With the holidays upon us and as we look forward to the new year, I wanted to thank you for being a part of SEMA Data and sharing our passion and contributiing to making great data available for the benefit of our industry.

In concert with your efforts, I have engaged our team in ease-of-use initiatives this year to support you and make it easier to create and manage product information, as well as access and utilize the data to power your businesses.

In February, we released the new SEMA Data Scorecard and paved the way for the Data Excellence Award to recognize the manufacturers and their brands that stepped up to the tougher data scoring.

In March, the WooCommerce eCom plugin was made widely available, followed in May with the Shopify eCom plugin, simplifying the process of uploading data to power websites. Both plugins use the SEMA Data APIs which speeds the data to market.

In September, we closed on the PartsHub product experience management software. In the frequent feedback from you, the message was consistent that the current PIMS was difficult to use.

The acquisition of PartsHub is intended to solve the PIMS' less-than-optimal user interface. By providing you with a more user-friendly and capable system, it will reduce the “first-step hurdle” to get data organized, allowing you to become more readily self-reliant in the long term and provide more data to power the many types of businesses in our industry.

In November, we previewed the new Reseller Portal at the SEMA360 Virtual Event. The new Portal simplifies all the activities a reseller performs, from sourcing the right products for their market, to managing their data formats and exports. We delayed the release until 2021 to not disrupt your businesses during the holiday buying season.

Phew, I guess there was a reason why I felt like we were running non-stop!

There's more in store, my friends! Next year has a couple of very exciting projects that I look forward to disclosing to you soon...but not now and not here.

Here, I want to thank my team...the wonderful, dedicated, inventive individuals who make up SEMA Data. We are in all four time zones of the continental US and yet, we're all able to come together, and our passion for the industry shines. None of the achievements listed above would be possible without them and each of their contributions to the goals.

May your holiday be blessed with the love and warmth of family and friends, virtual and in-person. May you stay safe and healthy, and have a happy happy holiday season! We look forward to working with you all again in the New Year!

Warmest wishes,

Gigi Ho

VP Operations

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