An Ontology-Based Approach to eCatalogue Management

B2B commerce requires interoperable product catalogues. Current practice through standardising appears to be ineffective. Actually, the proliferation of standards today is the major barrier to participation in B2B commerce for both sellers and buyers. This paper discusses the requirements and issues in catalogue management for B2B commerce, and the limitations of currently available solutions. It describes an ontology-based approach to catalogue management which enables suppliers to prepare their catalogues once and automatically publish them in many formats. Instead of standardising product catalogues, it allows suppliers to differentiate their products from those of their competitors. It goes on to describe a system that has been developed to take heterogeneous product descriptions and unify them for consumption by both end users and applications, allowing instant content exchange, thereby suiting the dynamic nature of eCommerce.