Many UK manufacturers and wholesalers start their product catalogue in Excel.
It makes sense. Excel is familiar, flexible and already installed on most computers. For a small product range and a handful of dealers, spreadsheets can work reasonably well.
But as your catalogue grows, the cracks begin to show.
Product data becomes scattered across multiple files. Price lists need constant updating. Dealers receive outdated spreadsheets. Launching a new product line turns into an administrative exercise.
At this point, many businesses begin searching for an Excel alternative for product catalogue management — something designed specifically to manage product data rather than simply store it.
This guide compares several options available in 2026 and explains which type of business each one suits best.
Why Excel Falls Short for Product Catalogue Management
Excel is excellent for calculations and quick data entry, but it was never designed to manage a complex product catalogue.
As catalogues grow, several problems typically appear:
Multiple spreadsheet versions floating around email inboxes and shared drives
Outdated dealer price lists being used months after prices change
Manual updates across several files whenever a product changes
Limited search and filtering when product ranges reach hundreds or thousands of SKUs
No central source of truth for product data
The result is operational friction.
Sales teams quote incorrect prices. Dealers order discontinued products. Launching new products requires updating several spreadsheets.
Eventually spreadsheets stop being a convenient tool and become a bottleneck.
That’s when businesses start looking for software designed specifically for product catalogue management.
What to Look for in an Excel Alternative
Not all product management tools are built for manufacturers and wholesalers.
When evaluating alternatives, look for software that provides:
Centralised product data management so your catalogue exists in one place
Easy Excel import to migrate your existing catalogue quickly
Dealer price list management with different pricing tiers
Searchable product catalogue for internal teams and partners
Structured product attributes and variants
Simple onboarding for non-technical teams
Most importantly, the software should match the scale and complexity of your business. A system designed for global enterprises may be far more complicated than what a growing UK manufacturer actually needs.
Google Sheets
Google Sheets is often the first step businesses take when moving away from Excel files sent via email.
Instead of emailing spreadsheets, companies share a single online sheet that everyone accesses.
Pros
Free and easy to start
Familiar spreadsheet interface
Real-time collaboration with multiple users
Google Sheets solves one major problem: version control. Everyone can see the same file rather than different attachments.
Cons
However, it still has many of the same limitations as Excel.
Not designed for structured product catalogues
Limited support for product attributes and variants
No dealer portal or pricing management
Difficult to scale beyond a few hundred products
As catalogues grow, spreadsheets — even cloud-based ones — quickly become difficult to maintain.
Best for:
Small businesses managing fewer than a few hundred products with minimal dealer pricing complexity.
Notion / Airtable
Notion and Airtable have become popular “flexible database” tools. They offer more structure than spreadsheets while still being relatively easy to use.
These platforms allow users to create custom tables and relationships between data.
For product catalogues, that flexibility can be appealing.
Pros
More structured than spreadsheets
Flexible database-style organisation
Attractive interface and collaboration tools
Airtable, in particular, can handle product attributes and structured fields better than Excel.
Cons
Despite their flexibility, these tools are not designed specifically for product catalogue management.
No built-in dealer pricing management
No catalogue portal for distributors
No marketplace or catalogue distribution features
Product workflows must be built manually
In practice, businesses often end up recreating their spreadsheet workflows inside these platforms.
Best for:
Internal product databases where catalogue data is used mainly by internal teams.
Akeneo PIM
Akeneo is one of the best-known Product Information Management (PIM) platforms in the market.
It is designed to manage complex product data across multiple channels such as ecommerce platforms, marketplaces and retail partners.
Large brands and enterprises often use Akeneo.
Pros
Powerful PIM capabilities
Designed for complex product catalogues
Strong integration ecosystem
For businesses managing tens of thousands of SKUs across multiple global markets, Akeneo can be extremely powerful.
Cons
However, this power comes with significant complexity.
Expensive implementation and licensing costs
Requires technical setup and configuration
Often overkill for small and medium-sized manufacturers
Many SMBs find that adopting enterprise PIM software introduces more complexity than it removes.
Best for:
Large ecommerce brands or enterprises managing extremely complex multi-channel product data.
productrue
productrue is a newer platform designed specifically for manufacturers and wholesalers who need a practical way to manage product catalogues and dealer price lists.
Rather than being a generic database or an enterprise-level PIM system, it focuses on the everyday operational needs of businesses selling through dealers and distributors.
The goal is to replace spreadsheet-based catalogue management with something structured but easy to use.
Pros
Built specifically for manufacturers and wholesalers
Easy Excel import for existing catalogues
Centralised product catalogue management
Designed for dealer pricing and distribution
Free plan available to start
Because the platform focuses on catalogue management rather than complex enterprise integrations, it is typically much easier to implement.
Cons
Not designed for large enterprise ecommerce ecosystems
Newer platform compared to established PIM vendors
For many SMB manufacturers, however, these trade-offs are acceptable if the system solves their core catalogue management problems.
Best for:
Manufacturers and wholesalers who currently manage their product catalogue in spreadsheets and want a simpler, purpose-built solution.
Quick Comparison
Tool
Best For
Starting Price
UK-Focused
Google Sheets
Small catalogues
Free
No
Notion / Airtable
Internal product databases
£8–£20 / user
No
Akeneo PIM
Large enterprises
£20k+ annually
No
productrue
Manufacturers & wholesalers
Free plan available
Yes
Choosing the Right Alternative
The right Excel alternative depends largely on the complexity of your catalogue and how your business sells products.
If you only need basic collaboration on spreadsheets, Google Sheets may be sufficient.
If you want a flexible internal database, Airtable or Notion could work.
If you run a large ecommerce operation with thousands of products across multiple global channels, enterprise PIM platforms such as Akeneo may make sense.
However, many UK manufacturers and wholesalers fall somewhere in the middle.
They don’t need enterprise-level PIM complexity, but they have clearly outgrown spreadsheets.
For these businesses, a purpose-built product catalogue platform often provides the best balance between structure and simplicity.
Platforms like productrue are designed to organise product data, manage pricing and make it easier to share catalogue information with dealers and partners.
You can explore how it works at productrue.com.
