SEMA Data’s Next Evolution

Since its launch in 2012, SEMA Data has become a crucial resource for SEMA members and the industry at large. Originally called the SEMA Data Co-op, SEMA Data’s mission has been simple and unchanged: to facilitate the exchange of clean, reliable product data between manufacturers and resellers, boosting sales to our industry’s consumers. Today, SEMA Data serves more than 500 brands, making about 4.5 million SKUs available to more than 3,500 retailers in various export formats, from industry-standardized ACES and PIES to custom-configured.

The mission may be simple, but the needs of SEMA Data members are varied, and the world of product data has grown increasingly sophisticated over the past decade. For example, online sales points such as Amazon are demanding ever more robust data. For manufacturers, this means that maintaining and regularly updating a high-quality dataset is critical for ongoing engagement with resellers and consumers.

SEMA Data has risen to meet the challenges of a fast-changing marketplace, launching tools and services for manufacturers and resellers to make managing and utilizing all the product data easier and more efficient.

As of February 1, SEMA Data released an update to its Data Scorecard program to keep pace with these heightened data expectations. The familiar bronze, silver, gold and platinum levels are still there, but the requirements for each are more delineated. Of course, the SEMA Data team remains committed to helping each brand meet its data excellence goals. That individual attention to member service has been the hallmark of SEMA Data from the very beginning—and something we’re especially proud of.

But there’s even bigger news to report. As this magazine goes to press, SEMA Data is preparing to launch a new SEMA Data Marketplace to connect product brands more directly with the more than 3,500 resellers currently in the SEMA Data network, including nearly all the big resellers and warehouses. The new Marketplace website will enable a reseller to log in, search for items they wish to sell, and request the appropriate product datasets. Manufacturers will also be able to communicate specials, featured products and news directly with these resellers.

This is an evolutionary next step for SEMA Data. Previously, it was simply a member-to-member data exchange. While that aspect of the program remains, the Marketplace goes beyond the exchange of product data to being a virtual central catalog of companies, brands, products and their unique selling propositions. It aims to forge a more immediate and direct relationship between qualified resellers and our industry’s many manufacturers of every type and size. In short,
it promises to better inform resellers about who our industry is and what its manufacturers do to ultimately speed more products to a demanding market. (Keep an eye out for more SEMA communications on this topic.)

This is just the beginning of a much bolder strategic plan. We envision the SEMA Data Marketplace’s future to include deeper integration with other SEMA programs, most notably our Shows, where so many new products are launched. Through the Marketplace, products introduced and
displayed at such events will achieve greater, year-round attention and promotion. It’s all a part of our association’s mission to keep our industry growing, succeeding and prospering.