Taxonomy & Attribution

Taxonomy and attribution are two critical elements of your e-commerce data model, and a core competency at Sitation. Taxonomy is a part of virtually every business system in the e-commerce stack, from ERP to PIM to commerce and search platforms.

Many e-commerce site owners discount the importance of taxonomy and attribution as part of their overall strategy, relegating its management to interns or low-level employees with little or no product knowledge. We also commonly see merchants treat taxonomy and attribution as a project that can be “completed”, rather than an ongoing process of testing and refinement.

In reality, taxonomy and attribution should be considered critical business assets, and the processes to manage them should be well-funded and trained. Taxonomy and attribution provide an opportunity to create long-term competitive advantage and to differentiate the search and browse experience in your digital channels from your competitors.

Taxonomy & Data Modeling Services

Taxonomy involves the definition of a product hierarchy, which can be internal, customer-facing, or both. Many e-commerce merchants have unique taxonomies in each of the channels in which they do business. Creating a scalable, effective taxonomy is no small task, and requires research, patience, and an eye for detail.

Sitation has deep expertise in these critical business processes, and provides taxonomy and attribution modeling services to a number of the largest e-commerce retailers and distributors in the United States. In addition to a world-class team of data modeling experts, we also have a unique proprietary software system, specifically built for the task of managing large, complex taxonomy and attribution models.

Attribution

Attribution is the definition of attributes (also known as product specifications or properties, depending on the system) for products that reside in the taxonomy. Attributes are defined by their metadata, including a name, data type, minimum length and other business rules, and more. In the PIM world, product data is mapped into attributes so that it can be organized and published downstream.

Defining an attribution model is just as important as the taxonomy, as it drives the collection and maintenance of your product information, as well as how that information will be presented in a channel. Many retail taxonomies have tens or even hundreds of thousands of attributes–managing them is no small feat and requires know-how and the right set of tools.