Product Experience

How GenAI Solutions for Ecommerce and Long-Form Queries Can Help Merchandisers Understand Shopper Intent

Explore how generative AI is improving customer search queries and simplifying the process of understanding shopper intent in this guest article, created by trusted Akeneo partner, Constructor.

Any merchandiser will tell you that one of the most challenging aspects of their job is trying to read the minds of their customers and understand shoppers’ intentions when they come to their site. But what if generative AI could change the way consumers shopped so that they revealed more information in the search bar?

With increasing adoption of tools like ChatGPT and even Rufus, more and more consumers are learning to formulate search queries using natural, conversational language rather than traditional keyword-based searches. This presents a unique opportunity for merchandisers to learn more about shoppers’ intents when they visit their eCommerce sites, which in turn leads to better merchandising decisions.

By analyzing the rich, detailed queries that customers use, merchandisers can identify trends, understand specific needs, and personalize the shopping experience at user-level, ultimately driving higher conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

Why It’s So Hard for Merchandisers to Understand Shoppers’ Intent

Ecommerce merchandisers are faced with the unique challenge of interpreting shoppers’ intent based on their digital footprint. 

Shoppers leave behind a vast amount of data, from search queries and click-through rates to purchase history and abandoned carts. This data is often unstructured and spread across multiple platforms, making it difficult to consolidate and analyze comprehensively. Merchandisers are spending a large chunk of their time investigating under the hood of their site’s search tool to interpret this data, looking at popular search queries and connecting the dots of a customer’s journey. 

In short, it’s an extremely complicated and frustrating task not that far off from mind-reading. 

For instance, a traditional keyword-based query like “blue denim” doesn’t give much for merchandisers to go off of –– was this shopper searching for a new wardrobe staple within a certain budget? What style of jeans were they looking for? Were they looking for pants or a denim button down? With so much context missing, it’s nearly impossible for merchandisers to know the right products to show. 

Google and ChatGPT Are Retraining Consumers On How to Search 

Thankfully, the way consumers interact with search engines is evolving. Google and ChatGPT, two giants in the world of artificial intelligence and natural language processing, are fundamentally retraining consumers to be more conversational with their search queries, making interactions more intuitive and effective. 

Advanced technology like natural language processing has enabled users to ask questions in a more conversational manner without worrying about specific keywords. This more relaxed, dialogue-based approach to search becomes more about solving problems than simply searching for products. 

This conversational search is a game-changer for merchandisers. A search question like  “What are the most comfortable mens jeans under $50?” reveals so much more about shopper intent than “blue denim.” The more information about shoppers’ intent available, the easier it is for merchandisers to make more effective decisions, and ultimately, provide a satisfying customer journey.

Don’t Fall Behind: How Retailers Can Build This Functionality Into Their Search Experience

Building conversational search functionality into an eCommerce platform requires a combination of advanced technologies, thoughtful design, and continuous improvement. At Constructor, we believe product adoption should take a user-centric approach when it comes to implementing emerging tech –– and one of the best ways to do that is to provide customers the opportunity to speak with an expert. 

Constructor’s AI Shopping Assistant (ASA) is a conversational product search and discovery tool that combines Generative AI with Constructor’s user-level personalization to optimize ecommerce KPIs. ASA allows shoppers to ask longer-form, detailed questions, and receive recommendations tailored to their unique preferences, shopping history, and intent, all aligned with real-time inventory.

Intent-based recommendations can also assist in creating an overall search experience that feels natural and intuitive for users. Features like autocomplete can suggest natural language queries that reflect common conversational phrases, training users to interact with the search bar in a more conversational manner. This helps to capture the shopper’s intent early in the search process, making the shopping experience more efficient.

Most merchandisers wouldn’t be surprised to see “mind-reader” as a requirement on a job listing. But thanks to generative AI, the shift from traditional keyword-based searches to natural, conversational queries is allowing for a deeper understanding of customers’ true intentions –– no mind-reading skills required. 

This blog post was created by Akeneo partner, Constructor. You can learn more about their AI Shopping Assistant here.

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Nate Roy, Director of Brand & Content

Constructor

Product Experience

Leveraging User-Generated Content to Build Consumer Trust

Are you looking to unlock the power of authentic marketing that resonates with consumers on a personal level? Discover the immense potential of user-generated content (UGC) and actionable tips on how to encourage UGC, establish best practices, and track its impact, all while building a loyal and engaged community around your brand.

In the digital age, the power of content creation is no longer solely on the onus of businesses and professional content creators. Anyone with an internet connection can create and share content, leading to the rise of authentic user-generated content (UGC). This becomes particularly relevant during key shopping seasons or events such as back-to-school or around the holidays. 

But with such a vast range of possibilities, you may be asking yourself, what exactly constitutes UGC? 

What is User-Generated Content (UGC)?

Simply put, UGC refers to any form of content, such as images, videos, text, audio, or any such combination, that users on social media and online forums have posted. It’s quickly become a powerful tool for engaging consumers and leverages the creativity and experience of everyday people to enhance brand reach and credibility. This is especially important when consumers are actively seeking out trustworthy and reliable information about specific products or services. 

Types of UGC

User-generated content comes in many forms, including:

• Product reviews: Customers sharing their experiences on review boards or social media platforms is one of the most powerful forms of UGC. These independent reviews build trust and influence purchasing decisions by offering authentic insights from fellow consumers. 
• Social media posts: Users frequently share their experiences with products or services on social media through photos, videos, or quick comments. The viral potential and authenticity of these posts can significantly enhance brand visibility. 
• Blog posts: Blogs allow users to create highly detailed content such as reviews, tutorials, or guides about a product or service. These can be some of the most in-depth forms of UGC, and  are valuable for consumers seeking a comprehensive overview before committing to a purchase. Brands can collaborate with bloggers in their niche, share their content with a broader audience, and provide richer insights. 
• Forum discussions: Forums like Reddit and Quora are platforms where users discuss and share their experiences. These discussions provide real-time insights and solutions that brands can leverage to connect with consumers, gain feedback, and monitor trends. 

Examples of UGC

The impact of UGC is evident in numerous successful brand campaigns. For example, Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign effectively leveraged UGC by encouraging users to share pictures of personalized Coke bottles on social media. 

Similarly, GoPro consistently features customer-created videos, showcasing the real-world capabilities of its products and strengthening the connection between the brand and its community. 

Although these are two examples out of many, they illustrate how effective user-generated content showcases the power of everyday consumer creativity while driving brand engagement and loyalty. 

UGC – A Brand’s Best Friend

UGC has grown from a niche hobby done by a few to one of the most influential tools in a brand’s marketing toolkit. Unlike traditional advertising, user-generated content can be perceived as more authentic, trustworthy, and “real” because it comes directly from everyday users rather than the business itself. Encouraging user-generated content fosters a sense of community and engagement among users, which in turn leads to increased brand loyalty.

Additionally, UGC provides brands with a real-time feedback and insight loop on products or services, allowing for a better understanding of consumer preferences that product teams can leverage to make improvements. Moreover, as more users share their content with their network or followers, it can significantly boost a brand’s visibility and reach. 

3 Tips for Utilizing UGC

While UGC has become a powerful lever for brands looking to build trust and authentically engage with their audience, it’s crucial to approach it strategically to maximize the results. Here are three key tips for effectively utilizing social UGC to enhance brand presence and connection with customers:

1. Create a reward or incentive program for UGC

Brands can motivate customers to create and share content by offering incentives or rewards such as discounts, exclusive access to new products, or featuring their posts on social media. This can boost content creation by everyday users, which builds a loyal community around a brand.

2. Establish UGC best practices

Create and communicate best practices for UGC to guide customers in producing content that aligns with brand messaging. Offering clear examples or themes helps ensure the content is authentic and consistent with your brand values, making it easier for users to contribute meaningfully. 

3. Determine UGC metrics and analytics to track success

Identifying key metrics and analytics helps to measure the effectiveness of a UGC program over time. This could include tracking engagement rates, shares, conversion rates, and overall reach, all of which would provide  valuable insights into what resonates with audiences so that your team can  refine your UGC strategy and maximize its impact. 

User-generated content offers businesses a unique opportunity to build trust, engage users, and enhance marketing efforts. Businesses can create a mutually beneficial relationship with customers by actively engaging UGC and implementing strategies to utilize it effectively. The key to successful UGC lies in fostering a culture of encouragement, appreciation, and reward for your users’ efforts. Embrace the power of UGC, and it’ll strengthen your brand and build a loyal, engaged community!

Are you ready to take the next step?

Our Akeneo Experts are here to answer all the questions you might have about our products and help you to move forward on your PXM journey.

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Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

Product Experience

Bringing Color to Rainbow Shops’ Product Experience Strategy

Discover how Rainbow Shops, a leading clothing retailer, transformed its product management process with Akeneo PIM. Hear about the challenges of managing a massive product catalog across multiple channels and how the integration of Akeneo’s automation and AI tools revolutionized their operations directly from the tech lead of Rainbow Shops.

When it comes to having large product catalogs, prominent clothing retailer Rainbow Shops is no stranger. With over a thousand brick-and-mortar locations and a bustling online presence offering thousands of SKUs, Rainbow Shops offers clothing for men, women, and children across the globe.

At a recent PXM Client Club, we had the chance to sit down with the tech lead of the Rainbow Shops team, Ben Smith. He described the scope of their operation as, “We have about 56,000 SKUs online on sale today, but that’s actually a low number as that’s at the end of our Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Our average SKU size tends to sit around 66,000.” 

That’s a lot of products to manage across a lot of touchpoints; a product catalog of this size requires an advanced system that can effectively manage massive loads of product information. Before Akeneo, Rainbow Shops was using a homegrown PIM solution, but the scale of their catalog simply outgrew their internal solution.

In particular, Rainbow Shops faced two key challenges:

1. Product volume management: Rainbow Shops needed to manage a high volume of products efficiently, ensuring that each product’s information was accurate and up-to-date, a process that was, before Akeneo, cumbersome and prone to errors.
2. Multi-channel consistency: Beyond their eCommerce platform, Rainbow Shops integrates product information into various downstream systems, including recommendation engines and social commerce platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Google Merchant Center. Each one of these channels requires consistent, reliable product information.

We sell a lot online by volume, just at sheer scale. That means we have to have merchandisers and people that work within our PIM system to make sure that we get all this information out in front of the public as quickly as possible in a way that’s presentable and readable.

Ben Smith eCommerce Tech Lead

Rainbow Shops

The adoption of Akeneo’s Product Information Management PIM system allowed Rainbow Shops to automate critical processes and significantly boost efficiency, allowing Ben and his team to focus on enhancing the customer shopping experience. 

One of the key features that Ben credits for improving their operations is Akeneo’s rules engine tool, which allows for the automation of mundane tasks, such as categorization and pricing adjustments, both of which are vital for keeping the online store competitive and up-to-date with current market trends.

Initially, Rainbow Shops started with automating the most critical and repetitive tasks. Ben and his team focused on setting up rules that would categorize products automatically based on predefined attributes. Over time, as the team recognized the benefits, they expanded the rules engine to cover more complex scenarios, eventually setting up around 30 rules that oversee the automation of core attributes necessary for accurate product categorization in their Shopify platform.

So not only did the PIM system simplify internal operations, but it also enabled quick scalability across multiple channels, which is essential for a retailer with as broad and varied of an audience as Rainbow Shop’s.

Ben described the impact of Akeneo by saying, “When the rules engine came out, it was a godsend to us when it came to optimizing that product information management process. It’s not been that tricky for me or the team to manage in the end once Akeneo came on board.” 

The merchandising team at Rainbow Shops, supported by a dedicated photo lab and a social photography team, also works seamlessly within the Akeneo PIM. Products are rapidly enriched with detailed attributes—of which Rainbow Shops tracks 137 across various families—allowing them to move from photo shoots to being available online in a streamlined process.

The integration of AI and automation into the Akeneo PIM has also brought about remarkable efficiencies for Rainbow Shops, allowing their team to categorize thousands of pieces of product information very quickly, and improve their time-to-market when it comes to launching new products or updating existing ones. 

Overall, Rainbow Shops’ adoption of Akeneo demonstrates the power of embracing the right technology at the right time. Being able to efficiently manage a vast and ever-changing product catalog is no easy job, but by integrating Akeneo technology into their processes, Rainbow Shops was able to streamline their internal operations and create a strong foundation for compelling product experiences wherever they sell.

Are you ready to take the next step?

Our Akeneo Experts are here to answer all the questions you might have about our products and help you to move forward on your PXM journey.

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Samira McDonald, Senior Manager, Community

Akeneo

Akeneo News

Akeneo Announces Walmart Marketplace Integration

Discover how Akeneo’s latest integration with Walmart Marketplace enables businesses to effortlessly activate their enriched product catalogs on Walmart.com, cutting down on manual work and reducing errors. Dive in to see how Akeneo can supercharge your presence on one of the world’s largest online platforms.

Akeneo recently announced their integration with Walmart Marketplace, helping leading US brands and distributors activate their enriched product catalog to reach new audiences and increase sales.

What is Walmart Marketplace?

Walmart Marketplace is an online platform that allows third-party sellers to list their products alongside first-party offerings on Walmart.com and reach millions of potential buyers. 

When people search for products on Walmart.com, third-party sellers’ products will appear in search results along with other items. Sellers on Walmart Marketplace have access to a built-in audience of 120 million Walmart.com monthly visitors and loyal customers who shop with Walmart across different categories and channels.

Akeneo & Walmart Marketplace

The newly released direct API integration allows Akeneo Activation customers to quickly set up the Walmart Marketplace channel, pull in product requirements, map & transform their enriched PIM data to meet Walmart requirements, and syndicate product information and digital assets automatically to stay compliant with Walmart requirements.

Historically, activating your presence on such an important marketplace like Walmart.com required wasting hundreds of hours wading through spreadsheets, filling out countless attributes and trying to pull data from multiple sources to try and create a complete product record. Not only did this manual process lead to slower time to market, but it also was incredibly error-prone and often led to poor performances on a crucial marketplace.

Now, with Akeneo Activation in place, companies can automate this entire process, pulling enriched product information from an organized central repository within Akeneo PIM and syndicating directly to Walmart Marketplace.

You can learn more about the integration and how Akeneo can help you optimize your sales performance on Walmart Marketplace: https://www.akeneo.com/walmart-marketplace/ 

Akeneo Activation

Connect your enriched product data in Akeneo PIM to top retailer and marketplace sites like Walmart.com to drive compelling customer experiences, increase conversions, and sell more products.

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Tom Bennett, Senior Product Marketing Manager

Akeneo

Product Experience

Mastering Omnichannel Experiences: Essential Tips for Seamless Customer Engagement in the Digital Age

In today’s omnichannel world, delivering a seamless customer experience across digital and in-person touchpoints is more important than ever. Discover why consistent, reliable product information is the cornerstone of these experiences, and the strategies that can help your brand master omnichannel consistency and elevate your brand’s customer experience.

While virtually every brand today has some type of an online presence, not all brand strategies align with successful omnichannel experiences. Customers have fully adjusted to the eCommerce model, however, as customer expectations change, markets get more saturated, and companies are under increased pressure to showcase their competitive advantage, it’s essential that brands master the omnichannel experience. Otherwise, they risk falling behind and losing once loyal customers to more digitally advanced competitors. 

But herein lies a major challenge; no two customers are the same. No two customers will go through the same journey to make a purchase which is why the product experience is crucial when it comes to eCommerce and omnichannel success. As brands continue to refine their digital experiences, it is essential to look at strategies under the lens of a strong product experience (PX), otherwise, it’s easy to overlook a significant amount of value and revenue for the business. 

The digital age is here to stay and as new technology continues to emerge, brands are forced to reevaluate their digital presence. Luckily, several companies have already fine-tuned their strategies and elevated their PX strategy to ensure a seamless omnichannel experience. Integrating print, customer support, social media, and in-store channels will result in a true omnichannel brand experience for customers, and as we head into major shopping seasons, there has never been a better time for brands to look critically at their strategy and master the omnichannel experience.

eCommerce Strategy is Just the Beginning 

When building a successful omnichannel experience and strategy, it’s important to focus on first building the foundation of PX.  This means digging deeper into the customer journey and understanding that eCommerce is just the beginning. Customers have an average of 17 interactions with a brand before they convert.  Paired with the fact that the digital age has allowed more brands to exist and increased competition, companies need a robust brand strategy to break through the noise and connect (and stay connected) with their customers. 

For brands looking to expand their omnichannel experience, journey, and presence, creating a unified experience for customers across every channel (social media, in-store, online, mobile, etc.) ensures that no matter where or when a customer chooses to engage with a brand, they are always receiving the same level of personalization and consistency. It also allows brands to meet the customer where they are. 

Because omnichannel is customer-centric, shoppers have flexibility with the medium they are using to shop and make purchases. This becomes increasingly important during the busy shopping seasons, such as back-to-school, where shoppers are turning to websites to research their purchases, but thenopting to pick up in-store. A strong omnichannel presence can ensure thatcross-channel journeys like these are seamless and consistent, bridging the gap between in-person and online experiences. 

After all, it’s expensive to replicate product information on every platform, so a strong omnichannel presence can alleviate added stress and ensure that the right information is provided with the right branding in the right channel. 

Start with a Strong Foundation, then Expand 

Customers rely on product information to make informed purchasing decisions. Whether they’re browsing your website, scrolling through a mobile app, or standing in a physical store, they expect the same accurate details. If a customer sees different product specifications, prices, or availability across channels, it erodes their trust in the brand. Consistent information reassures customers that the brand is reliable and transparent, fostering long-term loyalty.

From an operational perspective, consistent product information reduces the likelihood of errors and discrepancies that can arise from managing multiple channels. When all touchpoints are aligned with the same product data, it streamlines inventory management, pricing updates, and promotional activities, ensuring that all channels operate cohesively.

Consistency is Key 

Switching between online storefronts, brick-and-mortar stores, and social media shopping experiences is commonplace for consumers. Their preferences can change daily and can alter depending on their needs and desire for flexibility. What doesn’t change for shoppers is their expectation of a seamless and reliable shopping experience. 

A consistent omnichannel strategy builds trust, enhances the customer experience, reduces frustration, and reinforces brand identity and loyalty. When cross-channel experiences integrate, long-term growth is achieved. Brands want to retain loyal customers and they want to ensure that customers are receiving reliable and integrated experiences to reinforce brand identity and values. 

 Integrating a full experience that extends beyond both in-store and online experiences will result in more than just boosted sales but also build brand loyalty and affinity. With these things in mind, brands can build a successful and comprehensive omnichannel strategy.

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

Product Experience

Optimizing your implemented PIM for continuous evolution

Even after your PIM has been launched, the PXM journey continues so that you can keep looking for optimization opportunities and get the most out of your product information. Discover how to unveil additional benefits and improve ROI after PIM implementation.

So you’ve officially implemented your PIM. Congratulations! That’s a big achievement, and is worth celebrating.

However, that doesn’t mean you’re at the finish line. Oftentimes, the go-live is seen as the end of a project, when in reality it should be seen as the continuation of a PXM journey that you began building during the discovery and implementation phase.

There is more that you can do to capitalize on your investment and pursue your success even after your go-live. Let’s take a look.

Measure your Value Drivers to Identify Areas with Potential for Improvement

First, you must know what kind of value you are creating for your customers. You want to make sure that all your digital initiatives have clear performance indicators. So, it is important to measure your PXM journey and everything surrounding it, to identify what is working and where there’s potential for improvement.

Not sure where to get started? Here are some value drivers you should measure:

Time-to-Market

• • • What is the average period necessary from product inception to market-ready?
    • Which steps in the process take the longest?

Cost to Enrich

• • • What is your average cost to enrich a single product?
    • What is the cost of manual tasks performed? 

Channel Performance

• • • What is your turnover for each channel?
    • Is the growth of the product catalog in your existing markets through syndication and/or digital shelf-management tactics boosting your sales?
    • Do you have plans to expand into new markets?

Increase Margin

• • • Do you know your best-selling products?
    • What are your merchandised products with the higher margin?

Average Order Value/Conversion Rate

• • What is the average order value in each of your channels?
  • Do you know how your customers reach your sales channels?
  • Do you know your customers’ shopping journey?
  • What products do your customers return the most?
  • Which products are most frequently purchased together?

Identify Initiatives to Support Your Value Drivers

Now that you know your key value drivers, you need to brainstorm initiatives to support them. Do not forget that there are no bad ideas at this stage, and it is an opportunity to bring out elements that stand out from the crowd to make you a trailblazer.

Here are a few high-level ideas to help you get started:

• Exploring new markets
• Marketing new product lines
• Defining advertising campaigns
• Adding new systems to your architecture
• Improving customer experience
• Simplifying your operational processes
• Implementing new functionality
  • Do you need to syndicate your product information to some marketplaces such as Amazon? Activation for Retail will be the perfect fit!
  • Do you want to share real-time product data information internally (sales team, another department inside your company) and externally (vendors, manufacturer..) without giving access to sensitive data in the PIM? You can implement the Shared Catalog
  • Do you need to onboard data from your suppliers? Check outSupplier Data Manager.
  • Do you want to generate automated enrichment? Akeneo PIM now offers native genAI capabilities. 
• Improving product data and media to help your customers find the right products for their needs
  • Do you already have a DAM in place? You can easily connect to Akeneo to link your assets to your products.
  • Do you want to synchronize your assets to your print platform? Akenoe has many connectors.

Build a Roadmap Aligned with Business Objectives

Then by conducting a comprehensive assessment of all your departments (eCommerce, PIM, Marketing), prioritizing value drivers, and creating a high-level timeline, you can ensure that your roadmap will serve as a strategic guide for seeking sustainable growth and success around product information.

To identify the initiatives offering the most value, the next step is to prioritize them based on their impact on your business and on the effort it will take to accomplish them.

Next, you will have to create a timeline divided by quarters to display the initiatives you have selected to help you achieve your goals.

It is possible to have several initiatives running in parallel, but consider interdependencies when laying out your initiatives, make sure this does not cause competition, and balance them throughout the year to avoid overloaded periods.

Keep the Process Dynamic and Iterative

Once you have a good strategic plan, it is time to bring it to life. Your next step will be to translate your roadmap into a delivery plan to  more precisely refine the steps of the initiatives you plan to launch in the next quarter and to help you validate the budget, skills, and resource allocation needed.

Remember that this process is dynamic and iterative, and your PXM consultant can guide you through these steps. Regular reviews and adjustments to the roadmap are essential to ensure its responsiveness to changes in the business environment. 

By keeping this strategic plan dynamic and adaptable, and by converting it to a delivery plan you can prepare ahead of time, you will be well-equipped to navigate the evolving landscape of PXM, validate budgets, know the skills needed, and allocate the resources effectively to achieve your long-term goals.

Congratulations on embarking on this transformative PXM journey, and best of luck in your ongoing pursuit of success!

Looking for more PIM implementation support? Check out some of our other Valtech featured articles diving into how to design your PXM program for success, the people-first approach to product experiences, how to maximize the ROI of your PXM organization, or the steps to mastering your PIM go-live.

This article is a guest post by Akeneo partner, Valtech.

The PXM Practitioner’s Checklist

Discover the 9 essential components to set yourself up for success with Product Information Management (PIM) in this guide, created with Valtech.

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Sebastien Contant, Senior Consultant Product Strategy & PXM

Valtech

Product Experience

The Essential Components of Support and Maintenance for a PXM Platform

Are you struggling to maintain an exceptional product experience for your customers? Learn how a holistic support strategy, combining technical expertise with business insights, can transform your PXM platform into a robust, scalable, and strategically aligned powerhouse. With real-world insights, this article from trusted Akeneo partner, Valtech, highlights the critical roles in ensuring continuous optimization and driving business growth.

Managing and optimizing product information is more crucial than ever before for businesses aiming to deliver exceptional customer experiences. A robust Product Experience Management (PXM) platform is key to achieving this, but implementing such a system is not simply a “plug-and-go” situation;. continuous support, maintenance, and often a dedicated team that understands the intricate dynamics of managing a product catalog are required to ensure long-lasting success. 

The Need for a Holistic Support Strategy

Traditional support models typically focus on the technical aspects of a platform: resolving bugs, implementing updates, and ensuring system stability. While these elements are critical, they only address part of what is needed for a successful PXM platform. A more holistic approach is often required—one that integrates technical support with business insights to ensure the platform evolves in alignment with the company’s goals and market dynamics.

The Role of Business Consultants

Business consultants play a crucial role in this holistic support strategy as they bring a wealth of knowledge about industry trends, customer behaviors, and market dynamics to the organization. By working closely with your internal teams, consultants can identify opportunities for process improvements, suggest optimizations in product data management, and ensure that the PXM platform supports your broader business strategy.

Their involvement ensures that the platform is not just technically sound but also strategically aligned with your organization’s goals,ensuring that product information is consistent, accurate, and optimized for the best customer experience. This alignment is crucial for leveraging the full potential of a PXM platform.

The Technical Backbone: Developers and Tech Consultants

Despite the emphasis on strategic support, technical support obviously remains a foundational element of PXM maintenance. Developers and tech consultants will need to bring expertise in the nuances of PXM systems, ensuring that the platform is robust, scalable, and adaptable to new requirements. Their role involves more than just troubleshooting; they proactively monitor the system, anticipate potential issues, and implement enhancements to keep the platform at peak performance.

Their technical skills ensure seamless integration with other systems, smooth data migration, and the development of custom features that enhance the platform’s capabilities. This continuous technical optimization is essential for maintaining a high-performing PXM platform.

The Magic of a Unified Team

The most effective PXM support strategy integrates both business and technical expertise. This combined approach ensures that the platform is not only operational but also strategically valuable. By aligning technical solutions with business goals, organizations can achieve greater efficiency, proactive maintenance, improved data accuracy, and a more cohesive product experience.

Key Roles in PXM Support

Project Managers:

• Allocate financial resources to support activities, ensuring the availability of necessary tools and expertise.
• Optimize work hours for various support tasks to meet user needs effectively.
• Include strategic guidance to address evolving user demands and platform enhancements.

PXM Tech Consultant:

• Inform you of new platform and dependencies updates.
• Ensure platform compatibility with peripheral platform updates.
• Prioritize incident management and urgent updates to ensure smooth operation.
• Conduct regular maintenance activities to minimize disruptions.

PXM Strategy Consultant:

• Provide strategic guidance and manage evolving user demands.
• Implement small configuration adjustments, workflow adjustments, and new channel implementations.
• Offer user training sessions to empower users and optimize platform utilization.

Case Study: Success Through Continuous Optimization with Bath Depot

Since 2019, we here at Valtech have been supporting Bath Depot, a leading Canadian retailer of bath supplies, on the creation and  integration of their PXM, including the launch of new product collections.

Initially, the support plan for Bath Depot was limited to technical bug fixes and routine maintenance. However, shortly after the integration, Bath Depot needed to launch a new product collection, which required strategic support in terms of data model strategy and product description.

The launch of the “Lightings” collection required strategic input on describing new products effectively and aligning them with Bath Depot’s existing product catalog. This situation highlighted the need for a more comprehensive approach, which is why we proposed a continuous optimization service to Bath Depot, including both a business consultant and a technical consultant to support all their needs.

Working closely with Bath Depot, we developed a strategic roadmap to enhance their product categories for a quick return on investment, driving business growth such as:

• Improved product launches: With continuous optimization, Bath Depot can seamlessly introduce new product collections with the necessary strategic support for data modeling and product descriptions.
• Strategic alignment: The integration of business and technical support ensures that the PXM platform evolves in alignment with Bath Depot’s business goals and market demands.
• Quick ROI: The tailored support and maintenance strategy focuses on delivering quick returns on investment through strategic enhancements and optimizations.

Embracing Comprehensive Support for PXM

PXM platforms require a comprehensive support strategy that integrates technical and business expertise. By adopting this approach, businesses can ensure that their PXM platforms are not only robust and scalable but also strategically aligned with their goals.

At Valtech, we have embraced this holistic approach with our PXM Continuous Optimization team, composed of both business and tech consultants alongside developers who are dedicated to providing the support needed to ensure the long-term success of PXM platforms, driving continuous improvement and strategic alignment.

By rethinking support and maintenance, businesses can unlock the full potential of their PXM platforms and deliver exceptional product experiences that meet the evolving demands of the market.

The PXM Practitioner’s Checklist

Discover the 9 essential components to set yourself up for success with Product Information Management (PIM) in this guide, created with Valtech.

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Raphaël Iscar Gutierrez, Head of Global PXM & Product Strategy

Valtech

Akeneo News

How Akeneo Helped Sealed Air Create Air-Tight Product Experiences

Discover how Sealed Air revolutionized its product information management with Akeneo. With insights from Andrew Coffield, Director of Product Information and Marketing Processes, learn how this digital transformation helped Sealed Air provide a reliable, top-tier product experience to customers, all while enhancing internal efficiency, reducing errors, and elevating customer trust.

As you can imagine, the company that invented Bubble Wrap prides itself on providing reliable, trustworthy customer experiences.

Sealed Air, which invented and trademarked the iconic packaging solution over 60 years ago, serves a diverse clientele, from small Etsy shop owners to major corporations like Amazon, and plays a significant role in reducing food waste through effective packaging. 

For a company with such a reputation of reliability, Sealed Air knows that there’s more to a good product experience than just providing a product.

As Andrew Coffield, Director of Product Information and Marketing Processes said, “Product experience for Sealed Air is all about building that trust and building that relationship with our customers, and a big part of that is giving them detailed and accurate product information that they can rely on.” 

Bubbling Up the Need for a Digital Transformation

Historically, Sealed Air relied on knowledgeable individuals to manage and share product information. However, as business dynamics evolved and key personnel retired or moved on, the need for a centralized repository of product information became clear. That’s when Akeneo enters the picture.

Akeneo has revolutionized how Sealed Air organizes and accesses product data by creating a single source of truth, ensuring that all product information is accurate, vetted, and easily accessible to all stakeholders. This consistency is crucial for building customer trust. 

“Having that single source of truth means that we don’t have to reference a PDF document from 15 years ago, challenge what’s on our website, or compare it to a recent press release. Our customers are going to have faith that we know what we’re talking about,” says Coffield.

The integration of Akeneo has also streamlined Sealed Air’s internal operations. By centralizing product information, the company ensures that all internal teams, from customer service to sales, have access to reliable data. This not only improves efficiency but also enhances the customer experience.

With Akeneo, we can meet our customers’ expectations for quick, on-demand access to information.

Andrew Coffield Andrew Coffield, Director of Product Information and Marketing Processes

Sealed Air Corporation

Pre-Packaging Product Information

One of the many nuances of product information management that often gets overlooked is product taxonomy, which is essentially how a company decides to structure, organize, and categorize a vast amount of product information in a logical, easy-to-understand way. The main goal of any taxonomy system is to present both structured and unstructured product data in a way that is quickly digestible for both internal teams and consumers.

The problem is that there are a thousand different ways to categorize and organize products, especially when you’re dealing with a thousand different products. As you can imagine, manually managing taxonomy can be inefficient and error-prone, and often reliant on the knowledge of the individual contributor working with the taxonomy system.

For Sealed Air, they turned to Akeneo’s PIM solution to automate many of the mundane tasks associated with taxonomy management, such as data entry, updates, and validation, not only saving time and resources so their team can focus on higher value tasks, but also reducing the risk of inconsistencies and errors in their product data.

We’ve solved an information architecture problem that we’ve struggled with since the inception of this company. Akeneo has provided a completely new way to see and interact with our data, making our complex product taxonomy manageable.

Andrew Coffield Andrew Coffield, Director of Product Information and Marketing Processes

Sealed Air Corporation

Sealed for Success

By centralizing and organizing its extensive catalog of product information and creating a more streamlined product taxonomy, Sealed Air has been able to enhance its internal efficiency and significantly improve customer satisfaction by providing a product experience their customers can trust. 

To gain more insights into Sealed Air’s journey and hear directly from Andrew Coffield himself about the impact of Akeneo PIM, you can watch the full interview below:

Watch Andrew’s full testimonial here. 

Samira McDonald, Senior Manager, Community

Akeneo

Product Experience

5 Generative AI Use Cases in eCommerce

Dive into the transformative power of Generative AI in eCommerce with this article from trusted Akeneo partner, Constructor, that unveils how cutting-edge technology is revolutionizing the eCommerce industry. This article provides a comprehensive guide on the most popular GenAI use cases that professionals across the world are already using to strategically enhance customer experiences and drive eCommerce innovation.

Generative AI is transforming industries, with eCommerce set for some of its most significant changes this decade.

One popular application of the emerging technology is in content creation, with over 80% of marketers using GenAI for social media copy and images. Within eCommerce merchandising specifically, GenAI is streamlining content creation by allowing teams to automatically enrich product attributes, improve data hygiene, enhance product descriptions, and more — all at the speed of AI.

But those aren’t its only applications. Let’s take a look at five more compelling use cases of GenAI in eCommerce below.

1. Conversational Commerce

Falling under the umbrella of “conversational commerce,” solutions like Constructor’s AI Shopping Assistant (ASA) are AI-based computer programs designed to respond to online queries in a way that mimics natural, human conversation. They’re often integrated into websites, apps, and customer service systems to provide immediate assistance and support. 

Thanks to advancements in AI and ML technologies, specifically GenAI, these solutions have come a long way in recent years. Within eCommerce specifically, their use is most common in the following two ways:

For Product Discovery

Constructor’s ASA offers online shoppers a way to express their product needs in natural language. Then, they receive product and content recommendations personalized to their preferences, history, and intent, and reflective of the eCommerce company’s real-time inventory —  in less time. 

Our AI Shopping Assistant gives online shoppers a new, useful way to discover items they need and love — disrupting the current search and product discovery paradigm. We already have good product discovery solutions for people who know what they want and just want to search for it, or people who just want to browse a category, or take a product finder quiz. But in cases where shoppers have a more complex need that they can only explain in natural language, like ‘I need healthy items for a picnic’ or ‘I want a trendy shirt to go out in,’ the current paradigms don’t work. There was no good way to explain that need to the search engines of the past. That’s where our AI Shopping Assistant comes in. ASA makes suggestions based on detailed requests from a shopper — like a trusted, in-store associate would — while also instantly factoring in everything it knows about the shopper at hand.

Eli Finkelshteyn CEO and Co-founder of Constructor

ASA is a win-win for all parties involved. The GenAI solution allows shoppers to find what they need easier and more quickly, instilling confidence in their purchases. It also helps eCommerce companies keep shoppers on-site, boosting their conversions and brand loyalty.

For Customer Support

In the same light, GenAI chatbots are handy for customer support, providing instant, 24/7 assistance to a worldwide audience. 

These chatbots leverage advanced natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond to a wide array of customer inquiries, significantly reducing wait times. They can also personalize responses based on customer history and preferences, creating a more tailored and engaging experience. Plus, they can optimize operational efficiency as they can answer simple, repetitive questions. This saves humans time to focus on more strategic tasks.

2. Advanced Merchandising Capabilities

GenAI is the driving force behind advanced merchandising capabilities, such as:  

AI-Generated Rules

A product discovery tool like Constructor allows merchandisers to leverage AI to automatically generate rules for boosting, burying, slotting, and optimizing product result sets for their KPI of choice. 

Merchandisers then get granular, directional feedback on their work, allowing them to review and override the rules in the dashboard. This is possible via Rule Performance, a feature of Constructor’s Merchant Controls & Intelligence suite. This is true even on rules they institute on pages without a ton of data.

AI isn’t meant to replace merchandisers, nor will it ever. It works as a force multiplier that can help them optimize less visible areas so they can focus on strategic work.

AI-Generated Collections

Creating collections, or personalized landing pages, is a time-consuming, manual task for eCommerce teams to handle. 

This requires the merchandiser to have a list of SKUs selected, a deep understanding of the catalog, or  have meaningful attributes in the catalog to build collections based on conditional logic. 

With AI-generated Collections, merchandisers can describe the types of product, occasions, or styles and leverage the power of Generative AI to bring relevant items into a Collection. 

The prompt “show the customer the most attractive products for hosting a summer bbq” returned close to 300 products from the store catalog. Merchandisers can then edit the AI-generated list as they see fit. 

This feature has many benefits, including, but not limited to: 

• Improving eCommerce SEO coverage.
• Enhancing the existing manual or logic-based Collection creation workflows.
• Improving operational efficiency, as merchandisers can move at the speed of AI.
• Lowering dependency on perfect product data, as Collections are generated automatically based on merchandiser-enter prompt.

3. Virtual Try-On Experiences

Thanks to advanced algorithms and ML, GenAI can create virtual try-on experiences for products like clothing and furniture. These realistic, interactive models allow customers to see how an item will look on them or fit in their home.

For instance, shoppers can visualize furniture in their living spaces, adjusting size and placement to see how it complements their existing decor. When it comes to apparel, they can even upload their photos and virtually try on clothes, getting a sense of fit, style, and color before committing. This is also true of shoes, as seen on Birkenstock’s mobile site below.

Birkenstock lets shoppers virtually try-on select models via their mobile site.

These virtual try-on experiences not only enhance the shopping experience, but also help customers make more informed purchasing decisions, reducing the likelihood of returns and increasing overall satisfaction.

4. Search 

What started off as a search bar has evolved into much more, thanks to the advent of GenAI. In addition to the chatbot functionalities, GenAI-powered ASA can also power the Search experience, taking the shape of:  

Autocompletion

Improve the utility and impact of autocomplete functionality with ASA intent-based suggestions. For a query such as “office clothes,” ASA could suggest search terms including “office clothes for summer,” “office clothes for women – business casual,” “office clothes comfort fit,” and so on. 

These suggestions likely wouldn’t appear in traditional autocomplete due to incomplete product catalog data. But when suggesting the “office clothes comfort fit” query, ASA infers beyond product catalog details. The Generative AI-powered tool recognizes the material in product images, content from reviews, and more to populate suggestions. Then, when shoppers select a suggested search query, the results shown are personalized to them.

Use ASA to help autocomplete fulfill shopper intent more accurately, building value to shoppers and your business.

Search Modes

When shoppers have a complex need and aren’t sure how to address it, ASA can generate intent-based recommendations, acting as a personal shopping assistant. These various search modes include:

• Recipe. E.g., “What’s a good peach cobbler recipe for someone who’s gluten free?” or “gluten-free peach cobbler recipe.” In addition to generating recipes with items the grocer has available, ASA makes personalized recommendations for each ingredient. (So, if the recipe calls for flour, and the shopper tends to buy organically, then options for organic gluten-free flour are shown.) Customers can easily add every product to cart from the recipe page.
• List. E.g., “Blush, eyeshadow, mascara” or “litter box, scratching post, collar.” In the first example, makeup recommendations map to the shopper’s preferred brands, colors, and palettes. In the second, ASA infers meaning based on other items listed and the shopper’s history to return cat collars (not dog collars) among the other recommended items.
• Complete the Look. E.g., “What goes with chinos?” ASA automatically generates in-stock suggestions across categories (shirts, ties, shoes, etc.) that’ll complement the chinos and reflect the shopper’s preferred styles, colors, price points, etc. This is possible via clickstream, or first-party behavioral data.
• Style Assistant. E.g., “I’m attending a state fair in August. What can I wear in the heat?” Again, ASA recommendations are easy to navigate, make sense contextually, are personalized, and span various in-stock products and categories (dresses, shoes, hats, etc.) to promote bundling.
• Suggestion. E.g., “I’m going camping with my kids for the first time at Yosemite National Park in October. What do we need?” or “What do I need to mount a 60-inch TV to my wall?” Suggestions highlight relevant products across categories. Recommendations are often based not only on product data and shopper affinities, but also on on-site content. In the last example, DIY wall-mounting guides can also be displayed to the shopper, alongside product suggestions.
  

5. Supply Chain Optimization

Generative AI can predict supply chain disruptions and provide intelligent inventory forecasting, enabling businesses to manage their stock with greater efficiency and precision. 

The technology leverages vast amounts of data from market trends, historical sales figures, weather patterns, global events, and other sources to identify potential disruptions in the supply chain before they occur. This allows companies to take preemptive measures to mitigate risks, like adjusting procurement strategies or finding alternative suppliers. 

GenAI can also forecast inventory needs with high accuracy, ensuring that businesses maintain optimal stock levels to meet customer demand. This not only reduces costs associated with excess inventory and stockouts, but also enhances overall operational efficiency, leading to improved customer satisfaction and profitability.

How to Prioritize GenAI Use Cases in eCommerce 

From content creation to conversational commerce, advanced merchandising abilities, virtual try-on experiences, and more, GenAI will continue to offer the eCommerce industry a world of opportunities. 

Before diving head first into a digital transformation project, companies should strategically decide where GenAI offers the most benefit. This often takes the shape of a customer-centric approach.  

“[eCommerce companies] will need to think wisely about where AI can help their business and how,” shares Finkelshteyn. “It won’t be about using AI for its own sake but instead about making smart bets on where AI can genuinely improve the user experience for their shoppers. [Ecommerce companies] will need to tread carefully between two extremes: they will need to ensure they don’t use AI as a gimmick in places where it looks flashy but doesn’t actually help users, while also not being so afraid of getting AI wrong that they’re the last to use it.” 

By thoughtfully integrating GenAI where it can truly enhance the customer experience, eCommerce companies can harness its full potential to drive innovation and growth.

The State of Generative AI

This report conducted by Forrester dives into how this revolutionary technology is impacting the B2C commerce industry and the tangible benefits of genAI.

Download NowDownload NowDownload Now

Product Experience

Simplifying Onboarding with Supplier Data Manager

Discover how Akeneo’s AI-powered Supplier Data Manager can enable brands and manufacturers to simplify supplier relations, accelerate time to market, and improve the accuracy and quality of your supplier-provided data through a concrete example.

Introducing Supplier Data Manager

Akeneo’s Supplier Data Manager is designed to address this challenge. Featuring a user-friendly portal for collecting, managing, and enriching supplier-provided product information  and assets, our AI-powered SDM solution automates and simplifies supplier onboarding to accelerate time to market for brand manufacturers exactly like Zigolf.

The Demo

In the presentation, Virginie Blot, Akeneo’s Sr. Product Marketing Manager,  demonstrates how Zigolf Category Manager, Julia, can set up the Supplier Data Manager interface to invite and collaborate with new suppliers, creating multiple portals to work with trusted suppliers like Motocaddy.

Motocaddy’s eCommerce Marketing Manager, Jimmy, received an email inviting him to upload product files for the new kids’ golf collection. The Supplier Data Manager portal guided him through uploading files, selecting media assets, and mapping product attributes to match Zigolf’s requirements, as well as pre-validated data through the power of AI, saving significant time and effort for both Jimmy and Julia.

Julia received the validated data from Jimmy, checked it, and finalized it for import into the PIM. The native AI capabilities within SDM even categorized and normalized the data, ensuring high-quality product information.

Watch the full demo here. 

The Results

Thanks to the Supplier Data Manager, Zigolf’s team no longer struggles with messy spreadsheets and chaotic supplier communication! They’re able to successfully onboard and enrich product data, and can showcase their products better, faster, and anywhere.

While Zigolf may be a fictional example, real-life companies like Rexel and InterSport have seen a 70% increase in automated tasks and saved 75 hours a month per person using Akeneo’s Supplier Data Manager solution.

Explore even more new features to enhance your product experience strategy and drive your business success.

Akeneo Supplier Data Manager

A simple, scalable, and collaborative way to collect product data from all your suppliers. Configure your suppliers, map catalog format to yours, and correct, classify, and enrich products data into Akeneo PIM, all in one place.

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Samira McDonald, Senior Manager, Community

Akeneo