Frequently Asked Questions…
Who’s this plugin for?
The Promodata Product Sync Plugin for Woocommerce has been developed for Promotional Products Distributors in Australia and New Zealand who want an easier way to develop and maintain their business catalogue website/s.
What is Promodata?
Promodata is the industry standard in promotional products data. It is a centralised and standardised promo item database that is updated on a daily basis (suppliers using API’s) or manually (non API suppliers). The database takes the many formats of supplier data and converts it into a single format which makes it much easier to manage websites and use in back-end quoting and job management systems.
Access over 74,000 products in a single API feed.
For more info – please visit promodata.com.au
What does (& doesn’t) the plugin do?
The Promodata Product Sync Plugin for WooCommerce is the engine that builds and manages your online product range. It handles the heavy lifting of product data management so you can focus on sales.
Connect:
Quickly link your WordPress site to the API feed using your active Promodata subscription.
Quick Start:
Use our “out-of-the-box” settings for a lightning-fast launch, or use the plugin as a robust development foundation to build your own custom features and UI.
Curate:
You’re in control. Easily select the specific suppliers, categories, and sub-categories you want to showcase on your site.
Price Your Way:
Choose to include indicative MOQ pricing (with your custom margin applied) or keep your site as a “price on application” catalogue with no pricing shown at all.
Note: What you decide here will likely impact how your developer builds your site, so be sure to discuss your pricing strategy with them early on.
Set and Forget:
Once your preferences are dialled in, the plugin takes over. It automatically keeps your product data, images, and indicative pricing up to date so you don’t have to lift a finger.
What it doesn’t do:
The Promodata Product Sync Plugin doesn’t set up, alter, or manage your website’s presentation, layout or core structure. It is purely a Product Information Management (PIM) tool—think of it as the smart bridge between the Promodata database and your WooCommerce store.
How much does this cost?
The Promodata Product Sync Plugin for WooCommerce is completely free.
We offer the plugin at no cost because we want to lower the barrier for ANZ promo distributors to get online. By using our pre-built sync, you’re essentially saving between $5,000 and $10,000 in custom development costs.
Note: While the plugin is free, you will need an active Promodata API subscription to pull the data through.
[View Promodata pricing here].
Is there a “Best Practice” for the number of products on my site?
While it’s tempting to sync every single product available (over 60,000 items!), we recommend a more curated approach.
Here’s why:
User Experience (UX):
Giving a customer too many choices often leads to “decision paralysis.” Instead of looking like a one-stop-shop, it can actually make it harder for your clients to find what they need.
Site Speed:
Even though our plugin is built for efficiency, a WordPress site with 50,000 products will naturally be slower than one with 5,000. Faster sites rank better on Google and convert more visitors into customers.
Niche Authority:
Focusing on specific suppliers or categories makes you look like a specialist rather than a “jack of all trades.” This will help you attract the clients you want.
Our Suggestion:
Start by selecting your top 5–10 favourite suppliers. This usually gives you a healthy range of 5,000–10,000 products, which is the “sweet spot” for the most successful ANZ distributors.
What product info is brought into my website?
Once you’re connected to Promodata, your website has access to an incredible amount of data. To keep your site snappy and easy to navigate, we pull in the following product info by default (where available):
The Basics:
Item Code, Name, and Category.
Description:
Details to help your clients choose.
Key Attributes:
MOQ, Colours, Sizes, Materials, and Eco-Factors.
Supplier Details:
The supplier’s name is synced, but it’s only visible to your business—your customers won’t see it.
Need even more data?
Additional info can be added to your site by your developer via the API. However, keep in mind that the more data your site has to “carry,” the slower it may run. We’ve found the default set above is the perfect balance for most ANZ distributors.
Can I rename categories & sub-categories?
Sure! You can absolutely change the names of your categories and sub-categories to better match your business’s unique language.
Important: Just make sure you don’t change the slugs, as this will break the connection with Promodata
What if I want to change my product range?
You have total flexibility.
You can update your supplier, category, or range preferences anytime directly inside the plugin’s admin panel. On the very next automated sync (usually overnight), deselected products will be cleanly removed, and your new selections will be published automatically.
💡 Pro SEO Tip: If you plan to remove a large number of products or entire supplier categories, we recommend setting up 301 redirects for those deleted URLs to your main category pages. This ensures you don’t lose any hard-earned Google search traffic or backlinks!
Can I add my own products?
Of course! It’s your website, so you have full control.
You can add any additional products or services you like, and the plugin simply ignores them. While the Promodata items stay synced automatically, any custom products you create are yours to manage and maintain manually.
Can I hide individual products?
You sure can!
If there’s a specific item/s you don’t want to show, simply change its status to ‘Draft’.
A quick tip: never delete a product.
By keeping it as a draft, the plugin still recognises it and won’t try to re-import it during the next sync. This keeps your site tidy while ensuring those products stay hidden from your customers.
What happens to discontinued items?
You don’t need to lift a finger. If a Promodata connected supplier discontinues a product, the plugin automatically identifies the change during the next sync and places the item in your store’s product “bin.” It’s one less thing for you to manually track!
(Note: We highly recommend speaking with your developer about setting up automated redirects for these binned items to protect your store’s SEO and ensure a seamless customer experience)
Will the Promodata Product Sync plugin slow down my website?
No, not at all! Our WordPress/WooCommerce plugin has been painstakingly built to keep things snappy—as demonstrated on this demo site.
Can I build & design my WordPress site anyway I want?
Absolutely.
As a Product Information Management (PIM) tool, our Product Sync Plugin acts as a smart bridge between the Promodata database and your WooCommerce store.
The design, layout, and functionality of your website remain 100% within your (and your developers’) control.
This plugin website is just one example of what’s possible. You can make your website as unique as your business—we’ll simply take care of the products.
Can my customers build their own prices?
The plugin is designed to get you up and running quickly with a professional online catalogue. Out of the box, it displays core information like MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) and an indicative price to help manage your customers’ expectations with a ballpark figure.
The Personal Touch:
By using the WooCommerce cart, customers can “Request a Quote.” This allows you to review their request, craft and send their quote using your business software (like Brandengine), and personally follow up with the client to close the deal.
Looking for full E-commerce or Self-Quoting?
If you want to move to a 100% self-serve model where customers can calculate complex decoration costs and checkout instantly, our plugin is still the perfect foundation. However, because every business has different pricing policies and processes, this will require additional customisation by your website developer to suit your specific needs.
Do you build websites?
Sorry, we don’t build websites ourselves.
However, we can certainly provide recommendations for web developers who are experienced with both Promodata and the promo industry. They can help you get your site up and running—please contact us for details.
Find It. Price It. Sell It. Faster.
Brandengine is like hitting the “turbo” button on your business.
If you’re looking to work smarter, scale up, and build on a platform that grows with you, Brandengine is the way to go.
Also powered by Promodata, Brandengine gives you total visibility over the entire supply chain. You can search the full database, build live custom quotes in seconds, and process orders with ease. Avoid the usual production pitfalls and start working smarter and faster than ever before.
