Make Your Parts Catalogs More User-Friendly

Are you ready to turn digital parts catalogs into a robust sales and marketing tool?

Online, commerce-enabled parts catalogs make transactions quick, seamless, and user-friendly.

If your aftermarket sales still depend on telephones, faxes, and email, you should consider offering buyers the self-service convenience they demand. Below are five simple tips to improve part book usability, so your network can get the most value from your publishing efforts.

5 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR PARTS CATALOGS MORE USER-FRIENDLY

1. Digitize Your Parts Catalogs to Increase Accessibility and Enable Online Ordering

Using existing CAD files, illustrations, and bill of materials (BOMs), you can create online parts catalogs. Electronic parts catalogs (EPCs) are then available to your network of customers 24/7 from any web-enabled device.

2. Implement Naming Standards

When creating digital parts catalogs, data is organized into pre-defined fields. The names you assign to these fields have both aesthetic and functional properties. Assigning standard naming conventions for fields helps ensure data entry remains consistent, so parts are easy to identify.

3. Consider the Language You Use

How will your customers/users search for information or content? Each user is different and may search for a part in different ways. Using standard terms and industry-specific terms will make your content searchable to everyone.

4. Leverage Metadata to Increase Searchability

Metadata is another method that can assist users in identifying a part. When metadata attributes are added to a part, like weight, quantity on hand, or a revision, a user can accurately distinguish the part they are looking for quickly. Metadata attributes are searchable as well.

5. Utilize Visual Aids

With digital parts catalogs, users have the option to browse visually. Identifying standard imagery for components that can be leveraged in all records will give users the ability to identify the part they are searching for visually.

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