ETIM is an international data standard used in over 20 markets across the world. It defines the technical and performance attributes that B2B buyers need in order to find a product or match a product to a specific need.

In the UK, manufacturers have been working since 2017 to Anglicise ETIM for many types of electrotechnical, HVAC & plumbing and building products.

For manufacturers who export, the beauty of ETIM is that you only have to classify your products once. The international network of countries that are part of ETIM International mean translations for other markets are automatic.

ETIM is managed in the UK by ETIM UK and Ireland Ltd, according to the guidelines laid out by ETIM International.

In the UK there are two Sector Lead organisations:

1. The Electrical Distributors’ Association (EDA) for electro-technical products
2. The Builders Merchants’ Federation (BMF) for HVAC & Plumbing products, and for Building Materials products.

No. ETIM is a data format or model which, if followed correctly, ensures that all manufacturers’ technical data is supplied consistently and accurately.

B2B wholesalers and merchants are rapidly adopting digital or multi-channel sales strategies where the ability for customers to find your products, whether via search engine or distributor’s web site, is crucial to getting the sale.

This means providing sophisticated searches and filters enabling customers to select products by their technical characteristics which, in turn, means that data from all suppliers has to be structured consistently.  Few wholesalers have the resources to restructure data from numerous suppliers, so asking for ETIM formatted data is the most efficient, most accurate way to achieve this goal.

No.  ETIM is confined to data relating to technical characteristics and performance. The kind of data which customers will use to search or filter on a web site and find products which match a particular specification or meet a specific need.

In ETIM there is no provision for pricing data, no pictures, or free text space to write promotional marketing content.  On a web site ETIM data will be used in conjunction with these data elements, which will also be found in industry data pools such as EDATA.

You know your products. If you supply incomplete, inaccurate or inconsistent technical product data along the supply chain, you risk two things:

1. That your ultimate customers will overlook your products because the information they can find on the wholesaler’s website is incomplete, inaccurate or inconsistent when compared to another manufacturer’s product.
2. You leave the wholesaler to try and populate the missing information about your product with all the inherent risks that involves.

By adopting ETIM you can provide data in a single format to many customers, you increase the chances of your products being selected and you remain in control.

Firstly you need to identify the appropriate ETIM Class for each of your products.  You can review the UK English versions of ETIM Classes using the ETIM Classification Management Tool (CMT)

You may also refer to the ETIM UK & Ireland Guidance Notes.

Secondly you can start applying the values to each feature, again guided by the CMT.  All this can be done using spreadsheets, but it is highly recommended that you invest in a PIM (Product Information Management) system which already has a built-in facility for applying ETIM data to your products

The EDA is publishing a series of White Papers which you may find useful.

Many Distributors now require Manufacturers to supply them with ETIM Classified Product Data.  Basic data such as the ETIM class codes can be provided using Microsoft Excel but we don’t recommend this for complex data such as ETIM features and values. Instead, ETIM Data is best provided in a BMEcat format, the new ETIM xChange format, or by uploading it into an industry data pool such as EDATA.

Consider for a moment how you, as a consumer, research products online before buying.

You’ll probably put in a long-tail search into Google describing the product you’re looking for or the problem you want to solve.  Here’s an example of a long-tail search “garden sheds with window for small garden”. You’d expect the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) to show you sheds with plenty of information concerning dimensions, size of windows, material it’s made of and so on. If that information is not easy to find, you’re unlikely to buy. The same is true for contractors whether they operate in the electro-technical, HVAC & Sanitary or Building Materials sectors.

If you’re not able to tell them how your products will perform, isn’t there a risk that they’ll buy from a brand that will?

Yes.  ETIM UK welcomes approaches from industry solution providers who wish to integrate ETIM into their systems.

As the use of ETIM becomes more widespread, the ability to offer ETIM readiness “out of the box” will be a significant competitive advantage to solution providers.

BMEcat is an XML file format, specifically developed for transfer of product catalogue data.  The format can accommodate not only the ETIM data but also other key data including product part numbers and descriptions, links to images, data sheets and other digital assets and packaging and logistics data.

A BMEcat file is not designed to be manually edited (e.g. in Excel) but it can be generated by many PIM systems and imported into data pools such as EDATA, other PIM systems and web-platforms.

ETIM xChange is a JSON file format also designed specifically for transfer of product catalogue data.  It is also suitable for API transfer and will ultimately supersede BMEcat.