Sonepar Group is a leading international B2B distributor of electrical and lighting products, solutions, and related services. With over 170 operating companies, 2,800 branches, and 1,000 on-site customer branches across 44 countries, Sonepar delivers tailored solutions that meet local market needs on a global scale.
In 2018, the Group reported sales of €22.4 billion, underscoring its position as a global leader in the electrical distribution industry.
To strengthen its digital transformation, Sonepar launched a corporate initiative to standardize and digitalize product data according to ETIM standards, ensuring consistency and interoperability across all entities and platforms.
Challenge
With tens of thousands of electrical product references and a continuously evolving catalog, Sonepar faced a major challenge: maintaining a centralized, standardized, and accurate database that could support digital platforms, eCommerce systems, and customer applications across multiple countries.
The project required a partner capable of:
- Managing complex product data across multiple formats and languages.
- Ensuring accurate classification based on ETIM standards.
- Scaling data enrichment for large volumes efficiently and reliably.
How we did it
Coperon Technologies partnered with Sonepar to provide large-scale data enrichment and management services, supporting three of the Group’s main entities — Italy, France, and Canada.
Coperon mobilized its content services team to process and enrich tens of thousands of product references, applying ETIM classification and ensuring consistency across data sources. This involved handling diverse data formats, from legacy documents and paper catalogs to structured digital files.
Depending on each client’s needs, Coperon’s flexible approach allowed its data team to:
- Re-enter and restructure data to fit required systems and standards.
- Work directly within Sonepar’s platforms for real-time validation and progress monitoring.
- Deliver high-quality, complete, and standardized product data ready for digital publication.
The results
- Tens of thousands of product references enriched and standardized across Sonepar Italy, France, and Canada.
- Centralized, structured product database aligned with ETIM classification.
- Enhanced data accuracy and consistency, supporting digital catalogs and eCommerce operations.
- Efficient, scalable data management process adaptable to ongoing product expansion.
- Improved collaboration between Sonepar’s regional entities and the corporate data team.
"Coperon is the perfect partner for Sonepar Italy to classify and enrich our electronic catalogue of lighting products. They always guarantee good quality of data and respect for deadlines."
