What We’re Reading: Product Information Management, PIM for B2B, The Sharing Economy
To be successful in today’s retail world, you have to be able to execute merchandising practices that support a multichannel strategy. Product information management (PIM), as a technology and as a practice, are critical to your success as a retail business. The same is true if you are a supplier or a B2B business. Accurate, relevant product information can make or break sales. And, it keeps getting more complex to manage product information, as you have to proliferate your business through all kinds of new channels.
Why You Need a Product Information Management System
Increasing your customer base doesn’t always come down to likes, shares, and advertising. In fact, the most crucial aspect of increasing your eCommerce business is often overlooked: proper Product Information Management.
Kimberly Struyk, the principle SVP at QualQuant Signals, states that, “product information is the single most influential content to raising purchasing intentions” and on average overall brand impressions drop by 19% because of sparse product information. With out proper utilization of PIM you’re not only missing out on customers who could be visiting your site, you’re losing customers who land on it.
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How to Ruin Your Business Doing Drop Ship
Drop shipping products can really improve your eCommerce business. You can expand product lines more quickly. You can reduce your investment in inventory. You can streamline how you get customers’ orders into customers’ hands. But, realizing the benefits of drop ship is not as simple as checking the “drop ship” box in your eCommerce system (despite what the system may suggest).
Drop ship done well can transform your business, but done wrong, it can have a significant negative impact.
What We’re Reading: Vendor Relationships, Best Buy Order Fulfillment, Supply Chain Integration
Here is your math lesson for the day: an integrated supply chain + updated inventory = happy customers
As a marketer, I’m not supposed to like math. But my deep, dark secret is that I was actually a finance major and I love math. I even took engineering-level math classes during business school even though I didn’t have to – I know, that’s sick! But the “happy customer equation” is actually quite simple for any company to understand. Collaboration between vendors and sellers is a critical component to driving a better customer experience.
3 Takeaways from Gartner Symposium ITXPO 2014
I attended Gartner Symposium ITXPO in Orlando, FL last week. It was my first time attending and was a conference unlike any I’d attended before. Filled with Gartner analysts and CIOs, the atmosphere was much more professional than other events. Lots of button downs shirts and sports coats – skirts, blouses and heels.
It was a serious event for serious professionals. And it delivered, as promised, big thinking and guidance on how to move your business forward using technology.
