How Staples Doubled Their Product Offering with Akeneo

Discover how Staples revolutionized their strategic approach in the wake of the pandemic, transitioning from traditional catalog-based operations to a dynamic digital landscape with the aid of Akeneo's innovative PIM solution. Explore the adaptation, collaboration, and growth that propelled Staples to new heights in the ever-changing world of retail.

Table of Contents

Keywords

Akeneo Community

Digital Commerce

PIM

Product Experience

Though one of the most prominent and successful office retailers for businesses of all sizes, Staples was not immune to the effects of the change in consumer behavior brought along by the pandemic.

While historically focused on supplying major enterprises with office essentials through catalog-based ordering, the digital transformation and shift to work-from-home meant that Staples needed to enhance their B2C presence and streamline their digital customer experience.

But facing the complexity of various distributors, wholesalers, and different product standards, Staples quickly realized that in order to provide these compelling customer experiences they needed a solid foundation of organized and up-to-date product information. That’s when they turned to Akeneo.

By harnessing innovative Akeneo technology, the office suppliers retailer giant was able to:

Streamline Content Management

With the Akeneo PIM dashboard and Completeness Score, Staples was able to receive real-time updates and easily track the progress of their product information throughout the supply chain. They also were able to utilize Akeneo’s import capabilities and customization features to efficiently collaborate with multiple partners and stakeholders, both inside their organization and out.

Enable Efficient Bulk Actions

Akeneo PIM’s bulk actions facilitated quick data updates, attribute adjustments, and enhanced content readability, proving essential for maintaining accuracy while adapting to changing trends and optimizing keywords for different search platforms.

Scale Product Catalog

As Staples expanded its product offerings from 25,000 to over 50,000 items, Akeneo PIM empowered a small team of product catalog managers to efficiently update content, pivot their business strategy, and manage partnerships more efficiently without increasing resource spend or team size.

The fact that after two months, she {a new employee} knows what shes doing and that two people can manage such a large catalog of products I think is the strength of Akeneo and why Id recommend it to everyone.

Clemons Roubos Product Content Specialist

Staples

A Staple for Better Experiences

In the face of unprecedented challenges and a wave of remote work, Staples emerged not only as a survivor but as a thriving example of adaptability and innovation. With plans to quadruple their product offering over the next year, Staples continues to invest in a better experience for their customers along their shopping journey and fortify a stable and scalable position in an ever-evolving market.

If you want to learn more about how Akeneo technology supported Staples’ digital transformation and capture’s customer attention across every touchpoint, you can download the complete case study here.