New items take weeks, and still come back missing half the data.
Clover turns item setup into one structured workflow. Manufacturers submit the full item record (specs, nutritionals, allergens, GTINs, pack configurations, images) validated at the point of entry and ready to flow into your ERP and catalog. No re-keying, no chasing.
Where new item setup breaks down
Every new item is an email thread and a re-keyed spreadsheet
A manufacturer sends a spec sheet as a PDF. Someone re-types it into your item form. A field is missing, so another email goes out. By the time the item is clean enough to set up, the window to get it on the truck (or on an operator's menu) has passed.
The data arrives incomplete, inconsistent, or in the wrong format
One manufacturer sends nutritionals in a PDF, another in a spreadsheet, a third leaves the allergen fields blank. Your team becomes the quality check. And the errors that slip through don't stay hidden. They surface downstream, on an operator's plate or an auditor's checklist.
What GDSN doesn't cover, you're still collecting by hand
GTINs and standardized attributes might sync. But the specialty data (ingredient statements, child-nutrition labels, certifications, marketing images) lives in email and shared drives. That's the half that actually holds items up, and no feed is collecting it for you.
One workflow. Every item. Complete data on the first pass.
Define the item record you need once. Every manufacturer walks the same guided intake (providing specs, nutritionals, allergens, GTINs, pack configurations, certifications, and images) validated against your rules before it ever reaches your team. What arrives is complete, consistent, and ready for your systems.
Define the item record once. Enforce it on every submission
Required specs, nutritional panels, allergen declarations, GTINs and pack hierarchies, certifications, image specs. Build your item-intake requirements as a workflow, and Clover validates every field against your rules (formats, completeness, expiry dates) before it reaches your team.
Manufacturers complete setup through a guided portal, no GDSN required
A manufacturer or broker adding an item sees a clear task list: upload the spec sheet, confirm the allergen declaration, provide the case and pack configuration, add product images. Each step validates in real time. They know exactly what's outstanding and what's done, no training, no portal to learn.
Clean data flows straight to your ERP and catalog
What's validated doesn't get re-keyed. It flows to your systems through the API, complete and consistent. Your team reviews exceptions, not every field. The item is ready when the data's right, not two weeks after the first email.
Not just collected. Validated, and on the record.
Most item-setup tools are a fancier inbox. They gather files and leave your team to check them. Clover validates at the point of submission and keeps the context: who provided each attribute, what changed from the last version, why an exception was accepted. When an operator or an auditor asks about an ingredient or an allergen, the answer (and its history) is right there.
From spec sheet to set-up item, in days, not weeks
Define your item requirements
Specify the attributes you need (specs, nutritionals, allergens, GTIN and pack hierarchy, certifications, images) with validation rules and formats. Built once into Clover's workflow engine. No development.
Manufacturers complete item setup through the portal
Send requests one at a time or as a campaign across a category or your whole vendor base. Each manufacturer gets a guided intake tailored to your requirements and submits through the portal. Clover validates in real time and flags gaps immediately.
Your team reviews exceptions. Clean data flows out
Your dashboard shows what's submitted, what's incomplete, and what's ready. Approve the exceptions, and validated item data flows to your ERP and catalog through the API, recorded automatically.
Every distributor sets up new items. Almost none do it cleanly.
Foodservice
New items with nutritionals, allergen declarations, child-nutrition labels, and case-and-pack configurations, set up clean, before they reach an operator's menu.
See foodservice new item setupRetail
New item setup with product attributes, imagery, and compliance data, collected before the first PO, not corrected after the first return.
See retail exampleMedical Device
Structured product and item data with certifications and specifications, validated at intake and tied to a complete decision record.
See medical device exampleYour industry
If you set up new items from your suppliers (attributes, documents, images, specs) this workflow applies. The fields change; the process doesn't.
See all solutionsFrequently asked questions
Clover replaces the email-and-spreadsheet item intake with a structured workflow. You define the item attributes you require once, and manufacturers submit everything through a guided portal with real-time validation. Items that don't meet your requirements are flagged at submission, not weeks later after manual review, which typically cuts new item setup from weeks to days.
Clover makes nutritionals, ingredient statements, and allergen declarations required, validated steps in your item-setup workflow. Manufacturers provide them through the portal, and Clover checks completeness and format before the item reaches your team. Every change is tracked with full context: what changed, who reviewed it, and why it was accepted.
No, Clover works alongside GDSN. GDSN syndicates standardized attributes like GTINs; Clover handles everything it doesn't: ingredient statements, child-nutrition labels, certifications, marketing images, and the workflow of collecting and validating all of it from manufacturers who may not be on GDSN at all. It's the specialty data and the process around it.
Validated item data flows out of Clover to your ERP and catalog through the API, so nothing is manually re-entered. Because the data is checked against your rules at submission, what reaches your systems is already complete and consistent. Your team reviews exceptions rather than typing in every field.
That's exactly who the guided portal is built for. A manufacturer or broker completes item setup through a simple, task-based interface (upload the spec, confirm the allergens, add the images) with no training, no EDI, and no GDSN membership required. The long-tail suppliers who hold up item setup the most are the ones this helps first.
Clover validates each submission against the rules you define (required fields, formats, expiry dates, allergen completeness) and can use AI to extract and check data from uploaded spec sheets and documents. Anything that fails is returned to the manufacturer with a specific explanation before it ever reaches your team.