Demystifying the Evolution of Artificial Intelligence: Separating Fact from Fiction

Posted on September 12, 2023June 25, 2025 by Virginie Blot

Artificial Intelligence

Demystifying the Evolution of Artificial Intelligence: Separating Fact from Fiction

In this guest post from Akeneo partner Unifai, explore the fascinating evolution of artificial intelligence (AI), from its early days marred by skepticism to its current role as a trusted partner in various industries.

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has occupied a central role in our society and continues to make its presence felt in our daily routines. Illustrative of this trend are the fast adoption of machine learning and deep learning models, demonstrating the adaptability of AI as it’s evolved. For businesses spanning various sectors, artificial intelligence serves as a pivotal growth catalyst. For instance, it proves invaluable in enhancing the refinement, categorization, and augmentation of product data via a PIM solution.

However, AI hasn’t always enjoyed such widespread acclaim. Frequently, misconceptions surrounding AI have bred apprehension and uncertainty.

The old Myths About Artificial Intelligence

Back in the 50s: The Skeptical Era

The question of whether we can trust artificial intelligence has sparked lengthy debates. Back in the 1950s, during its inception, AI’s credibility was already under scrutiny due to its groundbreaking nature. Early pioneers like John Von Neumann and Alan Turing introduced AI concepts, but skepticism surrounded their endeavors.

The arrival of novel concepts often triggers misunderstandings. As time passed, reactions evolved; worries and hesitations proliferated. This transformation emerged from the mainstream adoption of AI, which brought about both progress and potential conflicts.

The Evolution of AI in the 2010s: A Controversial Phase

Around the 2010s, a pivotal era for AI commenced. During this period, artificial intelligence witnessed significant advancements attributed to powerful new computers capable of accelerating algorithmic computations, alongside the advent of the internet and widespread data sharing.

It was during this phase that AI permeated daily life. While intended to simplify our routines, it began to overshadow some works of science fiction, raising questions: Would AI endanger job stability? Could it replace human workers? Some even speculated about the potential for AI to achieve “higher intelligence.”

This sentiment is closely tied to Machine Learning, a scientific approach that revolutionized AI during the 2010s. Termed “automatic learning,” this methodology enables machines to self-educate, improving their capabilities over time. This marked a shift from rigidly programmed machines to data-driven AI.

The education of AI enables self-questioning, learning from mistakes through Machine Learning. Enhanced precision, reduced error risk, and cost-effectiveness positioned AI as an asset.

The Progress of AI: A Fostering Trust

While only a few years out from the rise of Machine Learning and Deep Learning, and the accompanying apprehensions, public perception of AI’s threat has significantly evolved.

In the digital era, while skepticism persists, confidence in AI has grown considerably. This stems from AI’s maturity, no longer perceived as entirely novel but rather an ever-evolving, living entity. Various sectors, including manufacturing, marketing, research, healthcare, and gaming harness AI to advance their domains. Companies are progressively intrigued, exploring AI’s potential in handling product data.

AI at the Service of the Human

AI offers tangible benefits, enhancing comfort, automating tasks, boosting productivity, and propelling progress across industries. For instance, internet searches frequently involve AI. As a sign of confidence, humans are becoming increasingly discerning, intolerant of AI’s errors.

Consequently, AI’s support is now deemed legitimate, no longer arousing past concerns. The perceived myths about AI jeopardizing jobs and security have began to dissipate.

Artificial Intelligence and Product Data: A Corporate Choice

AI and product data are intrinsically linked. Recognizing this, companies have readily entrusted machines to drive growth. Data management plays a pivotal role in digital strategies, particularly in eCmmerce, differentiating businesses in the competitive landscape.

This strategy hinges on utilizing a PIM (Product Information Management) solution, like Akeneo, and an advanced AI solution, like Supplier Data Manager. By intelligently analyzing product data within a PIM, these technologies categorize, standardize, enrich, and correct product data at scale.

3 Key Insights About Artificial Intelligence

AI, while complex, often sparks uncertainty about its workings and implications. Amid its advantages and limitations, three key aspects deserve attention in the context of product data processing:

Artificial intelligence isn’t magic: It necessitates training and ongoing maintenance. Valid information is crucial.
What humans can’t process, AI also cannot.
AI is in constant flux: Performance fluctuations are normal, requiring periodic audits through sampling.

AI: The Past, The Present, The Future

The journey of artificial intelligence (AI) has been nothing short of remarkable, mirroring the evolution of our understanding and acceptance of this transformative technology. From its early days in the 1950s, when skepticism loomed large, to the transformative era of the 2010s, marked by both awe and apprehension, AI has come a long way.

As AI matured, our perceptions evolved, and today, it stands not as a mysterious entity but as a tangible force for good in various sectors. Its role in enhancing our lives, from automating tasks to propelling progress across industries, is no myth, and those organizations who embrace the true power of this technology stand to dominate the market.

Are you ready to leverage AI technology to create consistent, compelling product experiences through your product data? You can learn more about Supplier Data Manager here, or speak with a product experience expert today

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

What is a Product Experience?

Posted on September 11, 2023August 8, 2024 by Virginie Blot

Product Experience

What is a Product Experience?

In today’s market, where customers engage with brands through various channels, ensuring consistent and quality product experiences is paramount. Investing in PX not only enhances customer experiences but also aligns with an omnichannel strategy, addressing the evolving expectations of consumers in both B2C and B2B contexts.

Last week I began shopping for a sippy cup for my infant son. I had been given a very specific list of criteria by my wife. The sippy cup needed to be BPA free for health reasons, it needed to NOT have a spout (to encourage my son to develop his fine motor skills), it needed to be easy to clean and dishwasher safe, and it needed to be small enough to fit my son’s small hands. In the end I settled on a Munchkin 360 cup that I found in an instagram post, corroborated with two separate bloggers’ best of lists, researched the Munchkin brand’s own website and Amazon, and ultimately bought from Target (due to price and free shipping). This 45 minute odyssey not only opened my eyes to the subtle nuances of children’s drinking implements, it also served as a perfect example of a Product experience (PX).

What is a Product Experience (PX)?

A product experience consists of every interaction an individual has with your product information throughout the entire customer journey. PX is a critical investment area alongside customer (CX) and employee experience (EX) to engage stakeholders. PX is focused on the relationship a customer has with a company’s products and the company itself.

From how products or sets of products are represented in an ad space, displayed in marketing channels, turned into compelling product and brand stories in owned or third-party sales destinations, or even in customer service interactions, every touchpoint between a customer and product provides an opportunity to strengthen or damage this relationship. Product experience is the overall customer perception of these product interactions.

Customer experience is a well understood priority for every brand selling in today’s market. But what’s not often talked about is just how difficult it is to manage the customer experience across every customer touchpoint. Brands today must provide a consistent and quality experience that conveys their values and meets customer expectations across the buying journey, from discovery to purchase and even service and support.

Trying to control the quality of every interaction is not easy, especially with the proliferation of online marketplaces where control of the customer experience is almost entirely ceded to a 3rd party. But one thing that brands always have control over is their product experience, and PX is a huge component of any good customer experience.

The product experience you offer has the most impact on a brands overall CX.

The 7 Driver Categories of the Quality of Digital Retailers’ Customer Experience Forrester

2022

Investing in PX allows a brand to secure the key ingredient to great customer experiences. It also enables a more agnostic approach to engaging with customers in support of an omnichannel strategy.

My multichannel quest for a sippy cup is replicated millions of times a day across the world. Consumers are rarely going to one place to buy your products. They’re bouncing between search engines and social media, doing research and price comparison on marketplaces and eCommerce stores, and even going into physical stores to touch and feel your products before purchasing. This buying process is even finding its way into the B2B space where younger generations are expecting the same smooth purchasing experience they enjoy in their personal life.

So, as you’re thinking about your own brand and the experience you’re offering to your customers, consider these two questions:

Are you providing compelling product experiences across all of your customer touchpoints?

and

What is your strategy for managing these product experiences?

If you’re interested in seeing how far along your organization is in developing your PX Strategy, you can take our self-assessment here, or you can reach out to a product experience expert today.

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

The Data Revolution: Your Guide to AI-Powered Product Excellence

Posted on September 4, 2023June 25, 2025 by Virginie Blot

Artificial Intelligence

The Data Revolution: Your Guide to AI-Powered Product Excellence

Unlock the potential of AI in product experiences by first laying the groundwork with organized, accurate data. From data cleansing to information localization to tailored content for diverse channels, discover the key steps to harnessing the power of AI for seamless and engaging customer interactions across the entire shopping journey.

In the digital age, where every business endeavor seems to be touched by the shimmering fingers of technological innovation, it’s tempting to fall under the assumption that things like artificial intelligence or virtual reality tools are a fix-it-all, plug-and-go solution. But here’s the truth: while AI is indeed powerful, it’s not a miracle worker. It won’t transform your business into a digital kingdom overnight, waving a wand and conjuring results out of thin air. No, the journey to AI-powered greatness begins with a different kind of magic – the art of data cleansing and organization. Before embarking on your AI journey, creating a centralized, organized, and up-to-date repository of product information will serve as the bedrock upon which your AI solution can execute these magical, hyper-personalized product experiences. So let’s dust off the cobwebs, rearrange the shelves, and discover the secret power to harnessing AI that lies within your product data.

7 Steps to Getting Started With AI

1. Product Taxonomy: Structured Organization

Imagine walking into a massive library with no labels, no order, and no rhyme or reason to the arrangement of books. You’d be lost in a sea of information, desperately searching for a specific book. Now, think of your product catalog in the same way. Without a well-defined taxonomy, your products are scattered, confusing, and hard to find, not only for you but also for your customers and AI systems. A product taxonomy is like the blueprint of your library. It provides a clear structure and hierarchy that organizes your products logically and systematically. This structure serves as a roadmap for classifying your products into categories, subcategories, and attributes, making it easy to navigate the vast expanse of your product offerings. A well-organized product taxonomy isn’t just for your internal benefit; it directly translates into an improved customer experience. Customers can effortlessly browse and find products, enhancing their satisfaction and encouraging more conversions. When products are logically grouped, customers can discover related items they might not have otherwise stumbled upon, leading to increased sales opportunities. Plus, when AI has a clear taxonomy to reference, it can understand your products, customer preferences, and market trends more effectively and generate hyper-personalized product recommendations and content.

2. Data Collection: Centralization is Key

When it comes to collecting product data, many organizations are dealing with a logistical nightmare. Information pours in from every which way and in every format; your suppliers may provide product descriptions in one format, while manufacturers deliver specifications in another. Some data may come in spreadsheets, others in PDFs or even handwritten notes. Each source has its own quirks and idiosyncrasies, and it’s your job to bring them all together into a structured and harmonious whole. Centralization simplifies the management of your data. It ensures that you have a clear overview of all your product information in one place. No more hunting through email inboxes, digging through file cabinets, or juggling multiple spreadsheets. Everything is neatly organized and easily accessible. This streamlines processes, saves time, and reduces the risk of errors that can occur when handling data scattered across different platforms. Artificial intelligence thrives on structured, consistent data. When you centralize your data, you’re providing AI with a clean canvas to work its magic. AI solutions can then understand, learn, and make informed decisions when it has access to well-organized and standardized data. This, in turn, translates into more accurate product recommendations, content generation, and overall customer experiences.

3. Data Cleansing: Accuracy Matters

Inaccurate or incomplete product data renders the whole purpose of implementing an AI solution useless. When AI relies on flawed data, the resulting product descriptions contain incorrect dimensions, outdated prices, or missing essential attributes. It’s like your artist’s palette being filled with the wrong colors – the output won’t match your vision. In the context of AI, data cleansing means taking a magnifying glass to your product data, identifying inaccuracies, incompleteness, and inconsistencies, and meticulously rectifying them. To cleanse data effectively, you should work with your organization to create and employ a combination of validation, standardization, and transformation techniques to ensure data accuracy, consistency, and completeness, while also implementing ongoing monitoring and governance practices to maintain data quality over time. Now, here’s a little mind-bending tip: you can actually utilize AI to cleanse your data in preparation for implementing AI solutions. AI algorithms can be used to profile and analyze the data, identifying patterns and anomalies that may indicate data quality issues. These models can automatically flag data points that deviate from expected patterns at scale, helping to pinpoint errors, missing values, or inconsistencies.

4. Data Enrichment: Transforming Data into Content

Once you’ve organized your foundational product data and attributes, it’s time to breathe life into your data by transforming it into captivating and customer-friendly content. This step is where the magic happens, turning spreadsheets and technical jargon into engaging product descriptions that resonate with your audience. Think of data enrichment as the art of storytelling. Your data, in its raw form, might be a list of product features, specifications, and numbers. However, to truly connect with your customers, you need to craft a narrative around your products. This narrative is what captures attention, stirs emotions, and ultimately drives purchasing decisions. Rather than stating that a smartphone has a 12-megapixel camera, you can describe how it captures vibrant memories with stunning clarity, allowing users to relive their favorite moments in lifelike detail. Data enrichment isn’t just about making content appealing to humans; it’s also about making it discoverable on search engines. Implementing SEO techniques helps your product descriptions rank higher in search results, increasing visibility and driving organic traffic to your site.

5. Information Localization: Tailored for Different Markets

In the realm of global business, information localization is your passport to successfully navigating diverse markets by customizing your product content to resonate with audiences in different regions. To effectively engage with customers in different regions, your product content should be in their native tongue and using location-accurate metrics. This includes translating product descriptions, marketing materials, and SKU titles or categories, along with ensuring that dimension, weight, and pricing metrics are regionally appropriate. Localization and translation is more than just swapping words; it’s about capturing the nuances and idioms that make your message relatable. What may be a humorous slogan in one culture could be offensive in another; adapting your content to the cultural nuances and sensitivities of each market ensures that your messaging resonates positively. It’s also important to remember that different markets have different regulations. From Natasha’s Law to GDPR, the EU has been steadily passing more and more regulatory legislation, and they aren’t slowing down. Starting in 2026, you’ll likely have to start providing a Digital Product Passport for every product you sell in the EU. While DPP represents a wonderful step forward in data transparency, it requires organizations to have access to a centralized record of up-to-date, accurate, and organized product information which, as we’ve outlined above, is no easy task. But it serves as the backbone for personalized customer experiences in any market or channel.

6. Information Distribution: Breaking Down Silos

Information distribution is about breaking down the walls that separate different parts of your business. It’s about ensuring that everyone involved in the product journey has access to the same, up-to-date information because silos can lead to inefficiencies, miscommunications, and disjointed customer experiences. When suppliers and manufacturers have access to the right data at the right time, they can streamline their processes, reduce errors, and align their production with your demands. When sales, and marketing teams are aware of the features in your latest product release, they’re better equipped to respond to inquiries and create outreach campaigns. All your customer-facing channels, including your website, mobile app, and customer support, need direct access to your centralized product information. Regardless of where a customer interacts with your organization throughout their shopping journey, be it a Google search, Instagram browse, or a peruse of your mobile app, they should be able to access the same information and make the same decision.

7. Information Optimization: Tailored for Each Channel

Every marketing channel has its own unique characteristics, audience behaviors, and expectations. What engages customers on social media may not work for an email newsletter or a product listing on Amazon. Information optimization recognizes these differences and tailors your content accordingly. Think about the difference between an SEO title on Amazon and a headline for a social media post. An Amazon title needs to be concise, packed with keywords, and focused on product details to improve discoverability. In contrast, a social media headline should be catchy, attention-grabbing, and include a hashtag or emoji. In a visual platform like Instagram, your product description might take a back seat to eye-catching visuals that tell a story or convey a mood. While optimizing content for different channels, it’s crucial to maintain consistency in your brand’s voice and messaging. Your brand’s identity, like your sustainability initiatives or your buy-back and resale program, should shine through even as you adapt to the unique requirements of each platform. This consistency builds brand recognition and trust with your audience.

The Foundation for AI-Powered Success

In the realm of AI-powered product experiences, data is the linchpin. No matter how advanced your AI technology, it can only deliver exceptional results when fed high-quality, well-organized data. Building a strong foundation of product information is the essential first step to harness the full potential of AI for your business. So, before you dive into the tantalizing world of AI-driven product experiences, take a step back, evaluate your data, and create a PX Strategy that ensures your product information is primed and ready for the AI revolution. With a solid data foundation, you’ll be well-equipped to create efficient, hyper-personalized product experiences that will propel your brand to new heights of success. Ready to start preparing your data for AI implementation? Reach out to an Akeneo expert today to get started on your journey towards product experiences that turn browsers into buyers.

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

How Staples Doubled Their Product Offering with Akeneo

Posted on August 30, 2023July 4, 2024 by Virginie Blot

Akeneo News

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.

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.

Staples Benelux Case Study

DownloadDownloadDownload

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

AI in Action: How 5 Leading Retailers Leverage Artificial Intelligence

Posted on August 29, 2023June 25, 2025 by Virginie Blot

Artificial Intelligence

AI in Action: How 5 Leading Retailers Leverage Artificial Intelligence

Discover how major retailers like Carrefour, Sephora, and Walmart are incorporating artificial intelligence into their Product Experience Strategy today in this featured article by Akeneo partner, Unifai.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the realm of retail by introducing innovative solutions for product data management and beyond. Retail giants, driven by the desire to maintain competitiveness, are embracing AI to optimize their operations, enhance customer experiences, and extract valuable insights from vast datasets.

We often see AI manifest itself into things like chatbots and virtual shopping assistants, but we’re also seeing retail giants utilize machine learning, process automation, and predictive analytics to improve internal operational efficiency and streamline repetitive, time-consuming tasks for their employees.

As the AI market in the retail sector is projected to reach $31 billion by 2028, it is imperative to spotlight those who are capitalizing on this technological trend. Let’s dive into how five different retailers have created practical applications of AI.

1. Carrefour Adopts ChatGPT to Elevate Shopping Experiences

Carrefour, a titan in the retail industry, has taken a stride forward by integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its eCommerce platform.

AI Transforms Customer Interaction at Carrefour via ChatGPT

Carrefour recently introduced an inventive tool: Hopla. This tool incorporates OpenAI’s ChatGPT4 within its eCommerce interface. This groundbreaking advancement within the retail sector empowers customers to curate their shopping baskets based on personalized preferences.

Hopla: The Intelligent Shopping Companion

Launched in June 2023, Hopla offers the following services:

Generation of shopping lists
Provision of recipe suggestions
Creation of shopping baskets
Swift responses to user inquiries, streamlining the shopping process
Instant access to tailored solutions such as classic, organic, or vegan recipes, budget constraints, and seasonal ingredient suggestions

AI’s Crucial Role in Retail Innovation

By partnering with OpenAI, Carrefour positions AI at the core of its future retail development strategy. AI not only enhances customer experiences but also yields benefits in marketing and product data management, particularly in ensuring data accuracy.

A notable advantage is that this AI solution adheres to GDPR regulations, ensuring data privacy.

2. Sephora: Pioneering Cosmetics and Fragrance Group Utilizes ChatGPT

Overcoming initial reservations toward adopting AI advancements, Sephora is now employing AI to offer personalized product recommendations. Leveraging user-specific preferences and attributes, Sephora’s digital transformation is in full swing.

AI-Driven Evolution at Sephora

A leading cosmetics and fragrance retailer, Sephora is accelerating AI development through the establishment of an AI Factory. Comprising a 12-member team, this initiative operates within the LVMH retail subsidiary’s Digital&IT department. The project’s goal is to optimize operations and enhance customer experiences across 15 countries.

Streamlining Operations with Dataiku and Google Cloud

To this end, Sephora employs the Dataiku platform on Google Cloud for the development of machine learning solutions that create:

Incremental enhancements of existing use cases
Enhanced collaboration by merging development and engineering functions
Implementation of Agile methodologies and CI/CD chains for shortened deployment times and reduced maintenance intervals through MLOps principles

This transformative approach expedites deployment in new markets and the development of innovative models.

3. Mondial Tissus and AI: Accelerating Product Information Management

A prominent French fabric retailer, Mondial Tissus has optimized geographic expansion and time-to-market by integrating ChatGPT AI through the Bee by Dataggo connector, in conjunction with Akeneo PIM.

Optimizing Processes with ChatGPT

This automated solution enhances the quality of product information and streamlines localization for international markets. Consequently, new assets are generated, product knowledge is enriched, and regulatory compliance is ensured. This strategy has facilitated expansion into new markets and elevated both employee and customer experiences.

Accelerating Time-to-Market

Retailers and brands face the imperative to expedite time-to-market. Retailers such as Mondial Tissus manage a multitude of local and international suppliers, necessitating swift content deployment. AI proves instrumental in shortening time-to-market by:

Delivering optimized information at speed
Accelerating data collection and cleansing procedures
Facilitating data structuring and localization

AI-enabled translation capabilities expedite international endeavors, eliminating translation bottlenecks. By harnessing AI, companies liberate personnel to focus on high-value tasks.

4. Walmart: Conversational Engagement via OpenAI’s GPT-4

American retail behemoth Walmart is embarking on an AI experiment at its Levittown store in New York. The endeavor, overseen by the in-house team “Kepler,” aims to:

Enhance customer and in-store employee experiences
Optimize inventory management through AI-enabled detection of out-of-stock or misaligned products on shelves
Identify defective items and popular customer choices at speed and scale

Additionally, Walmart leverages OpenAI’s GPT-4 to offer conversational experiences while also utilizing other significant language models.

Good to know 💡

Walmart’s initiatives transcend task-based chatbots, focusing on natural language understanding specific to the retail context.

Desirée Gosby, Vice President of Emerging Technologies at Walmart Global Tech, underscores the significance of generative AI for customer interaction, akin to the role of mobile technology.

Walmart has introduced a virtual fitting application coupled with AI.

Customers photograph themselves in undergarments, and the application overlays desired garments, replicating shadows and fabric folds. This innovation aims to reduce the 30% return rate of online orders, particularly apparel.

5. Zalando: 3D Avatars and Personalized Shopping via ChatGPT

Zalando, the German online fashion platform, endeavors to curtail product returns and amplify online conversions through AI. Despite offering free returns, the company aims to minimize returns due to economic and ecological reasons.

Zalando introduced “virtual fitting rooms” that initially underwent testing on select items, then specifically on jeans—a highly returned category. Customers create a 3D avatar and virtually try various jean sizes, elevating jean retention from 28% to 40%.

Simultaneously, the “Size & Fit” team is crafting a body measurements feature for personalized advice. Zalando also intends to introduce an online personal shopper via ChatGPT that enables an intuitive and tailored exploration of Zalando’s offerings.

Bonus: Prominent Retailers Harnessing ChatGPT – Will You Join Them?

Though these retailers are early adopters of generative AI, they are not alone in this venture. Curious about other retail giants bolstering their processes with AI?

Here’s a glimpse:

Coca-Cola has collaborated with ChatGPT since February to enhance marketing and explore new sales avenues.
eCommerce platform Shopify integrated ChatGPT in March, generating customer answers and product recommendations.
Instacart, a food delivery company, embraced AI in March, enabling users to inquire about food, solicit recipe ideas, or compile lists of nutritious ingredients.

Embracing the Evolution of AI in Retail

As the retail landscape continues to evolve, it is crucial to forego uncertainty and harness the full potential of AI. Rather than dwelling on doubts, let’s focus on embracing this transformative technology to cultivate personalized and enhanced interactions across the entire customer journey. The fusion of artificial intelligence and human ingenuity promises an exciting and infinitely promising retail future for those ready to embrace it. Are you?

Start preparing your organization to take full advantage of the potential AI has to offer with a foundational Product Experience (PX) Strategy.

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

How a PX Strategy Grows Profitable Sales

Posted on August 22, 2023July 4, 2024 by Virginie Blot

Product Experience

How a PX Strategy Grows Profitable Sales

Unleash the potential of your business with a Product Experience (PX) Strategy. Elevate customer engagement and drive profitable sales across new and existing ventures. Discover how a well-implemented PX Strategy can optimize onboarding, boost sales volume and value, and empower internal channels for sustained growth.

Embracing a Product Experience (PX) Strategy means elevating the way customers engage with your products across the entire buying lifecycle. Improving the product experience not only entices and converts customers, but also fosters their loyalty, leading to more lucrative sales for your enterprise. Yet this undeniable impact is not fully realized by many organizations who still misconstrue the management of product experiences as a back-office IT function, where efficiency and cost savings are prioritized. Don’t overlook the pivotal role a PX Strategy can have in growing your organization’s sales. It’s critical to first identify the opportunities within your business to use product experiences to improve sales. Below we’ve broken down the different ways that a PX Strategy can help increase profitable sales and the key performance indicators (KPIs) you can use to track them. It’s important to remember here that each business and industry is unique, so what works for one organization might not be relevant for another. While reading through this article, feel free to identify the opportunities that apply to your business and incorporate them into your own strategy.

New Business

A PX Strategy helps grow profitable sales by supporting new business.

New Products

A faster, more efficient way of onboarding, enriching, and activating products on sales channels means doing more with less, allowing you to focus on expanding the product catalog to drive new revenue. This benefit is especially impactful for organizations with large catalogs that haven’t been fully digitized.

New Channels and Regions

Quickly expand and sell in new sales channels, regions, and languages. A PX Strategy involves building a single source of truth for product information that provides a scalable way to adapt, translate, and launch products in new markets. Many technology solutions like PIM, DAM, Syndication, and Translation tools also include pre-built integrations that further ease this process.

Existing Business

A PX Strategy helps grow profitable sales by improving existing business.

Increase in Sales Volume

Improve sales by providing customers with Product Experiences that are compelling, accurate, and more search friendly to increase traffic, conversions and reduce returns.

Increase in Sales Value

Charge premium prices by emphasizing the value of your brand and products, promoting product benefits and sustainability, and presenting customers with compatible products or service and offerings to increase upsell and cross-sell.

Improve Sales Mix

Identify and prioritize the products that are driving profit within your organization by using product-focused analytics and insights. Analytics can also help you accurately forecast inventory based on demand, gain an understanding of why a product is failing to sell, and take measures to correct it.

Grow profitable sales in existing business

Internal Channels

A Product Experience Strategy also means enabling internal channels like customer support and sales teams. Empowering these teams with complete, high-quality product information helps them present consistent information about the products you sell to customers in order to generate new sales opportunities. This could mean empowering a customer support team to cross-sell and service warranties, or giving the sales team critical compatibility information about a product to sell lucrative add-on services or custom packages.

A Product Experience Strategy offers a transformative path to elevate customer engagement across the buying lifecycle. The ripple effects of an improved purchasing experience helps generate more profitable sales from both new and existing business. Don’t overlook the strategic value of product experiences by constraining it to just data management – instead, recognize it as an important driver of sustainable growth and enduring customer relationships within your organization.

Adam Beatty, Community Evangelist

Akeneo

How to Build a PX Strategy

Posted on August 16, 2023July 4, 2024 by Virginie Blot

Product Experience

How to Build a PX Strategy

Product catalogs must be shared with customers across sales channels, marketing streams, and languages, which often requires alignment of both siloed teams and disjointed supplier relationships, and streamlined processes for search optimization, translations, and copywriting. Tackling each of these problems individually spells mistakes, slow time-to-markets, and lost sales. Discover how a PX Strategy can help.

2 out of every 3 consumers say they would lose trust in a brand and stop buying from them after a bad product information experience. You might think this would make product experience something every company would prioritize and get right. But anyone who has shopped online recently knows this isn’t the case. Spend just a few minutes looking, and you’ll find product listings on even the most recognized retailers and brand’s sites that provide a less-than-compelling experience for a buyer. So why is this? Why do companies continue to offer a poor customer experience for their products? Well, to put it bluntly, it’s because managing product experiences is hard. Today, companies oversee vast, complex product catalogs that must be made available at a moment’s notice to customers across multiple sales channels, marketing streams, and languages or geos. Underneath the surface of these final product listings lives a dizzying array of challenges, from supplier and retailer management to search optimization, translations, copywriting, and even regulatory management. Conquering these challenges requires aligning a disjoined network of IT infrastructure, convoluted processes, and cross-functional teams with competing priorities. Companies consistently fail with product experiences because they fail to consider the complete picture. They try to tackle each challenge independently without coordination or support of an overall organizational vision. What they need is a PX Strategy: PX Strategy: Noun. A comprehensive strategy to build and deliver world-class product experiences across every customer touchpoint to accelerate growth, stay competitive, and support the organization’s overall goals. Let’s dive into a step-by-step guide to building a PX Strategy that will help you unlock the full potential of your product experiences.

How to Build a Product Experience Strategy(Step-by-step)

1. Create product experience goals and objectives

The first step is clearly identifying what you’re trying to accomplish. Mapping out a north star helps to guide every decision and keep things focused. To do this, your organization should define goals and create objectives. Goals should be high-level and focus on how your overall organization plans to allocate its resources in the next 3 to 5 years. Objectives should be more specific and focused on leveraging product experiences to help your organization realize its goals. Understanding the benefits of a PX Strategy to your business and incorporating them into your objectives is essential. These benefits can be broadly classified into those that increase profitable sales and those that drive cost efficiencies. Once you map out goals and objectives, you need to identify measures of success, which we can think of as specific results or improvements in quantifiable measures of performance over time (KPIs: key performance indicators). This step’s output should detail exactly how you will use product experiences to help support the brand’s overall business.

PX Strategy: Goals, Objectives, and Success Measures

Finally, it’s essential to consider your business context and incorporate the unique requirements of your customers, channels, products, the regions you sell in, your business model, and even the brand values you want to convey into your strategy.

2. Identify a sponsor and key stakeholders

Getting the right people in the room early on is critical in executing any strategy. A Product Experience Strategy impacts many different parts of your organization, so it’s necessary to identify a project sponsor who can drive outcomes and influence cross-functional teams. These cross-functional teams can be broadly broken down into:

Those that manage technical solutions
Those that create or enrich product experiences and
Those that manage sales channels.

Identifying these key stakeholders allows us to be more agile in identifying and solving challenges. It also prevents the creation of internal silos which can bog down even the best planned initiatives.

3. Audit your customer’s product experience journey

The next step in developing a PX Strategy is obtaining a clear understanding of the product experience you’re giving customers today. Put yourself in the customers’ shoes and look at every website, marketplace, print catalog, social media platform, etc. that you sell on. Consider if you’re giving your customers all the information they need to find, buy, and get service for the products you sell on each of these channels. Consider more than just basic product details; think about marketing copy, images, videos, brand stories, sustainability, user reviews, and compatibility. Look for poor experiences like inconsistent, inaccurate, incomplete, or poorly formatted information, and identify the root cause.

4. Compare yourself to competitors and industry leaders

Almost equally as important is understanding what product experiences your direct competitors offer by completing an audit of their product experience offerings. Look beyond your own industry and think about brands you interact with daily that provide great product experiences. Engage with analysts, partners, and thought leaders to understand future trends and challenges. Think about new ways to innovate with product experiences by reaching new customers or giving them new ways to engage with products.

5. Understand the gaps in your current solution

Think about what’s preventing you from delivering on your product experience objectives today. It could be a lack of technology, poor or unstructured data, discoverability issues, organizational silos, or external factors like inadequate supplier data. Map out a product’s life cycle within your ecosystem from its creation to eventual sunsetting. Understanding how your systems, teams, and processes work together to manage product records, orchestrate them across systems, activate them on internal and external channels, and analyze their performance provides a clear understanding of what’s creating gaps. It’s also essential to understand how you’re compensating for these gaps today and the cost of doing so. If you’re managing an army of employees working in Excel, relying on a third-party data provider, or even doing nothing at all, there is a cost to the business that you must consider.

6. Build your product experience guidelines

After clearly understanding the product experiences offered by your company and your competition, it’s time for you to build your own product experience guidelines. These guidelines document the product experiences you want to provide customers across all of your touchpoints. They should include data governance standards around product information, new types of information you wish to provide, opportunities to improve discoverability, and even a consideration of outdated information that’s no longer required. Don’t let current limitations restrict your ambitions! Think about the product experiences you’d like to give customers in an ideal state. It’s also essential to establish a process for maintaining your guidelines over time and for incorporating new products into your ecosystem as the organization grows or makes acquisitions. Consider creating a small cross-functional committee to handle this review process.

7. Develop your tactics and a plan to execute

After completing the previous steps you should have a clear understanding of the following:

What your overall product experience goals and objectives are
The gaps that prevent you from delivering these experiences with your current solution
The ideal product experiences you want to provide your customers

It’s also critical to consider the day-to-day Product Experience Management (PXM) operation that incorporates People, Process, and Technology to deliver Product Experiences. With this information you can start building a plan tailored to your organization. It may include: Adding New Capabilities

Tools: PIM, DAM, syndication, supplier onboarding, AI, performance analytics, translations, ETL, data feeds
Skills: Data analytics, business intelligence, CX (research/design/test), SEO, process engineering, data management, copywriting
Product Experiences: Sustainability, brand values, cross-sell, upsell, compatibility, product models, referential data, images, videos, 3D models

Market and Channel Expansion

External: Print, eCommerce, mobile, social media, In-store, retailers, distributors
Internal: Customer support, supplier, sales, point of sale
Markets: Languages, regions, customers

Organizational Changes: Building cross-functional or PX-focused teams, adding new job roles, or centralizing decision-making. Process Improvement: Streamlining workflow, automation, data architecture, asset management, permissions, or supplier onboarding processes. Data Transformation: Cleansing or restructuring data (new data fields, taxonomy, or hierarchies). Organizations concerned about timelines or resources may take a more iterative approach by focusing on quick, short-term wins to build momentum before tackling more significant challenges. For example, a multi-brand organization that wants to implement a new technology and product enrichment process may focus on a single brand before rolling it out across the entire organization.

8. Prepare for change

Building and executing a Product Experience Strategy means making changes within your organization. These could include new organizational structures, training and enablement around new technology, new ways of working, and even an institutional shift in how employees view and appreciate the importance of product experiences. The impact and difficulty of implementing these changes will depend on the magnitude of changes being made, the size of your organization, its flexibility, and the support and commitment of executive sponsorship. It’s critical to identify these changes and develop a plan to communicate, implement, enable, and monitor them. Some organizations may be best served by creating a formal change management process, while others may just need a few internal meetings and open lines of communication.

9. Continuously optimize and improve

Once you’ve built and executed your Product Experience Strategy, you must continuously reevaluate it. Understand what is and isn’t working and reallocate resources or develop new tactics to make your strategy more effective. It’s important to appreciate that customer preference, technologies, and even your products will evolve, meaning your strategy needs to consider what’s coming next. Lastly, never forget that your PX Strategy must be aligned with your brand’s overall goals. If your organization changes its priorities or investments, ensure your Product Experience Strategy is still positioned to support it, and always continue looking for new use cases for your Product Experience Strategy.

Final Thoughts

Don’t be dissuaded from building a Product Experience Strategy because you think it will take too much time or add complexity to your business. If you have some immediate initiatives to tackle, like re-platforming your eCommerce solution or centralizing your product data, don’t put the brakes on it. Just appreciate that they need to be approached as part of a larger interconnected strategy for building and delivering product experiences to customers.

Akeneo Product Cloud

Discover how Akeneo technology can support your Product Experience Strategy, accelerating you towards PX excellence.

Request a DemoRequest a DemoRequest a Demo

Adam Beatty, Community Evangelist

Akeneo

5 Steps for a Successful eCommerce Replatforming Project

Posted on August 14, 2023June 25, 2025 by Virginie Blot

Technology

5 Steps for a Successful eCommerce Replatforming Project

eCommerce replatforming can be a daunting project, but we’re here to provide you with a five step process that ensures your transition is seamless, successful, and scalable.

Despite every organization operating with unique intricacies and distinct goals, many have traditionally opted for standardized, off-the-shelf eCommerce platforms to tackle their multifaceted requirements. This approach often leads to a need for customization, involving the implementation of in-house add-ons, connectors, plugins, custom code, and more. This reliance on generic solutions poses challenges to scalability. With rapidly evolving customer demands, businesses must swiftly adapt to market changes and address functional gaps to provide the seamless experiences buyers expect. Plus, as your eCommerce ecosystem expands to encompass an array of tools like marketing automation platforms, PIM solutions, and user-generated content collection tools, the emergence of functionality gaps becomes evident. What initially seemed like a manageable task of maintaining consistency across platforms quickly becomes overwhelming. Valuable attention, time, resources, and finances are drained into the upkeep and patching of the eCommerce platform, diverting focus from impactful endeavors. Given these complexities, many teams are drawn to the notion of replatforming to a more robust and dependable eCommerce solution and the search is on for a user-friendly platform that not only adapts seamlessly but also scales in sync with business evolution, ensuring the alignment with buyer expectations. If this situation sounds all too familiar to you, then let’s take a look at a five-step process that your organization can follow to ensure that your eCommerce replatform project is successful, speedy, and scalable.

Step 1: Defining Your Replatforming Blueprint

Undertaking a replatforming endeavor might seem overwhelming, given the array of solutions, technologies, and industry jargon in the mix. Identifying the perfect platform tailored to your business can be a challenge. This is where creating a comprehensive brief comes into play. The process begins by outlining your business’s needs and expectations from the new platform. This foundational document, known as the brief, serves as your roadmap. Crafting an eCommerce replatforming brief doesn’t need to be overly complex. Essentially, it revolves around defining two primary components:

Customer Expectations: Articulate all the functionalities you wish to empower your customers with on the website. This could encompass seamless browsing, smooth transactions, and interactive features that enhance their experience.
Administrative Efficiencies: Consider the tasks you require your administrative team to seamlessly execute from the admin panel. These might include managing products, monitoring orders, and refining user experiences.

Additionally, augment your brief with a list of external technologies integrated into your ecosystem. This encompasses tools like marketing automation platforms, review services, and payment providers. By incorporating these elements, your brief becomes a comprehensive guide that outlines your unique requirements. To further enrich your brief, include key data points to provide context:

The extent and variety of products in your existing product catalog.
The count of customers registered on your current platform.
The volume of daily orders and the Average Order Value (AOV).
Your project’s budget allocation and the timeline for implementation.

Avoid getting bogged down in over-detailing the brief’s format. There’s no need for it to become a laborious, minute-by-minute plan that consumes more time than the actual replatforming process. Simply ensure these key components are well-addressed, and you’re good to go.

Step 2: Equipping Your Teams for Success

In the lead-up to a successful replatforming projects, ensuring that your teams are well-prepared, aligned, and informed is of paramount importance. Let’s take a look at a few key strategies to do so.

1. Optimize the Digital Channel Team(s)

Effective operations often stumble due to misallocated resources and siloed functions. Such inefficiencies may arise from a lack of cohesive integration of the digital channel into the organizational structure, or a shift in roles over time that no longer suits the evolving business landscape. Address this by revisiting your organizational setup, readjusting roles, and embracing change despite anticipated resistance. Achieving collective buy-in or removing roadblocks is crucial; if you’re assembling a team externally, prioritize familiarity with platform best practices and technology expertise, ideally complemented by industry know-how.

2. Navigate Channel Conflict with Strategic Communication

Enhancing or introducing new channels can inadvertently stir conflicts that jeopardize digital initiatives’ success. Commonly seen among retail and field sales teams, concerns about digital sales overshadowing their roles need to be proactively managed. Personalize your communication approach for internal and external stakeholders, tailored to individual teams and resources. By adopting an approach that addresses anxiety, welcomes change, and fosters enthusiasm, you can effectively neutralize potential disruptions.

3. Post-Launch Preparedness

Beyond the excitement lies a reality: launching is merely the beginning. Establishing a post-launch support plan is essential to a successful replatforming. Ensure you have internal or external site support ready to roll out as soon as the site warranty period concludes. Avoid reactive responses by preparing for potential site issues beforehand. Internally, define who holds the authority to make and approve decisions post-launch. This might pertain to business, IT, or even a committee’s domain. Be aware that post-launch, decision-making authority could shift; guard against internal conflicts by having a solid plan in place, keeping the focus steadfastly on your new site’s success.

4. Elevating Marketing and Engagement

A surge of eager new and existing visitors awaits you after launch – be ready to captivate their attention and sustain their interest. Ensure your marketing materials are primed for engagement, reflecting the design and ethos of your new site. Your social profiles need to be optimized and aligned, displaying accurate company information, branding, visuals, and content. The same holds true for transactional and marketing email templates as you may need to rewrite and redesign to resonate with the new site’s identity. As your site garners more traffic, keep them engaged with compelling content, whether it’s insightful buying guides, intriguing CMS pages, or a captivating blog. By curating meaningful interactions, you solidify engagement and catalyze conversions.

Step 3: Preparing Your Product Information

A seamless eCommerce replatforming requires meticulous mapping of your data sources, an unwavering commitment to elevating product content quality, and a strategic approach to optimizing your site’s SEO strategies. Let’s take a look at how these aspects work in harmony to pave the way for a successful replatforming journey that doesn’t just meet your expectations, but exceeds them.

1. Mapping Your Product Data Sources

Enabling product information to flow seamlessly across channels is a foundational step in digital transformation. However, creating, maintaining, and leveraging product data throughout its lifecycle is not a one-time project, but a complex, ongoing program. Having a single system of record with thoughtful processes and technical guardrails developed to enable ongoing integrity is crucial. Prior to determining your migration approach, identify the data you intend to migrate. Cleanse your data by removing duplicate records, incomplete sets, and centralize disparate legacy data systems to ensure data is accurate, actionable, relevant, and consolidated. Inventory migration data, accounting for who owns it, where it lives (on the new platform or external system), and how it’s accessed. Consider migrating data incrementally to allow users and stakeholders to view the sample sets and correct any issues upfront, making it easier to identify areas for development if necessary.

2. Elevating Product Content Quality

Inevitably, typos creep in, information ages, and links decay. With various contributors, the brand voice might waver. Customer preferences evolve. Scrutinize every site page, article, and post for accuracy and relevancy. Archive underperforming or obsolete content, streamlining content migration efforts and redirecting attention to the noteworthy pieces that endure. Tailor content to guide customers during awareness and consideration stages, captivating them even during non-shopping periods. With the sitemap and wireframes as your guide, launch engaging content initiatives, aligning resources for a dynamic launch or securing additional support if required.

3. Optimizing SEO Strategies

Replatforming ushers in site alterations, including URL changes, that could disrupt organic search rankings if mishandled. While no universal solution exists, implement essential technical measures for a seamless SEO transition. Adhere to schema.org best practices and integrate canonical tags, particularly for filtered pages within the product catalog, curbing duplicate content concerns. Enhance URL structures to incorporate natural language, enriching user experience. Thoughtfully employ relevant anchor text for inbound and external links, routinely scrutinizing the site for broken links. Plan 301 page redirects, prioritizing high-traffic or extensively linked pages. While applying 1:1 redirects for all pages isn’t advised, you can selectively channel users to the new homepage URL or relevant category pages. This safeguards customer access, irrespective of web address changes, nurturing a seamless browsing experience.

Step 4: Selecting the Perfect Platform

In your pursuit of the ideal eCommerce platform, an agnostic approach is paramount. By comparing your core brief requirements against the features various platforms offer, you’ll uncover the right fit for your business. At this stage, establishing (and sticking to) a platform budget is essential, as even platforms claiming to be free come with costs. To streamline your options, ask three fundamental questions:

1. B2C, B2B, or Both?

B2B enterprises often demand distinct eCommerce platform features compared to their B2C counterparts. If you’re planning to operate in a B2B capacity, robust tools like company accounts, credit limits, and customer-specific pricing are vital. While platforms like BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce cater to B2B needs, platforms like Shopify might lack specific B2B features and are better suited for B2C operations, so ensure that you’re choosing a platform that aligns with your long-term business goals.

2. Hosting and Management Approach: Open-Source or SaaS?

The platform landscape is divided into open-source and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) options. Open-source platforms provide access to source code for extensive customization. Ideal for businesses with skilled IT teams, platforms like Adobe Commerce Cloud and WooCommerce offer this flexibility. However, they demand coding proficiency and hosting responsibility. SaaS eCommerce platforms operate on subscription models, offering hassle-free software as a service. Platforms like BigCommerce, Shopify, and commercetools handle hosting, updates, and support, leaving you free to focus on your core business. Choose based on your technical expertise and business priorities.

3. Integrating with Current Technologies?

A thriving eCommerce ecosystem relies on seamless integrations with various technologies. Platforms often offer app/extension marketplaces for off-the-shelf integrations with common partners like payment providers, review platforms, and loyalty schemes. Leverage your technology partner list from your brief to evaluate platform compatibility. Ensure the platforms you consider offer connectors from the app marketplace, or possess robust APIs that enable integration with your chosen technologies. With these core questions addressed, it’s time to test the waters. Many platforms offer trial periods or demos. Witness the platform in action before making a final decision. Your chosen platform will shape your eCommerce journey for years ahead, so a thoughtful choice is imperative.

Step 5: Selecting the Perfect Agency

Pinpointing the ideal agency involves a strategic process tailored to your specific needs. Begin by filtering your choices through your essential requirements and critical success factors. Here are a few key factors to consider: Platform Expertise: Does the agency possess proven experience with your chosen platform? Relevant Portfolio: Does the agency boast a portfolio aligned with your business profile, industry, and functionalities? Client References: Can the agency provide references from satisfied clients who have achieved successful outcomes? Timely Delivery: Can the agency commit to meeting your project’s timelines outlined in the brief? Alignment and Compatibility: Does the agency’s work style and approach harmonize with your organization? Are they approachable and cooperative? Transparent Pricing: Do you fully comprehend the agency’s pricing model and all associated costs? Is it sustainable for your organization long-term? Location: Consider the agency’s location if regular face-to-face meetings are essential. Budget and Roadmap: The agency’s role is to translate your brief into a solution within your budget and timeframe. This may require prioritizing requirements and finding compromises. Remember, eCommerce websites are ever-evolving. Replatforming defines the starting point, not the endpoint – often known as the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Post-launch, elements from the MVP become part of a strategic roadmap for ongoing enhancements and continuous development, adapting to new features, technologies, and creative trends.

Replatforming is a strategic move that requires careful consideration, planning, and execution. By creating a comprehensive brief, preparing teams, organizing product information, finding the right platform, and partnering with the right agency, businesses can successfully navigate the complexities of replatforming and set themselves up for long-term growth and success in the ever-evolving eCommerce landscape. And lastly, keep in mind that replatforming isn’t just about reaching the finish line; it’s about laying the foundation for ongoing evolution and improvement in response to changing customer needs and market trends.

Akeneo Product Cloud

Looking for help on your eCommerce replatforming project? Reach out to an Akeneo expert today to see how we can support your replatforming efforts.

Request a DemoRequest a DemoRequest a Demo

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

Akeneo Product Cloud Receives the 2023 Best Customer Support Badge from Software Advice

Posted on August 11, 2023July 4, 2024 by Virginie Blot

Akeneo News

Akeneo Product Cloud Receives the 2023 Best Customer Support Badge from Software Advice

Discover why the Akeneo Product Cloud has been recognized as a Best Catalog Management Software and Best Data Management Software from verified reviewers on Software Advice.

We’re thrilled to announce that our offering, Akeneo Product Cloud, has been recognized as an impactful software for businesses by receiving the 2023 Best Customer Support Badge from verified reviewers on Software Advice under the following software categories:

1. Best Catalog Management Software

2. Best Data Management Software

Software Advice synthesizes verified end-user reviews to recognize the most highly-rated products in a specific software category, helping software buyers make more informed purchase decisions. (Learn more about the methodology here.) Akeneo Product Cloud has earned an overall rating of 4.7 (out of 5) on Software Advice. Big thanks to all our customers! It would not have been possible without your constant support and feedback.

As the Product Experience company, we here at Akeneo are passionate about delivering a great product experience for OUR customers. What that means is that the Akeneo Product Cloud needs to be easily adopted and used and that our team is partnering closely with our users to help them be the champions of delivering amazing product experiences for their own products as part of an overarching Product Experience strategy at their company. We are humbled and proud to receive this recognition, and look forward to helping even more merchants to establish product experience strategies at their companies too.

Kristin Naragon Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer

Akeneo

Here’s what our users have to say about their experience working with us: “The product completeness and data quality features make it really easy to manage data quality per channel. The ease of use of the platform for unique views & filters makes it easy to identify and fix products that have data issues.” – Garreth “{We love the} Drag & Drop features as well as the ease of mass imports & exports for product information. We migrated from an outdated PIM where everything was inputted manually so this program has greatly sped up our internal processes.” – Forrest “We were looking for a platform to manage product data and syndicate it to downstream applications. This data goes to our eCommerce site, our customers’ eCommerce sites, a new automation platform, and internal data analytics tools. We’re very happy and would recommend Akeneo to anyone who asked.” – Trenton Want to share a review? Click here.

About Akeneo Product Cloud Akeneo is the Product Experience (PX) company, helping organizations deliver enriched, engaging, consistent, and compelling product experiences across the entire customer journey. By providing best-of-breed technology and expertise, Akeneo equips global brands, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to deliver omnichannel customer experiences that turn browsers into buyers. As the Product Experience company, Akeneo helps leading brands, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers such as Chico’s, Staples Canada, Boohoo, Canon USA, BoxyCharm, The Very Group, and LVMH deliver engaging and compelling product experiences that foster customer loyalty. With its modern and best-of-breed PIM, highly-connected App Store, leading SIs, and API-driven technology, Akeneo dramatically improves product data quality and accuracy, simplifies catalog management, and accelerates the sharing of product information across all channels and locales.

About Software Advice Software Advice guides businesses through the software buying process. Through 1-on-1 conversation and trusted insights, industry-specific advisors guide buyers to top software options in as little as 15 minutes (and it’s 100% free). Founded in 2005, Software Advice has helped more than 900,000 businesses find the right software for their specific needs. Software Advice also features over 2 million verified user reviews to ensure people feel confident in their technology decisions. For more information, visit softwareadvice.com

Akeneo Product Cloud

Start building your PX Strategy today to ensure that you’re providing compelling and consistent product experiences that turn browsers into buyers.

Request a DemoRequest a DemoRequest a Demo

Samira McDonald, Senior Manager, Community Program

Akeneo

The People-First Approach to Developing Product Experiences

Posted on August 10, 2023July 4, 2024 by Virginie Blot

Product Experience

The People-First Approach to Developing Product Experiences

For over a decade now, clients have turned to PIM (Product Information Management) solutions to streamline, structure, and effortlessly distribute their product catalogs across various channels. Initially, the focus was on finding the best platform with the most impressive features, often driven by IT departments. However, what most teams failed to consider at the time was that PIM platforms are primarily utilized, on a day-to-day basis, by business profiles, including marketing managers, product managers, legal experts, and more. Viewing these projects solely from a technical perspective resulted in complexities that impacted user-friendliness and hindered seamless integrations. As a result, the adoption of the PIM tool suffered, making it nearly impossible for business users to efficiently manage their product catalogs within the system. At the time, we heard confident statements like: “Just connect the PIM to our ERP and send data to eCommerce, it’s easy!” “Our ERP data is clean and well-organized!” “Replicate our existing data model and processes in the PIM, that’s all we need!” “No need for change management, we’ll inform users after the integration is done.” “We’ll figure out the users during implementation, no worries!” “Here’s a list of features we need, and my requirements are clear enough!” These statements encapsulate the challenges faced, and it’s why we strongly recommend companies reevaluate their needs and seek external agency expertise. To ensure success, it’s vital to address both technical and, most importantly, business needs from the outset. That’s why we here at Valtech put together a set of comprehensive recommendations aimed at guiding companies in their quest to find the perfect PIM platform with utmost clarity and precision. By prioritizing the identification of business needs that encompass a meticulous review of processes and profiles, businesses can effectively unravel the complexities of the PIM paradox and unlock the true potential of their product management.

Step 1: Know Yourself

List all the vital elements of your product catalog – your arsenal of complexity!

Identify your objectives & KPIs – the compass guiding your conquest!
Reveal the channels where you’ll unleash your products, storming the sales domain!
Harness your source of information – will it be internal development or a battalion of suppliers?
Picture your catalog’s evolution – from today to a future of global dominance!
Count your SKUs, the backbone of your army, and predict the forthcoming surge!
Embrace the attributes – the lifeblood of your warriors, shaping their destiny!

Step 2: Define Your Product Offering

Clarify how you market your product. This will help you measure the complexity of the data modeling exercise you’ll have to do in your PXM program.

List & prioritize your subcategories – each requiring unique attributes to describe its digital prowess.
Unleash your product types – Simple, Variants, Bundles, Kits, Accessories, Parts. It’s not always clear even for your internal teams that each develop their own definition over time.
Gather your resources – assets, videos, documents, titles, descriptions; anything and everything you need to convert a customer.

Step 3: Conquer Your Challenges – Master Your Product Catalog Management

Design your current process map – marching from product catalog distribution back to the genesis of your product creation – it’s the moonwalk theory in action!
Identify the editors and consumers of your catalog – who are your internal clients & who are the people who need to deliver the proper information.

Step 4: Focus on Your Key Targets – Establish Priority Criteria

Rank your products – the categories, product types, best sellers, and underdogs.
Measure the impact – business, customer demand, compliance – aligning with strategic goals.
Assign weights to each criterion – shaping your battle plan for a triumphant ROI.

Step 5: Minimal is Mighty – Unveil the Essential Product Information

Step into your customer’s shoes – what essential information must you wield to conquer their hearts? Detail the attributes needed for each product type – product names, descriptions, SKUs, and more. Rally stakeholders across marketing, sales, operations tocapture all necessary data for an unyielding advantage.

Step 6: Evaluate the Arsenal – List and Prioritize Requirements

Here are the different categories of requirements I recommend:

User roles & permissions
Product information source (from internal sources like a PLM or external sources like providers sending information)
Product creation & enrichment trigger
Assets
Enrichment
Search
Navigation & UI
Architecture & technical requirement including data flows & methods to transfer data
Product Lifecycle
User workflows
Taxonomy
Channel syndication & distribution (marketplaces, print, websites, etc…)

Step 7: Validate and Unite – Stakeholder Inputs

Engage stakeholders from various departments and roles to gather their inputs on the prioritization process. Their expertise and insights can help validate and refine the prioritized list of requirements. Additionally, involving stakeholders fosters a sense of ownership and ensures that the implemented PIM system meets the diverse needs of the organization.

Step 8: Build the Business Case

In a visual business case – a blueprint of your conquest:

Unveil the WHY – the need for your program’s PXM analysis.
Showcase your might with figures, visuals, products, and assets – a compelling catalog overview! Concatenate all the figures you’ve analyzed in steps 1 and 2 with visual examples of your different products & assets and clearly define each of these.
Objectives & KPIs – the compass guiding your triumphant campaign.
Process mapping – A visual business process mapping of your current versus desired product catalog management process that clearly identifies users, processes, and systems so the providers can demo workflow features accordingly.
List of functional & technical requirements per need as listed in step 6 in the format of user stories.
Scorecard – a tool to compare platforms and crown the ultimate victor.

Prioritizing product requirements for PIM implementation is crucial for the success of your organization’s data management efforts. By identifying and categorizing product types, defining data requirements, and establishing priority criteria, you can ensure that the most critical aspects of your product information are effectively managed within the PIM system – and that you select the right one. But before starting to shop for a solution, you’ll need to do an internal audit regarding your real needs. And you’ll often need an external eye to support you on gathering the right stakeholders, answers, and visuals to make this happen. Want to know more about successfully implementing a people-first PX platform? You can schedule a 1:1 meeting with a PX expert here, learn more about the Akeneo x Valtech partnership, or see the collaboration in action with joint customer, Bath Depot.

Raphaël Iscar Gutierrez, Head of Global PXM & Product Strategy

Valtech