“The future of commerce is customer journey based and channel agnostic.”

 

It may be common knowledge that customers prefer frictionless digital commerce experiences and businesses typically desire streamlined processes that minimize redundant work. But in reality, providing consistent and compelling experiences to customers on every single channel can feel like a pipe dream to many organizations, especially as new channels and marketplaces emerge at an almost constant pace. In order to meet the demands of today’s consumers, businesses must shift their focus to a customer journey-based approach that is inclusive of all channels. This means that businesses will be able to provide a consistent and relevant experience to customers regardless of the channel they are using, whether it be an online marketplace, social media, or a physical store.  By understanding and anticipating the needs of customers at every stage of their journey, businesses can create a coherent, personalized experience that will keep them coming back for more. While this is great in theory, it falls apart when we realize that most organizations aren’t anticipating the needs of their customers; they’re reacting.  

Proactive Customer Experiences

Many digital commerce brands struggle to deliver on their Customer Experience (CX) goals because most internal metrics focus on how well teams react to customer friction points rather than on proactively preventing friction from the start.  These same organizations also tend to struggle to create positive customer experiences that persistently influence beyond individual encounters in various, disparate channels. Venturing into new, unfamiliar channels of commerce can be a potentially high-risk, expensive, and time-consuming endeavor if not well controlled. This is true whether the channel is a physical store, marketplace, social media platform, eCommerce site, or new geographical territory. So, the question becomes, how do these brands and retailers maximize results and reduce expenses, all while proactively providing a consistent and compelling customer experience? The ideal approach to CX incorporates proactive strategic use of digital solutions to set the stage for brand engagements. Enterprises can reduce the workloads of customer service and marketing teams via the consistent delivery of accurate product and brand information across all relevant digital channels and customer touchpoints. This is where Product Information Management, or PIM, comes into play.  

PIM: The Foundation for CX

The problem that PIM solves is relatively straightforward: many companies with low or intermediate levels of digital maturity need help getting and staying on top of the developments within the retail landscape, especially after a global pandemic.  PIM can simplify all aspects of product catalog management, creation, and syndication, creating a reduction in user friction points. If the PIM system in question has an excellent, human-centered user experience (UX) design, the amplification of team productivity will be noticeable immediately. Teams can spend less time on “busywork,” like manually resizing images per the specifications of various social media platforms, and spend more time strategizing their creative assets to engage in the customer experience and enhancement of customer’s journey with the brand. A PIM solution allows businesses to maintain a single source of truth for their product data, reducing the need for manual labor and expediting time to market. Without it, they may have difficulty maintaining a central product catalog, resulting in incorrect, incomplete, or outdated product data that cannot be easily distributed across conflicting channels.  PIM can help businesses simplify the process of producing a consistent, branded CX across all digital channels, and is a crucial first step toward a coherent omnichannel commerce strategy.  To learn more about how PIM can act as the foundation for providing omnichannel customer experiences, download the IDC Spotlight today, or reach out to an Akeneo expert to see how we can help.

The retail industry is constantly evolving and adapting to new technologies and trends. One of the latest developments in this field is the use of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to create omnichannel shopping experiences. ChatGPT is a powerful AI system that can understand and respond to human language that uses natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond to customer queries and requests. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we shop online, making it easier and more convenient for customers to find and purchase the products they want. In the retail industry, ChatGPT and other AI technologies can be used to analyze customer data and create personalized and seamless shopping experiences for customers. And it’s not just AI; retailers are also looking to other innovative technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and voice assistants to provide a more convenient and efficient shopping experience. These technologies can be used to answer customer queries, make recommendations based on previous shopping behaviors, and even complete transactions. Think this type of technological innovation is too far off in the future for practical, everyday use? Think again.  The introduction to this article was written entirely by ChatGPT, with only slight modifications. The quality of ChatGPT’s language processing is lightyears beyond what had been available to the public previously, and should propel one thought to the forefront of everyone’s mind: innovative AI technology is not just coming down the road, but is here. And here to stay. So with this immutable fact more apparent than ever, it’s time we take a look at how this affects the retail landscape and shopping behaviors, and what brands need to do to take effectively utilize groundbreaking technology to create omnichannel customer experiences (hint: it starts with your product information).   

4 Use Cases for Artificial Intelligence in Retail

1. Chatbots

One of the best examples of AI technology already thriving today is the use of chatbots on retailer websites and social media platforms. Chatbots are growing faster than any other brand communication channel, seeing a usage increase of 92% between 2019 and 2020. Powered by AI technology like chatGPT, chatbots can provide personalized recommendations and assistance to customers based on their interests and preferences as they browse and shop online.       International meal delivery company, HelloFresh, does this well, utilizing AI technology to connect with and engage their customers. Meet Freddy, their chatbot that discusses eating preferences and new recipes with their users whenever it’s time to order a new box. They even provide quizzes and food-related questions, as well as recommend playlists that match the mood of the dish you’re creating.   As AI evolves and becomes smarter, more personalized recommendations can be made based on stronger analysis of customer behaviors and decisions. And chatbots can add a certain human element to this process by giving the feel of communicating with a real person.  

2. Personalization & Targeted Marketing

 Many brands and retailers are using AI to analyze customer data and create targeted advertising campaigns that are more likely to be successful. An eCommerce site can now use AI to analyze a customer’s previous purchases and browsing history, and then serve up ads for products that are similar or related to those items, providing a more bespoke shopping experience. A great example of this is the behemoth itself, Amazon. Every time you log on to your homepage, one of the first things you see is a row of boxes, advertising items you’ve most recently clicked on, purchased, or shown interest in.    

3. Immersive Shopping Experiences

AI is not the only field of technology that’s made leaps and bounds over the past few years; Artificial Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) is similarly changing the retail landscape in a drastic way by allowing brands to provide a more immersive and interactive shopping experience than ever before.  With VR, customers can “try on” clothes and accessories without ever leaving their homes, and AR can be used to help customers visualize how products will look in their own homes before making a purchase. This can be especially useful for big-ticket items like furniture, where customers want to be sure they are making the right decision before committing to a purchase. Swedish home goods manufacturer and retailer, IKEA does this extremely well; the IKEA Place App allows users to virtually place furniture items in their own homes and to see how the product will fit in the space.      This immersive experience provides a number of benefits to consumers; with a much better idea of the size, shape, and color of the item, customers are able to purchase with more confidence than ever before, resulting in reduced returns and satisfied, loyal customers.   

4. Streamline internal operations

In addition to these direct benefits for customers, Artificial Intelligence has the potential to streamline and improve the behind-the-scenes operations of brands and retailers. For example, AI can be used to analyze data on customer preferences and behavior to help retailers make better-informed decisions about inventory management and marketing. Not to mention how this technology can be used to improve the efficiency and accuracy of warehouse and fulfillment operations. For example, some retailers are using AI-powered robots to sort and move products within their warehouses, which can help to reduce the time and effort required to fulfill orders. Similarly, shipping routes and delivery schedules can be optimized, which reduces costs and improves the overall efficiency of the supply chain.  

Product Information at the Foundation

So what do all of these retail experiences have in common, other than their use of advanced technology? They all require product information, reliable product information, in order to operate at the highest caliber. Let’s go back to the HelloFresh example quickly; if the proper recipes aren’t tagged as “vegan”, then when a customer asks Freddy the chatbot for vegan recipes, then it’s going to be a disappointing experience when they get served up a beef stew recipe. Or Amazon and their personalized, targeted ads. If they tracked that I’ve previously searched for “brush”, their product information management must be strong enough to differentiate between “hairbrush”, “toothbrush” and “pet hair brush” to ensure that they’re advertising the correct product.  The use of ChatGPT and other AI technologies is revolutionizing the retail industry by providing customers with omnichannel shopping experiences that are personalized, convenient, and efficient, and that’s exciting. But the big caveat is that your product information needs to be optimized and up-to-date before you can take full advantage of these advancements.  Colloquially, it’s a “shit-in, shit-out” situation; if you provide bad product data, it doesn’t matter how advanced the machine learning algorithm is or how advanced the technology has become. The product experience will fall short. ChatGPT marks a bountiful leap forward when it comes to Artificial Intelligence, and demonstrates just how quickly and frequently the space is evolving. The organizations that are able to embrace this new wave of technology and build the foundation of product information to support it are the ones pushing the boundaries of innovation, with the highest profits and the most loyal customers. And in case you were wondering, no. ChatGPT did not write this conclusion. Looking to incorporate AI into your omnichannel product experience strategy, or just looking to take your first steps into centralizing product information? Reach out to an Akeneo expert today to see how we can help.

Has anyone ever told you to raise your standards? Chances are, it was in the context of relationships or your career. But it’s also advice that your customers have been following—especially when it comes to their eCommerce buying experiences.

 If you’ve been feeling like customer expectations are on the rise, you’re right. According to a Salesforce survey, 73% percent of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. Yet only 64% trust that companies will do so.

Among other challenges, the digital transformation has ushered in an age of instant gratification as our attention spans decline. Customers expect fast, frictionless experiences, especially when it comes to eCommerce. The good news is that the shift to digital has also brought advances in technology that can help you deliver what your customers may want. Two important pieces of the puzzle are product information management (PIM) and product lifecycle management (PLM) systems.

 Decision makers often wonder about the differences between PIM vs PLM—and whether they need both. We’ll cover everything you need to know to make the right choice for your business.

Product Information Management Definition

Product information management, abbreviated PIM, is the process of collecting, sharing, and distributing your product information across your internal teams as well as your external sales channels and catalogs. PIM capabilities include importing data from various sources such as your other platforms, as well as your suppliers, and providing various ways for you to classify, track, enrich, and syndicate that data. The goal of PIM is to ensure accurate, complete, and consistent product information across all owned and unowned platforms and channels.

Product Lifecycle Management Definition

Product lifecycle management, abbreviated PLM, is the process of collecting and organizing internal data so that you can track and predict the lifecycle of a product. PLM capabilities mostly involve providing a database for data such as CAD files, parts and inventory information, bills of materials, and other technical assets. The ultimate goal of PLM is to organize internal information, which increases efficiency and allows you to get your products to market faster.

Similarities Between PIM and PLM Software

While there are a lot of differences between PIM and PLM systems, there are also some similarities. Both provide a single repository for product information and data. Both can be integrated with other software and systems in your tech stack, which can enhance them. And both can lead to better collaboration and efficiency, adding value to your organization and helping you innovate at a faster pace. But that’s where the similarities between PIM and PLM tools end. 

Differences Between PIM vs PLM Software

PIM and PLM systems are used at different stages in the product journey. When implemented well, they can complement each other perfectly. But they are not one and the same. Here are the top six differences between PIM vs PLM software.

Role

PIM: PIM is a system designed to handle your customer-facing data. It enables and simplifies the flow of product information from internal databases to your customers, syndicating your data across all channels and ensuring a consistent product experience. It contains information such as product descriptions, specs and sizing, inventory levels and availability, pricing, and more. Any information your customers want to know can be found in your PIM.

PLM: PLM is an internal-facing system. It collects and centralizes information from various internal sources and departments so that all of your internal teams are working from the same database. Your PLM contains information related to the concepting, design, development, and engineering of your products. Any information that your internal teams want to know can be found in your PLM.

Product Lifecycle Stage

PIM: PIM helps you manage the marketing and selling of your products once they’re ready to be brought to market. Many eCommerce companies use PIM for product syndication and distribution. PIM can either automatically upload, enhance, and format product data, or your internal teams can do it manually.

PLM: In the discussion of PIM vs PLM, PLM actually comes first—it helps you manage the product development phase, from ideation to manufacture and launch and even after-sales support. Collaboration is essential during this stage, and clarity on what has already been done, what needs to be done, and any previous iterations of the product can help optimize your product lifecycle. Once the product is launched, PIM takes over.

User Base

PIM: Since PIM and PLM systems were created for different stages of the product journey, it follows that they’re used by different departments within your organization. PIM will mainly be used by your marketing and sales departments, including your field reps. These are the people who need access to things like descriptions, SKUs, visual assets like images or 3D renderings, and product metadata.

PLM: PLM is used by your engineering and technical departments, including developers and designers. It can also be useful for product and sales teams, to help them get a historical context of their particular product. When you’re discussing PIM vs PLM with your internal teams, be sure to include all of these departments. You can even integrate your suppliers into your PLM, which can help you foresee supply chain issues that may affect your product lifecycle.

Data

PIM: One of the most important PIM capabilities is to store many different types of data. It can, and should, incorporate data from your PLM, such as technical data. It’s also highly customizable, so the types of data it uses can vary by organization and even by product. Data can include technical specifications, digital assets like video, audio, and image files, design files and PowerPoints, product metadata including keywords and descriptions, as well as customer data, marketing data, and financial data.

PLM: PLM tools store data related to design and engineering needs only. This might include CAD renderings, Photoshop and InDesign files, lists of parts, materials, and components, bills of materials, requests for quotes, and more. PLM software can stand alone and can also be integrated into your PIM when your product is ready to be put on the market.

Integrations

PIM: PIM tools and PLM tools integrate into your existing tech stack very differently. PIM aggregates more types of data and can typically integrate with more systems. PIM integrations might include your enterprise resource planning (ERP), digital asset management (DAM), product data management (PDM) systems, and even your PLM itself. It usually also allows you to import CSV and XLS files as well as use APIs to connect to your online and print channels. APIs have proven benefits: Researchers at Boston University found using the right APIs can increase annual net income for a large firm by more than $250,000.

PLM: PLM capabilities focus on design and manufacturing, and therefore so do its integrations. You will be able to integrate with CAD programs and Adobe Illustrator, as well as other design software. Like PIM, PLM also typically integrates with ERP and PDM systems. It orchestrates all of these different programs, providing you with comprehensive historical data.

Outcomes

PIM: PIM helps your team deliver compelling product experiences, which ultimately provide a customer experience that can improve your sales, extend your reach, and result in fewer returns. It can help you keep pace with changing customer preferences, encourage loyalty to your brand, expand your market share by helping you create larger and more varied digital product catalogs and sell on more channels, and improve your efficiency and save resources. It does all this by automating tasks, including localization and syndication, and reducing the risk of inconsistent or inaccurate information making it into your customer-facing assets.

PLM: PLM helps your team get products to market faster and at a higher quality. Through various tools and workflows, it can improve collaboration and internal efficiencies throughout the development of a product. It does this by providing visibility into the entire lifecycle so that everyone involved can see at a glance what is going on with the product. It can also help you standardize and automate your bills of materials so that you can better price your product, as well as manage your quotes so that you get the best bids.

Do I Need Both PIM and PLM Systems?

The bottom line is that there is no real debate between PIM vs PLM. They serve different purposes, and most organizations that both produce and sell products will likely need both, especially larger organizations or those with many products. The two systems complement each other: PLM applies to product development, while PIM applies to product experience, sales, and marketing. Together, they streamline your entire product lifecycle from ideation through distribution and retirement and create a better experience for both your internal team and your customers.

The good news is that you can share information between your PIM and PLM systems. The Akeneo PIM is designed for seamless integration with many of your existing systems, including the technical information from your PLM. 

Have an integration in mind or want to learn more about the role of PLM? Book a demo with Akeneo and we’ll show you what PLM can do for you.

It’s officially 2023, which means that 2013 is now a decade behind us. Since the days of The Harlem Shake and The Cup Song, a lot has changed.  We’ve seen new apps rise and fall (looking at you, Vine), rapid advancements in AR, VR, and AI technology with the likes of Pokemon Go, DALL-E, and ChatGPT enter the arena, and, of course, a global pandemic that reached every corner of the globe and continues to rear its ugly head. But these past ten years mark something else as well; 10 years of Akeneo. That’s right, 2013 was the year our founders bonded over a passion for David Bowie, beer, and helping brands and retailers create strong omnichannel experiences and began developing a new open-source solution that could replace the use of spreadsheets and manual processes to manage product information. And so, while “selfie” was being added to the dictionary, Akeneo was born and the last foundational member joined the team; our three-headed purple hydra, Ziggy. While once a threatening monster facing our product catalog manager heroine, Julia, that once represented the scary nature of multichannel commerce, Ziggy has since been tamed into our friendly neighborhood Chief Community Officer. She now acts as our Akeneo ambassador who enable customers to succeed in the intimidating world of omnichannel commerce.   So while Ziggy has gone through a fair amount of iterations over the past decade, she’s been a core member of the Akeneo team from the start.  That’s ten years of holiday celebrations, traversing the world, Unlock events, serving up cocktails, and Ziggy birthdays, all while paving the way for compelling omnichannel product experiences. We’ve also seen her in a myriad of mediums; from animated to plushie to steel to even glowsticks, Ziggy has taken many shapes and forms, thanks to the creativity and innovation of the Akeneo team.             But now, with 10 years of experience under our belt, we want to open up the doors and include our entire PXM community and beyond to get in on the fun. Whether you’re a professional painter or struggle with stick figures,  we want to see your Ziggy masterpieces. You can submit up to 5 renditions of our beloved mascot if you’d like, and our favorite 20 pieces of art will be showcased live in our Ziggy exhibit at the Unlock Paris 10 Year Anniversary party.  Plus, the artists with the winning drawings will receive two free tickets to Unlock Paris and will win a mamma Ziggy plushie of their own! Remember, it’s not purely about artistic skill; creativity and innovation will be a factor in the competition as well. Artwork must be submitted here by February 1st, and winners will be announced on February 15th!  So what are you waiting for? Join in on a decade of Ziggy-inspired art and enter for a chance to receive free tickets to the biggest PXM event of the year.  Start planning quickly, make it pretty, and let’s draw Ziggy!

Having a great product experience is the crucial first step in providing an omnichannel customer experience. Every interaction with your product that a consumer has during their ever-widening buying journey is going to impact their experience and perception of your brand.

Feeling skeptical? Here are the numbers to back it up: two-thirds of shoppers saying that they have abandoned buying a product because of bad product information experience obtained from any source. What’s more, research also suggests that compelling product experiences can increase customer engagement, enhance brand perception, and improve lead generation and customer acquisition.

Offering a handful of compelling individual experiences, however, is not enough. You need to build an entire strategy that elevates your product experience across every channel, marketplace, and touchpoint.

Building an impactful product experience (PX) strategy is all about improving the customer experience — but that can’t be done unless you start at the foundation: Product Experience Management (PXM).

PXM is the set of best practices and key metrics for successfully making the most out of the people, processes, and technology needed to deliver world-class product experiences.

It’s been more than 25 years since Bill Gates famously proclaimed “content is king”—and yet it’s still true. Organizations today are creating more content than ever: 66% of content marketers said they created more content in 2022 than the previous year. 

All that content means one thing: a lot of digital assets.

As the amount of content we put out into the world continues to increase, so does our need for digital asset management software. Let’s dive into everything you need to know about this key piece of your data puzzle.

What Are Digital Assets?

Digital assets are unique files that are created and stored on a computer, server, or in the cloud. They are easily identifiable and provide value to your organization.

In the context of product marketing, digital assets include any file that you use to sell or market your products across any channel or marketplace. Most commonly this includes photos and images, videos, graphics, and written product information. It also includes the color palettes, fonts, and so on that you need to create these assets. Even your brand logo is a digital asset. 

Beyond the most common marketing purposes, the digital asset definition can also include sales enablement collateral such as PowerPoints and one-pagers, operations-related assets like diagrams and process documents, and assets from your design and engineering teams such as blueprints and 3D renderings.

There’s also another, more recent answer to “What are digital assets?” With the dawn of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, more and more people are becoming familiar with the concept of digital assets as currency, virtual real estate, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

While these certainly count as digital assets, they are not typically what organizations are referring to when they discuss digital asset management software, so we’ve left them out of this discussion.

What Is a Digital Asset Management System?

A digital asset management system consists of the processes you use to collect, manage, and make use of your digital assets across your organization and across the entire product lifecycle. Most DAM systems today involve software and provide a single database for all of your digital assets and an easy way to share and distribute them around the world.

DAM software will be able to easily import your digital assets from many different sources and in many different file formats, including audio, video, image, and other programs. It will allow you to organize those assets in a flexible and customizable way. And it will connect to your various sales channels so that you can easily transmit those files.

In essence, effective digital asset management ensures that anyone in your organization and outside of it can find the files they need, when they need them.

What Does DAM Software Do?

Today’s digital asset manager systems have come a long way since those of the 1990s. Many of them now run in the cloud, so there is no expensive hardware to maintain, although on-site servers still exist.

Tools for digital asset management include templates you can use to standardize the creation of assets, as well as the ability to upload, organize, and store various file formats. You’ll be able to tag your assets with metadata including the type of asset, technology used, and version. Then you can create workflows that automate various tasks and processes.

Most DAM software also includes collaboration tools, like the ability to make edits and leave comments. Once your file is final, it will provide numerous ways you can distribute the content, such as connecting to your product information management (PIM) software or uploading directly to your website.

Other essential functions of DAM software include unlimited storage, file backups, and version control, which ensures that the latest version is being used. You’ll also be able to set permissions, which allows you to limit who can see and make changes to each asset and helps prevent errors and intellectual property theft. 

DAM systems don’t just store your files—they give you a complete and holistic view into their history and current status. And they do it in a user-friendly way.

Why Do You Need a DAM System?

According to one survey, marketers and creatives estimate their teams spend 91 hours per week searching for digital assets. Nearly half report that this slows down their productivity. And only 14% are happy with how their digital assets are stored.

This is a huge opportunity for organizations to not only improve their efficiencies, but also create happier and more satisfied employees. The same survey found that those who do have a DAM system are 41% more likely to be satisfied with their digital asset workflow.

The larger your digital asset library, the greater your need for DAM software. and it isn’t just marketing teams that benefit. When your sales, customer service, web development, and other teams have easy access to your files, that means your marketing and creative teams don’t have to spend as much time fulfilling digital content management requests.

A good asset management strategy will improve your organizational communication, collaboration, and agility. It will streamline your workflows and optimize digital asset production. It will reduce errors and duplicate content.

Most importantly, good digital asset management will lead to a better customer experience by ensuring that all assets are accurate, consistent, and up to date.

So what is DAM? It’s actually a solution to many of your organizational challenges.

How to Choose the Best DAM Software for Your Business

Managing brand assets doesn’t have to be difficult. Above all, DAM software should solve your business challenges, not contribute to them. Here’s what to look for so you can find a solution that does just that.

Features and Customization

The real question for your organization is, “What is a digital asset management system to you?” Asset manager systems come with many different capabilities. Do you mainly need to store design files? Or do you need mostly digital content management? While many solutions have similar features, some may excel more in the areas that are important to you. 

Any solution you choose should come with the ability to add and remove features as needed. Open source DAM software is an excellent option if customization is especially important to you.

Tech Stack Integration

You don’t want your DAM system to put up walls instead of breaking down silos. The data you upload should never become an island. The best DAM systems are made to not only share, but to easily integrate with your existing tech stack.

Depending on the type of files you work with, you’ll want the ability to import from Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Cloud, and project management tools. You’ll also want to connect your DAM to your other data management tools, like your master data management (MDM) and PIM systems. If you don’t see your tools listed, ask the company if they provide the ability for your developers to connect via API.

Search Capabilities

Searching for assets is one of the most important capabilities of DAM software. You’ll want to be able to search in two directions: search the metadata to find your assets, and search within an asset to find its metadata.

 You’ll also want to make sure it’s easy to label your assets in the first place, using simple adjustments and customizable fields rather than complicated code that requires a developer. Also consider the ease of filtering your search results. Does the DAM system have the filters you need or will you need to create them?

Security and Recoverability

Security for your digital assets is especially important if you work in an industry involving R&D or other intellectual property. Up-to-date security protocols and the latest encryption are essential, as is a secure server where your data will be stored. Your DAM system should also ensure your files are redundant and recoverable and that the system is backed up and reliable.

Permissions are another aspect of security that’s important. If your DAM software doesn’t provide detailed enough access rights with role based permissions, you may not be able to assign the permissions you want.

Sharing

Your DAM software should make it easier to share files among your team and with outside organizations. You want fast, efficient file transfer that leverages compression without affecting quality.

You’ll also want the ability to easily group files based on who you are sharing them with, like marketing teams, product teams, customers, and suppliers or distributors. Then you’ll want to be sure you can give those people access as needed.

 The real answer to the question “What is DAM?” is that it is quickly becoming one of the most essential tools for asset management, especially for large enterprises and eCommerce. Along with tools like PIM, it’s part of the overall strategy you need to implement to ensure a consistent and streamlined customer experience across all of your channels. In fact, the match between DAM and PIM was made in heaven.

 Want to learn more about how DAM and PIM can work together? Check out this webinar with tech and business experts to learn how this integration can benefit your business. Then book a demo and let us show you how it works.

Our lives are full of cycles. The seasons come and go, bringing change each year. The economy runs in cycles, from bear markets to bull markets and back again. Businesses go through predictable phases of growth and decline. Many of the cycles in our lives we do not control. But there is one that businesses can control: the product lifecycle. As globalization drives down prices, regulations increase complexity, and the economy shifts in unpredictable ways, it’s time to focus on product lifecycle management as a way to improve your bottom line.  

What is Product Lifecycle Management?

Product lifecycle management (PLM) is the process of directing, supervising, and handling a product as it moves from the early stages of design to the go-to-market phase, and eventually to retirement. Effective PLM can help you make better business decisions across the board, creating higher-quality products, pricing and promoting them correctly, adding features, expanding to new markets, providing customer service, and eventually deciding if and when to retire the product. PLM can be a highly complex form of data management. It includes product design files, supply chain information, customer management, and sales information. It also involves multiple departments, like design, engineering, and sales, thousands or millions of SKUs, and multiple global locations, especially when it comes to eCommerce product management for larger enterprises.  

Who Needs PLM?

PLM is especially important for manufacturers, who need to design, engineer, and market their own products, as well as the distributors and retailers who then work with those products. As more and more of these organizations move online and embrace the digital transformation, product management for eCommerce becomes even more important. When you sell online, you need to manage the lifecycles of thousands of products in real-time. Otherwise, you can’t deliver the product experience—and therefore the customer experience—that will keep your buyers coming back.  This is where product lifecycle management software can help. A good PLM system will incorporate your product data into a single database that can then be used throughout the entire lifecycle. It can import data from a variety of sources, including your enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, and automate many tasks, so you can maximize the profits from every product.  

What Are the Product Lifecycle Stages?

The traditional way of looking at PLM is the five-stage model by Theodore Levitt. Levitt first introduced this model in 1965 in the Harvard Business Review, envisioning the classic bell-shaped curve that would soon be taught in business classrooms around the world. Levitt’s five stages were:  1.Development  The development phase includes ideation, concepting, and design. It includes competitor and market research that influences the ultimate design of the product, as well as validation, analysis, prototype development, and field testing. Consumer feedback is gathered and changes are made until the product is finalized. 2. Introduction   The introduction phase includes production and going to market. Supply chains are determined, production methods are optimized and then scaled, and distribution channels are found and activated. The introduction phase is heavy on marketing and advertising, but low on sales, making it the most expensive phase. 3. Growth  The growth phase is all about increasing demand for your product and scaling your operations. Maintaining and expanding your reach, ensuring your product is in stock, pricing it correctly, providing customer service, establishing better distribution, and differentiating yourself from your competitors are all important during the growth phase. In the eCommerce product lifecycle in particular, the growth phase can occur rapidly. 4. Maturity  The maturity phase is usually the most profitable. You have attained a high market share and perfected your pricing and distribution strategies. However, many consumers have now bought your product, and you may be reaching market saturation. The focus in this phase is to increase customer loyalty and add new features to give them a reason to continue to buy your product. 5. Decline  The decline phase occurs when the market becomes too competitive, the technology is outdated, the market is too saturated, or customers simply lose interest. You’ll need to manage the retirement of your product, including scaling down production, selling remaining units, and continuing to provide customer service and alternative products to your loyal customers.  

Alternatives to the Traditional PLM Model

The answer to “What is product lifecycle management?” isn’t always so straightforward. Since Levitt published the traditional product lifecycle management model, business leaders and economists have been tweaking it. Some leave out the development phase because it occurs behind the scenes. It also doesn’t apply to some eCommerce product management, especially for retailers and distributors who do not manufacture their own products. Forty years after Levitt first published his lifecycle model, Harvard business professor Youngme Moon wrote another article in the Harvard Business Review: “Break Free from the Product Life Cycle.” She argued that by embracing the traditional model of product lifecycle management, businesses may be accepting the stages of maturity and decline when they don’t need to. Many businesses can reposition their products to either move them more quickly into the growth phase or cause them to revert back to the growth phase from the maturity phase. With the introduction of product lifecycle management software, it’s easier than ever for businesses to collect, organize, and manage their product data. This in turn lets them better predict the product lifecycle, and prolong the growth phase or even revert back to it. The increasing complexity of the eCommerce product lifecycle means software is even more important.  

Benefits of Product Lifecycle Management

When used effectively, PLM has positive effects on your bottom line and is an essential part of your digital ecosystem. With the right knowledge, captured at the right time, and shared with the right people, organizations can facilitate collaboration and make better decisions and predictions throughout the product lifecycle. That means you can: 

• Produce higher-quality, safer products
• Get products to market faster
• Reveal hidden opportunities in markets
• Reduce errors and costs
• Reduce waste of both materials and time
• Produce better bills of materials and requests for quotes
• Predict and manage seasonal changes
• Improve your forecasting
• Maximize your supply chain efficiency

 

Examples of Product Lifecycle Management

Product lifecycle management examples can be found in nearly every industry, especially the automotive and aerospace industries, which were some of the first to adopt the model.  One modern example in the automobile world is Tesla. The company introduced its first car in 2008 and the famous Model S the following year. As a pioneer in the electric car space, Tesla’s introduction phase was characteristically slow. The pricing was premium and demand was low. With the release of the Model 3 and its more affordable pricing, Tesla entered the growth phase, where it currently stands. Tesla currently dominates its competitors. The company sold nearly 500,000 cars in 2020 and nearly 910,000 in 2022, an impressive growth rate. They are also constantly introducing new features to the same models to help prevent their product from reaching the maturity stage too quickly. The strategy of introducing new features and retiring others is common today in technology and eCommerce product management. This helps them stay in the growth and maturity phases as long as possible. We’re all familiar with brands like these: Apple, as well as other smartphone makers, are some of the most well-known.  

Best Practices for Product Lifecycle Management

Turning your company into the next Tesla takes more than an innovative product and product lifecycle management software. The product lifecycle is complex and many markets are already very competitive, which makes it difficult to reach the growth stage. Following some product lifecycle management best practices can help.

• Differentiate your product. Beginning in the development phase, think about how you will position your product against the competition. Your positioning will affect your product design. For example, if you decide to make a more affordable version of the product or a more powerful version, this will affect what goes into the product.
• Set the right pricing. In many industries, especially eCommerce product management, pricing is always changing depending on the supply chain, consumer sentiments, and even the time of year. Effective PLM helps you tailor your pricing strategy to the part of the lifecycle your product is in as well as outside factors. For example, discounts in the introduction and maturity phases can help increase demand.
• Be ready to innovate. One of the best ways to extend your growth and maturity phases is to constantly iterate on your product. Adding new features isn’t the only way. You can try new marketing strategies, bundling your products, or cross-selling. You can even change your business model entirely, like Netflix did when it made the switch from DVD rentals to streaming.
• Measure your success. You’ll only know if your PLM is succeeding if you measure it continuously. Fast lead times are an indicator that you’re meeting customer demand. Less waste of materials, labor, and money means your supply chain is efficient, while excess materials and products may mean you overestimated demand. Low numbers of returns and complaints mean you have happy customers and quality products.

So what is product lifecycle management? Ultimately, it’s a way to ensure you’re selling your products efficiently. By creating quality products, setting the right prices, and ensuring that you have items in stock, you’re not only saving your business money, but creating an excellent customer experience. At Akeneo, our product information management (PIM) software is all about providing an amazing product experience that leads into the best customer experience you can offer. Learn more about our PIM, as well as the differences between PIM versus PLM, then contact us if you have any questions. We’re always here to help you sort out what you need.

If you’re in eCommerce, you know that making order out of chaos is a big part of the job.  You’ve got suppliers around the world. Warehouses around the country. Online stores and third-party channels. Digital catalogs in the cloud and print catalogs hot off the presses. And brick-and-mortar stores haven’t gone extinct: U.S. retailers announced twice as many store openings as closings in 2021. You’ve got a lot going on. How can you keep track of it all? One process stands out for eCommerce in particular: inventory management.  From your local corner store to retail giants like Amazon, everyone needs eCommerce inventory management software, but different tools work better for different teams. So how do you find the right one for your organization? That’s what we’re here for.   

What is eCommerce inventory management software?

eCommerce inventory management software tracks and manages your products so that you always know the amount in stock, its location, its price, and how fast it’s selling. It helps you source, store, and sell your products as efficiently as possible.  eCommerce inventory management itself can be grouped into four categories:

1. Raw materials. The materials that go directly into your product, like fabric and thread for a clothing manufacturer.
2. Production goods. Items used to make your product that aren’t directly a part of it, like sewing machines for clothing. 
3. Works-in-progress. Products that are still in the design phase, like next season’s fashions.
4. Finished goods. Products that are ready for sale, like current fashions either in a warehouse or on the rack. 

When it comes to eCommerce inventory management software, we’re usually talking about the fourth category: finished goods. The previous stages are typically managed by other types of software, like product data management (PDM), and all are part of product lifecycle management (PLM), which often has its own tools to manage as well.  It’s all a part of building the right ecosystem, but inventory management software is especially important.  

Why is inventory management software important for eCommerce?

There are so many benefits of eCommerce inventory management systems, it’s hard to know where to start. So let’s just dive in. 

• Better forecasting. Even the most basic eCommerce inventory management software provides insights into what you have and where it is, from the warehouse to your customers’ doorsteps. That means you know when to restock, how much to buy, and where to store it so that you make the most profit. 
• More successful product launches. When you know what’s selling—and what’s not selling—you can apply that information to future product launches. Did customers go crazy for your stuffed pickle dog toy, but weren’t sold on the red rope? We see more fun food-inspired toys in your future. 
• Improved quality control. Inventory management software will tell you when something was made, when it arrived at the warehouse, and when it needs to be sold, so you know exactly what to prioritize. Instead of stock going missing, you can get it out the door before it goes out of date—or out of fashion. 
• Positive omnichannel customer experiences. Your goal is always to keep your customers coming back. How do you do that? By providing an amazing buying experience wherever your customers are. eCommerce inventory management software will sync with your digital product catalog and other channels so that your inventory counts are always correct, and your customers always get what they ordered.

Ultimately, effective inventory management for eCommerce helps you make the most possible profit from each and every item you sell. And that keeps you in business.  

Essential features of inventory management software

It’s not an exaggeration to say that inventory management can make or break your business, so you want to spend the time to find the software that’s right for your organization. Here’s what to look for. Real-time tracking If your eCommerce inventory software doesn’t update in real-time, then you—and your customers—don’t actually know what’s in stock and what’s out-of-stock. You need to know what’s been ordered, what’s been bought in-store, what’s been delivered, and what’s been returned. And you need to know it in real time.  Automation It seems like everything is automated these days, and just like your sales and marketing software, your car, and your electronics, your eCommerce inventory management software should be too. When inventory management and optimization happens automatically, you free up your employees to focus on planning for the future.  SKU scanning Real-time capabilities and the smartest AI in the world don’t mean anything if you can’t easily input your SKUs. Keeping tabs on your stock is a fundamental task of eCommerce inventory management, so you’ll need software that integrates with the barcode scanners you use.  Syndication Modern eCommerce operates on a plethora of platforms: Amazon, Facebook, Alibaba, eBay, Etsy, Google Shopping, plus new channels you may not even be aware of yet. Can your eCommerce inventory management system syndicate all those systems? It won’t do you much good if it isn’t able to track what’s being sold on third-party sites and easily sync to new channels as they emerge.  Price optimization Price is easily one of the most important factors in inventory management. Is your price too high, or too low? Should it change seasonally? When should you put items on sale or on clearance? How can you make the most profit? These are all things your software should be able to tell you.  Forecasting You don’t just need to optimize your price points. You need to optimize the inventory itself. If your sales vary based on season, holidays, customer trends, or economic factors, your eCommerce inventory management software can help you predict the future, so you know what you need to order, reorder, and unload.  Integration across channels and locations If you have physical stores, you’ll need software that integrates with your POS system and transmits all sales and stock level details. You’ll be able to see your overall inventory as well as what you have at each store. The same goes for multiple warehouses: Your inventory management software should be able to input and track data from each warehouse, making it easy to see what you have and move product from place to place.  Reporting We hope you’re a data nerd, because you’re going to have a lot of data. Why not use it? With detailed reporting dashboards and capabilities, eCommerce inventory software can provide valuable insights into customer behavior, order fill times, delivery times, inventory control, when to reorder, and more. That helps you optimize your operations and keep your costs down.  Customer support You’re all about customer support for your own business, but it may never cross your mind when it comes to your tech stack. It should—fast, knowledgeable, and friendly customer support can make a big difference when you need a problem fixed. Getting questions answered quickly can also decrease your onboarding and training time.  Your eCommerce inventory management system is an essential tool to help you create fast, seamless customer experiences across all of your channels. It should make your life easier, not harder, by integrating with your existing systems. And ultimately, it should make your customers happier and keep them coming back.  Ready to hear more? Request a demo with an Akeneo expert and see how our hassle-free software can help your business run more efficiently. 

Companies exploring Product information Management (PIM) solutions often find themselves directed, through marketing and sales activities or internal stakeholders, to also explore Master Data Management (MDM) solutions. This isn’t surprising considering that on the surface these two software offerings appear to serve similar purposes within the data ecosystem. Further complicating the discussion is that PIM is actually considered a specialized subcategory of MDM, and in recent years, some MDM vendors have begun trying to blur the distinction between the two systems. So let’s take a look at both to understand what makes them different and how PIM’s deep focus on marketers and their ability to drive brand value through product experiences makes them distinct from MDMs and an important offering for any retailer.   

What is MDM? 

Master Data Management (MDM) is a category of software that centralizes and standardizes different data types and processes from multiple systems within an enterprise to build a “Master” record. Modern enterprises include dozens of disjointed systems that store critical Customer, Product, Supplier, Location, and Employee information in both structured and unstructured formats. MDM platforms are IT driven solutions that bring harmony to this chaotic ecosystem by synchronizing and standardizing data across the entire ecosystem to provide a golden record that eliminates the potential for redundancy, duplication, and miscommunication. This stewardship over the entire enterprise’s data makes it a valuable tool for Business Intelligence (BI), the establishment of data policies and guidelines, regulatory compliance, and improving operational efficiencies.   

What is PIM? 

Product Information Management (PIM) is considered a subcategory of MDM but differentiates itself by limiting its scope to being the Master for just Product information. PIM solutions are business driven applications that provide marketers a single place to collect, manage, translate, and enrich product information and media to create catalogs that can be quickly distributed to multiple sales channels and markets. PIM systems offer robust support for omnichannel commerce by providing a wide range of connectivity solutions for eCommerce platforms, marketplaces, mobile apps, and social media. PIM software’s focus on Product Experience makes it critical to companies looking to ensure their brand provides a consistent high-quality experience across all customer touchpoints. The benefits of PIM can be measured in higher conversion rates, lower return rates, and faster time to market for new products.   

MDM vs PIM

In the past, technical product information compiled in an MDM from supplier feeds, data hubs, or internal systems (PLM/ERP) may have been sufficient, but the rapidly evolving demands of digital commerce require more. Companies must increasingly be equipped to provide compelling, high-quality, and contextualized product information to a wide-range of customer touchpoints at a moment’s notice. Product information can no longer be treated as a commodity; it is an important differentiator in the digital world, a business function ruled by marketers and merchandisers who collaborate with a wide range of internal teams and external partners and suppliers to deliver technical, visual, instructional, and emotional product information that is localized for and compliant with international markets. It is PIM software’s capacity to support these requirements that have made it a distinct and rapidly growing software category.  MDM and PIM platforms serve distinct but complementary functions within a business ecosystem, and many enterprises use both systems. MDM platforms can feed core product information aggregated from across the ecosystem into a PIM system. This information is then tailored and enhanced by marketers and combined with assets within the PIM before being distributed across all of a company’s sales channels. When companies don’t have an MDM solution, PIM software can be a much faster and cheaper way to cleanse and govern product information to support digital commerce activities, though they make poor MDM substitutes when it comes to managing an entire company’s data management needs. For companies that do already have an MDM, the addition of a PIM platform gives their marketers a better place to build superior product experiences with support for digital commerce. There is sometimes a temptation to forgo PIM software in favor of the “all-in-one” solution that MDM platforms appear to offer. Companies that go down this path tend to do so because of an underappreciation of the importance of quality product information to the business. From their perspective, products are simple lists of attributes attached to a SKU to describe the basic technical information about a product (height, weight, generic color etc.). And when this is the extent of your Product Information, it does seem only logical to consolidate it along with all the other 0’s and 1’s within an MDM. But product information is much too important to be treated in this manner, because ultimately product information is critical in driving customer experience. We must consider this human element and provide a compelling experience to customers as they prepare to make that buying decision! Consolidating, reducing, and standardizing our sales data in an MDM makes sense, but do we really want to manage our customer’s product experiences the same way we handle last month’s invoices?

MDM to PIM Integration Best Practices 

When integrating an MDM system to a PIM system, establish a single source of truth for each data field and determine who can access and manipulate what within each system. Bring only relevant customer-facing information from the MDM into the PIM and determine how frequently the data needs to be updated. Core product information is often populated from the MDM into the PIM, enriched by the marketing team, and then passed back into the MDM for reporting and dissemination. API-based integrations are preferred. PIM and MDM platforms are distinct but complementary technologies that both play an important role within a company’s ecosystem. While MDM platforms provide a powerful but resource intensive solution for IT teams to provide governance, reporting, and standardization across the entire enterprise, they can’t build compelling product experiences. Only Marketers, empowered to collaborate in a PIM platform engineered specifically for their needs, can provide the high quality, differentiated product experiences modern commerce demands. Don’t treat product information as just another piece of data to be managed, nurture it in a PIM and turn it into a competitive advantage to drive sales and unlock growth.

Have you ever wondered what the actual business impact is on a piece of technology? Whether it’s for your own personal interest or to convince your boss that it’s a necessary investment, proving the economic impact of software can be the difference between acquiring a platform that revolutionizes the way you work or sticking to the status quo.

One of the most frequently asked questions we get here at Akeneo is about the return on investment (ROI) that organizations may realize by implementing a PIM solution. That’s why we commissioned Forrester Consulting this past year to conduct a Total Economic Impact (TEI) study to quantify results that existing Akeneo PIM customers have seen to provide those interested with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of Akeneo’s PIM solution on their organizations.

For the purposes of the study, Forrester collected and aggregated feedback from a number of representatives with experience using Akeneo’s PIM solution in order to better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment. 

The results were astounding; for a full breakdown, you can download the report here, but let’s dive into a cursory view of a few key issues that these organizations were facing, and how they used Akeneo’s PIM software to help.

Many of the interviewees noted how their organizations struggled with common challenges, including:

 

1. Lacking a single source of the truth 

Without a PIM solution in place (or an inefficient, outdated PIM system), many organizations saw product data scattered everywhere. Some data is stored in the ERP, in legacy technology, or even in random spreadsheets, meaning that multiple departments had different parts of the product record. Users faced constraints on available fields, field sizes, product categorizations, and organizing product data for intended product data users. 

Duplicate effort occurred in maintaining the data and excess effort occurred accessing the data. Ensuring data quality was not possible, so inaccurate input was not caught and departments frequently had common data that conflicted.

With no central repository of product data, organizations struggled with:

• Labor redundancy
• Data duplication
• Incomplete data
• Ineffective data sharing
• An abundance of data errors

 

2. Slow to expand ways of selling

The report also uncovered that many organizations felt that they lacked the combination of resources, technical skills, and nimbleness to respond to new market opportunities.This meant that teams were slow to respond to new markets and channels, and struggled to take advantage of new revenue streams. This hampered not only their ambitions to expand selling channels, but also bottle-necked the number of products they were able to sell through various sales channels and approaches, such as upselling, cross-selling, selling by product groupings, and product rankings.

This also meant that distributors were losing new product placement opportunities because competitors were able to provide new product information to retailers and eCommerce partners faster than they were able to.

 

3. Inefficient internal operations

Several organizations interviewed stated that product managers were being forced to spend a large amount of time on inefficient activities such as collecting and managing product data, which in turn led to inefficient activities to activate that data with channel partners or with their own catalogs and eCommerce systems. Creating redundant work for these product catalog managers meant that they were spending more time hunting down and organizing product information (or even worse, creating it from scratch when it already existed somewhere) instead of utilizing their precious time in a better way.

Do any of these struggles ring a bell? Good news is you’re not alone – the better news is that Akeneo PIM can help. Our easy-to-use interface and administrative workflows meant that we were able to provide these organizations with complete and accurate product information and an easier process for internal and external product data communication.

In particular, the Forrester report found that, after implementing Akeneo PIM: 

 

1. Revenue increases of $10.4 million due to faster time-to-market (TTM) 

With a centralized system of product information, organizations interviewed were able to expand the number of products sold and facilitate new product adoption sooner due to an improved time-to-market (TTM). In addition, Akeneo PIM offered a single source of record for all teams and product managers to reference and utilize, leading to more value-add work, more new products, and more innovative products. With complete and accurate product information, distributors gained a competitive advantage as they were able to enter new markets faster and smoother.

2. Revenue increases of $45.4 million due to Akeneo-enabled data management and quality improvements

The ability to centrally store and manage all product information allows organizations to improve the experience for managing data and supports better insights into data quality. This also enables these organizations to supply all their sales and marketing channels more easily with rich, search-engine-optimized (SEO) product information that leads to improved product performance on partner and eCommerce sites. 

This also means less redundant work for product managers; when they are able to trust that their product data is accurate and up-to-date, they spend less time double-checking the information and more time on valuable activities. Lastly, improved data quality and management means that organizations were able to open new streams of revenue through additional cross-selling and upselling practices. 

 

3. Operational improvements through return reduction due to quality and decision accuracy of $1.1 million over three years

One of the biggest killers to revenue and hinderances to growth is returned products, and ambiguous product information is one of the top reasons customers return online purchases. By improving product information completeness and quality using Akeneo PIM, the organizations that were interviewed for the report experienced a reduction of returns, leading to operational savings related to the shipping and handling costs of the returns as well as any discounting or write-offs associated with the returned items. 

When customers know what they ordered and receive the product they expected to receive, they are far less likely to make the return and far more likely to come back again as a repeat customer.

At the end of the day, Akeneo PIM provides an easy-to-use interface for organizations to centralize, manage, optimize, and communicate their product information across internal and external teams, saving these businesses time, money, and resources.

For a deeper analysis of these results and more fascinating insights into how PIM can revolutionize your business, be sure to download the Total Economic Impact Report of Akeneo’s PIM in its entirety today, or reach out to an Akeneo expert to see how you can get started.