focus report - sophelle · 2020-04-23 · focus report product information management march 2014...

FOCUS REPORTPRODUCT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

March 2014

www.sophelle.com [email protected] 1671 Worcester Road, Suite 302

Framingham, MA 01701508.875.5700

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A WORD FROM SOPHELLE

Today’s product information management (PIM)

solutions are numerous, varied, and evolving at a rapid pace.

A range of functionality is available without clear standards

about what feature sets PIM should include.

In this Focus Report we’ll identify key considerations in

regard to consumer expectations, omnichannel operations,

and fulfilment processes, as well as enterprise, marketing,

and IT viewpoints.

Douglas Weich

CEO

A UNIFIED BRAND BUILDS TRUST AND INCREASES SALES ACROSS ALL YOUR CHANNELS.

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OVERVIEW

Omnichannel is not a choice. Omnichannel is being demanded by

consumers. Retailers offering a unified brand experience are winning the

hearts and wallet-share of consumers. Sophelle refers to the unified brand

as giving the consumers a “360 Degree View of the Brand”. To accomplish

this, retailers need coordinated processes,integrated systems and

consistent data across all channels and throughout the enterprise.

Customers expect a consistent experience across all touch points, online

and off, and around the world. Product names online must match in-store

sales tags. Hero images on retailer home pages should feel familiar to the

in-store shopper. Product data on Amazon must resonate with data found

on the retailer’s mobile and online experience. Wholesalers must have

access to quality, relevant product data to help their own sales efforts.

Product Information Systems (PIM) are ideally suited to address the

numerous operational challenges omnichannel retailers encounter in

managing product data. By maintaining a “single point of truth” for product

information, a PIM can eliminate the numerous problems inherent in

attempting to manage, leverage and disseminate multiple versions of

product data. Finally, the best of class PIM continue to evolve to help re-

tailers succeed in today’s omnichannel world.

© Copyright 2014, Sophelle. All rights reserved. 3

PRODUCT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (PIM) ARE IDEALLY SUITED TO ADDRESS THE NUMEROUS OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES THAT OMNICHANNEL RETAILERS ENCOUNTER IN MANAGING PRODUCT DATA.

Overview

Definitions

Retail Trends Driving PIM Adoption

PIM Benefits for Retailers

Omnichannel Benefits of PIM

IT Considerations

PIM Capabilities

Vendor Offerings

About the Author

Learn More

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PIM ENSURES QUALITY INTEGRATIONS WITH NUMEROUS MULTICHANNEL TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCESSES

Omnichannel data includes product, customer and supply

chain information. Retailers often leverage differing,

incongruous technologies, applications and systems. These

include Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise

Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM)

and the systems that power omnichannel commerce,

including ecommerce and mobile commerce platforms.

Consistent product data must flow among all retail systems to

enable omnichannel success in an effective and efficient

manner. The obvious omnichannel areas that benefit from

consolidated, quality product data include internet sites,

eprocurement systems, CRM, POS and print. Many retailers

undervalue or overlook the supplier systems that can benefit

from the same attention.


DEFINITIONS

Master Data Master Data is that persistent, non-transactional data that defines a business entity for which there is, or should be, an agreed-upon view across the organization.

• PIM (Product Information Management) refers to the pro-cesses and technologies focused on the central management of product information; with a focus on the data required to market and sell the products through one or more distribution channels.

• MDM (Master Data Management) refers to the combination of applications and technologies that consolidates, cleans and augments master data and synchronizes it with all applications, business processes and analytical tools.

• DQM (Data Quality Management) refers to the administration, role establishment, role deployment, policies, responsibilities and

processes with regard to the acquisition, maintenance and disposition and distribution of data.


• Operations span organization silos

• Systems integrate functionality across channels

• Single-source data is available to all

• Customers see one brand

67%of online shoppers have made purchases in the past six months that have involved

multiple channels.- ZenDesk

© Copyright 2014, Sophelle. All rights reserved.

There are over100 channels for

retailers to consider. - SmartInsights

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RETAIL TRENDS DRIVING PIM ADOPTION

Channel proliferation. The number of channels are growing and successful retailers are leveraging them. Social and mobile platforms are monetizing through commerce allowing retailers to sell through Twitter and Pinterest, Uber and OpenTable.

Global opportunities. In response to the omnichannel demands of global retail enterprises, PIM solutions are evolving in many areas. Support forproduct management, multi-lingual, multi-currency, multi-cultural support are a few of the areas.

Manufacturers and distributors going direct. Several PIM vendors can

trace their roots to servicing distribution and wholesale industries. These PIM

vendors are aggressively inserting themselves into the retail sector. Because

of their deep experience with distribution models, they offer a compelling PIM

option for manufacturers who wish to expand into retail.

PIM technology is evolving. Leading solutions offer rich media

management, robust data management, on-premise and SaaS delivery, and

desktop and web-based interfaces.

PIM vendors are evolving to support increasingly complex

business rules and data quality reporting requirements. Such ef-

forts allow traditionally non-technical retail staff to realize the benefits of

PIM with out engineering effort.

PIM vendors are increasingly looking towards external

service provider (ESP) partners for implementations and ongoing

support. ESP partners typically allow retailers to negotiate more

favorable implementation and on-going support pricing.

PIM vendors are providing easier onboarding for retailers. PIM vendors continue improve data integration tools and increase the number of data integration options. Such efforts allow retailers to realize thebenefits of PIM more quickly than in the past.

PIM vendors are making great strides to improve meta datamanagement. Such efforts allow retailers to more easily find and share relevant product.


$559 B- Forrester

B2B ecommerce in theU.S. to reach

Mobile commerce isgrowing at a rate of

30% per year.- ComScore

52%of eBusiness professionals ranked omnichannel inte-

gration as a top technology investment priority.

- Forrester

PIM Benefits for RetailersState-of-the-art PIM solutions offer many benefits through a single pointof truth, which delivers a consolidated, centralized database of productinformation from which all other channels can efficiently and effectivelyaccess relevant data.

• Improve efficiency by eliminating redundant data entry and by facilitating

data-related workflow

• Lower implementation and ongoing maintenance costs through decreased

number of data sources and integration points

• Improve data accuracy by tying in purchasing and selling systems

• Ensure clean, accurate product data through embedded business rules

applied at the point of data entry

• Improve product data maintenance by facilitating centralized storage for

multi-item merchandise

• Inform better business decisions through more accurate and consistent data

• Facilitate data governance through a well-controlled and managed

environment


OMNICHANNEL BENEFITS OF PIM• Consistent, product data across channels, including descrip-

tions, images, videos and customer generated content help

bridge the physical/digital divide. Customer reviews and cus-

tomer-created images and videos bring web smarts to the

stores. A PIM allows all product data to be managed and

shared across channels and trading partners.

• Making product data consistent across channels facilitates a

unified brand experience. Social media are growing increasing-

ly important in omnichannel strategies. Social media teams for

larger retailers are typically separate from the product market-

ing team. A PIM helps decrease the likelihood of inconsistent

product data being communicated.

• PIMs can facilitate cross-sells, up-sells and substitutions through management of complex product relationships by breaking down channel silos.


FPO

• International and multi-lingual channels are better served by

a single source of product data. A PIM allows global

managers to spend less time finding product data entered

by staff thousands of miles away and more time translating

and localizing product data information.

• PIM decrease the burden of multi-country catalog

management efforts by allowing more efficient curation and

deployment of country-specific countries.

• PIM help enforce global trade restrictions by ensuring data

export of “allowable” products.

• PIM help retailers navigate the chaos of mergers and acquisi-

tions more effectively. A PIM can ensure a smooth transition

from one system to another during a takeover.

IT CONSIDERATIONS

PIM implementation projects typically have complex IT infrastructure, operational and staffing implications.

PIM are challenging to implement because they

impact a variety of business and technology pro-

cesses across the enterprise. Adoption of IT best

practices and proper change management

techniques are key to successful implementations.

Guidelines:

• Data must be consolidated to assure

consistency, accuracy and efficiency.

• Data cleanses must consider all future data use.

• All data applications must act cohesively.

• IT Governance must maintain system data on an

ongoing basis.


PIM CAPABILITIES

Leading PIM solutions provide robust functionality to support complex product information and retail

processes throughout the enterprise.

• Data Modeling

• Data Quality Management

• Business Services, Integration and Synchronization

• Business Process Management and Workflow Design

• Performance, Scalability, Availability and Security


Retail site visitors who view video stay two minutes longer

on average and are 64% more likely to purchase than

other site visitors.- COMSCORE

VENDOR OFFERINGS

Sophelle asked leading software vendors

with solutions in the product information

management space to present their views

on best practices, trends and their particular

approaches. The information provided under

each vendor represents their respective view.

Sophelle has not verified their claims nor

endorses their solutions. The information is

presented to allow readers to learn and make

their own decisions.

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Company: Enterworks, Inc.

Enterworks Enable helps you acquireproduct information

For 20 years, Enterworks® Enable software has helped leading companies acquire, manage and transform their product information into the kind of persuasive content that drives higher sales and builds competitive strength. By leveraging a company’s products, associated images and videos, brands and other marketing assets, Enterworks Enable manages and delivers powerful selling content accurately and

Companies choose Enterworks Enable to manage an increasing breadth of products and maintain a depth ofpersuasive product information that sets them apart from other retailers.

Why choose Enterworks Enable PIM?

• Supplier portals allow your suppliers to upload product informa-tion in spreadsheets or bulk form. Enterworks supplier portals are two-way, allowing suppliers to review, modify, and approve pre-sentation of their own product information in a secure, role-based environment.

• Access to unlimited internal and external data sources. Long rec-ognized for complex integration of both structured and non-struc-tured data, Enterworks Enable draws product data and associated assets from multiple internal and external systems (CRM, ERP, DAM) in a variety of forms.

• Data quality. Enterworks Enable ensures that data entering the system is complete and free of errors, saving you the time and expense of making corrections downstream.

• Easy ongoing updates. Enterworks Enable workflow accelerates new product introductions, automating the processes for review and approvals, and coordinating merchandising, pricing, promo-tions, legal signoff and more.

Enterworks Enable helps you manage andenrich product information

consistently through multiple e-commerce, mobile, and printchannels.

• Flexible data modeling in the Enterworks solution adapts to your business, not the other way around. Product hierar-chies and classifications greatly enhance product searches and up-selling, cross-selling, and add-on sales. Our custom-ers value the unique flexibility of our PIM — and the free-dom from custom coding.

• An intuitive, role-based user interface is flexible and easy to customize (again, without coding). Business and other non-technical users praise our simple dashboard views.

• Multiple domains. Enterworks Enable is a true master data management system, integrating and managing domains such as customers, suppliers, brands and more for maxi-mum value.

• Automation in Enterworks Enable ensures that product ad-ditions and modifications are processed quickly for shorter time-to-market. Easy-to-use, graphical drag-and-drop work-flow makes it easy.

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• IA true multi-channel strategy becomes reality because the Enterworks Enable lets you manage products and digital

assets with an unlimited number of specific channels in mind. The system ensures delivery of everything from required attributes to the format called for by the specific channel.

Company: Enterworks, Inc.

Our customers include segment leaders

A rapidly growing e-tailer with more than 40 branded websites chose Enterworks Enable on the basis of ease of use, scalabili-ty, flexibility, and total cost of ownership. The Enterworks’ PIM, easily deployable in the cloud, is hosted for the e-tailer on Ama-zon Web Services and feeds product information directly into the e-tailer’s e-commerce system to drive all their websites.

Get the Competitive Lead

These and other retailers grow from Enterworks’ 20 years of knowledge, best practices and lessons learned. Our unique ex-pertise supplements Enterworks Enable’s data model strengths, multiple domain breadth, workflow power, and purpose-specific portals to drive the competitive edge that retailers need.

The world’s second largest business furniture seller selected Enterworks Enable to manage its more more than 20,000 customizable products and over 10,000 product images for publishing to their websites. Enterworks’ workflow routes the content to the appropriate personnel for review and approval before publishing.

One of the nation’s largest full-service restaurant companies integrates headquarters-driven marketing and branding with locally-driven promotions and menu item choices — all powered by Enterworks Enable. Enable’s functionality is extended through local marketing portals at the retail level to track local market statistics and craft effective sales promotions.

Enterworks Enable helps you leverage andexport product information

• Syndicate to multiple channels. From our single solution you can easily send product information by push or pull, correctly formatted, to any retail channel.

• Feed your e-commerce system. Retailers are realizing that the large amount of data, attributes, and more they must manage requires product information management.

• E-commerce catalogs don’t provide the ability to create sophisticated valida-tion/business rules for attributes and don’t provide the functionality for main-taining data quality. Enterworks teams with major e-commerce vendors in cus-tomer implementations of Enterworks Enable to deliver retailers the powerful

combination of enterprise-level PIM and full e-commerce capabilities.

• Multi-channel publishing. You can manage and automate end-to-end processes for multi-channel catalogs, flowing product information dynamically to custom layouts with full Adobe® InDesign integration.

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Company: Informatica Corp.

How Relevant is Your Omni-Channel Data to Your Customers?

How often are you getting emails with “your personal product recommendations”? How personalized and correct are they really? How relevant is your Omni-Channelinformation to yourcustomers?

Commerce Relevancy is the next wave puttingOmni-Channel Commerce on another level. As Informa-tion gets more democratic, connecting the dots between master data of customers, supplier, location andproducts ring the bells for the next commerce wave after Omni-Channel commerce: It is Commerce Relevancy: In the first phase it is focusing and combining product and customer data to deliver con-sistency and relevancy in Om-ni-channel retailing. That will have deep impact in customer experience.

www.informatica.com/pim

Informatica PIM (Product Information Management) meets this need by combining product information management with robustcapabilities in master data(customer data management) data integration and governance. As a single repository of all product data for distribution in all sales channels, Informatica PIM provides a cohesive, centralized platform for all channel commerce.

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Get started – Getting Customer Demand Right for One Channel, Then Multiple Channels…

It’s hard to keep up with customer demands in a singlechannel, much less many. Selling products today is:

• Shopper-controlled. It’s never been easier for consumers to compare products and prices. This has eroded old cus-tomer loyalty and means you have to earn every sale.

• Global. If you’re selling your products in different regions, you’re facing complex localization and supply chain

coordination.

• Fast. Product lifecycles are short. Time-to-market is critical (and gets tougher the more channels you’re selling through).

• SKU-heavy. Endless-aisle assortments are great for margins. That’s a huge opportunity, but product data overload due to the large number of SKUs and their attributes adds up to a huge admin burden.

• Data driven. Product data alone is more than a handful to deal with. But you also need to know as much about your customers as you know about your products. And the

explosion of channels and touch points doesn’t make it any easier to connect the dots.

Company: Informatica Corp.

… Taking it to the next level: make data more relevant across all channels

It’s hard to keep up with customer demands in a singlechannel, much less many. Selling products today is:

1. Relevant product recommendations everywhere: what is the next logical buy? This will not only be leveraged in ecommerce but at any customer touch point.

2. Relevant locations: the ways of a product from an own warehouse, from a supplier warehouse and brick and mortar become more flexible. Customers are being served always from the location nearby.

3. Relevant marketing: personalization will reach a new level combining product, location, supplier and first of all custom-er information the right way and across all channels. Rela-tions of and between data (like customer profiles and prod-uct bundles) build the core of customer experience, when delivered in real-time.

4. Relevant analytics: New type of intelligence is the kind the helps you make overarching decisions on things like maximizing the product margin by analyzing shipping and warehousing options, understanding product performance by demographics and regions or providing Flash Reports for Sales and Marketing.

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Company: Riversand

Riversand is the Global Leader inProduct Information Management Solutions.

Content Onboarding from Vendors, Manufacturers• Direct Feeds• Data Pools• Private Portals, Content Aggregators• Enrichment and Cleans-

ing Providers

In addition, an increasing number of customers today interact withbusinesses via numerous touch points, such as eCommerce websites, mobile platforms, print catalogs, call centers, in-store salesrepresentatives or direct data exchanges. To successfully sell a diverse range of products efficiently in a customer-centric manner, it isessential that businesses maintain rich, complete and up-to-dateproduct information across channels, markets and customersegments. Riversand’s Product Information Management (PIM) and Master Data Management (MDM) solutions enable this capability.

• Highest-rated pure-play MDM per Gartner • Positioned as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant• “Best in Breed” by Forrester• “Hot Vendor” - Ventana Research• “Top 15” by The MDM Institute

New Product Introduction• Product setup and ID creation • Buyer, Merchandising, Market-

ing Collaboration platform• Integration with Forecasting

and Planning Systems

Omni-Channel Retailing• Enabling rich, accurate, rel-

evant content for Channels such as Web, Print, Mobile, Store

• Brand consistency across channels

• Integration with ecommerce, mobile and print platforms

Riversand Product Information Supply Chain for an Enterprise

Data Governance• Data Governance Policies• Data Stewardship• Data Quality Dashboards

Data Feeds and Publish• Trading Partner Feeds: Synchronize Product Information

with Data Pools• Direct Feeds for Distributors, Retailers• Distributor Portals• Integration with Data warehouse, ERP and supply Chain

systems

Leading companiesworldwide recognize the vital need to bettermanage the productinformation supply chain in order to increase sale, reduce costs and im-prove profits. Businessprocesses and datamanagement activities need to be optimized and a consolidated single ver-sion of the truth needs to be maintained.

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Company: Riversand

Workflow• A robust, integrated workflow

module • Drag and drop design supports

serial and parallel workflows• Set escalations and delega-

tions, import pre-defined workflows• Reports to help measure, monitor, and improve process efficiencies

Media Asset Management• Automate asset collection, association to products• Tag, crop, watermark, resize,

thumbnail, change resolution, etc.

• Support multiple asset types (gif, jpg, doc, PDF, etc.)• Allow vendors to upload assets, streamline data collection

Integrations• GUI wizards help setup data

import and export job profiles• Imports and exports jobs can

be manual, scheduled, or trig-gered.

• Exports can be flush and fill or delta transmissions

• Multiple file formats, transport mechanisms, custom formaters

Productivity Tools• Bulk Edit & Bulk Operation

enable quick manipulation of entities in bulk

• Where Used allows easy dis-covery of related products

• Business Rules automate at-tribute value generation and prevent errors

SKU Explosion • Allows efficient SKU creation,• onboarding, & management.• Examples: Product/SKU, or Style/Color/Size, or Make/ Model/Year combinations

Data Model• Robust UI based data modelling capability• Support for N-level product

hierarchies• Flexible Relationship model• Multiple product classifications• Category based attributes

Search• Search using a configurable set

of commonly used attributes• Search by any attribute and by navigating product hierarchy• Configure results grid, drag &

drop columns to group results by

Proven Master Data & Product Information ProviderManage & Synchronize Data Across Channels for a Single Source of Truth

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Company: Stibo Systems Inc.

Retailers today are facing serious competitive pressures. The adoption of new sales channels, the abundance of product options and the emergence of mass personalization have led consumers to have higher expectations and become more price sensitive, leading to less brand loyalty than in the past. Managing product information and synchronizing that information across channels has become a pressing priority for retailers who are implementing an omnichannel strategy.

Consumers buy products and absorb information seamlessly through sales channels based upon circumstance: how much time they have or need, what objective(s) they are trying to accomplish, where they are located, and what kind of mood they are in.

Letting consumers experience your brand instead of your channels, will increase customer satisfaction, conversions, and brand loyalty.

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Stibo Systems addresses the unique needs of retailers that design, produce, and sell goods as well as those that procure only finished goods.

We provide functional richness, strong data modeling, and powerful workflow capabilities that enable globalbusiness users like marketers and merchandisers, to cultivate and maintain a robust information supply chain by more efficiently acquiring, managing, and publishing product information.

Key Benefits

• Faster introduction of new products• Increase cross-sell and up-sell conversions• Facilitate omni-channel commerce• Enable reverse showrooming• Improve department & partner collaboration• Expedite marketplaces• Gain full process visibility

Company: Stibo Systems Inc.

Our end-to-end PIM solution merges and centralizesproduct information across the enterprise to feedconsistent, accurate, and up-to-date information tomultiple distribution channels.

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SAP3999 West Chester PikeNewtown Square, PA 19073610-661-1000http://sap.com

Agility MultichannelPindar North America, Inc414 North Orleans St.Suite 602Chicago, IL 60654312-840-4820http://agilitymultichannel.com

Stibo Systems3550 George Busbee Pkwy NW Suite 350Kennesaw, GA 30144 770-425-3282http://stibosystems.com

Tibco Software Inc.3307 Hillview Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94304650-846-1000 http://tibco.com

VENDOR DIRECTORY

Enterworks, Inc.46040 Center Oak Plaza Suite 115Sterling, VA 20166888-242-8356http://enterworks.com

IBM1 New Orchard RoadArmonk, NY914-499-1900http://ibm.com

Informatica2100 Seaport Blvd.Redwood City, CA 94063650-385-5000http://informatica.com

Oracle500 Oracle Parkway,Redwood Shores, CA 94065800-392-2999http://oracle.com

Riversand Technologies Inc.Riversand 2929 Briarpark Dr #200 Houston, TX 77042713-934-8899http://riversand.com

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Milanie Cleere is seasoned technology veteran with 15+ years ofexperience leading ecommerce initiatives. Milanie is versed inbusiness analysis, management, platform reviews, warehouse and customer service management and international ecommercepractices.

Milanie Cleere eCommerce Director, Practice Leader

Prior to joining Sophelle, Milanie led eCommerce initiatives for numerous consumer goods and entertainment companies. Client work includes the National Gallery of Art, Zutano, CBS, The Emmys, Disney, Sony and Nordstrom. Milanie also founded Oompa.com, one of the Top 500 Fastest Growing Companies in Inc. Magazine and publisher of several mobile apps to the iTunes and Android marketplaces.



LEARN MORE

Sophelle, an experienced provider of management and technology consulting services to the retail and fashion industry since 1995, helps both emerging and Fortune 500 clients achieve IT and business objectives bydelivering sound, flexible strategies and reliable, efficient solutions.

Sophelle is privately held with offices in Boston and New York City and comprised of a team of industry experts and more than 50 retail technology professionals.

Sophelle sophelle.com 1671 Worcester Road [email protected] 302 508.875.5700Framingham, MA 01701

TRADEMARKSSophelle Focus Reports are trademarked by Sophelle. Vendor and solution names and trademarks are the property of therespective vendors. All rights reserved. No portion of this report may be reproduced without authorization by Sophelle.

focus report - sophelle · 2020-04-23 · focus report product information management march 2014...

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