Mens Et Opera - Reloaded

As promised at the end of one of my recent pos ts , let's have a closer look at the long tail approach and how PIM supports it.  The driver for the long-tail model is customers expectations. In fact, they demand an increasingly larger and broader assortment of products through various online channels given that the shelf space is no longer a concern. The key insight here for independent retailers is that expanded offerings and selection can reveal demand that was otherwise not known to exist.  The benefit of a long-tail strategy is that products in the long tail can be sold against a higher margin. Aberdeen reports up to 29 % higher profits due to higher product margins in the long-tail assortment. The challenges for many companies, however, is the actual management of large assortments.  The graph below shows the relationship with the size of a company’s assortments and having a PIM system.  Retailers with and without PIM in relation to their assort...

The cost of waiting to invest in PIM is too great. Please pause and repeat it to yourself. This is not a joke. Let's face it. If you are a retailer (small or big makes little difference), what are your most painful challenges? Chances are that your answer will include a variation of the following: lost sales from out-of-stocks,  lost time haggling over return disputes,  squandering hours reconciling product promotion discrepancies across all channels. Feel free to continue to experience wasted dollars from slowed time to market for new product introductions, time spent relaying basic product information to customers and partners, and brand erosion. However, if you have embarked on the journey for redemption :-), I suggest to keep on reading. But let me firstly demystify what PIM is...just to lay good foundations (also check here , here , and here for further qualification of what PIM really  is). Now, my top reasons why you ought to consider transforming...

It must be my philosophical bend but I love (almost) everything that is meta , in particular I love metaphysics. This allows me to define metadata in a slightly different fashion. In fact, the prefix meta denotes something that is beyond or transcends the physical contingency of an object. Now what is data? David Loshin authoritatively defines data as “…a collection of raw value elements or facts used for calculating, reasoning, or measuring." [1]   In other words, a piece of data represents an actual, physical, and existing entity. For example, I am 1.75m tall. This is a fact expressed via numerical representation (and obviously can also be digitally coded). The adjective ‘tall’ provides important contextual information without it, the piece of data (1.75) would be meaningless. This is metadata. To further the example, if I add that I am second to my brother, I will start depicting a picture of a family of at least 4 people where my brother is the tallest and I am taller th...

How product information can dramatically alter the customer’s buying experience and power sales in retail. Check this out! http://now.informatica.com/en_informed-purchase-journey_book_2623.html?uid=12-26394

I have noted that the (right) emphasis on customer-centricity is drawing attention away from the other fundamental constituent of most businesses: the product! This should not be the case. I had an engaging conversation with an industrial designer yesterday. It is amazing how much of their work is focused on customer expectations and product design to match those expectations. Retailers should learn a lesson here in a multi-disciplinary approach to break down silos, extend their market share and their share of customer. In her words: Product Centricity is your strategy to design, manufacture, distribute to people who needs your product. Customer Centricity is your strategy to satisfy individual customers by meeting as many of his/her needs as possible. End quote. This point has been greatly exemplified by Don Peppers , founder of Peppers&Rogers Group. Here is his take: [It] should be clear that customer centricity doesn’t actually conflict with product centricit...