Product Classification Header Template

Description

Visualize all your products in a single table. Easily filter information based on desired criteria. Empower sales forecasts and gain ease in analyzing your product database. This template serves as an organized file for all the products in your portfolio.

It functions as an internal working document, especially for those in the Marketing and Sales departments. Simultaneously, considering that some information may find its way onto your company's website under the "Product Description" section, it serves as an external tool as well.

How it Helps

All portfolio products are consolidated in one location/file.
Crucial information for each product, essential for commerce, is compiled in this file.
This template facilitates a simple sales estimate, both in value and quantity per item type.
Once these details are filled in (even retroactively), you can draw relevant conclusions regarding:

The current scale of your product portfolio.
The diversification of your product offerings.
The main product categories that bring profit and those needing improvement or potentially removal.
Your best-selling product/products (both in value and quantity).
Cross-sell and upsell products (existing ones and potential ones for future portfolio development to support the acquisition process and increase sales).

Time needed

2 day.

When to Use It

This document is created once and updated whenever new products enter or exit the portfolio or when information regarding acquisition cost and selling price changes.

How to use

1. Fill in each field in the table with maximum accuracy.
2. Filter products and correlate them for subsequent analysis for sales estimates and/or reports.

Pro Tips for Optimal Utilization:

If your product selling prices change multiple times a year, maintaining a historical record is necessary. Update the file by duplicating it and making the necessary modifications in the new file. For traceability, it’s recommended to open a new sheet in this Excel file every time updates are needed, naming it with the “validity” period of the new price costs.

For accurate financial calculations, ensure you use the same currency exchange rate for both the acquisition cost and the selling price. Recommendations: fill in the net value (excluding VAT) in both cases (purchase cost and selling price).

Share it with your target customers; keep in mind that this file may contain confidential and vital business information such as product acquisition costs and sales estimates.
Have multiple parties working on it simultaneously. Ideally, have an automated ERP and CRM system where this is integrated, and any update made is visible in real-time by those working on this document.
If you’re a CEO or Founder and have a Marketing & Sales Manager, don’t complete this file yourself. It’s recommended that the owner of this “project” be your Marketing Manager, who fills in all product information, excluding acquisition costs, which will be filled in by the Product Procurement Manager. Then, acquisition costs will be validated by the Finance Department Manager, who will also fill in the selling prices of the products. Once all information is collected and verified, your involvement will consist of a discussion with the Marketing and Sales Manager on major topics: sales estimates and the strategy for developing new products/categories.
Pay attention to what you consider as part of a product’s acquisition cost. It often happens that reporting is strictly based on the cost from the invoice received from the supplier, but, in reality, the acquisition cost of a product involves many more aspects: graphic design cost, packaging, label, translations, transport, etc.
Use diacritics in product descriptions only if your website developer confirms it’s possible; otherwise, where diacritics would normally be, other symbols may appear on the site, and the text itself will become indecipherable. 6. Be mindful of the number of characters used for each product’s name and for each section that needs to be completed on the site (your website developer needs to communicate the minimum/maximum number of characters for each product section).