Guide to eCatalogues
Version 2.0
July 2012
Table of Contents
1.
Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3
2.
What Are The Benefits of eCatalogues? ................................................................................. 4
3.
Detailed Guide to Completing an eCatalogue ........................................................................ 5
3a.
Extrapolation of Additional Lines ....................................................................................... 9
3b.
eCatalogue Images ........................................................................................................... 11
4.
Ongoing Catalogue Updates ................................................................................................. 13
5.
Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 13
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1.
Introduction
This ‘Guide to eCatalogues’ is issued to suppliers during the invitation to tender stage of the
procurement cycle.
The purpose of this guide is to explain what an eCatalogue is, why they are used, what will be
required when completing an eCatalogue and when suppliers should populate the eCatalogue.
The eCatalogue template for eProcurement Scotland (ePS) will be issued to suppliers as part of
the tender documentation if appropriate.
This guide should be read in conjunction with the ‘Guide to Making Content Decisions’.
What are eCatalogues?
An eCatalogue is an electronic catalogue, sometimes referred to as an eCat. The eCatalogue is
typically a spreadsheet that contains information about products or services that could be found
in a paper based catalogue. This information will typically include product descriptions, product
codes, pricing, images and units of measure as well as other relevant information about the
products and services supplied.
Why Produce eCatalogues?
Public Sector Bodies use eProcurement systems to order various goods and services. These eprocurement systems work in similar ways to popular online shopping sites such as Amazon or
Tesco online.
Public sector bodies will typically search for products and then use the search results as a means
of placing orders. The results will include information that has been provided in eCatalogues
which allows the end user to have much greater knowledge of the product/service being
ordered. Through the use of eCatalogues, public sector bodies can ensure that contracted
products/services are displayed to end users correctly, increasing compliance to contracts,
reducing error rates on purchase orders and therefore maximising the opportunity to match
invoices first time which in turn ensures that suppliers are paid either on time or quicker.
When Should an eCatalogue be Produced?
The contracting body will ask bidders to provide some or all of the eCatalogue information
within the invitation to tender documentation to assist with contract award and contract
mobilisation.
Only after a contract award has been made and quality checks have been completed, the
successful supplier will be asked to provide the official contract eCatalogue as this will act as the
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baseline for future amendments. Once this has been through validation and approval processes
by the contracting body, the eCatalogue will then be published to eProcurement Scotland (ePS)
and other eOrdering systems in use across the Scottish public sector for end users to access and
place orders against.
2.
What Are The Benefits of eCatalogues?
There are various beneits of supplying an eCatalogue to buying organisations:
eCatalogues provide detailed product/service information to end users allowing them to
place accurate orders.

Suppliers should receive quicker payment due to less invoice mismatches as catalogue
pricing should always be correct at the point of placing the order.

Suppliers should also receive greater compliance to the contract they have in place with
a buying organisation due to greater visibility of the eCatalogue on eProcurement
systems.

eCatalogues are easier to manage and update than paper based catalogues. Suppliers
only need to maintain and update the source data once as the eCatalogue can be
viewed by many buying organisations.

Suppliers will no longer need to print significant copies of the paper based catalogue
therefore reducing print and storage costs.

Buying organisations can, if they wish, change the view of the eCatalogue depending on
the products/services they wish to purchase. Therefore, suppliers no longer need to
produce multiple views of their catalogue which reduces the administrative effort
required.
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3.
Detailed Guide to Completing an eCatalogue
What is needed to produce an eCatalogue?
To produce an eCatalogue all that is required is the eCatalogue Template (which is an excel
spreadsheet), product information and, if required, an appropriate image for each product.
For suppliers providing an eCatalogue for eProcurement Scotland (ePS), help and support can be
provided by calling the relevant contracting bodies’ helpdesk number.
eCatalogue Information Requirements
Below are examples of the ePS eCatalogue template that suppliers will be required to complete
along with information on what is required for the each of the columns.
Column A – Transaction Type
If the eCatalogue is new, the supplier should enter ‘A’ as this signifies that a new item has been
added.
If the eCatalogue has been amended for any reason (for example, new price schedule), the
supplier should enter ‘C’ as this signifies that an item has been changed.
If the eCatalogue in its entirety is to be removed or certain product information is to be
removed, the supplier should enter ‘D’ as this signifies that the item should be deleted.
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Column B – DUNS Number
Suppliers should enter their DUNS number in this column but if they do not have a DUNS
number then they should enter their company’s VAT number. Alternatively, suppliers can
request a DUNS number via the Dun and Bradstreet Limited website - http://www.dnb.co.uk/
Column C – Catalogue Key Name
This is a unique identifier for the catalogue and in most cases the contract reference number
should be used.
Column D – Item Type
This is always ‘regular’, all in lower case.
Column E – Item Number/SKU
This is also known as a product code and is the code that the supplier uses as the identifier in
their own back office systems. It is important that every item in an eCatatlogue has an unique
product code so that when searches are performed the correct items are returned. Where
products do have the same code, suppliers are asked to create a new unique code. Please note
that codes can contain both numbers and letters.
Column F – Item Description
This is arguably the most important piece of information to get right. It determines how easy or
difficult it could be for the buyer to find the right product. There are several aspects that need
to be kept in mind when completing this information.







The key words that describe the product should appear within the first line of the
description, as that may be all the buyer will see on the search results page for some
eProcurement systems.
The description should be meaningful if read on its own and out with the context of
the eCatalogue.
The description should be no longer than 240 characters long including spaces.
It should not contain punctuation, particularly carriage returns, as these are rejected
by some eProcurement systems.
There has to be a separate catalogue line for each individual product that the buyer
can purchase, (for instance, for each size and colour combination of a table) to ensure
that the order produced is for the specific product that the customer requires.
The information should be in ‘title case’, i.e. capital first letter for each word and lower
case for the rest. This is so that it is easy for the user to read.
The ‘&’ sign should not be used.
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Column G – Customer Price
The price of the product or service must be in pounds and pence, but must not include a pound
sign. For example, please enter 5.99, not £5.99.
Column H – Unit of Measure Code
Standard unit of measure codes that describe the units that the product is sold in must be used.
The official list can be found at the attached link. The ePS catalogue template is case sensitive
so the code must be input exactly as it appears in the official UOM list.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement/eProcurement/Informationfo
rSuppliers/UnitofMeasurecodes
Column I – UNSPSC (United Nations Standard Products and Service Code)
Each line in an eCatalogue must have an UNSPSC code assigned to level 4 if possible, and contain
all eight digits. The codes use a US vocabulary so the supplier may need to find the US
equivalent of a product to find the right code. Often more information about a product or
service will be required to help assign the correct code and this can be done by checking with a
product expert or looking for information online. Where an exact level four code cannot be
found the closest available match should be used instead.
The following link to the UNSPSC website should provide additional help :http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement/eProcurement/InformationforS
uppliers/UNSPSCversion81201
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Column J – Manufacturer
The manufacturer of the product where appropriate should be entered in this field.
Column K – Manufacturer Part Number
This is for the manufacturers part number.
Column L – Image
Suppliers can, if applicable, provide the image file name or image URL. This is distinct from
sending the images by disk or email. Further details on images are provided later in this guide.
Column M – URL
This is where suppliers can provide an URL to a webpage where additional information can be
found about a particular product or service or further information about the supplier. Please
note that the URL must begin with http://
Column N – List Price
The list price of the product should be entered in this field without the currency symbol.
Column O – Minimum Quantity
This should be populated if there is a minimum quantity that must be ordered for the item.
Columns P and Q – Start Date and End Date
Allows the Supplier to detail when the price is effective from and to.
Note: Should the catalogue prices not be updated after the effective end date, ePS customers
can still purchase the products/services at the relevant price, only the price will be highlighted in
pink. Other eOrdering systems may also allow products to be purchased at ‘old’ pricing. The
date formatting option that must be applied is shown here:-
Column R – Discount
This is not a mandatory field and should not be used.
Column S – Page Number
If the item refers to a page in a paper catalogue it can be referenced in this field.
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Column T – Item Sub
This is not a mandatory field and should not be used.
Column U – Receipt Required
This is not a mandatory field and should not be used.
3a.
Extrapolation of Additional Lines
When creating the final eCatalogue, there will need to be a line for every item and this includes
every variation of that item available under the contract. For example if a Polo Shirt in sizes s, m,
l, xl & xxl and also available in the colours green, red, blue and white then there will need to be a
separate line item for each colour in each size. A useful tip is to prepare a separate spreadsheet
to detail each of the product descriptions as shown below:-
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The next screenshot shows the formula to enter and copy down column D to produce the
required descriptions. (=A1&” “&$B$1&” “&C1)
Once the formula has been entered and copied down the column, the formula will need to be
changed for each colour by changing the value to correspond to the cell that contains that
colour variation.
Once these changes have been made the information in column D can be simply copied straight
into the eCatalogue. This spreadsheet can also be used for any other products with the same
variations of colour and size. For example if the supplier also provided a T Shirt in the same
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colours and sizes, there would only be the need to change the cells saying Polo Shirt to T Shirt
and the new product descriptions would be detailed in column D straight away.
3b.
eCatalogue Images
If the products/services contined within the eCatalogue lend themselves to images, the supplier
should supply the images on a CD/DVD or by email (where the total size is under 10Mb) to
accompany the electronic catalogue. Please note, it is important that for each product that has
an image supplied by these means, an image reference is assigned to it in the eCatalogue in
Column L. Images are not always essential for all products but most users appreciate having the
ability to look at the product/service before ordering it and feel that images do add value to the
experience of using an eCatalogue and is seen as a worthwhile investment by suppliers.
The specification for images is set out below:
File Format
Minimum Resolution:
Optimum Image Size (Height x Width in pixels):
JPG
96x96 dpi*
200x200*
* dots per inch and pixels can be checked by following these steps:
1. right-click on the image file (i.e. the document name) and move the cursor down to
‘open with’
2. Click on ‘Paint’ from the options shown and the image will open
3. Click on ‘Image’ at the top of the screen and choose ‘Attributes’ from the choices
4. The box that opens will give you the resolution in dpi and the height and width in pixels
(make sure the pixels button is lit up, not Inches or CM).
If the image requires resizing to make it suitable for an eCatalogue there are a variety of
different software tools available, many of which are free of charge.
The image should only refer to the particular product and should not contain any other
information.
Some examples are now given:-
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CORRECT IMAGE TYPE
This image contains only the
product that relates to the specific
line of the catalogue. There is no
additional text or tables included.
INCORRECT IMAGE TYPE
This image contains text and a
table with different sizes of the
product. This is unsuitable for an
eCatalogue. The image should only
refer to the particular product.
ePS does not prescribe a minimum image size, however if it is too small end users will have
difficulty viewing that product. Anything that is much bigger than the optimum size may lead to
the end user having to scroll down or across the page to see the full image.
The same image name can be used across several lines of the eCatalogue as long as it is
appropriate for the same picture to show up for different products. For instance, this might be
sensible where there is a group of products (for example, paint brushes), but there is a need to
have a separate line for different sizes etc..
You should send the CD/DVD to the relevant contracting body.
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4.
Ongoing Catalogue Updates
Once the final eCatalogue has been validated, approved and published, the supplier and the
relevant contracting body will receive a master copy for their own records.
If there are changes to the eCatalogue, for example product prices, descriptions or codes, the
supplier is responsible for updating the master copy and issuing to the contracting body for
approval. Any changes should be clearly detailed in the eCatalogue template so that the
contracting body can undertake the necessary validation and approval processes. Once the
amended eCatalogue has been published, the supplier should use this as the master copy.
5.
Conclusion
This guide is designed to help produce an eCatalogue quickly and easily. If further support or
guidance is needed with any aspect of this guide please contact the helpdesk of the relevant
contracting body.
If there are any queries regarding the suitability of the contract for an eCatalogue, please
contact the commodity team that is responsible for the contract to discuss further.
For more information or to feed back comments about this document, please contact 0131 244 3618 or
e-mail eprocurement@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
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