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runstyle: What is the PDC? Lance Muzslay: The PDC, Product Data Collaborative, is a database that is being developed by the RIA in collaboration with Contentserv, a cloud-based service focused on scaling brand product data. The PDC will make it easy for brands to input product data and for retailers to easily access that data in a format specific for their POS systems. John Wallace, an e-commerce specialist at Playmakers Athletic Footwear and Apparel, will be the database administrator. More information about the PDC is available at https://runningindustry.org/pdc. Anyone interested in learning about getting access to the PDC can preregister on this page. Anyone interested in learning about getting access to the PDC can preregister with the QR code on the last page of this special report. How will the system work? Brands will upload their product data into the PDC. The system then standardizes it for retailers to easily create product assortments for uploads to POS systems, e-commerce, and digital marketing solutions. Simply put, the PDC promotes the ease of doing business. It removes the burden of gathering, formatting, and managing brand product data by providing a centralized repository that gives retailers exactly what they need with the click of a button. The PDC includes hard and soft data like model numbers, SKUs, UPC/EANs, colors (description and code), sizes, widths, wholesale costs, retail prices, MAPs, and images. What is the timeline for launch and training? Training will commence in October and the platform is slated to go live in November. Training will be offered through online sessions. Furthermore, the system administrator will be available to assist with questions on an on-going basis. How intuitive and convenient will the PDC be for its users? Ease of use is paramount for both brands and retailers. Retailers will be able to easily navigate by brand, season, and product attributes in order to select their desired data for download. Their accounts will be configured for their POS systems, and the data export files will be in a format that is compatible with their POS systems. For a nontechnical person, how difficult will it be to learn and use? It is being designed for ease of use by nontechnical people. When the system is ready, I anticipate that it will be intuitive and therefore have a short learning curve. Can the PDC improve workflow across the running industry? Instead of every retailer trudging through the same arduous processes in dealing with product data, it makes way more sense for RIA as an industry organization to reduce that burden and empower members to reap enormous value. The quality of points of sale and other systems used by RIA members is amazing, but a linchpin to maximizing their value is having good data that can be sourced painlessly. SPECIAL REPORT STREAMLINING PRODUCT DATA MANAGEMENT FOR THE RUN SPECIALTY CHANNEL runstyle is the first running industry publication to interview the lead architect of the RIA Product Data Collaborative (PDC), Lance Muzslay. As co-owner of Sole Sports Running Zone, Lance has managed all of his company's product buying and inventory over the past 16 years. Along the way, he developed related software. In 2020, he launched OptiO inventory management software as a solution for others in the running industry. His vast experience in dealing with product data as a retailer is complemented by his experiences with OptiO customers, who are retailers managing product data across a variety of POS systems. Lance Muzslay, co-owner of Sole Sports Running Zone.

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