It seems as if every other video that pops up on your FYP recently is promoting some product that promises to change your life or revolutionize the way you look, along with a link directly in the video that you can click and purchase that very product. Sometimes I’ll be halfway through a video, blithely unaware that I’m being sold anything until I spot that little gray “eligible for commission” bar sitting right over the caption.

With an estimated 33 million shoppers in the US alone, the popularity of TikTok Shop is picking up the pace and showing no signs of slowing down, and it’s clear to see why; the video app allows brands to connect with micro-influencers with niche audiences and connect authentically with consumers where they naturally go.

And while social commerce like TikTok Shop faced some initial criticism and hesitation, that unique ability that social media provides means that brands that can crack the social commerce code are the ones that will succeed in scoring a sizable portion of the nearly $1 trillion market by 2028.

With the holiday season fast approaching, let’s take a look at four ways brands can harness the power of social media to provide a seamless shopping experience for their consumers, and why a successful social commerce strategy relies heavily on the quality and completeness of your product information.

4 Ways to Utilize Social Commerce This Holiday Season

1. Partner with influencers to reach a niche audience

Influencer partnerships have become a driving force for brand awareness and purchasing decisions. The power of product placement and endorsements on social media is undeniable, with 57% of consumers making purchases based on information provided by influencers.

Here’s where it gets interesting: with social media, you no longer need a high-priced celebrity to promote your brand. Creators with smaller followings can work just as effectively. Nano and micro-influencers, in particular, are often a better fit for eCommerce brands due to their lower cost and higher engagement rates with niche audiences. 

The key to success is treating your influencers as an extension of your brand. You’ll need to ensure that your influencers have access to comprehensive details about your products, including specifications, features, benefits, and any unique selling points. The more they know about what they’re promoting, the more confidently and accurately they can convey that information to their followers.

They’ll also need access to high-quality visuals that are consistent with your brand’s identity but allows for your influencer to express some creativity and individuality that highlights why you chose to work with this specific influencer. 

2. Communicate Your Brand’s Values to Create Authentic Customer Connections

Gone are the days when consumers merely sought products; now, they crave a connection with the heart and soul behind the brand, and if they don’t connect with your business’s message, they’re quick to abandon purchase in search for an organization that shares their views.

The Akeneo 2023 Global B2C Survey uncovered that two-fifths of consumers have declared their willingness to pay more for brands that proudly showcase their core values. And it’s not just a passing fad; we also found that these consumers are prepared to invest an average of 18% more for products that weave meaningful brand values into their very fabric. 

Whether it’s related to sustainability, social responsibility, diversity and inclusion, or other ethical aspects, brands need to ensure that their values and commitments are consistently communicated to customers, and social media is a great way to do so.

To effectively create an authentic connection with consumers, brands must do more than just hold these principles dear. They must consistently and transparently communicate them to their customers. Social media provides an exceptional platform for achieving this, such as partnering with Influencers  with a genuine commitment to the same causes, or running a campaign that amplifies your brand’s message and shows how you’re committing to the cause. The shared values between your brand and these influencers serve as a bridge, fostering a stronger and more authentic bond between your brand and your target audience.

3. Customize your product content for different channels

Social commerce is not a one-size-fits-all strategy; it’s a multifaceted landscape that requires a nuanced approach. Just as you meticulously personalize content for various digital platforms like your eCommerce site or Amazon, the same level of customization should extend to different social channels. This level of adaptability is essential because each platform possesses its unique strengths and caters to distinct audience preferences.

Take, for example, the visual-centric world of Instagram. This platform thrives on captivating, high-quality images that tell a story. Therefore, to make a meaningful impact on Instagram, your content should be visually stunning, with an emphasis on striking imagery that aligns with your brand’s identity. This is where the art of storytelling through visuals can truly shine, drawing your audience into your brand’s narrative.

On the other hand, platforms like TikTok are all about fast-paced, on-trend videos that capture attention in seconds. To excel on TikTok, your brand needs to create short videos that are not just promotional but engaging and shareable. By aligning your content with the trends and humor that resonate with TikTok’s user base, you can successfully tap into this unique and rapidly growing audience.

The key to success in the world of social commerce is recognizing the diversity of each social platform and tailoring your content to align with their distinct strengths and audience preferences. 

4. Run social media specific campaigns to encourage following & cross-channel research

Social commerce is not just about crafting the right content for the right channel; it’s also about offering value to your audience. In today’s world, marked by a cost-of-living crisis, consumers are more conscious of their spending than ever. As a result, they prioritize deals and seek to maximize the value they get from their purchases. Running social media-specific discounts and campaigns can be a powerful way to attract and retain customers across different social channels as the allure of discounts and deals resonates deeply with cost-conscious consumers, making it a powerful incentive for them to engage with your brand.

These promotions not only encourage followers but also stimulate cross-channel research. By offering unique discounts or exclusive offers on specific platforms, you can entice users to follow your brand on multiple channels, enhancing your overall reach and engagement.

Diversification in your promotional approach can be equally effective. For instance, you can consider offering bundled products at a discount, appealing to consumers who are seeking a comprehensive solution at a reduced price. Alternatively, you can run promotions on items that have performed exceptionally well on different social channels. This tailored approach is designed to cater to each platform’s unique audience, recognizing that what resonates with one group of users may not be the same for another. In doing so, you demonstrate a deep understanding of your audience’s needs, reinforcing their perception of value and strengthening their connection to your brand.

Running social media-specific discounts and campaigns can be a strategic game-changer, not only attracting and retaining customers but also fostering cross-channel exploration. Whether through bundled products or platform-specific promotions, the goal is to provide tailored value that resonates with the diverse audiences present on various social channels, ultimately driving the success of your brand in the dynamic landscape of social commerce.

The Future of Social Commerce

Is TikTok Shop poised to take over Amazon any time soon? Of course not. But people don’t peruse and purchase on just one channel, which means your brand and products can’t just be on one channel, and it’s important to recognize that social commerce is not just a passing trend but an important channel where brands can authentically connect with their audiences.

This diversity in consumer behavior emphasizes the importance of an omnichannel approach for brands. While TikTok, Instagram, and other social commerce platforms play a pivotal role in your brand’s online presence, they are most effective when part of a broader, Product Experience (PX) Strategy. 

Social commerce is a force to be reckoned with. Brands that embrace an omnichannel approach, utilizing various platforms to cater to diverse consumer needs, are well-positioned for success. Social commerce is here to stay, and understanding its dynamic nature is the key to thriving in this ever-evolving landscape of online retail, especially as we gear up to face the busiest shopping season of the year.

But what exactly does it take to build a successful PX Strategy, and who are the individuals who drive it forward? We’ve answered the former in this blog post here, but let’s dive into the latter and outline the instrumental roles and responsibilities of the jobs that make up a PX ecosystem through a fictional fashion retailer, Ziggy Corporation.

About Ziggy Corporation 

Ziggy is a visionary and globally recognized fashion retailer, redefining the way people experience fashion. With a robust in-store and digital presence, we curate cutting-edge fashion to inspire individuals worldwide. Our commitment to innovation, sustainability, and customer-centricity drives us to continually push boundaries in the retail industry. At Ziggy Corp, we believe that fashion is an art form, a statement, and a means of self-expression, and we invite you to join us in our journey of style, creativity, and global influence.

At Ziggy, our teammates are the driving force behind who we are and where we want to go as a company. We work every day to shape a first-class work environment and culture, which is rooted in our core values of Humility, Benevolence, Openness, and Innovation. We want our people to help us grow and to grow with us, and that’s why we do whatever it takes to equip our employees with everything they may need to make a tangible impact on themselves, the business and the company. 

1. Chief Product Experience Officer 

Job Description

We are seeking a visionary and strategic Chief Product Experience Officer (CPEO) to join our dynamic retail brand. As the CPEO, you will be responsible for shaping and executing our Product Experience (PX) Strategy, ensuring our products delight customers, and driving innovation and excellence across our entire product portfolio. You will play a pivotal role in defining the overall customer experience and strengthening our brand’s position in the fashion industry.

Responsibilities:

• Product Experience Strategy: Develop and articulate a comprehensive PX Strategy that aligns with the company’s objectives and customer-centric values.
• Innovation Leadership: Lead the charge in identifying market trends, emerging technologies, and customer insights to drive product innovation and differentiation.
• Product Development: Oversee the end-to-end product development process, from ideation to launch, ensuring products are high-quality, customer-centric, and meet market demands.
• Customer-Centric Approach: Champion a customer-first mindset across the organization, ensuring that customer feedback and preferences are at the forefront of product decisions.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including design, marketing, engineering, and sales, to ensure alignment with product experience goals.
• Data-Driven Decision-Making: Utilize data and analytics to make informed decisions, track product performance, and continuously improve the customer journey.
• Brand Consistency: Ensure that the product experience aligns with the brand identity and messaging, maintaining brand consistency throughout the product lifecycle.
• Omnichannel Integration: Lead efforts to seamlessly integrate the online and offline customer experiences, ensuring consistency and continuity across all touchpoints.
• Customer Engagement: Develop strategies to engage and retain customers through exceptional product experiences, loyalty programs, and post-purchase support.
• Team Leadership: Build and lead a high-performing product experience team, providing guidance, mentorship, and professional development opportunities.
• Financial Oversight: Manage and allocate resources effectively to maximize return on investment in product development and customer experience initiatives.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of success in a senior leadership role within a retail or consumer-focused organization.
• Strong understanding of retail industry trends, customer behavior, and market dynamics.
• In-depth knowledge of digital technology, e-commerce platforms, and digital marketing strategies.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive collaboration.
• Proficiency in leveraging data and analytics for decision-making.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Degree in business, information technology, marketing, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred).

Preferred:

• Familiarity with MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) and/or Composable Commerce.
• Experience with Akeneo Product Cloud. 

2. Product Experience Manager 

Job Description

Join our dynamic retail brand as a Product Experience Manager, where innovation and collaboration drive success. In this role, you will be responsible for executing our product experience strategy by ensuring customer satisfaction, fostering innovation, and driving operational improvements across the Product Experience Management (PXM) process. You will help define the overall customer experience and play a pivotal role in strengthening our brand’s value within the fashion industry. 

Responsibilities:

• Digital Commerce Excellence: Lead efforts to enhance the digital commerce experience, ensuring a seamless and user-friendly online shopping journey.
• Supplier and Retailer Collaboration: Cultivate strong partnerships with suppliers and retail collaborators to streamline data exchange and enhance accuracy.
• Product Taxonomy and Governance: Oversee and refine product taxonomy and governance to ensure the correctness and consistency of our product experiences.
• Customer-Centric Approach: Help implement a customer-first mindset across the organization, ensuring that customer feedback and preferences are at the forefront of product decisions.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate cross-functionally with design, marketing, engineering, and sales to align with product experience goals.
• Data-Driven Decision-Making: Utilize data and analytics to make informed decisions, track product performance, and continuously improve the customer journey.
• Brand Consistency: Ensure that the product experience aligns with the brand identity and messaging, maintaining brand consistency throughout the product life cycle.
• Omnichannel Integration: Lead efforts to seamlessly integrate the online and offline customer experiences, ensuring consistency and continuity across all touchpoints.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in digital commerce strategies and optimizing online shopping experiences.
• Strong change management skills with a track record of implementing process improvements.
• Expertise in building and maintaining product taxonomies and data governance. 
• Proficiency in leveraging data and analytics for decision-making.
• Experience collaborating with suppliers and retail partners within the fashion retail industry.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Degree in business, information technology, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred).

Preferred:

• Familiarity with MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) and/or Composable Commerce.
• Experience with Akeneo Product Cloud. 

3. Technical Product Experience Manager 

Job Description

Join our dynamic retail brand as a Technical Product Experience Manager, where innovation and collaboration drive success. In this role, you will be responsible for executing the technical components of our product experience strategy by leading the overall solution design for our product experience applications including system optimization, data management, and integrations throughout the Product Experience Management (PXM) process. You will help design, build and maintain the technical solutions that provide exceptional product experiences to our customers and strengthen our brand’s value within the fashion industry. 

Responsibilities:

• Technical Strategy: Define and drive the technical architecture strategy to meet business goals, ensuring alignment with our business objectives, industry best practices and emerging technologies.
• Solution Design: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design robust and scalable digital solutions, including front-end and back-end systems, databases, and third-party integrations.
• System Optimization: Continuously assess and optimize system performance and capabilities to meet evolving business needs.
• Data Management: Oversee data architecture and data management strategies, ensuring data governance, availability, and compliance.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with various teams, including product management, IT, marketing, ecommerce, and others to ensure technical alignment with business goals. 
• Integration: Manage the integration of various systems, including PIM, PLM, ecommerce, ERP, DAM, third-party APIs, and other tools.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in technical product management within the retail or related industry.
• Experience with building and maintaining system integrations and ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes.
• Strong understanding of data management best practices around building and maintaining product taxonomies and governance. 
• Proficiency in data analysis and the use of technical tools for decision-making.
• Familiarity with Product Experience Management software ecosystem (ERP, DAM, PIM, CMS, Ecommerce, Syndication systems).  
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Degree in computer science, information technology, or a related technical field. 

Preferred:

• Familiarity with MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) and/or Composable Commerce.
• Experience with Akeneo Product Cloud. 

Paving the Path to a Bright PX Future

Here at Akeneo, we understand that the journey towards PX excellence is not without its challenges; in fact, many corporations may find themselves ill-equipped to support the full spectrum of these roles at the moment, and that is more than okay.

However, we firmly believe that every organization, regardless of its current stage of PX maturity, can start implementing a PX Strategy today. Even just incremental changes that enhance the customer journey, like improving the completeness and accuracy of your product information, is a step in the right direction.

You also don’t need to immediately go out and hire for all of these roles, like the Ziggy Corporation has. Your current team may already possess the skills and passion needed to support a PX Strategy, so it may make sense for you to harness their potential and provide them with the necessary tools and resources first.

While the roles we’ve outlined today are undeniably critical for PX excellence, their full integration may take some time. But with a customer-first mindset and a dedication to continuous improvement, any organization can join the league of brands that redefine product experiences and pave the way for PX excellence.

1. Executive Sponsor

• Define and execute overall PX Strategy
• Align PX Strategy to corporate objectives
• Develop and monitor progress of OKR/KPIs
• Ensure collaboration across teams
• Remove blockers 

2. Manager of Applications & Integrations

• Administer platform(s)
• Manage integrations between systems
• Design architecture
• Data management (governance, migration, availability, compliance)

3. Product Experience Creator

• Define Product Experiences
• Develop or onboard new products
• Convey Brand Values
• Enrich Product Experiences
• Translate and adapt content to different markets
• Ensure products comply with local regulations

4. Manager of Channels

• Manage Channel specific requirements
• Manage Assortment 
• Measure performance
• Manage channel specific descriptions & SEO
• Build Channel Experiences 
• Customer Support

People & Processes: The Backbone of Product Experience Excellence

That’s why we here at Akeneo recently launched Supplier Data Manager: a simple, scalable, and collaborative way to collect product data from all your suppliers. Akeneo’s Supplier Data Manager streamlines the collection, management, and enrichment of supplier-provided information and assets, ensuring efficiency and accuracy in this critical process.

If you want to learn more about the announcement, you can read the formal press release here, or continue on to learn more about why we built Supplier Data Manager, what it does, and how you can learn more.

Supplier Data: The Problem

Retailers and distributors need to collect information and assets on thousands of products from hundreds of suppliers. That’s an operational and logistical challenge because:

1. 1. Those suppliers all organize their data in their own way.
   2. Retailers and distributors have varying degrees of influence over their suppliers.

The Impact

Without an efficient way to collect supplier-provided product data, companies often experience the following pain points:

Slow time-to-market – New product launches and updates to existing product content are delayed because the process of collecting information and assets is inefficient.  

• What’s the impact? Missed revenue.

Low quality data & lack of governance – Without proper guardrails in place, retailers may be stuck dealing with massive spreadsheets full of low quality, unstructured data.  

• What’s the impact? Manual effort and a poor customer experience with missing or incomplete data.

Inefficient communication – Retailers and suppliers often struggle to communicate effectively to share requirements and/or request additional information. 

• What’s the impact? Poor supplier experience.

The Workarounds

Without a solution like Supplier Data Manager, retailers are most likely to rely on inefficient workarounds including:

• Manual effort: Teams of individuals are subjected to the arduous task of manually reviewing and keying in product content from spreadsheets, and spend thousands of hours emailing and calling suppliers to complete missing attributes. This leads to a lack of visibility or traceability on both sides. 
• Home-grown solutions: Some larger organizations attempt to build their own bespoke solutions to collect data from suppliers. Not only is this an expensive and time-consuming investment, but these home-grown solutions often fall short of delivering desired results for both suppliers and retailers.

The Solution: Akeneo Supplier Data Manager

Akeneo Supplier Data Manager provides an easy-to-use portal that enables retailers and distributors to collect, manage, and enrich supplier-provided product information and assets.

Akeneo Supplier Data Manager is available as an add-on module within Akeneo PIM, and helps simplify supplier data onboarding, driving measurable benefits and efficient communication.

Key Capabilities

Supplier Data Manager makes it easy for you to configure your suppliers, have them upload product files or fill out a template, and map the data to Akeneo PIM for easy import.

Manage your suppliers at scale

Easily add suppliers directly within the PIM UI, either manually or via bulk import. Empower designated contributors with secure, dedicated portal access via email invitations.

Collect the latest product data from suppliers

Enable your suppliers to easily upload their most up-to-date product data spreadsheets using a simple drag-and-drop user interface.

Enrich products with assets

Suppliers can share media files to enrich the product information already collected. Retailers can convert media into assets and link them to PIM products with a single click.

Request specific content via templates

Provide suppliers with templates to ensure you receive precisely the data you need. Avoid back and forth with suppliers by leveraging guidelines and mandatory attributes from the start, reducing excess back-and-forth communication.

Comment directly in the portal

Collaborate more efficiently with suppliers directly in the portal by giving them visibility into file history and status updates, and leaving them comments about specific products, attributes, or images. 

Import supplier data into the PIM

After collecting product data and collaborating with suppliers to get what you need, it’s simple to map everything to your PIM data structure, leverage basic rules to clean and normalize the data, and import everything with just the click of a button.

The Benefits

A simple, scalable, and collaborative way to collect product data from all your suppliers drives measurable benefits such as:

• Improved collaboration with suppliers: Retailers can centrally manage all supplier interactions and build stronger relationships with improved visibility and effortless communication directly in the portal.
• Accurate and complete product content: Retailers can efficiently collect the most up-to-date content from suppliers and request specific information via templates.
• Faster time-to market: With supplier-provided data readily available in Akeneo PIM, retailers can expedite product launches and updates.

Want to see it in action?

Are you ready to witness Supplier Data Manager in action?  If you’re a current Akeneo customer, Join us for Supplier Data Manager in Action or reach out to your Customer Success Manager to learn more.  If you’re not yet an Akeneo customer, you can request a demo and an Akeneo expert will walk you through the solution.

I. The Challenges of Omnichannel

1. Customer Consistency

• Unified Brand Image: Maintaining a cohesive and consistent brand identity across all channels is crucial for building trust and confidence among customers.
• Personalization without Disruption: Effective personalization should enhance the customer experience without feeling intrusive or disruptive. Striking the right balance is essential.
• Inventory and Stock Availability: Real-time inventory management is necessary to meet customer expectations of product availability, whether shopping online or in-store.
• Omnichannel Customer Support: Seamless customer support that bridges digital and physical channels is vital. AI-powered solutions can help deliver a consistent support experience.
• Streamlined Checkout and Payment: A smooth, secure, and consistent checkout and payment process is essential for customer satisfaction, regardless of the channel they choose.

2. Tailoring Descriptions for Each Channel

3. International Presence

II. Technology Follows the Trend in the Shadows

III. Where Does AI Come In to Achieve PX Maturity?

1. Collecting and Cleaning Product Data

2. Enriching Product Information

3. Translating Product Content

Have you ever walked into an Apple Store? If you’re being honest with yourself, it surpasses all other retail experiences. Everything is organized and immaculate. Every detail of the consumer’s interaction is meticulously designed to engage you and subtly convey the value of Apple and the products they sell. There’s no cluttered mess of inventory crammed into every nook and cranny. 

Apple understands the importance of allowing customers to become fully immersed in what they sell. Products are displayed invitingly with ample space, and potential buyers are given everything they could want. They can touch products, operate them, and understand every feature and technical specification they can think of. 

If a customer shows the slightest look of confusion or doubt, they are promptly pounced upon by one of the many Apple specialists waiting patiently to offer assistance. The result of this investment in experience speaks for itself; Apple has the highest retail sales per square foot of any brand worldwide.

If you talk to corporate marketers about the in-store Apple experience, they’ll roll their eyes at you. It’s been analyzed every which way by MBA programs everywhere and is considered old news. There are no new or profound insights to be found. Give customers a good experience, especially around your products, and they’ll buy more. Isn’t it obvious? 

But for some reason, this acknowledgment of the importance of product experience hasn’t fully translated to digital channels. Scrutinize almost any brand’s product pages, and you’ll quickly find errors. These problems could include missing images, sparse filtering options, indifference to regulatory compliance, or my pet peeve, uninspired short-form product descriptions that have bubbled up from the depths of an ERP system. 

This online shopping experience is the antithesis of the Apple store experience; this is the blind spot. 

Many brands don’t appreciate that good product experiences are critical wherever you sell. This oversight can be costly, with over 63% of consumers saying they would abandon a brand they trusted following a negative product experience. 

Brands selling on digital channels need to realize that the consumers who have been so thoroughly convinced by Apple’s in-store experiences over the last 10 years are the same consumers they’re trying to win over every day online. Before investing in the latest and greatest technology, SEO optimization, new sales channels, or more extensive catalogs, brands need to take a step back and think about the product experiences they provide their customers. These experiences need to be the foundation of their digital commerce strategy.

In fact, these organizations should have their own Product Experience (PX) Strategy, one that considers every interaction a customer, partner, or employee has with a product. 

So, how can brands ensure they’re providing a good product experience? By implementing a PX Strategy that ensures their product experience offering across all channels is:

1. Accurate

Product experiences must properly convey the correct information to customers. This means being free of formatting errors, inaccurate information, missing or incomplete information, and even translation errors. Every brand needs clearly defined data governance for its product data. If you fail to provide accurate information, every other component of your product experience will be compromised. 

2. Comprehensive 

How many times have you scanned a product listing looking for one specific piece of information, like the maximum resolution of a monitor or the washing instructions of a new blouse, only to realize it isn’t there? If a critical piece of information you need to make a purchase doesn’t exist, you’ll probably buy elsewhere. The more information you can provide your customers, the more likely they are to actually buy a product from you. Take things to the next level by also telling buyers how they can use your product, preferably in conjunction with another product or service you sell. 

 3. Discoverable

Products need to be easy to find for customers. The products you sell must be easy to discover in search engines, 3rd party marketplaces or retailers, and your own digital solutions. The two previous steps play a critical role in helping to support search; even the most sophisticated SEO solution is hampered without correct and comprehensive product information. Discoverability is also supported by things like facets on a website, metadata, and compatibility with other products and services you sell. 

4. Consistent 

Consumers today bounce between mobile apps, marketplaces, social media, and even traditional print and in-store buying experiences. Your product experiences need to be consistent and high-quality across every interaction you have with a customer. Just because your customers tend to buy on your eCommerce site doesn’t mean they aren’t engaging with your products elsewhere. With over 70% of consumers saying they research multiple touchpoints to gather more information to make a purchase decision, brands today can’t afford to have a single weak link in their omnichannel product experiences. 

It’s also essential to adapt your content consistently to every region and language you sell to. This doesn’t just mean translation; it also means considering cultural and regulatory expectations such as Natasha’s Law in the UK, which requires allergen information be place prominently on pre-packaged food, or Digital Product Passports that are set to be a requirement for certain businesses that sell in the EU by 2026. 

 5. Personalized

Personalization is a hot topic in commerce. Consumers increasingly expect a personalized shopping experience. This includes product recommendations based on website interactions, purchase history, loyalty clubs, gamification, or product compatibility. This could also include analyzing the purchase or browsing behavior of similar customers and recommending products or services that were also purchased by those customers.

6. Compelling 

A product experience is about more than just product information. It’s an opportunity to help sell a product, convey brand values, and build customer loyalty. (Hint: If your ERP system is the source of truth for your product descriptions, you’re failing at this step.) Compelling product experiences are created by providing rich visual assets and marketing copy, telling brand stories, and meeting customers’ expectations around regulations and sustainability standards. User-generated content is also compelling for buyers. 

It may be impossible to replicate the Apple in-store experience online. Even the most innovative AR technologies or creative UX designers can’t replace the sensory experience of a physical retail location. But this doesn’t mean product experiences are less important in the digital world. 

Consumers browsing your websites still visualize themselves holding a product, consider how a product makes them look, or strategize about how a product can solve a problem they have. 

People always want to engage with the products they’re about to buy, even if it’s behind a keyboard. Don’t be blind to this crucial component of customer experience, and build a good product experience that has its foundation in accurate, up-to-date product information.

Harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the ultimate key to unlocking global success. Whether you’re a multinational corporation or a budding startup, the ability to seamlessly translate and localize your content for diverse audiences can make all the difference.

But harnessing this ground-breaking technology is not as easy as some AI enthusiasts would have you believe. So let’s dive into five practical use cases of utilizing AI technology as a trusty sidekick to reaching new markets and making the world a smaller place, one language at a time.

5 Use Cases for AI-Driven Translation & Localization

1. Translating Product Descriptions

Imagine you’re a fashion retailer based in New York, and you want to expand your reach to Paris, Tokyo, and São Paulo. The advent of the Internet means that it’s much easier to access these international markets than ever before, but access doesn’t always equate to genuine connection. The language barrier is a significant hurdle that many brands and retailers face, and historically, translation agencies or services have not been cheap, with many charging fees per word count or charging extra for complex translations or edits. 

AI-powered language translation tools can open the floodgates of communication by providing accurate, SEO-friendly translations of your product descriptions, titles, search filters, and back-end keywords into any number of languages almost instantaneously. While these tools still require a decent amount of human oversight to ensure that grammar is correct and certain phrases are translated correctly (a witty product description in English won’t directly translate to something as witty in French or Japanese), these tools can provide a foundation of translated and localized content to work from that ensures a consistency and accuracy that enhances the shopping experience for global customers.

2. Converting Sizing or Units of Measurement

Global retailers face the challenge of different sizing standards and units of measurement in various regions. This inconsistency can create confusion and inconvenience for customers when they are trying to understand the specifications of a product; if you can’t understand the scale of the measurement that’s being provided to you, you aren’t going to be inclined to purchase. 

Whether it’s inches to centimeters or pounds to kilograms, AI steps in to simplify this complexity by seamlessly converting measurements. Shoppers in different parts of the world don’t need to perform manual conversions or struggle to understand unfamiliar units of measurement. They can easily comprehend the product’s size and weight in their preferred measurement system, making the shopping experience more straightforward and user-friendly. 

3. Connecting with Global Audiences on Social Media

Social media platforms have become central to modern marketing strategies. They provide a direct and interactive channel for brands to engage with their audience, gather feedback, and build brand loyalty. However, effective engagement on social media requires understanding how your brand and products are perceived by users in different markets.

AI-driven sentiment analysis is a sophisticated tool that enables brands to decipher the emotions, opinions, and attitudes expressed by social media users regarding their products or services. This analysis goes beyond simple metrics like likes and shares; it delves into the sentiments behind comments, reviews, and mentions. Armed with sentiment analysis data, retailers can craft messaging and campaigns that align with the cultural nuances, preferences, and values of specific regions. By tailoring content in this manner, brands can demonstrate a genuine understanding and respect for local audiences, which fosters a stronger connection.

4. Providing Multilingual, 24/7 Customer Support or Service

As businesses expand their operations globally, providing efficient and effective customer support becomes increasingly complex. Customers may be spread across different time zones and regions, each with its own language and cultural nuances. One of the most popular applications of AI today are customer support chatbots, and for a good reason; AI-powered chatbots have a general satisfaction rate of 90%, and can reduce customer operation costs by as much as 30%.

Equipped with natural language processing (NLP) capabilities, these bots are able to provide round-the-clock, multilingual assistance for common technical issues or simple troubleshooting requests, freeing up human customer support reps to focus on complex customer questions.

5. Complying with Local Regulations

Navigating local regulations is a crucial aspect of global retail operations; AI technology can be equipped to ensure that brands stay compliant with regional laws and standards. Whether it’s adhering to regulations like Natasha’s Law in the UK, which mandates detailed allergen information on food products, or data privacy laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), AI helps brands navigate complex regulatory landscapes efficiently.

AI technology can ingest vast amounts of data at speed, meaning that it can continuously monitor changes and updates in local regulations across different regions, reducing the risk of non-compliance due to outdated information. This technology can also perform automated audits of product labels, data handling procedures, and other compliance-related aspects to identify discrepancies or areas where adjustments are needed, reducing the need for manual, time-consuming audits.

AI In Retail: Opening Global Doors

As the retail industry continues to evolve, embracing AI-driven content translation and localization is not just an option; it’s a necessity for global brands and retailers looking to thrive in today’s diverse and interconnected world. Though it’s no magic wand, AI technology can help enhance internal customer support and product data processes to ensure all your content is translated, localized, and optimized for any market.

Interested in harnessing AI technology to improve your global presence? Reach out to an Akeneo expert today to learn more, or check out our comprehensive AI Center of Excellence for more resources.