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Episode 2: Process in Practice

Designed specifically for PXM leaders and syndication owners, this session will focus on what comes after you’ve built a strong data model and how to begin applying it through scalable, repeatable processes that support automated syndication.

Explore how to:

• Activate your syndication tool and iterate by product, category, or channel.
• Establish roles and governance that promote process consistency and maturity.
• Identify friction points early and gain practical strategies to resolve them.

As we continue the journey toward long-term syndication success, Episode 2: Process in Practice will walk through the critical steps of turning data structure into action, and setting the stage for scalable automation.

Transcript

Speakers: Jessica Bagby (Senior Director, Managed Services, Sitation) and Georgette Suggs (Director, Data & Content Services, Sitation)

Jessica Bagby:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Episode 2 of Sitation’s webinar series, The Syndication Shuffle. If you missed Episode 1, you can find it on our website or LinkedIn at www.sitation.com. Today we’re diving deeper into the process of establishing a syndication strategy and a centralized operating model.

I’m Jessica Bagby, and I lead Managed Services at Sitation. I’ve spent about a decade in the digital shelf world across e-commerce merchandising, PIM management, and syndication operations for clients in categories like sporting goods, grocery, and beverage alcohol. I’ll turn it over to my co-host, Georgette.

Georgette Suggs:
I’m Georgette Suggs, Director of Data & Content Services at Sitation. I started in manufacturing for a food company, owning item data end to end—from development systems and ERP through PIM and out the door via portals and content service providers. We’re excited to keep building on Episode 1, where we covered the data model and other foundations. That session is available at sitation.com.

Today we’re moving to process. You’ve got a data model, you’ve got content, and it lives somewhere—maybe in a PIM, maybe in spreadsheets. Now you want to syndicate. First, let’s align on a definition. Jess, what do we mean by “syndication,” and why does it matter?

Jessica:
Great question. “Syndication” gets used a lot, but at its core it’s a one-to-many delivery process. You maintain a source-of-truth product record and deliver it to every endpoint that needs it—retailers, distributors, internal systems, and DTC. It’s not just about getting content online; many endpoints use product data for supply chain, brick-and-mortar operations, and more.

Most teams without a syndication process are doing manual or Excel-based uploads across different teams and systems. That’s not scalable. Digital shelf is no longer optional, and PDP quality is mission-critical. Consistent, accurate spec data (color, size, dimensions, etc.) must align across channels. It’s fine to adjust marketing copy by channel; it’s not fine to have different specs by channel.

Georgette:
And today those product pages don’t just inform shoppers; they also feed AI agents. Clean, precise data helps agents find and recommend your products. If your data is inaccurate or inconsistent, you’ll lose visibility and trust quickly.

Jessica:
Exactly. The goal is to automate delivery wherever possible. Automation depends on both sides: your tools and your recipients’ ingestion capabilities. Define your target state—weekly pushes, for example—and choose the best available mechanism for each endpoint (direct API, SFTP, portal upload, etc.), then level up as your partners mature.

Georgette:
We’ll cover ROI and agent-friendly content in future episodes, but for today let’s talk about how to build a successful syndication process. At Sitation, we start with a discovery—finding the skeletons, gathering the right people, and documenting the details that teams usually skip. The details matter. Jess, what specifically should a syndication discovery define?

Jessica:
We frame discovery with who, what, when, where, and how:

1. Who owns it?
   Don’t start by assigning future ownership. First document current-state ownership by top-priority endpoints. Who currently delivers content to your Tier-1 retailers or endpoints? Capture roles, not just team names.
2. Where do we publish?
   Get a list of your top retailers/endpoints by revenue and volume. It’s rarely “everywhere.” Start with the obvious (Amazon, Walmart, Target) and expand from there, including DTC and distributor portals.
3. How do they receive content?
   Document the ingestion model per endpoint:

• API (Application Programming Interface): the typical basis for “direct connections” from a CSP (content service provider) like Salsify or Syndigo.
• FTP/SFTP (File Transfer Protocol/Secure FTP): an automated file drop that the retailer or partner picks up.
• Portal upload or Excel import: still common; define required templates and cadence.
• Manual: if no other option exists, note it and plan to replace.

4. When do we deliver?
   Two tracks:

• New item setup: retailer lead times vary (6 months, 3 months, 30 days). Map lead times per retailer so data and assets are ready when needed.
• Refresh cadence: define how often you update content and how you’ll detect changes (e.g., formulation, label, packaging size). Build notification paths so updates reach digital shelves promptly.

5. What products go where?
   Define assortments by endpoint. You won’t send your entire catalog everywhere. Centralize the “sold where” list, including exclusivity flags and timing (some partners want all items stored in advance; others only want active or pitching items). Assign owners to maintain this list.

Georgette:
On ingestion models: a quick recap of acronyms for non-technical folks. API connections allow your CSP or platform to “push” content directly to a retailer. SFTP is an automated file delivery that a partner “pulls” from. Both reduce manual effort compared to portal uploads, but each partner is different—so documenting per-endpoint reality is essential.

Jessica:
Exactly. Also, consider internal change management. The plumbing—mappings, channels, recipients—is the easy part. The hard part is aligning teams across divisions, markets, and systems so the process runs repeatably and at scale.

Georgette:
Are we publishing every product to every retailer? Usually not. Some partners want everything stored for future buys; others only want what’s active or what you’re pitching. And exclusives need to be clearly flagged so no one accidentally syndicates them elsewhere.

Jessica:
Right—and whatever your rule set, put it in one shared place with clear ownership. Otherwise you’ll create rework and data clean-up later.

Georgette:
We got a question: is there one PIM or one tool that can publish to everyone? The short answer: you should have one source of truth, but you’ll still need multiple mechanisms to reach all partners. It’s part of doing business. Let your source system feed the various delivery paths each partner supports.

Jessica:
That’s all the time we have today. Thank you to everyone who joined live and to those watching the replay. We hope this helped clarify the process side of syndication. Join us next time as we dig deeper.

Georgette:
And we’ll be back with a guest in October. Thanks, everyone!

Jessica:
Thanks all. See you soon.