Medipim opts for reliable identifiers with Verified by GS1
Medipim is a Belgian online platform for healthcare professionals and businesses operating in the pharmaceutical sector. The database contains product images, descriptions, brochures, etc. for prescription medicines to parapharmaceutical (health & beauty) products, cosmetics and supplements. The database intended for the Belgian market currently holds over 230,000 active product references.
In order to ensure the quality and accuracy of the data contained in the database, Medipim searched for a solution to enable it to unequivocally identify the products.
From webshop support to global market leadership
In the early days, the Medipim platform was used by pharmacies to simply provide their webshop with content such as product descriptions and images. In the meantime, the tool has also evolved into a comprehensive database where pharmacies are able to retrieve all relevant details in one central location. The company is the market leader in Belgium and has since spread its wings with operations in France, Germany, Austria, Spain and Australia.
As Medipim operates in multiple countries, they received the data for these countries from various sources.
Moreover, some countries use national numbers, which sometimes makes it difficult to evaluate whether or not the product is included in the database.
Which is why Medipim was on the lookout for a way to unequivocally identify products. This is how they quickly discovered the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), which is unique around the world. Using the Verified by GS1 tool, they are now able to compare the GTIN they receive with the information already held at GS1.
Verified by GS1 is a GS1 solution to quickly and easily consult the identity of products or other identification keys. This aids retailers, consumers and other recipients to determine to which company a particular GTIN has been assigned. “GS1 is the leading reference for the GTIN”, Nele says. “By checking the GTIN in Verified by GS1, we can be certain which product in our database we are dealing with and which company retails the product. This is an important check to ensure the quality of our data.
For each country where Medipim operates, we have set up a connection with the API of Verified by GS1, which allows quality control to be carried out for every product”, Nele explains. The tool Verified by GS1 enables Medipim to compare the information in each GTIN with the data known to GS1.
“At an international level, the GTIN is fast gaining importance for all companies operating in the pharmaceutical sector”, Nele affirms.
“The national numbers in and of themselves are not enough to be able to identify products between countries."
"Specifically for Medipim, this identification is particularly relevant with a view to optimising operational processes, such as updating and completing the product information. Finally, unique identification is also highly useful to identify parallel imports for instance”, Nele concludes.
Qualitative data
“In times to come, we are keen to also start using the GTIN to deduplicate product references or to merge duplicates. By doing so, we are keen to provide our customers with even more accurate data”, Nele comments.
The business is now also in the process of designing a reliable structure to determine which data should be prioritised in the database. The thing is, it is not always easy to find out whether or not a given product is still being retailed. The GTIN is set to play a major role in this respect. This will allow the automated checking of the GTIN and the data linked therewith, such as the company and the product, to be carried out through the API of Verified by GS1.
