Hey everyone,
I’m trying to move our product data management from Google Sheets to Airtable, but I’m stuck on how to handle deduplication. In our current setup, we’re:
- Gathering product info from various sales platforms
- Using UNIQUE() to create a master list of primary product IDs
- Pulling in related IDs from other channels with XLOOKUP
Airtable’s structure is different from spreadsheets, so I’m not sure how to replicate this process. What’s the smartest way to create a single, reliable source for our product IDs across all our sales channels in Airtable?
Any tips or best practices would be super helpful. Thanks in advance!
Having dealt with similar product data management challenges, I can share what worked well for us. We leveraged Airtable’s robust features to create an efficient system.
We established a main ‘Master Products’ table as our central repository. This table housed essential product details and a unique identifier for each item. To handle multiple sales channels, we created separate tables for each platform, each containing a lookup field linking back to the ‘Master Products’ table.
For deduplication, we implemented a custom script using Airtable’s scripting app. This script ran periodically to identify and merge duplicate entries based on specific criteria we set. It was a game-changer for maintaining data integrity.
We also utilized Airtable’s API to automate the import of new product data from various sources, ensuring our database stayed current without manual intervention.
This setup dramatically improved our product management workflow and data accuracy. It required some initial effort to set up, but the long-term benefits in terms of efficiency and data reliability were well worth it.
heya, i’ve been there too. what worked 4 us was setting up a main ‘master products’ table in airtable. then we made separate tables for each channel with links back to the master. we used airtable’s automations to catch dupes when adding new stuff. it takes some time to setup but its worth it in the long run. good luck!
I’ve tackled a similar challenge in my work, and here’s what worked well for us:
We created a primary ‘Products’ table in Airtable to serve as the single source of truth for all product IDs. This table contained the main product information and a unique identifier for each product.
Then, we set up separate tables for each sales channel. These tables included a link field to connect back to the main Products table. This way, we could maintain channel-specific information while ensuring all product data linked back to a single, authoritative source.
For deduplication, we used Airtable’s automation features to check for duplicates when new records were added. This helped maintain data integrity across all tables.
This approach simplified our product management significantly and made reporting much easier. It does require some initial setup, but it’s worth the effort in the long run.