Industry News & Trends
Applied AI for Distributors: the room agreed on the bottleneck
Every keynote at Applied AI for Distributors agreed the real bottleneck isn't the AI model — it's your product data. Here's the part the mainstage left out.
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Industry News & Trends
What is changing across distribution, retail, and manufacturing — and what it means for your catalog.
Footwear
Footwear brands have a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it costs sales
Footwear catalogs are full of gaps in width, last, and material data. Here's what that costs in 2026, and why AI shopping agents make it worse.
Apparel
The state of product data in Apparel retail (2026)
Apparel product data is still thin and inconsistent in 2026 — here's what it costs in returns and lost AI visibility, and how to fix it.
HVAC/R
HVAC's refrigerant reset broke every spec sheet — your catalog is where buyers find out
The 2025 switch from R-410A to A2L refrigerants replaced a generation of model numbers overnight. The distributors winning the aftermath treated it as a product-data problem, not a refrigerant one.
Furniture & Home
Furniture & Home brands have a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it costs sales
Furniture and home catalogs still ship thin, inconsistent product data — and in 2026, AI shopping agents and marketplaces are done tolerating it.
Office Supplies
Office Supplies brands have a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it costs sales
Office supplies catalogs are riddled with thin, inconsistent product data — and in 2026, AI shopping agents make that a revenue problem, not just an annoyance.
Jewelry & Watches
Jewelry & Watches brands have a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it costs sales
Jewelry and watch catalogs are thin on the attributes shoppers and AI agents both need. Here's what that's costing brands in 2026, and how to fix it.
Health & Supplements
The state of product data in Health & Supplements retail (2026)
Health & Supplements product data is thinner than the $72.9B category can afford — here's what it's costing retailers and why 2026 raises the stakes.
Grocery & CPG
The state of product data in Grocery & CPG retail (2026)
Grocery and CPG catalogs are still thin and inconsistent in 2026, and AI shopping agents now punish that instantly. Here is the real cost and what to fix first.
Beauty & Cosmetics
What messy product data actually costs Beauty retailers
Beauty catalogs are full of missing shades, vague claims, and inconsistent INCI lists. Here's what that actually costs, and why AI shopping agents raise the stakes.
Consumer Electronics
The state of product data in Consumer Electronics retail (2026)
Electronics catalogs are thinner than they look. Here's what's breaking in 2026, what it costs in returns and lost search, and why AI agents raise the stakes.
Skincare
The state of product data in Skincare retail (2026)
Skincare catalogs are thinner than they look. Here's what's actually missing, what it costs in returns and lost search, and why 2026 raises the stakes.
Sporting Goods
What messy product data actually costs Sporting Goods retailers
Sporting goods catalogs are full of gaps in size, fit, and use-case data. Here's what that actually costs in search, conversion, and returns.
Pet Supplies
What messy product data actually costs Pet Supplies retailers
Thin pet product catalogs cost more than lost sales. Here's what messy data does to search, conversion, and AI shopping visibility in 2026.
Datacom & Networking
Datacom & Networking has a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it starts costing deals
Datacom and networking distributors are losing deals to thin, inconsistent product data — and 2026's AI-search shift makes the gap impossible to ignore.
Welding & Gas
Welding & Gas has a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it starts costing deals
Welding & Gas catalogs run on inconsistent manufacturer feeds and PDF spec sheets — 2026's AI search and buyer shift make that a lost-deal problem.
Appliances
What messy product data actually costs Appliances retailers
Thin, inconsistent appliance product data is quietly costing retailers search visibility, conversion, and margin — and 2025-2026 AI shopping raises the stakes.
Pool & Spa
The state of product data in Pool & Spa (2026)
Pool and spa catalogs still run on flat files and PDFs in 2026. Here's what broken product data really costs distributors, manufacturers, and search rankings.
Plumbing & PVF
What messy product data actually costs Plumbing & PVF distributors
Plumbing & PVF distributors lose sales to incomplete SKU data, thin PDPs, and AI-search invisibility. Here's what's broken and what it's costing.
Foodservice Equipment
What messy product data actually costs Foodservice Equipment distributors
Foodservice equipment distributors lose sales to incomplete specs and thin PDPs. Here's what's broken in 2026, what it costs, and why AI search raises the stakes.
Medical & Dental
What messy product data actually costs Medical & Dental distributors
Medical and dental distributors are losing sales, returns, and AI search visibility to incomplete product data. Here's what's broken and what it costs in 2026.
Oilfield & Energy
The state of product data in Oilfield & Energy (2026)
Oilfield & energy product data is still stuck in PDFs and cut sheets. Here's what's broken in 2026, what it costs, and why AI search raises the stakes.
Pumps & Fluid Power
The state of product data in Pumps & Fluid Power (2026)
Pumps and fluid power product data in 2026: what's broken, what it costs distributors, and why AI search and buyer shifts make fixing it urgent.
AI Search & Discovery
Agentic commerce is here: product data is the new shelf
Why AI shopping agents are the new storefront, and how retailers and distributors keep product data complete enough to win the agent's pick.
Waterworks & Utility
The state of product data in Waterworks & Utility (2026)
Waterworks and utility product data in 2026: what's incomplete, what it costs distributors, and why AI search and buyer shifts raise the stakes.
Electronic Components
What messy product data actually costs Electronic Components distributors
Electronic components distributors lose sales to thin PDPs and bad feeds. Here's what messy product data actually costs in 2026, and why it's urgent now.
Fasteners
What messy product data actually costs Fasteners distributors
Fastener distributors are growing again in 2026, but incomplete specs, wrong grade markings, and thin PDPs still cost sales and safety.
MRO & Industrial
The state of product data in MRO & Industrial (2026)
MRO distributors lose sales to thin PDPs and bad feeds every day. Here's what's broken in 2026, what it costs, and why AI search raises the stakes.
Automotive Aftermarket
The state of product data in Automotive Aftermarket (2026)
Fitment errors still drive the most auto parts returns even as ACES/PIES evolve. Here's what's broken in aftermarket product data in 2026 and what it costs.
Electrical
The state of product data in Electrical (2026)
Electrical distributors face incomplete feeds, thin PDPs, and AI-search invisibility in 2026. Here's what's broken, what it costs, and what fixes it.
Building Materials
What messy product data actually costs Building Materials distributors
Incomplete feeds, thin PDPs, and AI-search invisibility are costing building materials distributors sales. Here's what's broken and what it costs.
Jan/San & Packaging
Jan/San & Packaging has a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it starts costing deals
Jan/San and packaging catalogs are full of thin, inconsistent product data, and 2026 buyer and AI-search shifts are turning that gap into lost deals.
HVAC/R
HVAC/R has a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it starts costing deals
HVAC/R catalogs are drowning in A2L SKUs and thin feeds while buyers shift to AI search. Here's what's breaking, what it costs, and how to fix it.
Safety & PPE
Safety & PPE has a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it starts costing deals
Safety & PPE product data is thin, inconsistent, and invisible to AI search — and 2026's Z87.1 update, buyer shift, and channel pressure make it costly.
Ag & Turf
Ag & Turf has a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it starts costing deals
Incomplete parts feeds, thin PDPs, and AI-search invisibility are quietly costing ag and turf dealers sales in 2026. Here's the mechanism and the fix.
Lighting
Lighting has a product-data problem — and 2026 is when it starts costing deals
Lighting's product data is stuck in PDFs and half-filled spec sheets. Here's what that costs in returns and lost search, and why 2026 raises the stakes.