Onboarding, enriching, and syndicating high-quality product data is no longer optional for merchants. It’s the foundation of competing in crowded digital marketplaces.
Yet, for years, suppliers and merchants in the building materials industry have wrestled with inconsistent, incomplete, and fragmented product data.
Each merchant might demand a different format. Each supplier might respond with spreadsheets, PDFs, or even emailed snippets. The outcome? Hours wasted on manual reworking, frustrated teams, and product data that feels like it’s always lagging behind.
The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) Product Data Template (PDT) is emerging as a way out of this cycle. By providing a single, standardised way to structure product information, it helps both suppliers and merchants clean up how they share and use data. But the bigger story is how it’s reshaping day-to-day supplier–merchant relationships.
Why the template exists
The BMF PDT was designed to fix a simple but costly problem: merchants can’t function without consistent, accurate product data. From ERP systems to eCommerce sites to trade apps, everything relies on data that’s structured, complete, and trustworthy.
Historically, merchants spent far too long reformatting supplier data, chasing down missing attributes, and patching gaps. The PDT defines a clear set of fields, covering everything from technical specifications and pack sizes to sustainability credentials. Suppliers can provide data in a format merchants can instantly use, giving everyone confidence that what’s passed on to contractors, tradespeople, and end customers is reliable.
The impact on suppliers
At first glance, the PDT may look like extra work. Suppliers need to validate, structure, and manage data in a standard format they may not have used before.
But when they step back, the opportunity becomes clear. Standardise once, distribute everywhere.
Instead of bending their data to meet the quirks of each merchant or marketplace, suppliers can create a master dataset that works for all. That dataset can then feed every channel, from merchants and distributors to BIM systems.
Forward-thinking suppliers are pairing the PDT with Product Information Management (PIM) systems. By centralising content, enriching it, and exporting in BMF-compliant formats, suppliers reduce admin overheads, improve agility, and strengthen their standing with merchants.
This shift transforms how suppliers present themselves. Instead of being bogged down in rework, they’re seen as proactive, efficient partners who make life easier for their merchant customers. In a competitive, margin-sensitive sector, that reputation matters.
The benefits for merchants
For merchants, the upside is immediate:
- Faster onboarding: Load supplier data quickly instead of spending weeks fixing spreadsheets.
- Cleaner data: Consistent structure across dimensions, weights, pack sizes, and compliance details.
- Stronger compliance: Greater protection against legal and industry risks.
- Better digital experiences: Rich, accurate product data leads to smoother product discovery, fewer abandoned baskets, and happier trade customers.
Crucially, the tug-of-war over “who fixes the data” begins to fade. With the PDT, both sides have a shared framework that makes collaboration easier.
Building towards industry-wide transformation
The BMF PDT is more than a spreadsheet. It signals a shift towards industry-wide digital transformation.
The Builders Merchants Federation and the National Merchant Buying Society (NMBS) are also working together on the industry data pool – Data Yard – a shared repository where PDT-compliant data can be stored and accessed. This initiative builds on the template, providing a single hub that reduces duplication, improves accuracy, and speeds up distribution across the entire supply chain.
For suppliers, it means one place to publish trusted data. For merchants, it means reliable access to data they know meets the industry standard. Together, the PDT and the Industry Data Pool are laying the foundations of a sector where data flows seamlessly between stakeholders.
The benefits are clear: lower costs, reduced friction, and a stronger digital customer experience. The challenge, as always, is adoption. That’s where expertise, training, and sometimes a rethink of old processes come into play.
How SKULaunch helps suppliers adopt the BMF PDT
At Start with Data, we’ve seen first-hand how suppliers can struggle to meet these new requirements. Some lack the systems to structure data. Others have teams tied up in spreadsheets and manual checks. For many, the risk is falling behind merchants who now expect PDT-compliant data as standard.
That’s why we built SKULaunch – a managed service designed specifically for suppliers who need to deliver merchant-ready product data in the BMF PDT format.
Here’s how it addresses the key pain points:
- Hours wasted on spreadsheets and PDFs? SKULaunch automates the process of converting supplier data from spreadsheets, PDFs, ERP, or PIM into BMF-compliant files.
- Chasing missing attributes? The platform helps fill data gaps quickly, sourcing missing specifications, attributes, and even images without leaving SKULaunch.
- Endless reformatting and fixing errors? AI-powered mapping cleans and normalises supplier data so it matches the BMF schema, reducing repetitive corrections.
- High admin costs? By eliminating manual rekeying and formatting, SKULaunch cuts down the burden on teams and reduces costs.
The results are merchant-ready PDT files, every time – with cleaner data, faster onboarding, and scalable workflows that support supplier growth.
For suppliers, this means moving from firefighting to confidence. Instead of worrying whether their data will pass merchant checks, they know it’s right first time. For merchants, it means faster onboarding, fewer errors, and product information they can trust.
And as the Data Yard comes online, SKULaunch will give suppliers a straightforward path to publish their validated data into a shared hub that all merchants can access.
The bigger picture
As adoption grows, the combination of the PDT, the Industry Data Pool, and services like SKULaunch will radically reduce the friction that has long plagued supplier–merchant relationships.
Imagine an industry where:
- Every supplier has one master dataset.
- Every merchant can access clean, standardised data.
- Data flows across systems with minimal rework.
- Customers experience consistent, accurate product information at every touchpoint.
That’s the future being built right now. It won’t happen overnight, and there will be bumps along the way. But the direction of travel is clear – towards efficiency, collaboration, and competitiveness built on clean product data.
See how we help
The BMF PDT is transforming supplier–merchant relationships for the better. It’s not just a compliance exercise – it’s an opportunity to reduce wasted effort, strengthen partnerships, and future-proof digital operations.
At Start with Data, we help both suppliers and merchants adopt the BMF PDT and prepare for Data Yard without the headaches. Whether it’s onboarding supplier data with SKULaunch, enriching content with Descriptionwise, or setting up governance frameworks in your PIM, we make the transition smooth, sustainable, and ROI-positive.
If you’re a supplier aligning your data or a merchant accelerating onboarding, let’s talk about how we can help you put the BMF PDT into practice.