Enrich Your Data with GatherGrid: A Practical Guide

The Data Enrichment Challenge

Most businesses have systems that capture basic data—product information, customer records, support tickets, inventory items—but this raw data often lacks the critical enrichment needed to make it truly valuable:

• Products miss proper categorization and detailed attributes
• Customer records lack segment classifications and preference data
• Support tickets need priority ratings and specialized routing tags
• Inventory items require compliance verification and quality assessments

Without proper enrichment, your data remains incomplete and less actionable. Your teams waste time searching for information, make decisions based on partial data, and miss opportunities to leverage your full data potential.

How GatherGrid Solves Data Enrichment Problems

GatherGrid excels at connecting your existing data sources with the human expertise needed to enrich them. Here’s why it’s the perfect solution:

• Connects to your existing systems: Pull in raw data that needs enrichment
• Flexible workflow design: Create custom enrichment processes for any data type
• Specialized for human input: Optimized for the tasks algorithms can’t handle
• Progress tracking: Clear visibility into enrichment completion rates
• Quality control: Validation rules ensure consistency in enrichment

Step-by-Step: Setting Up Data Enrichment in GatherGrid

Let’s walk through exactly how to implement a data enrichment workflow in GatherGrid:

1. Create Your Enrichment “Thing”

Start by creating a new “Thing” specifically designed for your enrichment needs:

• Name it clearly: “Product Classification,” “Customer Segmentation,” etc.
• Set up ID field: To link with your source system records
• Add basic fields: Name, description, or other identifiers from source data
• Create enrichment fields: Categories, ratings, tags, attributes that need adding

Example fields for a product classification Thing:

• Product ID (text, required)
• Product Name (text, required)
• Product Description (long text, required)
• Category (dropdown, required for completion)
• Subcategory (dropdown, required for completion)
• Sustainability Rating (1-5 scale, required for completion)
• Compliance Tags (multi-select, required for completion)
• Notes (long text, optional)

2. Initialize Records for Enrichment

GatherGrid offers four practical ways to get your data ready for enrichment:

Method 1: Manual Entry for Small Batches

Best for: Testing your workflow or handling urgent priority items

1. Click “Initialize Entry”
2. Enter the basic information from your source system
3. Save with enrichment fields empty (they’ll be flagged for completion)

Method 2: Spreadsheet Copy/Paste

Best for: Medium-sized batches from exported data

1. Export basic data from your source system
2. Click “Bulk Initialize” in GatherGrid
3. Paste your spreadsheet data
4. Submit all records at once

Method 3: CSV Upload

Best for: Large batches processed on a schedule

1. Download the GatherGrid CSV template
2. Prepare your export in the matching format
3. Upload to GatherGrid

Method 4: Automated API Integration

Best for: Ongoing real-time enrichment of new data

1. Set up integration using the GatherGrid API
2. Configure your source system to send data when new records are created
3. GatherGrid automatically creates entries ready for enrichment

3. Practical Team Collaboration Features

Enable your team to work efficiently on enrichment tasks:

• Subscriptions: Team members receive notifications when new items need enrichment
• Needs Attention counter: Visual indicator of outstanding items
• Activity logs: Track who enriched what and when

Practical Implementation Tips

To get the most from your GatherGrid data enrichment workflow:

1. Start with clear guidelines: Document your classification standards
2. Create reference materials: Build lookup tables for common values
3. Set realistic targets: Determine how frequently team members should enrich data based on time sensitivity and achievability
4. Implement verification: Consider dual-review for critical classifications
5. Schedule regular exports: Use the GatherGrid API or manual exports to return enriched data to the source systems or data warehouse on a consistent schedule

Measuring Success: Key Metrics

Track these metrics to evaluate your enrichment process:

• Throughput rate: Number of items enriched per day
• Backlog size: Total items awaiting enrichment
• Quality score: Percentage of items passing validation checks
• Turnaround time: Average time from initialization to completion

Getting Started

1. Identify your most critical enrichment need: Start with the data that would benefit most from proper classification
2. Design your enrichment fields: Determine what information needs to be added
3. Configure your GatherGrid Thing: Set up your custom workflow
4. Test with a small batch: Import 10-20 items and refine your process
5. Scale up gradually: Move to larger batches and automated imports

Don’t let valuable data sit incomplete and underutilized. With GatherGrid, you can transform raw information into enriched, actionable data that drives better business decisions.

Ready to start enriching your data effectively? Sign up for GatherGrid today.