Achieved 99.3% Product Data Matching Accuracy Across 25,000+ Monthly SKUs

The Client

An Enterprise-Grade Competitor Pricing Intelligence Platform

Our client offers subscription-based pricing intelligence software used by omnichannel sellers, online retailers, and manufacturers in 30+ countries. Their software collects competitor product data from digital shelves and uses it to support assortment analysis, market trend monitoring, and price benchmarking.

Project Requirements

Improving Product Data Matching Accuracy at Scale

The client's software could automatically match products using standardized identifiers, such as UPCs and brand SKUs. However, a significant portion of their catalog was outside the scope of reliable automation, requiring a dedicated team of product data matching experts to handle manual matching and validation at high volumes.

The specific requirements were:

  • Manual Data Matching: Identify corresponding products on competitor websites when automated matching fails to establish reliable matches due to incomplete standard identifiers or variations in product descriptions and titles.
  • Last Searched Quality Assurance (LSQA): Review and validate automated product matches to confirm accuracy of the data before it reaches the end-users.
  • Matching Variant Attributes: Map product variations—finish, color, quantity, and size—using Dynamic Data (DD) values accurately for variant-level, like-for-like comparisons.
  • Multiple Source Coverage: Match items across product search engines (e.g., PriceGrabber, Google Shopping) and hundreds of competitor retail websites.

Project Challenges

Maintaining Data Matching Accuracy For 25,000+ SKUs Under Strict Timelines

Executing this project at the required scale introduced several challenges, including:

  • Stringent Turnaround Requirements

    Maintaining real-time competitive intelligence required matching and validating 25,000+ SKUs monthly without compromising accuracy. Speed and precision had to be sustained simultaneously, as any processing backlog would delay data delivery, while rushed validation would undermine data reliability.

  • Complex Variant Matching Requirements

    Categories such as electronics, home décor, and apparel required attribute validation across dimensions, pack configurations, and model numbers, as these categories have multiple variant products (e.g., finishes, colors, shades, and sizes). Ensuring exact comparison was crucial, as matching a product to the wrong variant—even within the same product family—would produce inaccurate pricing intelligence.

  • Inconsistent Product Data Across Competitor Sites

    Product titles, descriptions, and attribute structures varied widely across websites, making automation unreliable for non-standardized items. Some products lacked consistent brand SKUs or UPC codes, further increasing reliance on a manual matching workflow.

  • Multi-Criteria Search and Cross-Referencing

    Each product required searching and validating across several data points, such as brand SKU, brand, UPC, partial titles, and product features, demanding analytical judgment rather than procedure-based execution.

  • Dynamic Competitor Websites

    Competitor websites regularly change page layouts, URL structures, and product pages. Product data matching methodologies and validation protocols had to be revised regularly to remain aligned with these changes.

  • High-Volume Quality Control

    Errors in LSQA validation—even at a low rate—would cascade into flawed pricing intelligence delivered to the client's customers, making precision at scale a non-negotiable.

Our Solution

Human-Verified Product Data Matching Supported by a Structured QA Workflow

To support the engagement, 10 product data matching specialists were trained on the client’s primary workflows, ensuring full alignment with established matching procedures and validation standards.

Manual Matcher Operations

Our specialists used the Manual Matcher software provided by the client to search and verify product matches across competitor websites. The workflow involved:

  • Multi-Criteria Product Search: Analysts searched competitor sites using all available data points—brand SKU, brand, UPC, partial titles, and product titles. After identifying matches to product information, the team compared descriptions, titles, images, and specifications to confirm exact matches.
  • Variant Mapping with Dynamic Data (DD) Values: For products available in multiple variants, our specialists assigned DD values to map attributes such as color, finish, shade, and size, ensuring the matched competitor listing reflected the exact variant of the client’s product and that the captured URL pointed to the precise item being tracked.
  • Data Tagging: we captured confirmed matches by URL and flagged all unmatched products as 'No URL,' eliminating the risk of false positives.

Last Searched Quality Assurance (LSQA)

LSQA involved a side-by-side review of automated or previously matched products against current competitor listings. The process included:

  • Comparative Validation: The specialists opened each competitor URL in-browser and evaluated it against the client listing across key search attributes—product title, brand, size, quantity, and finish/color—to confirm if they match exactly or not.
  • Variant Reassignment: We assigned DD values for multiple-variant products to maintain an accurate, up-to-date database at the SKU level.
  • Data Tagging: We approved exact matches directly within the client’s platform and rejected listings without a verified counterpart, preventing inaccurate data from reaching end users.

Security Measures

Secure Data Handling for Sensitive Competitive Information

As the project involved sensitive pricing data, the engagement was executed under strict security protocols, including:

  • Confidentiality Agreements: Comprehensive NDAs were signed by every team member prior to project onboarding.
  • Access Management: Team members connected via VPN with multi-factor authentication to access the client's system. Role-based access and individual credentials were provided to limit each team member's access to their assigned tasks only.
  • Compliance Standards: Operations adhered to ISO/IEC 27001:2022 data security requirements, including physical access controls and scheduled security audits.
  • No Local Data Storage: The client's software worked in a browser-only environment with download restrictions. No pricing data, product information, or competitive intelligence data was stored locally on any team workstation.
Project Outcomes

Verified Data, Faster Turnaround, and Proven Commercial Value

By integrating a structured matching framework with a rigorous two-tier quality assurance protocol, our domain-expert team drove significant operational improvements. This performance established a foundation for a long-term partnership managing the client’s end-to-end product data requirements. Key outcomes of our engagement include:

Metric Result
Data Matching Accuracy 99.3% across all matched products.
Gross Profit Uplift 25% potential growth in gross profit for the major selected customers using validated pricing data.
Operational Efficiency 40% improvement in data processing efficiency and time-to-market.
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