8 min read

Episode 7: Every Way to Source Product Data — What Works, What Doesn't, and Where to Start

Manual, scraping, data pools, AI, supplier portals, internal reuse. We break down every method for sourcing and enriching product data, what each is actually good for, and where each breaks down at scale.

Close-up of hands holding and folding a face mask.

Ben Adams & Clare Adams

Product Data Weekly

Smiling woman and man with the text 'Product Data Sourcing' in front of a dark background.

Most teams asked how they source product data can't really answer the question. Not because it isn't happening — because there's no strategy behind it. It's a survival process. Something breaks, someone fixes it, and nobody revisits it until the next crisis.

This template shows every block type available in the Webflow CMS editor, styled and ready for your dev to wire up.

Block: Heading 1

Heading 1 — Post Title Only

H1 is the largest heading. In this template it only appears in the post header (bound to the post_title CMS field). Inside the body, start sections at H2. Shown here for completeness — use sparingly if at all in the Rich Text body.

Block: Heading 2

Heading 2 — Primary Section Title

H2s are main section dividers. They get the teal left-bar accent and appear in the sidebar table of contents. Every H2 in the body needs an id="" attribute so the TOC anchor links work. Use these to mark major topic shifts.

Block: Heading 2

Heading 3 — Sub-section Within a Section

H3s sit under an H2. No teal bar — slightly smaller and lighter. Good for named sub-topics, product features, numbered step titles, or FAQ items within a section

Block: Heading 2

Heading 4 — Minor Sub-heading or Inline Label

H4 is a compact bold label. Use it to name a specific point inside a sub-section, flag a definition, or label a pattern before explaining it.

Block: Heading 2

Heading 5 — Category Label or Eyebrow

H5 renders in small-caps style. Works well as a category tag above an H2 or H3, or to label a group of bullet points with a descriptor before the list begins.

Block: Heading 2

Heading 6 — Fine Print Label or Attribution

H6 is the subtlest heading — uppercase, light grey. Use for source attributions, figure labels, or any metadata that needs a heading-like treatment without visual weight.

Block: Heading 2

Paragraph

This is a standard paragraph. Body copy is DM Sans 16.5px with a 1.78 line-height — optimised for long-form reading. Paragraphs support bold for key terms, italics for quotes or technical names, and inline code for field names, file formats, and values like SupplierPID or .xml.

Aim for 3 to 5 sentences per paragraph. Shorter paragraphs read better on screen — especially on mobile. Break long explanations across multiple paragraphs rather than writing a wall of text.

Block: Heading 2

Bulleted List

Use bulleted lists for unordered items — things that don't have a meaningful sequence. Each bullet gets a teal dot marker. Works best for 3 to 8 items. Each item should be substantial enough to stand alone — avoid single-word or fragment bullets.

  • Supplier data formats vary wildly. Excel, CSV, XML, PDF — each supplier has their own approach, which means every new relationship is a new mapping project without automation.
  • Coverage gaps are the norm in data pools. Most mid-market retailers find that data pools cover 15 to 20% of their supplier base at best — meaning 80%+ still need a separate process anyway.
  • AI doesn't fix bad structure — it processes it faster. If your attribute model is unclear or your source data is unreliable, AI will confidently propagate that mess at scale into every downstream system.
  • Internal reuse is almost always skipped. Most businesses have more usable data than they think. A single extraction pass over existing descriptions can fill half the attribute gap for

Block: Heading 2

Numbered List

Use numbered lists for ordered sequences — steps, workflows, or ranked priorities where order matters. Each item gets a teal circular number badge. Use these for onboarding flows, implementation phases, and structured how-to content.

  1. Audit what you already have before investing in any external sourcing method. A single extraction pass can fill 40 to 50% of attribute gaps without touching a new data source.
  2. Define your target schema first. AI enrichment and scraping are only as good as the attribute model they're mapping to. Build the structure before you try to fill it.
  3. Match the sourcing method to the supplier tier. Large, mature suppliers need file ingestion. Small ones need a simple portal with guided fields. One approach never fits the full supplier base.
  4. Measure quality, not volume. Enriching a million SKUs with two attributes each makes no difference to filtering, search, or conversion. Quality against your channel-facing taxonomy is the only measure that matters.
  5. Treat it as an ongoing operation. Product data degrades continuously with new introductions, supplier changes, and discontinued lines. A one-off sprint followed by nothing is not a strategy.

Block: Heading 2

Blockquote

Use blockquotes for pull quotes, key statements worth isolating, or direct quotes from customers, experts, or the podcast transcript. The teal left border and opening quote mark make these stand out without breaking the reading flow. Keep quotes concise — one to three sentences maximum.

Anyone selling a fully automated AI enrichment solution with no human review is selling something that will produce bad data at speed. The human role shifts from doing the work to validating it — which is meaningful, but it is not elimination.

Ben Adams, Product Data Weekly — Episode 7

Block: Heading 2

Image

Images are full-width within the content column, capped at the body max-width. They get a subtle border and rounded corners to match the card aesthetic across the page. Add a caption using a short italic paragraph immediately below, or a figcaption element for accessibility.

Smiling woman and man with the text 'Product Data Sourcing' in front of a dark background.
Fig 1 — Sourcing methods mapped by operational overhead vs catalogue scale. Internal reuse has the lowest cost and highest ROI at the start of any enrichment programme.

Block: Heading 2

Video

Videos embed in a responsive 16:9 container. In Webflow, use the Video block and paste a YouTube or Vimeo URL — it auto-generates the iframe. Use for demo recordings, podcast video versions, explainer clips, or customer case study walkthroughs.

Video player placeholder with a play button and instructions to paste YouTube or Vimeo URL.

Block: Heading 2

Code Block

Code blocks are dark-themed with monospace font and a labelled header row. Use for XML feed structures, JSON schemas, mapping rules, API responses, or any technical content where exact  must be preserved. The language label in the header tells the reader what they're looking at.

<Product>
  <SupplierPID>ABC-12345</SupplierPID>
  <DescriptionShort language="en">
    Circuit Breaker 16A Single Pole
  </DescriptionShort>
  <Features>
    <Feature>
      <FREF>EF000010</FREF>    <!-- Rated current -->
      <FVal>16</FVal>
      <FUnit>A</FUnit>
    </Feature>
    <Feature>
      <FREF>EF000020</FREF>    <!-- Number of poles -->
      <FVal>1</FVal>
    </Feature>
  </Features>
</Product>

For short inline references — a field name like SupplierPID, a file type like .csv, or an attribute key like rated_current_A — use the inline code style inside a paragraph rather than a full block.

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