Product Matching

Product matching is the process of identifying which listings across different retailers refer to the same or an equivalent product, so prices and availability can be compared like for like. It is harder than it sounds, because retailers describe the same item differently. Titles get rewritten, pack sizes and units vary, images differ, and identifiers such as GTINs or EANs are frequently missing, wrong, or held privately. Matching works through identifier resolution where codes exist and attribute comparison where they do not, drawing on brand, model, size, color, pack count and specification. Every match carries some degree of uncertainty, which is why confidence and visible evidence matter as much as the match itself.

Why it matters

• Sets the ceiling on every downstream number, since a price index or MAP report built on bad matches is wrong in ways nobody downstream can see
• Determines coverage, because unmatched products drop silently out of comparisons and make a category look smaller and calmer than it is
• Separates comparing the same item from comparing something adjacent, which is where most disputed pricing reports start

How it is used

• Like-for-like price comparison across retailers, marketplaces and regions
• MAP compliance checks, which depend on certainty that a flagged listing is actually your product
• Assortment and gap analysis, which requires knowing which competitor items correspond to yours

Product matching and deduplication solve different problems. Deduplication removes repeated records of one item inside a single dataset. Product matching connects records across separate sources that were never built to align. Exact matching and equivalence matching also differ. An exact match means the identical SKU, while an equivalence match accepts a different pack size or format as comparable, and choosing between them changes the answer you get.