The Web Services Strategy

The amount of money and time spent on trying to keep data correct and consistent from supplier to wholesalers and data services (iPage and Christian Books & More in our case), then to retailers to consumers is inestimable.

Millions have been spent to get this right in retailing of all kinds. Several very expensive global standards initiatives have been working for years just to exchange data between retailers and suppliers. (See GS1’s Global Data Synchronization Network).

The Christian Retail Channel attempted to do this a few years ago and found a very high price tag and not a lot of willing buyers. CBA’s Back Room Study found some retailers spend as much as $7,000 annually just typing in new-product information.

The general publishing industry’s Book Industry Study Group is wrestling with developing standards and best practices for its ONIX (Online Information Exchange) standard so publishers can exchange product information with trading partners.

The Web Services Patterns Task Force would create a direct industry network that would help make data exchange easier.