Ask any business owner which fundamental task eats up most of their time and you can guarantee that the listing of products online is one of them. Webmasters usually determine the format and nature of the data which can be obtained from paper or pdf catalogues, supplier's and manufacturer's addresses.  Data is typically entered into spread sheets or uploaded straight to your shopping cart database which will inevitably include html for font styles (i.e. font, colour, weight, ordered lists, hyperlinks etc.) Granted, you don't have to be a computer whizz to list items online but the bigger question is: do you have the time to carry out such tasks and is there a better way of doing it?

The answer lies in something called a Product Listing Specialist.  Some online retailers simply don't have the time or knowledge to carry out such tasks and are outsourcing to product listing specialists to undertake the work.

Benefits of outsourcing these tasks include improved listings across a wider range of channels and generating more time, which can then be spent investing in the core business.

The services ecommerce businesses can outsource in this area include:

• The design of unique and striking eBay and Amazon stores/templates - This allows you to stand out from your competitors.
• Creation of databases for eBay and Amazon products from supplier's or manufacturer's website or digital / print catalogues.
• Enhancement of product images for thumbnail, normal and zoom view - Using quality images is known to increase conversion online.
• Creation of effective SEO-led product descriptions to optimise and index each listing in search engines.
• Creation and mapping of store categories with your inventory and mapping the inventory to the category.
• Posting your eBay / Amazon items under fixed price or for auction listing - This gives you more versatility.

No matter what you sell or how big your product listing is, outsourcing this area of expertise could seriously help boost sales and free up your time to spend on the more essential parts of your business.

There are a number of companies doing this in the UK but you need to ensure you find a company that has the experience in doing this effectively. When enquiring it is good to establish how long they have been doing this for. Generally, the more experienced at product listing the more effective they will be.

Outsourcing your listing services is a low-cost, effective way of getting ahead of the competition.  And we all know how important that is.