The current retail environment puts unprecedented pressure on retailers to offer their customers a wider assortment of products — across a growing range of touch points.
Your customers want these shopping experiences to be seamless, personalized, and engaging. As a retailer, you also want these shopping experiences to set you apart from your competition.
But to build these experiences, your team has to have the proper organizational structure, process for product data management, and technology solutions in place to support these shifting customer demands.
But this is easier said than done. Implementing these can be challenging for any organization — regardless of maturity level — and product data silos are responsible for much of this struggle.
Product data silos are especially harmful, as they prevent you from having the agility you need to win on the digital shelf against a background of exponential data growth.
Why Do Retailers Have Product Data Silos?
IT teams were once solely responsible for product data management and related tasks. These tasks included the continual need for problem-solving and decision-making pertaining to product data — including assessing technology needs to protect current and future business growth.
While this sole ownership may have worked within a linear commerce environment, the rise in omnichannel commerce has simultaneously increased the number of teams that need to access product data.
The Problem With Product Data Silos
IT teams aren't the only ones who need to access and manage product data. Product data now includes more than weight, measurements, and other technical specifications; it also includes product content that supports shopping experiences.
For IT teams, product data management is just one project on an extensive road map. However, it's also an essential building block for other teams to meet ambitious time-to-market goals.
A wide range of teams — from ecommerce and channel teams to purchasing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) teams — need access to this product data. Retailers now face exponential growth in product data — which is sometimes collected by multiple teams, across a wide range of interfaces, all requiring cross-functional coordination.
Product data silos are detrimental to collaboration and productivity, as they increase the time required to gather, update, and publish product information. This is why managing this product data now must be a shared responsibility.
How Can Retailers Overcome Product Data Silos?
Analyzing and removing product data silos empowers you to combine all the information available about each product you sell — and make this information accessible wherever your buyers engage with your retail brand.
But there are several ways to navigate product data silos to support winning shopping experiences.
Build Stronger Collaboration Between Brands and Retailers
Many variables come into play, including:
- Information required by retailers;
- Information sources;
- Data collection technology; and
- Changes in regulatory requirements.
More than ever, these challenges require open collaboration between brands and retailers.
Build Stronger Collaboration Between Internal Teams
Ensuring better collaboration between your internal teams creates space for them to easily access product data — which supports other initiatives and improves customer satisfaction.
It gives them the agility to:
- Meet shifting consumer demands;
- Update and optimize product data; and
- Analyze product performance.
Implement an Ecommerce Solution for Product Data Management
A reliable and flexible ecommerce solution could help your team collect, enrich, validate, and publish product data — giving your retail brand a strategic advantage in effectively marketing products in a constantly changing world with evolving demands.
Shoppers want seamless shopping experiences — and brands and retailers must work together to deliver them. Download the report, “Breaking Down the Barriers to Winning Commerce,” to learn more.
