Akeneo News

Mar 12, 2025

Master the Customer Experience with SAP CX

Delivering a great customer experience isn’t just about having the right technology, but about having the right data to fuel it. Discover how SAP CX and Akeneo work hand in hand to enhance personalization, improve search and merchandising, reduce returns, and drive stronger customer loyalty, all while making operations more efficient.

SAP Customer Data Cloud

Managing customer identities and data privacy is crucial in today’s regulatory landscape. SAP Customer Data Cloud ensures secure, transparent, and compliant data collection and management, allowing businesses to build trust with customers while personalizing experiences based on consented data.

SAP Sales Cloud

SAP Sales Cloud helps sales teams enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and close deals more efficiently. With AI-driven forecasting, pipeline management, and guided selling features, sales teams gain deeper insights into customer behavior, enabling them to offer personalized recommendations and build stronger relationships.

SAP Service Cloud

Exceptional customer service is a key differentiator for businesses. SAP Service Cloud enhances service operations by providing AI-powered chatbots, self-service portals, and proactive issue resolution tools, which all work together to help businesses deliver fast, efficient, and personalized support across all channels.

SAP CX AI Toolkit

Rounding out our list, the SAP CX AI Toolkit introduces AI-driven enhancements that optimize various aspects of customer experience such as AI-powered shopping assistants, intelligent search and recommendations, and sentiment analysis tools that help businesses better understand and cater to customer needs. By leveraging AI, companies can streamline interactions, improve personalization, and automate routine tasks, ultimately enhancing the overall customer experience.

SAP CX AI Toolkit

Benefits of SAP CX

Implementing SAP CX delivers several key benefits that enable businesses to stay competitive in the digital landscape by creating more personalized, data-driven, and efficient customer interactions. In an era where customer expectations are higher than ever, embracing intelligent solutions that anticipate customer needs, optimize engagement, and foster long-term loyalty ensures businesses can take a unified approach to managing customer relationships across marketing, commerce, sales, and service, ensuring that every touchpoint is optimized to deliver seamless, relevant, and highly engaging experiences.

In particular, SAP CX helps to enable:

• Personalized experiences: With AI-driven insights and predictive analytics, businesses can create highly personalized interactions that resonate with customers. By analyzing customer behavior, preferences, and past interactions, companies can craft individualized marketing messages, product recommendations, and promotions that drive engagement and loyalty.
• Seamless omnichannel engagement: SAP CX ensures a consistent and frictionless experience across websites, mobile apps, social media, and in-store interactions. Whether a customer is browsing online, interacting with a chatbot, or speaking to a customer service agent, the experience remains seamless and context-aware, reducing frustration and increasing conversions.
• Enhanced customer insights: By centralizing customer data from multiple touchpoints, businesses gain a 360-degree view of their audience. This unified customer profile allows for better segmentation, more accurate targeting, and improved forecasting, helping businesses make more informed decisions that lead to higher ROI.
• Increased efficiency and automation: AI-powered tools automate repetitive tasks such as customer inquiries, lead scoring, and order processing, freeing up teams to focus on high-value activities. Automated workflows ensure faster response times, reduce errors, and enhance overall operational efficiency.
• Stronger customer loyalty and retention: Personalized and seamless interactions lead to higher customer satisfaction, which translates into greater brand loyalty and increased repeat purchases. When customers feel understood and valued, they are more likely to continue engaging with a brand and advocating for it through positive word-of-mouth and reviews.

Maximizing SAP CX with PIM

While SAP CX is a powerful platform for managing customer experiences, its effectiveness depends on the quality of the data that flows through it—especially product information. A Product Information Management (PIM) system extends the value of SAP CX by ensuring that high-quality, enriched, and consistent product data is available across all customer touchpoints.

A PIM centralizes and streamlines product data management, reducing manual errors, improving time-to-market, and enabling businesses to deliver rich, localized, and channel-specific product experiences at scale. 

By integrating a PIM with SAP CX, companies can:

Enhance Personalization 

Deliver highly relevant product recommendations and content based on accurate, enriched product data. When product details are comprehensive and structured properly, AI-powered recommendation engines within SAP CX can better match customer preferences with suitable products, resulting in more engaging and relevant shopping experiences.

Optimize Search and Merchandising 

Ensure customers can easily find the right products with well-structured and detailed product attributes. A PIM enhances product discoverability by providing enriched metadata, ensuring that search engines and in-platform search functions display the most relevant results based on user queries.

Improve Conversion Rates 

Provide complete and compelling product information that instills confidence in buyers. High-quality images, detailed specifications, and localized descriptions increase transparency and trust, reducing hesitation and improving the likelihood of purchase.

Ensure Consistency Across Channels 

Maintain uniform product data across eCommerce sites, marketplaces, mobile apps, and in-store systems. A PIM eliminates discrepancies in product descriptions, pricing, and availability, creating a seamless omnichannel experience that strengthens brand trust and credibility.

Reduce Returns and Customer Frustration 

Accurate product data helps customers make informed decisions, leading to fewer mismatched expectations and lower return rates; in fact, 62% of customers believe having more accurate product information upfront would reduce their likelihood of making a return

By ensuring the right information is always available, businesses minimize post-purchase dissatisfaction and enhance overall customer satisfaction.

By leveraging a PIM alongside SAP CX, businesses can maximize their investment in customer experience technologies while ensuring a seamless and engaging product discovery journey. The integration of PIM with SAP CX not only improves operational efficiency but also drives revenue by providing superior product experiences tailored to customer needs.

Akeneo & SAP Commerce Cloud

To further streamline product data management within SAP CX, joint customers can leverage the Akeneo App for SAP Commerce Cloud, allowing them to integrate high-quality product information into their SAP Commerce Cloud, leveraging the SAP Business Technology Platform. This flexible and performant integration  allows SAP architects to configure and transform the data quickly and easily to meet complex commerce needs, ultimately improving the end customer experience thanks to complete, compelling, localized product information. 

With Akeneo’s PIM and SAP CX working together, businesses can deliver more compelling product experiences that drive customer satisfaction and revenue growth.

Learn more about how Akeneo’s PIM enhances SAP CX and take your customer experience strategy to the next level!

Spring Release 2025 is Here.

Enrich and activate product records with real customer feedback along the entire customer journey and optimize product performance with our latest features.

Learn moreLearn moreLearn more

Sarah Hoffman, Product Marketing Manager

Akeneo

Trending

Mar 10, 2025

Fashion’s Dirty Secret: The True Cost of What You Wear

Sustainable fashion is important for both businesses and the world. Learn how ethical sourcing, circular fashion, and mindful consumerism can reduce waste, lower carbon footprints, and promote fair labor practices. Discover how brands can implement sustainability while improving transparency, customer trust, and long-term business success

What is Sustainable Fashion? 

So we know the impact that the fashion industry can have on the environment, but what exactly does actual sustainable fashion look like?

Sustainable fashion refers to a clothing supply chain that prioritizes organic or recycled materials and ethical labor practices. Just like its name suggests, the aim of sustainable fashion companies is to reduce environmental impact by using eco-friendly materials, minimizing waste, and ensuring fair working conditions.

Examples Of Sustainable Fashion

There are various types of sustainable fashion that brands practice:

• Ethical Fashion: Ethical fashion is about the moralistic approach to fashion—focusing on fair treatment and safe working conditions for all workers involved in the clothing production process. Its goal is to be both socially and environmentally responsible! A great example is the fashion brand, People Tree who has been a pioneer in the fair trade fashion movement since its founding in 1991. The brand champions ethical fashion by using sustainable materials, ensuring fair wages, and empowering marginalized communities through fair trade practices.
• Slow Fashion: Slow fashion is about challenging the fast-paced fashion industry by encouraging a more considerate and sustainable approach to clothing. Asket is a prime example of a slow fashion brand because they embody the core principles it entails. Their permanent collection of timeless, high-quality garments encourages mindful consumption and reduces waste associated with fast fashion, encouraging investments in lifelong garments instead of cheaper pieces that will be out of style in six months.
• Circular Fashion: Circular fashion is a model that aims to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency by keeping materials in use for as long as possible. It’s based on the core principles of the circular economy, where products are designed to be reused, repaired, remade, and recycled rather than disposed of after a short lifecycle. A great example of a circular economy in fashion is Patagonia’s Worn Wear Program. Instead of following the traditional linear model of take-make-dispose, Patagonia has created a closed-loop system that extends the life of its products and reduces waste by offering a place for consumers to resell their old Patagonia garments instead of letting them sit in a landfill.
• Conscious Fashion: Conscious fashion is more of a message to the consumer! It refers to a mindful approach to fashion that emphasizes the ethical, sustainable, and responsible practices done throughout the entire lifecycle of a garment,  from design and production to consumption and disposal. Eileen Fisher embodies conscious fashion by focusing on their timeless collection and circular initiatives, such as their Renew take-back program which repairs and resells customers’ pre-loved garments. The brand weaves sustainability into its clothing through a commitment to organic materials and minimizing textile waste.

All these various types of sustainable fashion—in all their glorious shades of green—drive a crucial change towards a more environmentally responsible industry, proving that both style and ethics can coexist!

How Can Fashion Brands Be Sustainable?

Well it’s quite easy! Fashion brands can become more sustainable by implementing ethical, circular practices across their supply chains. Here’s how:

Be Transparent

As I mentioned before, by clearly communicating how a product came to be, supply chain details, and sustainability efforts, brands can allow customers to make informed, responsible purchases—building trust between consumer and brand. Product Information Management (PIM) system plays a crucial role in this by centralizing and standardizing product data, ensuring that accurate details about materials, certifications, and ethical production practices are easily accessible and enriched. By integrating PIM solutions, brands can provide consistent and transparent product information across all sales channels, helping consumers make more sustainable choices while also enhancing trust and brand loyalty.

Use Sustainable Materials

One of the most impactful ways fashion brands can become more sustainable is by choosing eco-friendly fabrics that reduce resource consumption and pollution. Sustainable materials help lower water usage, carbon emissions, and chemical pollution. Materials like organic cotton that uses less water and has no synthetic pesticides compared to conventional cotton, or linen which is durable as well as biodegradable. By shifting to these sustainable materials, brands can significantly reduce their environmental footprint while still producing high-quality garments!

Improve Manufacturing Processes

The production phase is one of the most resource-heavy parts of fashion. Brands can adopt cleaner, more efficient manufacturing methods to minimize waste and pollution. This can be achieved through approaches like waterless dyeing technologies like CO2 dyeing or digital printing which can significantly cut water pollution. Or even by using plant-based, biodegradable dyes instead of harmful synthetic chemicals, making them non-toxic and natural. The choices are endless!

Ensure Ethical Labor Practices

Clothes don’t just appear out of thin air—they’re made by people. See, sustainability isn’t just about environmental impact; social responsibility is equally important. To be truly sustainable, fashion brands must ensure that their supply chains are free from exploitation and that their workers are treated fairly. By partnering with Fair Trade-certified suppliers, eliminating forced labor, providing fair wages, and improving factory safety standards, brands can create safe and ethical working conditions. 

Reduce Overproduction & Waste

Fast fashion’s reliance on overproduction leads to massive textile waste. To counter this, sustainable brands must adopt slow fashion which focuses on producing timeless, permanent collections instead of chasing micro-trends. This is done by focusing on the materials used to make clothes and ‘slowing’ down the process of how they’re made. The idea isn’t to make tons of items that match the latest trend but to make products that can last years for customers. By producing only what is needed, brands can reduce waste, lower emissions, and operate more efficiently.

Promote Circular Fashion

A circular economy ensures that clothing stays in use for as long as possible rather than being discarded after a few wears. Brands can implement recycling programs which is an essential way to incorporate sustainable fashion—encouraging customers to return old clothing for recycling or resale. Brands can also accomplish this with reverse logistics, giving clothes a second life by having them recycled, repaired, repackaged, etc. Embracing a circular approach allows brands to reduce waste, lower carbon footprints, and create a more sustainable business model.

Minimize Packaging

The impact of fashion extends beyond clothing—packaging, shipping, and logistics also play a huge role in sustainability. Brands can reduce their environmental footprint by using recycled or compostable packaging. Ultimately, this avoids unnecessary plastic waste by opting for biodegradable or recyclable materials. Even small changes in packaging and logistics can significantly reduce carbon emissions!

Sustainable Fashion: Style Without Sacrifice

As the fashion industry faces growing scrutiny for its environmental damage, exploitative labor practices, and massive waste it generates, it’s clear that a shift towards ethical and eco-friendly alternatives is essential. By embracing ethical supply chains, circular fashion, and mindful consumption, we can reduce the industry’s carbon footprint, preserve natural resources, and ensure fair treatment for workers.

And let’s face it—no one looks good in environmental guilt. Every purchase is a chance to vote for a more sustainable future, whether by supporting brands that value transparency, fair wages, and eco-friendly materials, or simply just buying less but better! The future of fashion should be as smart as it is stylish, and by making sustainability the norm, we can dress for the world we want to create—one thoughtfully chosen piece at a time.

Avoiding Greenwashing

Discover how to avoid the pitfalls of greenwashing and build genuinely sustainable strategies that foster trust, align with regulations, and drive long-term business growth.

Download NowDownload NowDownload Now

Venus Kamara, Content Marketing Itern

Akeneo

Trending

Mar 07, 2025

Your Customers Are Talking – Are You Listening?

Discover how listening to customer feedback, leveraging AI, and optimizing product information can drive sales and engagement. Learn practical strategies from top brands on using PIM, AI, and search data to refine product content, improve discoverability, and create seamless shopping experiences.

If you don’t know your own products well, there’s no way you can sell them well.

Carl Ogden Software Development Manager

Leatherman Tools Group

Step 2: Tap Into the Voice of the Customer

Here’s the cool thing with user-generated reviews and product search behavior – if you pay attention, customers aren’t just buying your products but are telling you exactly how they see them, how they use them, and what they wish they could do with them. The real question is: Are you listening? Too many brands ignore these golden insights, missing out on opportunities to refine their messaging.

Where to listen:

Customer Reviews – Real Feedback

Customer reviews reveal not only what buyers think about your products but also how they actually use them. For a tools company like Leatherman, this means understanding whether customers are searching for tools based on where they plan to use them (home, work, or outdoors), or for specific activities like camping or everyday carry. By capturing this data and feeding it into Akeneo PIM, Leatherman builds SEO keywords and metadata that can be syndicated across eCommerce platforms, ensuring that products align with customer needs.

Search Terms – Speak Their Language

Customers use real-world language, which may be different from technical specifications or marketing copy. If you can analyze search data across paid search, organic search, and AI-driven search engines to capture customer intent, whether they are searching based on occasion, recipient, or a specific theme, you can capture these insights and feed them back into product data, making products more relevant and easier to find.

On-Site Behavior – Clicks Tell the Story

Are customers interacting with the products you expect? Observing how customers browse, search, and interact with products provides key insights into their goals. For example, a leading gifting company collects data from checkout questions, entry points, and on-site interactions to enhance product visibility and ensure the right product is surfaced for the right occasion. By managing this content in one central location, 1-800 Flowers can ensure proper workflows, data quality, and market-specific adjustments, making product information more aligned with customer behavior.

Step 3: Put AI to Work with PX Insights

You’ve gathered all these insights, but manually analyzing thousands of reviews and search terms? That’s a full-time job. Now here’s where things get exciting. Enter Akeneo’s PX Insights, a game-changer that turns raw customer feedback into actionable data without the extra workload.

How PX Insights Helps:

Detect Trends Fast

Manually analyzing thousands of customer reviews and feedback points isn’t practical, but Artificial Intelligence (AI) can instantly detect patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. PX Insights identifies common themes in real customer reviews, whether it’s recurring complaints, praise for specific features, or emerging use cases, allowing brands to improve messaging and enhance product descriptions based on real data. Through this, you’ll gain a clear picture of what your customers truly think and how to improve your products or services.

Boost SEO & Content

PX Insights surfaces the most impactful keywords and phrases customers are actually using in their searches and reviews, helping brands improve SEO rankings and fine-tune product descriptions. Whether it’s matching product terminology to real customer search queries or refining titles for AI-driven search engines, AI-powered insights ensure product content is designed to be found. It’s like giving your products a megaphone in the noisy marketplace of the internet!

Smarter Product Placement

Where should a product be featured? What collections should it be part of? Which keywords should be emphasized in marketing campaigns? Instead of relying on assumptions, PX Insights helps merchandising teams place products where they’ll get the most engagement and conversions. By analyzing search trends and customer behavior, brands can position their products more strategically across multiple channels.

When it comes to AI, product information is one of the best places to invest—it’s your data, you own it, and you can see real, measurable returns.

Carl Ogden Software Development Manager

Leatherman Tools Group

Step 4: Make Product Descriptions a Living, Breathing Asset

Gone are the days of static, set-and-forget product descriptions. The best brands treat product information as dynamic, always evolving based on customer insights. As Kristin Naragon puts it, “Make it a living, breathing, dynamic, voice-of-the-customer-infused product record.”

How to Keep Product Info Fresh:

Refine Descriptions with Real Customer Language

The way customers talk about and search for products evolves over time—so your product information should evolve, too. By continuously refining descriptions based on customer insights, brands can ensure their content stays relevant, engaging, and optimized for search.

Test & Optimize

Not all product messaging resonates equally with every audience. By tracking search and sales data, brands can experiment with different product descriptions, benefits, and positioning to see what drives the highest engagement. Refining descriptions based on real data and not assumptions ensures your product speaks directly to customer needs and expectations.

Use AI to Scale

With the implementation of AI tools and the right foundation of product data, brands can automate the process of refining product descriptions by analyzing large volumes of customer reviews and search trends and surfacing opportunities to enhance product content in real time. Whether it’s identifying product use cases for unexpected markets or uncovering overlooked customer concerns, AI ensures that product descriptions are always evolving to meet customer needs.

Stay Ahead by Listening, Adapting, and Winning

By listening to customers, leveraging AI, and continuously refining product content, brands can create a more engaging, customer-centric experience that turns browsers into buyers and buyers into loyal customers. Whether through optimized product descriptions, smarter search strategies, or AI-driven interactions, the key is to stay adaptable. When product information evolves with customer insights, brands don’t just keep up – they lead.

Your customers are already talking. Want to know what they’re saying? Learn more about how Akeneo can help.

Are you ready to take the next step?

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

Request a demoRequest a demoRequest a demo

Venus Kamara, Content Marketing Itern

Akeneo

Michelle Yamnitsky, Regional Marketing Specialist

Akeneo

Akeneo News

Mar 05, 2025

Akeneo’s Spring Release is Here: What You Need to Know

Packed with new features and updates designed to help brands and retailers harness customer insights, enhance content accuracy with AI, streamline compliance, and expand to new sales channels with ease, Akeneo’s Spring Release is here to make managing and activating product data smarter and easier than ever.

Surfacing review data inside Akeneo is game-changing for Leatherman Tools Group. PX Insights eliminates data and team silos, allowing us to focus on refining content based on market insights, instead of just ‘inside out’ product positioning. We now have a dynamic, customer-informed product record that is future-proofed.

Carl Ogden Software Development Manager

Leatherman Tools Group

2. Enrich Product Records with Specific Gen-AI Prompting

Building on our industry-leading GenAI capabilities from last year, Akeneo now supports custom AI prompts that improve translation accuracy and content specificity. This means users can guide AI-generated content by defining how different attributes should be handled, ensuring translations and descriptions remain accurate, on-brand, and contextually relevant.

Key Benefits:

• Deliver more accurate, localized content: Ensure translations are contextually relevant and resonate with customers across all markets.
• Control style, tone, and consistency: Maintain a distinct brand voice at the product family level.
• Scale content generation: Leverage automated rules and bulk actions to generate product content efficiently.

Learn more about custom GenAI prompting

3. Centralize Regulatory Information & Enhance Data Governance

Regulatory compliance is a growing challenge for all businesses, with 99% of B2B companies citing difficulties in keeping up with evolving standards. This is where Akeneo’s dynamic attribute dependencies come into play by simplifying compliance and applying conditional logic to product records, ensuring all required data is correctly structured and aligned with legal requirements.

Key Benefits:

• Automate data validation: Minimize manual errors and enhance data accuracy through automated compliance checks.
• Simplify complex product management: Use logical attribute dependencies to streamline data governance and scalability.
• Reduce risk: Ensure product data meets industry regulations like ETIM and Digital Product Passports to avoid compliance issues.

Learn more about dynamic attribute dependencies.

4. Speed product asset preparation and delivery

Preparing product assets for sales channels is often a time-consuming, manual process. Akeneo streamlines this process by introducing intelligence-backed image editing to automate formatting of assets to meet channel requirements. Then, once assets are formatted for channels they can now be served directly to the end customer via Akeneo’s new Content Delivery Network (CDN). 

Key Benefits:

• Automate image formatting: Use AI to meet channel-specific requirements effortlessly, reducing manual adjustments.
• Improve website speed and reliability: Optimize image load times for a seamless customer experience.
• Deliver product assets faster: Distribute assets directly from Akeneo Product Cloud, eliminating manual uploads and reducing errors.

Learn more about Asset Manager.

5. Activate product data everywhere your customers are

Expanding to new sales channels has never been easier. Akeneo’s Activation enhancements streamline product listing processes, with support for top marketplaces like eBay, Walmart, Home Depot, and Best Buy—plus a new Google Shopping connector for real-time updates and increased data accuracy.

Brands can now onboard and activate product catalogs 90% faster, thanks to an improved catalog mapping system that reduces the time required to configure product attributes across multiple channels from 40 hours to just 4-5 hours.

Key Benefits:

• Eliminate repetitive mapping: Sync product data across all channels using a master catalog, reducing manual effort.
• Reduce costs: Leverage self-serve tools to activate new channels efficiently and affordably.
• Enhance product visibility and traffic: Ensure optimized, enriched product content for better discoverability on Google Shopping.
• Streamline order processing: Integrate marketplace order data directly into Akeneo Activation to improve workflow efficiency.
• Expand effortlessly: Access over 500 sales channels to scale operations seamlessly.

Learn more about Akeneo Activation.

What’s Next?

Akeneo’s 2025 Spring Release is all about making your product information work harder for you. By integrating customer insights, harnessing AI for enriched content, simplifying compliance, and accelerating syndication efforts across top marketplaces, we’re giving brands the tools they need to create truly engaging and effective product experiences. Whether you’re looking to break down data silos, enhance merchandising strategies, or streamline asset management, these new capabilities are designed to help you stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market.

At Akeneo, we believe that great product experiences start with great product information, and this release is a true statement of our commitment to making that process seamless, scalable, and smarter than ever. The future of product information management is here, and we can’t wait to see how you leverage these innovations to transform your business.

Don’t wait – start exploring the new features and take your product experiences to the next level today!

Spring Release 2025 is Here.

Enrich and activate product records with real customer feedback along the entire customer journey and optimize product performance with our latest features.

Learn moreLearn moreLearn more

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

Trending

Feb 28, 2025

How Technology Both Helps and Hurts the Environment

Technology has transformed the way we live, but at what cost? Discover the paradox of technological progress, and see how advancements in AI, e-commerce, and manufacturing are both solving and exacerbating critical environmental issues. Plus, learn how circular economy principles, responsible innovation, and enriched product data can help mitigate waste, reduce emissions, and create a more sustainable future.

How Technology Helps the Environment

1. Enhance abilities to consolidate, track, analyze, and communicate key environmental data

One of the most fundamental ways that AI has already impacted sustainability initiatives is in the way we collect, analyze, and act on environmental data. With more climate data available than ever before, AI is invaluable in helping businesses and policymakers interpret and implement effective sustainability measures. AI-powered solutions can leverage vast datasets to identify patterns, predict environmental risks, and optimize decision-making for a more sustainable future.

For instance, AI-powered tools can help a brand assess the environmental impact of their products across the entire product lifecycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal. By analyzing data from supply chains, transportation networks, and manufacturing processes, AI enables businesses and consumers to make informed, eco-conscious choices and more accurately track the carbon footprint of their products.

A great example of this is Swedish fashion brand Asket, who calculates carbon emissions for their entire range of products at each stage of a product’s lifecycle, including raw material extraction, processing, production, assembly, distribution, and end-of-life outcomes. For every garment, Asket provides detailed disclosures about its supply chain, environmental footprint, and cost structure. Consumers can access information on the factories and facilities involved in production, including details about average wages, working conditions, and shift lengths. 

These advancements in data consolidation and enrichment are fostering hope that technology can play a vital role in tackling the global environmental crisis. 

2. Implement more sustainable and circular supply chains

Believe it or not, the manufacturing sector is actually the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU, and is one of the primary consumers of energy from fossil fuels. And in fact, before a product even reaches the customer, more than 80% of its environmental impact is already determined. 

When it comes to optimizing production processes and minimizing waste, AI can play a crucial role by enabling businesses to monitor and adjust their operations in real time, identifying inefficiencies in product lines, and optimizing inventory management. By utilizing machine learning algorithms, manufacturers can reduce waste, lower costs, and decrease their overall carbon footprint, while predictive maintenance powered by AI also helps extend the lifespan of machinery, preventing premature replacements and reducing industrial waste.

AI-driven analytics can also help companies track and communicate the sustainability of their supply chains by monitoring sourcing practices, labor conditions, and environmental impact, enabling both businesses and consumers to make more ethical, data-driven decisions.

3. Online second-hand marketplaces connect global consumers with previously owned products

By providing an accessible platform for individuals to purchase used items, online second-hand marketplaces like ThredUp or Back Market help to extend the lifespan of different products while diverting products from landfills, reducing demand for newly manufactured goods, and minimizing the environmental footprint of production. 

For the tech industry, second-hand marketplaces offer a sustainable alternative to the cycle of constant upgrades and disposals. Refurbished electronics, such as smartphones and laptops, not only provide consumers with affordable options but also help curb the growing e-waste crisis; Back Market quotes that it prevented 1 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions from entering the atmosphere in 2023 alone.

Similarly, in the fashion industry, second-hand marketplaces promote a more circular economy by allowing consumers to buy and sell pre-owned clothing, reducing the detrimental environmental impact of fast fashion as buying second hand clothing reduces carbon emissions by an average of 25% compared to new clothing. With increasing consumer awareness and demand for sustainable shopping options, online second-hand platforms play a crucial role in fostering responsible consumption habits.

4. Enrich product data to reduce the likelihood of returns

One of the biggest contributors to waste in the retail and eCommerce industries is the high rate of product returns, as returns can add up to 30% of carbon emissions to the initial delivery and accounted for nearly 24 million metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2022.  

Even if a customer is returning a practically untouched product with the tag still attached, these returns often end up sitting in a landfill anyway as the business doesn’t have the infrastructure in place to analyze, refurbish, and relist the product for sale; in the United States, one in every four returned products is sent directly to a landfill, equalling roughly 4.9 billion tons. Fast fashion and low-cost consumer goods exacerbate the problem because the cost of returning and restocking these items often exceeds their resale value. For many companies, it is cheaper and faster to discard returned products rather than reintegrating them into their supply chains, leading to significant waste.

Enriched product data can help address this issue as 62% of consumers say that having more accurate product information upfront would reduce their likelihood of making a return. High-quality images, detailed descriptions and specifications, and in-depth size and fit recommendations based on real customer feedback can help set proper expectations, reducing the likelihood of disappointment and returns.

Beyond just improving customer confidence, enriched product data also allows businesses to refine their inventory management and improve operational efficiency. AI-powered insights can help companies identify patterns in reasons for returns, allowing them to adjust product descriptions, images, or even the products themselves to better meet customer expectations. 

By investing in robust product information management, businesses can foster a more sustainable shopping experience while simultaneously reducing costs associated with handling returns.

Balancing the Impact of Technology

Technology has the power to drive sustainability forward, offering innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges like how to accurately track and communicate carbon footprints, optimize energy use, and reduce waste through smarter, more sustainable supply chains. However, if left unchecked, technological advancements can also contribute to environmental degradation; the rapid expansion of AI, cloud computing, and digital commerce has raised concerns about rising energy consumption, growing electronic waste, and unsustainable supply chains.

To ensure that technological progress aligns with sustainability goals, businesses and consumers must take proactive steps to reduce negative impacts and promote eco-friendly innovation through:

• Adopting circular economy principles: Prioritizing repair, reuse, and responsible recycling to extend the lifespan of technology and reduce waste.
• Supporting sustainable innovations: Investing in energy efficient technologies, ethically sourced materials, and eco-conscious design practices.
• Improving efficiency: Optimizing AI model training, reducing data center emissions, and streamlining digital infrastructure to lower energy consumption.
• Advocating for responsible regulations: Supporting policies that hold tech companies accountable for environmental impact, promote right-to-repair laws, and encourage sustainable practices.

Striking the right balance between progress and responsibility requires a concerted effort from businesses, policymakers, and consumers alike. By adopting circular economy principles, supporting responsible tech development, and advocating for sustainability-focused regulations, we can harness technology’s potential for good and have the best of both worlds, without sacrificing our own.

Avoiding Greenwashing

Discover how to avoid the pitfalls of greenwashing and build genuinely sustainable strategies that foster trust, align with regulations, and drive long-term business growth.

Download NowDownload NowDownload Now

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

Trending

Feb 24, 2025

 Upsell and Cross-sell: Climbing and Crossing Your Way Up

Learn the fundamentals of upselling and cross-selling, their key benefits, and common challenges. Discover effective strategies to implement them successfully and how leveraging PIM can optimize product recommendations, boost sales, and improve customer satisfaction.

How To Upsell and Cross-Sell

So, now you know what upselling and cross-selling is. But how do you successfully execute these sales techniques for your own business? Here are some strategies you can use:

1. Optimize your product data

Reliable product data enables cross-selling and upselling by providing accurate, comprehensive information that helps customers discover related or complementary products. With well-organized product data, businesses can create personalized recommendations, highlight product bundles, and showcase upgrades that meet customer needs, which not only enhances the shopping experience but also builds trust and encourages customers to explore more options.

2. Know your customer

You don’t need to take them out for dinner, but understanding your customers is key to successful cross-selling and upselling. By analyzing their needs, preferences, and purchase history, you can offer personalized product recommendations that actually resonate with them; if a customer has previously purchased lotions for sensitive skin and is currently buying a new shampoo, offering a hair oil for sensitive scalps as an upsell is likely to turn into a purchase. Leveraging customer data allows you to anticipate their needs, making your offers more appealing and timely. 

3. Highlight value differences

Showcasing side-by-side product comparisons helps customers see the added benefits of a higher-tier option, making the upsell or cross-sell more compelling. With tools such as Amazon A+ Content, brands can guide customers toward higher-value products or complementary items. By utilizing comparison charts, brands can highlight the advantages of premium products by showing their features, durability, and/or added benefits to upsell. In the context of cross-selling, brands can place similar products in comparison charts, suggesting add-ons or bundled options to improve the customer’s original choice. 

4. Time it right

It’s crucial to introduce these techniques when your customer is most receptive, like during checkout, post-purchase follow-ups, or when they express interest in related products. At checkout, a well-placed upsell (for example, upgrading to a premium version) or cross-sell suggestion (such as adding a matching item) can feel like a natural enhancement rather than a pushy sales tactic. This is crucial because poorly executed upselling or cross-selling can discourage customers from making a purchase and even influence others to avoid your brand as well!

5. Keep it simple 

Don’t overcomplicate it! Offering too many options can lead to decision fatigue, making customers hesitant or even causing them to abandon their purchase altogether. Instead, provide clear, well-explained choices that seamlessly align with their initial purchase. Keep the suggestions relevant and easy to understand, ensuring they enhance the customer’s experience rather than complicate it. A well-placed upgrade option or complementary product should feel like a natural fit, not an unnecessary distraction!

6. Use social proof

Customers trust other customers. Highlighting reviews and testimonials can reinforce the value of an upsell or cross-sell, making shoppers more confident in their choices. Featuring real customer reviews and photos, or even “frequently bought together” recommendations can subtly nudge customers toward top-tier purchases guided by other real consumers. Leveraging User-Generated Content (UGC) such as photos, videos, or social media posts from real customers helps to create an authentic connection, making the offer feel even more attractive. When potential buyers see that others have upgraded or chosen similar products and loved the results, they’re more likely to follow suit.

7. Bundled packages

Creating appealing product bundles not only enhances customer convenience but also increases the overall order value. By grouping complementary items at a discounted rate, brands create a cost-effective solution that feels like a great deal for shoppers while driving higher revenue. Customers deserve bundles that are thoughtfully put together and make sense!

8. Avoid being pushy

No one likes an aggressive salesperson. Instead of forcing upsells and cross-sells, focus on making relevant recommendations that genuinely add value to the customer’s purchase. A trust-based, seamless approach fosters loyalty and leads to higher conversion rates, as customers are more likely to return when they feel guided rather than pressured.

9. Leverage personalization

A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t cut it. By using AI, data analytics, and customer segmentation, brands can customize upsell and cross-sell suggestions based on shopping habits, past purchases, and preferences. Personalized offers, whether through email or real-time suggestions, make customers feel understood and more likely to engage.

10. Incentivize upgrades

Let’s be honest—who doesn’t love a great deal? Providing limited-time discounts on related products, free samples included with an order, or even exclusive perks for upgrades makes it easier for customers to justify spending more (very relatable). 

11. Test and optimize 

Not all upselling and cross-selling tactics will work the same for every audience. Brands should track performance, test different strategies, and refine their approach based on customer responses. Experimenting with various strategies like incentives or product pairings can reveal what drives the most engagement, ensuring that upselling and cross-selling efforts remain effective and customer-friendly.

Up Your Game, Cross the Sale

Upselling and cross-selling strategies are kind of like climbing a mountain – you can’t just jump to the summit, but you have to guide customers up step by step. When done right, these techniques feel less like a sales pitch and more like a helpful nudge toward a better deal, enhancing the customer experience while boosting revenue. The key is to focus on providing real value by offering relevant upgrades and complementary products that genuinely improve your customer’s purchase. 

When done right, upselling and cross-selling not only increase AOV but also build lasting relationships that keep customers coming back. It’s all about timing, relevance, and adding real value – because no one likes a pushy salesperson, but everyone loves a great recommendation!

Are you ready to take the next step?

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

Request a demoRequest a demoRequest a demo

Venus Kamara, Content Marketing Itern

Akeneo

Trending

Feb 21, 2025

How Recommerce Aligns with 2025 EU Regulatory Requirements

In this guest post from SAP, discover how recommerce offers brands a clear path to compliance while creating new revenue opportunities and strengthening their market position. Learn practical steps to implement recommerce models and future-proof your brand.

As we step into 2025, the European Union continues to lead the charge in promoting sustainable practices through an ambitious regulatory framework. With initiatives like the EU Taxonomy, the Sustainable Corporate Governance directive, and the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), businesses are under increasing pressure to align their operations with stringent environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. For brands navigating these changes, recommerce business models offer a pathway not only to compliance but also to new revenue streams and enhanced brand positioning.

Understanding the 2025 Regulatory Landscape

1. EU Taxonomy: This classification system identifies environmentally sustainable economic activities, providing clear guidelines for investments that support the EU’s climate and environmental objectives. Businesses must now disclose how their activities align with these criteria, emphasizing resource efficiency and circularity (European Commission, 2020).
2. Sustainable Corporate Governance Directive: This directive requires companies to integrate sustainability into their governance structures, ensuring that long-term environmental and social impacts are considered in decision-making processes. It also places greater accountability on directors for managing ESG risks and opportunities (European Commission, 2021).
3. Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP): A cornerstone of the European Green Deal, CEAP focuses on extending product lifecycles through practices like repair, refurbishment, and recycling. It aims to reduce waste and foster sustainable consumption patterns, with specific attention to high-impact sectors such as electronics, textiles, and packaging (European Commission, 2020).

Recommerce: A Natural Fit for Circularity

Recommerce, which encompasses the resale, refurbishment, and recycling of products, aligns seamlessly with the EU’s regulatory push towards circularity. Here’s how recommerce business models can help brands thrive in this new landscape:

1. Regulatory Compliance:

• • Circular Economy Goals: By extending product lifespans through resale or refurbishment, brands contribute directly to CEAP’s objectives, reducing waste and promoting resource efficiency.
  • Sustainability Metrics: Recommerce provides measurable data on resource conservation and emissions reduction, aiding compliance with EU Taxonomy disclosures.

2. New Revenue Streams:

• • Recommerce opens up avenues for monetizing pre-owned goods, creating recurring revenue opportunities. For example, brands can establish trade-in programs or dedicated resale platforms to capture value from returned or second-hand products.
  • Refurbished goods often appeal to cost-conscious consumers, expanding market reach and driving sales in new customer segments.

3. Enhanced Brand Positioning:

• • Sustainability Leadership: Adopting a recommerce model signals a commitment to environmental stewardship, resonating with eco-conscious consumers and investors.
  • Customer Loyalty: Trade-in and buy-back programs foster deeper customer engagement, building trust and loyalty.
  • Innovation Narrative: Pioneering recommerce initiatives allow brands to position themselves as innovators in sustainable business practices.

Practical Steps for Implementing Recommerce Models

1. Develop Circular Design Practices:

• • Design products for durability, repairability, and recyclability, ensuring they fit seamlessly into a circular ecosystem.

2. Establish Take-Back Programs:

• • Encourage consumers to return used products through incentives, creating a steady supply for resale or refurbishment.

3. Leverage Digital Platforms:

• • Invest in eCommerce solutions tailored for second-hand goods, ensuring a seamless user experience for customers.

4. Collaborate with Experts:

• • Partner with recommerce specialists or platforms to streamline operations, from logistics to refurbishing processes.
  • A Path Forward for Your Brand

The EU’s regulatory framework for 2025 underscores the importance of transitioning to sustainable business models. Recommerce offers a compelling solution, enabling brands to comply with stringent requirements while unlocking new opportunities for growth and differentiation. By embracing circularity through recommerce, companies can future-proof their operations, delight environmentally conscious consumers, and position themselves as leaders in the sustainability revolution.

In a world where regulatory demands and consumer expectations converge, recommerce is not just a compliance strategy—it’s a business imperative. Start your journey today, and transform compliance challenges into opportunities for innovation and growth.

Avoiding Greenwashing

Discover how to avoid the pitfalls of greenwashing and build genuinely sustainable strategies that foster trust, align with regulations, and drive long-term business growth.

Download NowDownload NowDownload Now

Miguel Valenzuela, Chief Operations Officer

SAP Recommerce

Akeneo Product Cloud Support

Feb 19, 2025

5 Tips To Get Into PIM-Top Shape

Discover expert tips on maximizing your PIM system and leveraging Akeneo’s capabilities. Learn how to automate tasks, improve collaboration, and enhance product data quality to boost efficiency, increase revenue, and create seamless customer experiences.

3. Automate Tasks with the Rules Engine 

Implementing the Rules Engine within Akeneo PIM can significantly enhance operational efficiency by enabling organizations to define, deploy, and modify business rules dynamically without requiring IT support. These rules often govern critical decisions like pricing, eligibility, and compliance checks, allowing businesses to adapt to changing environments quickly.

By automating repetitive tasks and decision-making processes, businesses ensure consistency and compliance across their organizations, reducing the risk of human errors and improving productivity. This automation process also encourages employees to concentrate on more strategic, high-value tasks without having to worry about the tedious, manual projects. 

Register for a 10-minute overview of the Rules Engine in Akeneo Akademy to learn more.

4. Boost Efficiency and Teamwork with Customizable Collaboration Workflows

Managing product data across teams can be overwhelming, but customizable collaboration workflows bring structure and clarity. Workflows that incorporate enrichment steps, approvals, and task assignments enhance the efficiency of the contributors. To further optimize team coordination and maintain operational efficiency, administrators can assign responsibilities, establish approval stages, and implement structured workflows.

Meanwhile, content contributors gain better visibility into their workload with assigned task lists, making it easier to track and prioritize their work. A workflow dashboard provides real-time progress tracking, allowing businesses to identify bottlenecks, refine processes, and enhance collaboration. By ensuring greater consistency and accuracy, these workflows help accelerate time to market and improve overall efficiency – everything a business wants!

Sound interesting? Have a go at our 15-minute Collaboration Workflow course on Akeneo Akademy.

5. Enhance Product Experiences with Reference Entities

Creating a consistent and engaging product catalog is key to delivering a seamless customer experience. Reference Entities help standardize and share essential product details, ensuring that attributes like brand information, care instructions, packaging details, and sustainability certifications remain accurate and uniform across all listings.

By enriching product pages with detailed and reliable information, businesses can tell richer product stories, build customer trust, and differentiate their offerings. Standardizing these details not only enhances product experiences but also improves data accuracy, making it easier to manage and distribute information across multiple channels.

Dive into a 7-minute overview of Reference Entities in Akeneo Akademy.

Unlocking the Full Potential of Akeneo PIM

By implementing Akeneo’s latest innovations, businesses can streamline workflows, improve data accuracy, and create richer, more engaging product content, not only enhancing customer trust but also reducing errors, boosting efficiency, and accelerating time to market.

Whether you’re just starting your Akeneo PIM journey or looking to refine your existing processes, these best practices will help you unlock greater efficiency, consistency, and impact. 

Ready to take your product information to the next level? Dive into Akeneo Akademy to explore in-depth courses and start optimizing your PIM today!

Want to stay up to date on all the latest Akeneo innovations that are built to eliminate chaos, and delays from siloed operations? Be sure to opt in to receive our Monthly Product Update Newsletters, packed with great updates, tips, and tricks. 

Are you ready to take the next step?

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

Request a demoRequest a demoRequest a demo

Samira McDonald, Senior Manager, Community

Akeneo

Trending

Feb 18, 2025

The Great Post-Holiday Return Rush: What Consumers Are Really Saying

January is the busiest season for returns, but what really drives shoppers to send products back? Our latest survey reveals the top 10 insights into consumer return behavior. Whether you’re a retailer looking to reduce return rates or a brand aiming to build stronger customer relationships, these findings will help you turn returns from a headache into an opportunity.

The post-holiday season is in full swing and that means one thing for retailers: returns, and lots of them. UPS estimated that it will process 1.75 million returned packages on the most popular day for returns: January 4th.

To dive deeper into the topic of returns and better understand why customers are rushing to give back their gifts, the team here at Akeneo conducted a survey to uncover the truth about why shoppers return products, what they expect from brands, and how businesses can minimize return rates while keeping customers happy. 

Here are the top 10 insights we discovered, and what they mean for brands looking to improve their product experiences.

1. 65% of users returned a holiday gift in January

As we mentioned, January sees a wave of exchanges, refunds, and store credits as shoppers return items that weren’t quite right. For retailers, this means an influx of returns that can strain logistics. But it also presents an opportunity – turning returns into exchanges or store credits can keep customers engaged rather than losing them altogether.

2. 62% of consumers believe having more accurate product information upfront would reduce their likelihood of making a return

Consumers crave clarity. Whether it’s dimensions, material details, or real-life images, more transparency upfront leads to fewer surprises – and fewer returns. Brands that invest in enriched, accurate product descriptions not only reduce return rates but also build consumer trust, making them more likely to return (to shop!).

3. 59% said they have made a return specifically because the online product description was misleading or inaccurate 

Few things frustrate shoppers more than feeling misled. If a product doesn’t match its online description, trust erodes, and customers are unlikely to give the brand a second chance. Consistency between product information, images, and reality is key. The takeaway? If your product descriptions aren’t 100% accurate, you’re not just losing sales, but you’re creating avoidable returns.

4. 44% of consumers say that a brand offering sustainable returns would impact their purchase decision

Consumers are paying attention to return policies, and many want greener options, whether that’s reduced packaging waste, return consolidation, or incentives for keeping items. However, 65% of consumers expect returns to be free and simple; so how do you strike that balance?  While returns are a somewhat inevitable aspect of the retail industry, taking steps to minimize the frequency of returns, like offering in-depth sizing guides and visual aids or spotlighting user-generated content that includes information on size and fit, can help reduce waste, lower transportation emissions, and foster a better consumer experience. 

5. Nearly 40% of consumers are aware of the environmental impact of returns, and it impacts their decisions.

Returns aren’t just a business challenge; they’re an environmental one, with returns adding up to 30% of carbon emissions to the initial delivery. Shipping products back and forth contributes to global greenhouse emissions and waste, and nearly 40% of consumers are factoring this into their shopping decisions. Forward-thinking brands are finding creative ways to address this, like offering incentives for exchanges, promoting more sustainable return options, or even encouraging donation programs for returned goods.

6. Clothing was the most frequently returned product

Ah yes, the dreaded sizing issue. Particularly in fashion and apparel, sizing has been the ultimate return culprit for some time now. Whether it’s shoes running a size too small or a jacket fitting too loosely, unclear or inconsistent sizing leads to frustration. Retailers can tackle this by offering detailed size charts, fit guides, and customer reviews that provide real-world insights into how a product fits.

7. 76% of consumers ranked inaccurate product descriptions as a top three reason for a product return

Let’s say it louder for the brands in the back: bad product information leads to bad customer experiences. From incorrect specifications to misleading images, customers expect accuracy. Brands that focus on enhancing their product information with enriched product data will see fewer returns and happier customers.

8. 65% of consumers will return a product in-person if that option is available

Even in an increasingly digital world, the human touch still matters. Many shoppers prefer the immediacy of in-store returns over the hassle of shipping items back. For retailers, offering flexible return options, especially buy-online, return-in-store (BORIS) programs, can be a major advantage. It also opens the door to an important opportunity: when customers return in-store, they’re more likely to make an additional purchase.

9. 58% of consumers said that sizing was the #1 reason for a product return

No surprise here – apparel leads the return parade, with 60% of consumers saying they returned clothing, followed by tech items (21%) and household goods (20%). Fashion retailers, in particular, should take note: improving product descriptions, offering virtual try-ons, and investing in size accuracy can make a significant dent in return rates.

10. 60% of consumers say they’re unlikely to continue shopping with a brand if the return process is difficult

Whether it’s restrictive policies, confusing instructions, or costly return shipping, shoppers have little patience for unnecessary hurdles. Brands that make returns seamless through clear policies, simple online processing, and convenient drop-off options can retain customers and encourage future purchases.

Final Thoughts: Turning Returns Into Opportunities

Returns may be a reality of retail, but they don’t have to be a losing game. Improving the overall product experience, getting the right information in front of customers from the start, and balancing offering smooth returns with a commitment to sustainability, businesses can turn return challenges into customer loyalty wins.

So, the next time you’re refining your product pages, return policies, or sustainability strategies, keep these insights in mind – because a better product experience means fewer returns, happier customers, and a stronger bottom line.

To learn more about the survey, check out the full press release.

Are you ready to take the next step?

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

Request a demoRequest a demoRequest a demo

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

Trending

Feb 14, 2025

A Product Experience Worth Falling For

Just like in love, customers want a shopping experience that feels smooth, reliable, and worth committing to. This Valentine’s Day, we’re breaking down five key strategies to build trust, loyalty, and a seamless product experience that keeps customers coming back.

Ah, Valentine’s Day. The season of love, overpriced roses, and Instagram-worthy date nights. Whether you’re swooning over a candlelit dinner, dropping hints about your ring size to your boyfriend,  or rolling your eyes at the heart-shaped consumerism, this time of year is all about relationships—romantic and, dare we say, transactional.

Just like in love, customers want a shopping experience that feels smooth, reliable, and, most importantly, worth committing to. If your product experience is the retail equivalent of a bad Tinder date (unreliable, full of red flags, and lacking honesty and transparency) don’t expect a second chance.

So, how do you make sure your customers swipe right on your brand and fall head over heels? Let’s take a look at five ways to build a product experience so good, your customers will want to put a ring on it – and you won’t even have to subtly get a fresh manicure and wear white to the date night!

1. Don’t play hard to get – provide a consistent experience across all channels  

Picture this: You’ve been messaging someone on a dating app for weeks. They’re charming, funny, and their photos are flawless. But when you finally meet in person, they’re… not quite what you expected. Catfished.

Now imagine that same disappointment in retail. A customer finds the perfect dress for an afternoon picnic on an Instagram ad, but when they go to your site to click ‘Buy Now’, they realize that the pale pink color they want isn’t available in their size, and all the reviews say the material feels much cheaper in person than it looks online. Yikes.

Today’s shoppers expect a consistent experience, no matter where they engage with your brand—be it social media, your website, a physical store, or an app. If your brand’s personality changes from channel to channel, customers will feel like they’re in a relationship with someone who has multiple personas – and if How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days taught me anything, it’s that nobody wants that.

2. Put your best foot forward – seamless site & search experience

If your site search is more confusing than a mixed signal from a crush, you’ve already lost the sale.

Shoppers today don’t have the patience for slow, clunky websites or search functions that deliver irrelevant results. They want a frictionless experience where they can find what they’re looking for in seconds. Whether they’re searching for “rose gold heart-shaped necklace” or “last-minute Valentine’s Day gifts that don’t look last-minute” (we see you, procrastinators, and we don’t judge), your site should deliver accurate, relevant results.

And  the secret to  delivering accurate results? Your product data. If product titles, descriptions, and attributes aren’t clear and standardized, even the best search algorithms can’t deliver relevant results; that search for ‘rose gold necklaces’ might pull up a mix of random jewelry, gold-plated spoons, and novelty heart-shaped dog bowls. When shoppers can’t find what they’re looking for, they won’t stick around to search for long.

3. Green flags galore – Be transparent about sustainability initiatives, practices, & certifications

In relationships, trust is everything; and it’s no different with customers. When it comes to sustainability initiatives and practices, honesty is the best policy as 55% of consumers said they would completely stop buying from brands that have made false claims about sustainability.

Trust is one of the most valuable assets a brand can have. And just like in love, today’s consumers have options. Thousands of them. They can easily compare brands, dig deep into product details, and read real customer experiences before making a commitment. If they feel deceived through misleading sustainability claims, vague product descriptions, or empty promises, they won’t hesitate to call it quits, and word spreads quickly these days. 

Winning back consumer trust after a greenwashing scandal isn’t as simple as showing up with flowers and a heartfelt apology. It takes time, real effort, and genuine transparency. Some shoppers may never return, but for those willing to give you a second chance, you need to prove you’ve changed. Be crystal clear about what makes your product sustainable, and don’t just sweet-talk customers with lofty promises; be honest about areas where you’re still working to improve. After all, who doesn’t prefer authenticity to perfection?

4. Honesty is the best policy – Provide up-to-date, accurate product information

 Inaccurate product information is the retail equivalent of ghosting – it leads to disappointment, frustration, and a whole lot of “never again” energy. Your customers deserve more than that. 

When product information is unreliable, it creates a disconnect between what customers expect and what they receive. If a shopper buys an item based on misleading photos or unclear specifications, they are far more likely to leave a negative review, abandon the brand entirely, or return the product; in fact, 59% of consumers said they have made a return specifically because the online product description was misleading or inaccurate.  

On the other hand, when product data is accurate, consistent, and transparent across all channels, customers feel empowered to shop with confidence. That confidence doesn’t just lead to conversions – it leads to brand loyalty. And in a world where shoppers have endless options, loyalty is the ultimate green flag.

5. It’s the little things – create personal, tailored experiences

The morning coffee waiting for you, made with the perfect amount of milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon. That playlist curated just for you, with the song that was playing when you first met. The perfect date planned, with reservations at your favorite restaurant and plans to stop by your favorite gelato place on the way home.

Your customers want that same kind of personalized attention that shows that you’re paying attention to what they actually want. They don’t want to feel like just another number in your database; they want an experience that feels uniquely tailored to them, one that anticipates their needs, remembers their preferences, and makes shopping effortless.

Thanks to AI, brands can now deliver hyper-personalized recommendations, dynamic pricing, and customized shopping experiences that make customers feel truly seen. Rather than overwhelming customers with endless choices, AI helps surface the most relevant products, reducing decision fatigue and making the purchasing process more seamless.

Beyond recommendations, AI can also optimize product descriptions, dynamically adjust pricing based on demand, and even personalize marketing messages to align with a customer’s interests and behaviors. This level of customization makes shopping more engaging and efficient, increasing both conversion rates and customer satisfaction. 

When brands leverage AI effectively, they’re able to create experiences that feel tailored, relevant, and valuable, showcasing a high level of personalized detail and care that would leave many boyfriends envious.

And let’s be honest—there’s nothing quite like feeling understood.

Make Them Fall in Love (and Stay in Love) with Your Product Experience

At the end of the day, customer experience, like love, is all about connection. Customers want experiences that feel effortless, trustworthy, and made just for them; a seamless, transparent, and engaging product experience is the key to earning their loyalty and keeping the relationship strong.

So this Valentine’s Day, skip the cliché chocolates and giant teddy bears. The real way to a customer’s heart? A product experience so good, they’ll be singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love” every time they shop.

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo