a very important tool. It provides customers with a way to see all of the products they can choose from when ordering for you. It needs to do more than just serve as a list, though. It also needs to make it easy for the user to navigate it and find what they need.

Depending on the type of products you create, a product catalog could include not just the products you sell but also replacement parts and accessories for it. This allows customers to easily find everything they need to use your product to the fullest. Anything that your customers may need directly from the manufacturer or a channel partner could be included in your product list.

Common Product Catalog Challenges

Creating a catalog can be a challenge if you don’t have the right software solutions in place. 

The most common challenges related to the creation and management of a product catalog include:

  • ensuring data accuracy

  • maintaining consistency across platforms

  • updating information in real-time

  • handling large volumes of products efficiently 

Additionally, integrating with multiple systems and managing product variations can present logistical and technical hurdles.

Keeping this data up to date is overwhelming. If you are a manufacturer without a PIM solution in place, it is going to be far harder and more time-consuming (as well as more expensive) to maintain this information accurately.

Many times, those without a PIM solution will need to manage their product information using an Excel spreadsheet. That spreadsheet may be stored on someone’s computer or on the company network. If you do not have a single location that is easily updated and accessible, as well as comprehensive enough to include all of your product information and assets, it is limiting your efficiency and productivity. In fact, it can be extremely cumbersome to compile everything that is necessary for a product guide, a task that must be done at least annually to keep up with changes.

What Is a Good Product Catalog? Product Catalog Examples to Consider

There are many companies that have a product catalog. If you think back 40 years, you may remember receiving product catalogs as large, printed phone directory-style books that included all of the products that could be ordered from a company. Everything from kitchen appliances to entire homes was sold in printed catalogs.

Today, product catalogs still serve a very important purpose, but they are often digital and more comprehensive. They need to include more information than ever and present that information in a usable manner.

Numerous types of companies need to have product catalogs. This includes manufacturers of:

  • Appliances

  • Faucets

  • Fixtures

  • Lawn and garden items

  • Light fixtures

  • Tools and much more

When looking for a product catalog example PDF to guide you in creating your own, consider that it is often a digital document. It should showcase your company's products in a structured and visually appealing format. It typically includes product images, descriptions, specifications, and pricing information. 

You can find examples of product catalog PDFs by searching online for specific industries or companies, or by visiting websites that offer downloadable catalogs. These PDFs serve as marketing materials and sales tools, allowing customers to browse and learn about the company's offerings. 

Product Catalog Primary Delivery Mechanism

There are two primary delivery mechanisms for product catalogs. The first is a product catalog PDF or a digital catalog PDF. The second is a digital version, such as a microsite, app, or secure portal. 

While many manufacturers often default to using the PDF version because they find it to be the basic solution. You can find a product catalog maker that offers software to make a PDF feel more interactive, such as a product list that looks like a flipbook. However, even in situations like this, where it is a type of digital file, it is still a very static and hard-to-change document. The other limitation of this type of product catalog or catalogue is that it does not connect to your product data and, therefore, it does not receive updates whenever your product data changes.

A better option for many manufacturers is a digital version connected to a PIM. A fully digital version of the product catalog is ideal because it can be linked to your product information management (PIM) solution. This way, product data, and all related digital assets are automatically updated within the digital product catalog any time there is a need to change it. This makes it far more versatile and reliable. Whenever you make a change to the product data in the PIM, this can automatically change your product catalog, keeping it fully up to date.

Create Product Catalog PDF

You can easily find software to make catalog PDFs rather easily. You will likely need to use software such as Adobe InDesign to design the product catalog. Even if you find a simple product catalog template, you will still need the software to help you incorporate the specific information you need for your product. Other options exist, including Word, Canva, and others. How do you make a product catalog in Excel or Word? Find the templates available through these programs and then, with some skill, update them to match your specific needs.

Once the design version is finalized, you will need to export the file into a PDF. Then, you will need to promote it using the applicable channels. This allows your customers to gain access to it. Even if you use a product catalog maker for this, every time you need to update your product information, such as when you are adding new products or making changes to it, you will need to go through this process again. Manual updates have to be made any time product data changes.

There are benefits to learning how to create catalog in PDF and other tools. For those asking, “How do I make a sample catalog” that does not need updating, this can work just fine.

Benefits of Digital Product Catalogs

What if you want to offer your clients and customers more, like a product catalog app or you want to create a version that allows you to update it as your product changes on a frequent basis? In those situations, a digital tool is better.

Many companies often solely create a PDF version of their product guide using software like Adobe InDesign. This type of approach is problematic because the product data could change at any time. When it does, that means all of the changes have to happen. A PDF version will not automatically update to reflect the data changes. That means a PDF version of your product catalog is out-of-date almost immediately after it is created.

Creating a digital version of your product catalog that is on your website is a much better solution for your business. It allows your product catalog to always have up-to-date information whenever it is connected to your PIM. Also, note that this can also have all of the benefits of search engine optimization (SEO) tied into it. If you are incorporating keywords into your product descriptions, that can be incorporated into your catalog rather easily.

Define PIM

If you are asking questions like how to create a catalog in PDF or “How do I create a product catalog in Word?” take a moment to consider the alternative. It could comprehensively change the way you manage your business, and it may help you have the best possible product catalog for your customers. That is because the investment in a PIM software solution can enhance the way you operate.

A PIM is a software program that offers a central location to store and manage all types of product data for your company. This product data will include anything that is related to your product, including:

  • Product descriptions

  • SKUs

  • Pricing

  • Features

  • Benefits

  • Dimension

  • Functionality and more

In addition to this, if you invest in a PIM that includes built-in Digital Asset Management (DAM) solutions, you gain additional benefits. The DAM allows you to manage your digital assets using the same software solution. That includes digital assets such as:

  • Owner’s manuals

  • How-to videos

  • Product photos

  • Spec sheets and more

The PIM solution allows you to create a single source of truth for all of your products. It also allows anyone that you select to have access to that information. You can set up multiple users to log in to the software and update the product data. Most importantly, all of this can be done in real-time. There is no delay, and there is always an up-to-date product list for anyone who needs it.

Benefits of Using PIM for Product Catalog Creation

Let’s go back to the simple question. “How do I make a simple product catalog?” What you may not realize is that by setting up a PIM, you are creating the very simplest of methods for updating and establishing your catalog.

When connected to a digital experience platform (DXP), you can take this even further, effectively managing your entire line of products in a very simple and streamlined manner. When it is connected to a DXP, it is easy to create digital experiences that are tied to your product data.

Lumavate offers a solution like this. It is an excellent choice for managing your product data-related digital assets as well as building your digital product guide. Lumavate offers a PIM solution in its DXP, which also allows marketers at manufacturing companies to easily create digital product catalogs.

Steps for Creating a Product Catalog

There are many other questions you likely have. “How do you structure a product catalog?” and “What is an example of a product catalog designed in a digital format like this?” Let’s break down some of those questions.

The following steps are used to create a product catalog in this manner.

First, determine the structure of your product catalog. Even if you use a software product catalog template to create this version, you absolutely need to be sure you have created a version that fits your company’s needs. What information do you want to include in your product catalog? Once you know this, consider the following steps:

  • Gather all of the product information and related assets

  • Add all of your product information and the related assets to a PIM solution

  • Create a digital experience that is tied to your PIM solution. It should provide up-to-date product information when the product guide and catalog is accessed.

Update your product data and related assets. You can do that using the PIM. This allows for the data to be instantaneously available in your product guide and catalog. We recommend a solution like Lumavate that makes it easy to manage your product data and digital assets.

We recommend using a solution like Lumavate because it allows you to manage your product data and digital assets within the PIM itself. This added functionality allows you to build out your digital experiences tied to that product data. You can do this in about 30 minutes.

Product Catalog Cost

As you think about questions like these, “What is the best software to make a catalog?” and “How do I create a product catalog in Excel?” take a moment to consider cost. You may expect the cost to be much higher using a PIM, but in fact, using this type of digital catalog maker saves you time and money.

The cost of creating a product guide will vary greatly depending on how the information is collected and the delivery mechanism. For instance, if your company uses Excel to manage product data and you create a PDF version of your product guide, you will likely spend 30 or more hours (nearly a full week’s worth of work for a single employee) or, in other cases, far more time on the project, especially if you have numerous products. Then, you need to consider that you will likely be updating a product guide at least one time a year with hundreds of hours invested in this process.

Instead, using a product like Lumavate allows you to design a product catalog that is tied to your PIM and digital experiences. It will take a few hours to update your digital experience product guide from scratch. However, once that data is in place and all digital assets are in a PIM, it will take you about 30 minutes to build out that guide.

The cost structure for Lumavate includes both a Professional and Enterprise plan. Both of these contain PIM functionality, and depending on your specific needs, either can work to design your product catalog.

What Lumavate Offers

Lumavate is a product experience management (PXM) platform. It enables manufacturing companies to create and manage everything related to their digital product experiences. What makes it unique is that it can help you with all of the tasks you have in one place. It includes:

When you are asking questions like “Is there an app to create a catalog?”, that likely means you’re looking for faster solutions that can meet your specific needs. Lumavate is an all-in-one solution that provides you with everything you need to effectively manage product data and digital assets, as well as to create and update digital experiences that contain product information and send highly targeted text messages. It lets you handle all tasks, including legal and product registrations and much more. There is no other platform that offers this breadth of solutions in one place.

Even better, Lumavate does all of this at a fraction of the cost of platforms that offer less.

How to Implement Lumavate

As you consider your options in product catalog or catalogue design, know that Lumavate is very easy to get started. Start with a 14-day free trial or schedule a demo to see it in action.

We offer multiple subscription plans to meet your needs, starting at just $499 per month. Once you have a plan in place, you can onboard the same day and start using your tools right away. There is no complex training process needed. Most of the time, our clients launch their digital product guides in only a few days after getting started with Lumavate and expanding to use Lumavate for their company’s website, sales resources, events, and more.

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