Mars Consolidates Product Data to Reach Over 200% Ecommerce Growth

Beloved manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products streamlines its product data across global digital platforms with Salsify.

About Mars

From M&Ms and Skittles to Twix and a multitude of other well-recognized confectionery, food, and pet care brands, some of the world’s most beloved products are made by Mars, Incorporated.

The multi-billion-dollar organization began a century ago as a small, family-owned candy business. Now, it employs over 70,000 people internationally and has become the world’s leading manufacturer of chocolates, chewing gum, mints, and more.

Mars, Incorporated: Honoring Tradition While Leading the Way in Commerce

Learn more about how Mars streamlined its ecommerce data to boost ecommerce growth.

Challenge

With demand for ecommerce growing worldwide, Mars wanted to find a way to replicate the in-store experience for its online customers. However, disparate data storage and varied markets made this a daunting task.

Product data had previously been stored in several different locations, making it cumbersome for employees to look up even the most basic information. Mars had to consolidate its data so employees and retail partners alike could easily access information.

With so many markets around the world, Mars needed to develop a consolidated catalog of product data that could be used with ease across a wide variety of markets and multiple geographies.

To do this, the company needed a platform that was centralized, flexible, and easily adaptable.

"We’ve estimated that we’ve saved about 60,000 hours worth of time spent managing content over the last year for the organization [with Salsify]."

- JJ Schmidt, Director Digital Demand Content, Mars

Solution

Create an ‘Internal Google'

Salsify implementation has made product content so easy to look up that one employee said it was like having a Google search platform specifically for internal products.

Mars made sure the product catalog they created was easy and helpful for users, stating that 80% of what they do is driven by the business user. As a result of this user-focused implementation, an individual account manager can save up to 20 hours monthly.

Connect to 550 Retailer Channels

With Salsify’s help streamlining product data, Mars can now achieve its vision of providing customers with a great ecommerce experience anywhere in the world. The company has been able to connect to 550 retailers in 46 different markets.

These connections can now be optimized and grown with the help of Mars’ hundreds of “brand champions,” who work to give each brand’s customers the best ecommerce experience possible.

To be able to give our customers the best experience in the digital world was the most important thing, and that was the shift that enabled us to be successful. And that's why we partnered with Salsify.

- JJ Schmidt, Director Digital Demand Content, Mars

Results

60,000 Hours of Time Saved

The time that had previously been spent managing content or searching for product information can now be better spent on more valuable tasks.

Mars estimates that over the course of 2020, it saved about 60,000 hours in employee time. These time savings are the direct result of a streamlined, centralized catalog of product data.

Over 200% Ecommerce Growth

Thanks to improved ecommerce experiences, some of Mars’ markets experienced a growth in ecommerce of over 200% in 2020. This increase is a direct result of improved content management powered by Salsify, as well as of the numerous channel connections Mars is now able to make more effectively.

Solutions like Salsify are quite critical because they build the master foundations of our digital experience transformation.

- Balakrishnan Subramanian, Vice President Digital Demand, Mars Digital Technologies

"We’ve estimated that we’ve saved about 60,000 hours worth of time spent managing content over the last year for the organization [with Salsify]."

- JJ Schmidt, Director Digital Demand Content, Mars

To be able to give our customers the best experience in the digital world was the most important thing, and that was the shift that enabled us to be successful. And that's why we partnered with Salsify.

- JJ Schmidt, Director Digital Demand Content, Mars

Solutions like Salsify are quite critical because they build the master foundations of our digital experience transformation.

- Balakrishnan Subramanian, Vice President Digital Demand, Mars Digital Technologies

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