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Why PIM is Key to eCommerce Success

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Using Product Information Management (PIM) to achieve eCommerce success is fast becoming a focal point for anyone selling online. To add to that, eCommerce is becoming an increasingly important sales channel for both online retailers and distributors. 

If you’re looking to improve your eCommerce strategy and performance, here are a few of the things you need to be thinking about: 

  • SEO rankings 
  • Conversion rates 
  • Order size and value 
  • Web traffic 

The list goes on, and we’ve not even started on the product data yet – so, let’s dive in! 

We know that customer experience and eCommerce go hand in hand. But, we also know it’s easy to forget that customers are there to browse (and hopefully buy) your products. It’s not just about your customers enjoying a well-built website. The key to creating a great customer experience is providing the right information for the right customers, at exactly the right time. If you’re handling large amounts of product data, PIM for eCommerce success is just what you need.

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Eliminate errors and inconsistency

Customer loyalty is invaluable in a world where your competitors are merely a click away. Essentially, this means you need to quickly gain the trust of your eCommerce site visitors. If your product data is inaccurate or inconsistent across different sales channels, you’ll deter potential customers and lose sales. 

By creating a single source of truth for your product data, you can be sure that no matter where customers see your products, the information will be correct and up to date. Good product information management processes make cleansing and enriching your data faster and easier. Overall, this allows you to focus on creating the rich content you need to gain a competitive edge.

Increase online conversions with rich data

Speaking of rich content; it’s never been more important to provide tech-savvy customers with all the rich digital assets you can. Online manuals and specifications, 360-degree views, zoom, and videos of products in action all help push customers further down the sales funnel. Ultimately, they’ll be more likely to click “BUY NOW” and you’ll see improved online conversion rates.   

Managing this wealth of rich information might seem daunting. However, a solid PIM system enables you to easily achieve higher conversion rates, higher margins, more new customers, and more sales. With PIM you can effectively manage your omnichannel strategy and serve customers with the right product information at the right time. 

Get your products found by improving SEO

Improving the quality of your product data and digital assets doesn’t just contribute to a better experience for your customers – it will help get your products found! The best way to increase your SEO rankings is through enriched product data. This will drive your relevant keywords and differentiate you from your competitors.

A great PIM system makes it easy to describe your products differently across specific platforms. Consequently, you can ensure you’re targeting the right customers within the right market. In other words, close management of keywords will improve your SEO results and drive customers towards your online store.

Realize your up-sell and cross-sell potential

Increasing traffic through SEO and conversions with rich media and data are both great for your eCommerce performance. But, you can do so much more! Quality data will also help you increase the Average Order Value (AOV) of the customers who are browsing your eCommerce site. Accurate information makes pulling together product bundles a breeze. Importantly, it can improve the product suggestions customers receive. Moreover, this won’t just be on your website, but across all your sales channels too.

PIM is the key

With customer expectations evolving, distributors and retails need to evolve with them or risk being left behind. That’s why a solid PIM solution is essential to meeting and exceeding customer expectations. Provide rich, accurate, and timely information to ensure your customers get the best possible product experience.

Solutions like Pimberly enable you to distribute rich, accurate real-time data on your entire product range across all your sales channels. PIM will help you get the full potential from your product data, meaning you can increase conversions and up your AOV with online experiences your customers will love! 

Keen to find out more about PIM for eCommerce success? Take a look at our mini demo to see what Pimberly can do for your business. 

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We always want to make sure we deliver the highest quality content, which is why we updated this blog in April 2021. This blog was originally published in 2017.

 

 

Facilitating Business Growth & Scalability: How the world became Gill Marine's oyster

How Williams Commerce & Pimberly Facilitate Business Growth & Scalability

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Williams Commerce is one of our valued partners, and we’ve worked side-by-side to help our customers to achieve business growth. Williams Commerce is a leading digital services agency that builds and transforms their customers’ eCommerce businesses worldwide. Like the Pimberly team, they focus on creating incredible digital experiences. Williams Commerce offers a range of services spanning from eCommerce, digital marketing and sophisticated integration with third-party systems.

At Pimberly, we’re passionate about helping our customers leverage their product data and digital assets to create amazing online experiences. The synergy between Pimberly and Williams Commerce lies in what we’re both passionate about: Helping our customers create online experiences that surprise and delight, all whilst streamlining day-to-day operations. Here’s a little insight into the work we completed on one of our joint accounts – Gill Marine:

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Gill Marine business growth success story

Gill Marine is a leader in the marine apparel sector and was founded by avid sailor, Nick Gill, in 1975. The business growth has been very rapid. This meant adopting a digital transformation strategy was crucial to scale and expand their technical clothing business.

Gill Marine is a prime example of how COVID has anchored its eCommerce strategy. Gill Marine worked with Pimberly and Williams Commerce to take the business from ‘safe and reliable’ to ‘new and exciting’. It scaled its brands and expanded into new markets. Consequently, SEO, AOV and conversion rates were much improved. Now the world is its oyster!

During the height of the pandemic, it launched Gill Fishing to capitalize on growing demand for fishing equipment in the US. It saved a lot of time and money by being able to do this so quickly with our powerful solutions. From the build of the Gill Fishing eCommerce site to launching, it was dealing with the first orders in as soon as one month.

The role of Pimberly

Creating new sales channels in Pimberly can literally be completed with a few simple clicks. Use powerful scoping facilities to tailor the product data and digital assets you distribute to sales channels. The channel configurator will ensure data is always distributed in line with their specific requirements. Wherever you’re reaching your audience, they’ll always have the best possible customer experience.

Localisation features in Pimberly mean you can translate and store product data in the languages you need, convert prices into the currencies you need and use scoping features to make sure your audience will see the measurements in metrics that make sense to them. Use the scoping functionality to personalize the experience depending on region to really up your game.

Real-time, bulk updates mean that you can quickly diversify your product range, and any changes will be instantly reflected across all your sales channels. This gives you a super-fast route to market. Without the need to manually update your products, you’ll save loads of time, be more productive and increase sales.

Pimberly also has loads of other essential features and functionalities that give you the ability to create personalized and superior customer experiences.

The role of Williams Commerce

Increasing your online exposure is one of the things Williams Commerce is most passionate about. Entering new markets or expanding your product range is a great way to scale, so make sure you’re getting your products in front of the right people at the right time. Williams Commerce has a wide array of digital services that will achieve this for you. This means you can grow your business with full confidence.

Website issues – issues are always fixed with a super-fast turnaround, therefore you’ll have minimal disruption. No problem is too big or small. Williams Commerce will often pick up historic code and bring it up to scratch. Williams Commerce will work with you to determine your eCommerce goals. The team keeps site development moving forward, adding enhancements and functionalities that will enable you to work with more efficiency.

Website builds can typically be completed in a week for .net and php sites. For those based on Magento, Venda or Salesforce Commerce Cloud, it’s even faster. They’ll work with you to understand your specific requirements and make sure the site they build fits the bill in every way. A powerful eCommerce site is the groundwork you need to make sure you’re delivering customer experiences that will surprise and delight.

Digital transformation is the way to achieve business growth

Now is the time to embrace digital transformation, leveraging technology to optimize resources and produce better results. Streamline the way you work with Williams Commerce and Pimberly. With more free time, you can get back to bossing your eCommerce strategy.

This will ultimately set you apart from the competition. This is crucial for online retailers facing increases in demand and changing consumer behavior. Having forward-thinking and proactive technology partners is a must for any businesses looking to smash their eCommerce strategy.

Learn more about the Williams Commerce & Pimberly partnership and start your journey to online excellence

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Williams Commerce & Pimberly: Creating online experiences that surprise & delight

Williams Commerce & Pimberly: Creating Customer Experiences That Surprise and Delight

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36% of retail sales were made online in 2020, so growth and scalability are key considerations for retailers and marketplaces. In 2021, we saw +69.5% Year-on-Year (YoY) growth for February, and 21.9% of that was for clothing, clearly demonstrating a big upward trend. This monumental shift to online demonstrates a massive change in consumer behavior. This also opens up big opportunities for online retailers to capitalize on eCommerce to achieve business growth and scalability.

COVID came like a bolt from the blue, forcing consumers and retailers alike to completely change the way they operate – and quickly! In a very short amount of time, the need for certain products just wasn’t there anymore because of the massive changes taking place.

Let’s look at some of the most commonly searched products on Google in 2019 for the apparel and fashion sector. Prom dresses sat at number 1, with nearly 3.5 million searches. Now, let’s look at the most common product searches that took place in 2020. There were nearly 2.5 million searches for loungewear – a whopping 295% increase on 2019, setting it at number one. Surprise-surprise! (Nobody was rocking a prom dress when lockdown was at its height).

To stay ahead of the curve, retailers and marketplaces needed to be agile. Promptly adapting their offerings to cater to changing consumer demands was crucial. Expanding and adjusting, all whilst maintaining good communication with customers was of paramount importance. This is where the need for powerful and effective tech stacks came into play.

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Embracing new opportunities for business growth

With change comes new opportunities for business growth. Retailers, especially in the apparel and fashion industry, had to find new ways to achieve eCommerce success. Having the right technologies in place to support new ambitions were crucial. The need for this will only increase in the future.

To sell more, a logical step would be to expand – whether that be in terms of new sales channels, new markets or product range. Competition in the apparel and fashion industry is often a case of ‘survival of the fittest’. Wherever possible, online retailers must gain a competitive edge and keep customers coming back. Let’s break it down.

New sales channels

Consumers find it more straight forward to start their product journeys on online marketplace as opposed to trawling through different eCommerce sites. More product searches are taking places on Amazon than they did on Google, so online marketplaces represent a massive opportunity for online retailers to grow their businesses.

Marketplaces give you access to a wider audience so you can sell more. You can also make the most of their fulfilment services to keep up with rising demand, without putting added pressure on your existing supply chain.

With more of us stuck at home, the inevitable scrolling has become a part of most of our daily routines. Mobile has changed the eCommerce landscape and is integral to business growth and scalability. Most people have access to their phones 24/7, so it’s the logical place for them to browse and shop.

Unsurprisingly, the usage of mobile retail apps has grown by 45% in the past year, so this is clearly a channel online retailers need to get on board with. Mobile also lends itself to technologies like AR and VR which give customers the opportunity to ‘try before they buy’ – something a lot of us have been missing in recent times!

New markets

One in two global consumers now buy cross-border, so going international is another key consideration for any online retailer looking to grow their business. If this is something you’re considering, marketplaces are a great way of ‘testing and scaling’, all whilst mitigating any operational or regulatory costs.

Each region will have different requirements, and consumers’ high expectations need to be met to ensure your international expansion goes to plan and prospers. Always make sure you’re providing product information in the languages of the different regions you’re serving. This also applies to currency and measurements.

Personalised and sophisticated customer journeys will set you apart. As well as differences in language, there’ll likely be nuances in terms of different tastes and styles from country to country. Factor this in when you’re looking to reach new markets. Make your customers feel surprised and delighted, wherever they are!

Product range

Who would have thought that you’d be buying face masks off ASOS? Probably not many! But many retailers were faced with the challenge of having to complexly re-vamp their product ranges to suit consumer need and demand.

The more products you have, the more data and the more digital assets you’ll have to manage. And the more data and digital assets you have, the more time you’ll need to spend ensuring all this data is being correctly distributed to your different sales channels.

A diverse product range also means that your customers will have more reason to keep coming back to you. Diversification gives you a competitive edge and enables you to maximize sales and grow your business. Therefore, being able to expand your product range with speed and efficiency will also be key. Gain vital extra selling days and get one foot over your competitors.

The Williams Commerce & Pimberly partnership

We carefully select our partners, ensuring there are synergies in our objectives. Together, we stive to help our customers create customer experiences that surprise and delight. Williams Commerce is an award-winning global eCommerce specialist and Magento business solutions partner. They work with their customers to transform their eCommerce operations, delivering digital transformation every day.

Williams Commerce and Pimberly work together to offer an integrated approach to eCommerce. Business growth and scalability lie at the heart of our partnership, and we’re both passionate about working with our customers to take their digital strategies to the next level:

“It’s great to be working alongside Williams Commerce to support brands that are adopting enterprise PIM software, as an enabler to transform their eCommerce strategy. We’re collaborating on some brilliant accounts to build a roadmap to eCommerce success. I’m looking forward to seeing the partnership continue to grow for years to come.” – Bruce Wright, VP Sales – Pimberly

Find out how we helped Gill Marine make the world their oyster in our joint customer story

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Digital Transformation & The Shift to D2C

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If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that a well-thought-out digital-first strategy is essential for businesses to succeed in the current climate. Businesses should embrace digital transformation with open arms. Importantly, it’s also paved the way for many manufacturing businesses to shift to a D2C (direct to consumer) model.

The ONS reported that the proportion of retail sales in the UK via online channels pre-COVID was 22%. At the height of the national lockdown, this rose by 50% to 32%. This essentially means that £1 in every £3 was being spent online in the UK. This rises to nearly £1 in every £2 spent by UK consumers when we’re looking at non-food.

The already unstoppable “oil tanker” of Online Retail Sales has undeniably had a one-time boost due to COVID and evolving shopping habits. This huge shift has pushed this transition forward by at least five years.  More consumers used online services for the very first time (banking, shopping, delivery, video streaming, health, video conferencing services, etc.) It goes without saying, buying online was the only option for everyone when bricks and mortar stores were closed.

If businesses weren’t previously thinking about eCommerce and digital transformation, they surely will be now. If they don’t seize the opportunity to go online, they’re putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage. The decline for them is very likely to be steeper now than ever before.

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A changing landscape

Change was a huge factor for everyone in 2020. Leveraging digital technologies to remain agile was something that so many companies actively embraced. Consumer needs changed, their behavior changed, and providing a seamless and amazing online experience was the road to success.

There were big implications for businesses relying on bricks and mortar, whether directly or via their existing distribution and/or supply chain, for example. This was mainly because of the situation logistics providers and retailers found themselves in. Even if consumers were scrambling to buy a manufacturer’s products, they couldn’t make the purchase. In most cases, manufacturing businesses didn’t have transactional web stores that consumers could go to, creating a huge barrier.

The shift to D2C

Many manufacturers and brands started being far more questioning as to their logistics, distribution, and retailers online, as well as eCommerce capabilities. To stay competitive, it may have been a case of accelerating their own plans for D2C sales. That is if they hadn’t already been forced to do this during the height of COVID.

This shift from B2B to B2C/D2C was one of the primary ways of countering the rapid shift we saw in consumer behavior and market trends. Brands and manufacturers had to up their game and start thinking about things that previously, they wouldn’t have had to worry about as much.

They were more discerning about the retailers they chose and the investments they were making in their eCommerce strategy. They were also more conscious of their product’s digital footprint and the digital personification of their products all round.

Consumers were driving this, and making effective use of technology was key in staying ahead of the game. The winners in all this are those who know how important the online journey is. These businesses understand that rich, detailed product descriptions and digital assets are paramount to creating unique online experiences.

In a pre-COVID world, most manufacturers simply didn’t have to think about how their products were represented. This was something retailers and distributors took care of, but this soon changed!

Though a shift to D2C represents a massive change, what are the advantages for manufacturing businesses considering D2C? Here’s a snapshot, along with an overview of how you can achieve a smooth transition.

Quicker time to market:

By cutting out the ‘middle-man’ and selling directly to consumers, manufacturers can be more agile with the products they release to market. They can test a specific product on a specific demographic to quickly gauge the products that are and aren’t working. This enables them to make the necessary adjustments and release the best-sellers in no time at all.

Having the right technology in place to facilitate a swift release is undeniably a huge consideration here. Mastering product data and being able to create online experiences that are customer-friendly is paramount in a successful D2C model. You can adjust entire product ranges quickly and easily when you have all product data in one centralized hub.

Providing an omnichannel experience:

Manufacturers can reach a larger pool of customers by having a presence on more channels, marketplaces. They may even consider establishing a physical presence to deliver an omnichannel experience once there are no more restrictions. Consumers like to have the choice of being able to visit a physical location after researching a product online or vice versa.

An omnichannel experience can help drive sales, as customers have more choice in terms of where they can shop. As a result, the customer engagement and experience will be much better. By increasing customer engagement, you’re highly likely to see an increase in ROI. One thing to consider, though, would be how to ensure consistency across all channels. An effective solution is to utilize workflows and lifecycle stages, which means you’ll never release products with missing information.

Greater control over data:

Previously, manufacturers would have relied on retailers and distributors to create the ‘shop window’ for their products. A D2C approach means this will lie with them. In terms of the product data, there will be a much higher level of control. They can choose the specific details they want their products to be associated with.

This also means manufacturers can provide a deeper, more granular layer of detail. This ultimately means customers have more confidence in their buying decisions. In addition to the product data, manufacturers will also have ownership over any data they collect from customers. Having this data will contribute a large amount towards improving the overall customer experience. You can tailor experiences accordingly by having a deeper insight into trends, behaviors, and product preferences.

Better customer relationships:

Recent research from IMRG, states over 50% of consumers prefer to research products directly with the manufacturer. It, therefore, makes sense to provide as much detail as possible. Accurate and rich product descriptions help give customers a better relationship with your products. If you master this, you’ll likely see an increase in engagement and conversion rates.

Having more insightful data leads to a deeper understanding of the customer journey. As a result, manufacturers can tailor the experience they offer. Determine which products are performing best, and the best times of day to interact with audiences. Streamline the process of making these decisions with a digital-first strategy.

By adopting the right technologies, manufacturers can still benefit from the key things they would have gained from working with a distribution channel. For instance, logistics, transacting and payment processing can all be managed with eCommerce platforms such as BigCommerce or Brightpearl. There is also seamless integration to home delivery services by the likes of UPS/DPD and payment gateways with PayPal/Visa. This means doing business directly with consumers can be super simple and it’s completely achievable.

It doesn’t matter what type of business we’re talking about here, be that a retailer, distributor, or manufacturer. You can yield huge benefits from a digital transformation strategy. It touches all elements of a business so, where possible, you need to think about how things can be done in a digital form. Those who do stand to reap the rewards. Those who don’t run the risk of losing out big time.

At Pimberly, we’ve developed the world’s most powerful product information management platform. It gives our clients the power to make their products really resonate with their audience. Provide them with the best possible product information so they can make informed purchasing decisions.

Learn more about streamlining your day-to-day operations with Pimberly

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PIM & Digital Transformation: A love story waiting to happen

PIM & Digital Transformation: A Love Story Waiting to Happen

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PIM and digital transformation really do go hand-in-hand. If you haven’t already got a PIM (product information management) platform in place, well, it’s a love story waiting to happen. IDC predicts that, by 2024, 50% of IT spend will relate to digital transformation. Therefore, IT departments and senior management need to drill down on where to allocate this spend, and why. If digital transformation is a priority for you, a PIM should be as well!

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Pimberly: Past, Present & Future -Interview with CEO, Martin Balaam

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I always find the start of a year a good time to reflect and, now that we’ve thankfully seen off 2020, it got me thinking about the journey we’ve been on since starting Pimberly back in 2015. It’s fair to say we’ve come an awful long way and there are plenty of really exciting things in the pipeline, too!

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Before Pimberly, I was CEO of the UK’s largest technology and solutions supplier for the Film, TV and Creative Industry. During my time there, we acquired a small software business called Matrix that had developed a niche software product for automating print catalogue production. The acquisition came about at a time when we were looking to get more coverage in the retail industry, so there was a perfect synergy for us. Read more

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Why Businesses Should Embrace eCommerce Diversification

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We can trace the roots of eCommerce all the way back to 1960. However, online shopping only became truly accessible for the general public when the web launched in 1991. Since then, eCommerce has seen astronomical growth, generated huge revenues, and disrupted multiple markets. Overall, it’s changed the way we shop, both from a B2B, B2C, and D2C perspective. The trend of evolving, improving, and catering to buyers’ needs won’t stop in the future. Therefore eCommerce diversification is a key consideration, and we’ve put together some of the things you benefit from by diversifying.

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Pimberly BigCommerce New Tech Partner of the Year - 2020 BigCommerce Partner Awards Winner EMEA

Pimberly Wins BigCommerce New Tech Partner of The Year EMEA

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Pimberly has been recognised by BigCommerce as their new tech partner of the year 2020 EMEA. The annual awards recognise global tech and agency partners providing ‘superior customer experience’ as well as ‘outstanding customer reviews’.

BigCommerce provides merchants sophisticated enterprise-grade functionality, customisation and performance with simplicity and ease-of-use.

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Earlier this year we announced our partnership with BigCommerce, and we have moved together from strength to strength since then. The Pimberly team have developed a BigCommerce connector that allows our customers to further streamline their product information management.

Pimberly customers such as Gill Marine and Kier Group have used BigCommerce and the new Pimberly connector to create amazing online experiences for their customers.

We are thrilled to have been recognised in the BigCommerce awards, and are looking forward to continuing our successful partnership. 

Learn more about our partners

 

 

The Future of Retail Technology: Keep your brand at the forefront by adopting emerging technology

The Future of Retail Technology

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As we move through the digital age, retail technology is becoming a focus for businesses that are realizing the benefits of moving online. There are so many exciting technology developments in this sector; from extended reality to automated processes, through to personalization. The sky’s the limit!

Here’s how brands can benefit from these new retail technologies, and which ones to keep an eye on as they are on the rise.

The Future of Retail Technology: Keep your brand at the forefront by adopting emerging technology

How can brands benefit from retail technology?

It’s no secret that good customer experience is a leading factor in business growth. With 86% of customers willing to pay more for a better experience), it’s no surprise! Use the latest in retail technology to improve the customer experience and enhance the overall efficiency of your business processes.

However, your customers aren’t the only ones who will benefit from this. Brands using sophisticated retail technology can better manage their inventory, predict demand, optimize supply chains, authenticate products, and much more.

Moving online also presents significant benefits for brands. By maximizing availability across different digital platforms, it makes it that much easier for customers to find you. This omnichannel approach provides a seamless shopping experience. It can also help increase your reach for that extra competitive advantage.

Retail technology to look out for

Extended reality

Extended Reality (XR) is an umbrella term, covering Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Both have proven to be super effective in enhancing the customer’s online experience.

AR is an interactive experience that superimposes information onto the world we see before us. For example, IKEA has created ARKit – an app that determines if a piece of furniture will fit well in your home. Smart mirrors are another great example. They allow shoppers to try on different things, like an item of clothing or a shade of lipstick, without actually putting it on!

Similarly, Ralph Lauren’s flagship store features smart dressing rooms. Shoppers can adjust the lighting and easily send requests for different sizes. It even suggests items that go well with what they’ve chosen to encourage cross-selling.

VR, on the other hand, creates a simulated experience. IKEA uses this to help customers visualize what their new kitchens could look like. It removes the risky element of renovation and helps bring their vision to life.

eBay and Myer, an Australian retailer, have also collaborated to create the world’s first virtual reality department store. These examples give glimpses into an exciting future. Adopting these technologies can provide you with very unique selling points. As a result, you can drive more customers to your online or offline stores to increase your sales.

Big data

Brands have been collecting customer data for many years and use it to gain insights into customer behavior. The transition to a Big Data approach enables those companies to look at every stage of the retail process through both macro and microlenses. You can use that detail to help personalize a customer’s online shopping experience. This lends itself to you being able to predict trends and buying behavior, forecast demand, and optimize pricing.

An example of this is Walmart’s private cloud, where they use machine learning coupled with Big Data to boost customer satisfaction. For instance, this could be where you pick an item on behalf of your customer but it’s out of stock. Smart substitutions will then provide a suitable alternative.

The Big Data approach might feel like it is the preserve of larger organizations that have the budget for such an infrastructure. However, there are vendors who recognized this and now provide a Big Data as a Service-style offering. Companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are prime examples of this.

Next-generation personalization and recommendations

Recommendation engines are incredibly useful for retailers. They can help customers find items or services that they didn’t even realize they needed. In turn, this will often help you achieve higher sales and enables your customers to shop with greater ease. The more data you obtain, the better the algorithms become. Therefore, recommendation engines only get better over time.

Amazon is one of the best examples of a retailer using recommendations and personalizations. We’ve all probably added something extra to our cart because Amazon recommended something useful!

With the right technology, you can also personalize your messaging based on customer segments. By doing so, you can boost conversions by meeting the different needs and expectations of your audiences.

Biometrics

Biometrics can help provide a better in-store experience for your customers. Facial recognition enables you to identify your customers and respond to their unique needs based on past actions or buying behavior

Using this type of technology will clearly improve the retail experience and your customer engagement. However, it should be noted that it comes with some privacy and legal concerns.

Automated warehousing and stock management

Automated warehouses and stock management is crucial in improving inventory control. While manual inventories are long and laborious, smart robotics (like StockBots) and computer systems do this automatically and in real-time. They assess stock data reliably and then put it to use in a way that makes stock management easier.

With automated warehouse systems, you can better manage and track your stock. Over time, good stock management systems help you identify trends. As a result, you can make more reliable predictions, implement improvements, and prevent issues from happening or escalating.

A good example of stock management technology is radio-frequency identification (RFID) tagging. This helps you track stock throughout the supply chain and minimizes the risk of inventory loss.

What the future holds

The advancements and constant evolutions in technology are astounding! The future of retail technology is moving toward truly optimizing the customer experience and making the customer journey more seamless.

There are many exciting technological advancements to look forward to in the retail sector including:

  • More automated and self-checkout processes for customers (like Amazon Go)
  • Employee wearables to interact with store data
  • Further developments with Robotics, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be utilized to make decisions based on certain situations. Examples of this would be a robot analyzing items in a box and moving them to the right shelves.

The future of retail technology includes both physical advancements and better analytics. These will help you meet the changing demands and expectations of consumers to achieve retail success.

Conclusion

Retail technology is super fast-paced – driven by a more competitive landscape in many sectors and increasing consumer expectations. With younger demographics of shoppers often being digital natives, they help to drive this further. Social media also enables the spread of positive (and negative) buying experiences.

So, it’s important to keep your brand at the forefront of this digital wave by adopting emerging technology. However, there’s no need to rush in and take on everything at once! Choose technologies that align with your business objectives, customer profiles and will work well with your existing tech stack. This will help you maximize efficiency and reap the many benefits of improved customer service.

Find out how PIM will take your eCommerce strategy to the next level in this super quick platform tour

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Boost your eCommerce Platform with PIM Integration: Create frictionless online experiences

Boost Your eCommerce Platform with PIM Integration

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Shoppers are undeniably shifting to spending more time (and money) online, so now is the prime time to boost your eCommerce platform with PIM integration. Online purchases rose from 19.3% (May 2019) of all sales to 33.4% (May 2020). The Coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this for many sectors in 2020, as physical retail has been limited or even closed. As a result, online sales accounted for 44.4% of all non-food retail sales in the UK in May 2020!

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