PIM 7 Speeds up “Time-to-Shop” in Multi-Channel Commerce with Highest Quality Data

Posted on Apr 15, 2013 in Master Data Management, Multichannel, Product Information Management by Benjamin Rund 0 Comments

The Product Information Management (PIM) solution from Heiler Software is used by large international manufacturers and retailers, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Otto or Puma. The latest version of the Product Information Management (PIM) solution from Heiler Software is available now. “With PIM 7, our aim is to help our customers be the first to bring their products to market and sell more with highest quality product information”, said Rolf Heiler, company founder and CEO. Watch the video and visit the microsite to learn more on the business values of PIM 7.

PIM 7 gives the answer to the four key challenges of our customers, based on frequent collaboration within the user group and and our market research:

1. Improve conversion, reduce return rates with quality data

Conversion rates and return costs are key factors for success in e-commerce. 40% of consumers intend to return something when ordering. 40% order more variations of a product. According to CEO Rolf Heiler “Quality data is of the most critical importance for managing these key performance indicators. Heiler PIM 7 integrates with the industry leading data quality solution from Informatica, our customers can enhance the quality of their data and accelerate their processes. Product Information Management helps our customers in B2C and B2B to grow and transform their business model towards the future”.

Our new PIM 7 enables our customers to establish clear standards for data quality, track the KPI over time,  and communicate the data quality improvements and business impact both internally processes and to the partners. PIM 7 allows all user within the company and partners, to collaborate on achieving the improved conversion rates and up-selling.

2. Reduce time-to-shop with an ease of collaboration

Did you know that according to Gartner 90% of the business critial information is outside your enterprise? Imagine how important collaboration is. Heiler Software offers its customers speed, agility, and the ability to get to market quickly, thanks to its comprehensive collaborative options, that open access to processes for all roles relating to product information through an easy-to-use web interface. “For our customers, time-to-market also means, time-to-shop. How long does it take to make new or modified assortments available on web platforms?” Schuster finishes by explaining that: “With PIM 7, all key functions are now also available via web access. We have also enabled access to these collaboration capabilities on a wide range of mobile devices, allowing our customers to sell their products faster

3. Make the data available to the enterprise with Service API

Large international companies tend to have a complex hybrid and heterogenous IT ecosystem. Thanks to its comprehensive Service API, our PIM 7 makes product data available for to all consumers. Examples include product searches in a call center, integration with mobile apps, or access to product data within an ERP solution. Based on the new web services, Heiler’s customers and partners can also adopt enterprise standards, such as SAP Process Integration (PI), quickly and directly.

4. Improve industry reach

PIM 7 also opens up new possibilities in the area of data modeling. An enhanced, flexible data model ensures that heterogeneous product assortments and complex hierarchies can be mapped with ease. Thanks to the data model enhancements, it’s now even easier for Heiler customers to fulfill their specific requirements, for example, for even better web shops and mobile solutions.

Summary of PIM 7

As a summary Heiler Enterprise PIM 7 comes with integration of the industry leading Data Quality solution from Informatica. It allows a 100% web based collaboration of all business critical product data processes. The comprehensive Service API for lists, media, meta, enumeration & management of data makes product data available to the enterprise easily. It provides a high standardized and flexible product data model for quick time-to-value.

All of the key information about this solution and details of its potential applications are available from Heiler online at: www.heiler.com/pim7

9 Multichannel Commerce Figures – Driven by Product Information Management (PIM)

Posted on Apr 15, 2013 in Product Information Management, Retail by Benjamin Rund 0 Comments

When seeking to justify an investment in Product Information Management (PIM) and building the business case, companies can investigate which key performance indicators are impacted by PIM. The results of the international PIM study demonstrate that a return on investment (ROI) from an Enterprise Product Information Management (PIM) solution is possible within the framework of a multichannel commerce strategy.

1. Search engines
60% of web users use search engines to search for products. (Source: Searchengineland.com)

2. Time-to-market
The results of the international PIM study show that a return on investment (ROI) from an Enterprise Product Information Management (PIM) solution is possible within the framework of a multichannel commerce strategy. Over 300 retailers and manufacturers from 17 countries participated in the extensive study by Heiler Software. The study delivers more than 30 pages of measurable results. One such result is that PIM leads to a 25% faster time-to-market thanks to SEO products. (Source: www.pim-roi.com)

3. Shopping cart abandonment
90% of shopping cart abandonments occur because of poor product information. (Source: Internet World Business Magazine)

4. Product returns
40 is the critical number. 40% of buyers intend to return a product when they order it. 40% order more variations of a product. 40% of all product returns are due to poor product information. (Source: Magazine Wirtschaftswoche 7.1.2013 and Return Research  – average German mail-order market)

5. Print impacts online
Printed catalogs lead to a 30% boost in online sales. (Source: ECC multichannel survey)

6. Cost savings in print catalog publishing
PIM enables a saving of USD 280,000 by automating manual print catalog production. (Source: LNC PIM survey 2007)

7. In-store sales and customer service
61% of retail managers believe that shoppers are better connected to product information than in-store associates. (Source: Motorola Holiday Shopping Study 2012)

8. Margins with niche products
80% of Heiler PIM customers say they sell at higher margins by pursuing a long tail strategy and increasing assortment size. (Source: www.pim-roi.com)

9. Social sharing
Social sharing generates value. And, on average across all social networks, the value of a social share drives $3.23 in additional revenue for an event each time someone shares. (Source: Social commerce numbers, October 23, 2012)

Catalog Procurement Benchmark – 6 KPIs Purchasing Managers Should Look At

Posted on Feb 26, 2013 in Catalog Procurement, Research by Matthias Zwick 0 Comments

Our latest Procurement Benchmark covers the key success factors for return on investment in catalog solutions for procurement.

All major multinational companies have recognized the need to employ an efficient purchasing and catalog solution to achieve automated and cost-effective procurement of products and services. Prior to introducing any such solution it is important investigate whether it will benefit a company.

This ROI study aims to determine key financial figures and key performance indicators (KPI s) and their impact in the implementation of an e-procurement catalog solution. The study addresses the key issues, that when optimized, can generate ROI in the quickest way. To this end, the most important figures have been gathered and analyzed. A market comparison of this data with the figures from Heiler customers has also been made.

Conceptually, the study is based on the knowledge and experience of Heiler Software AG and other established companies such as SupplyOn apsolut and BTC. The scientific control of the project was entrusted to the University of Furtwangen.

75% of survey respondents are from the private sector, while the remaining 25% come from companies in the public sector. The average annual sales of the participating companies is approximately € 2.5 billion.

These are the top six benchmarks for catalog solutions:

• Catalog Procurement Benchmark #1 – Coverage Rate
• Catalog Procurement Benchmark #2 – Maverick Buying
• Catalog Procurement Benchmark #3 – Reducing the Supplier Base
• Catalog Procurement Benchmark #4 – Error Rate
• Catalog Procurement Benchmark #5 – Free-Text Orders
• Catalog Procurement Benchmark #6 – Cutting Cost Prices

Find out how you perform compared to your peers at www.procurement-benchmark.com.

Will European Customers Have to Pay For all Product Returns?

Posted on Feb 20, 2013 in Product Information Management, Research, Retail by Benjamin Rund 0 Comments

The latest EU-Directive allows etailers to make their customers pay for all product returns in eCommerce. University of Regensburg Germany states 75% of the etailers surveyed plan to put this into action.

40 is the critical number: 40% intend to return something when ordering. 40% order more variations of a product.

Questions etailers may ask now are: Will additional return shipping fees hurt my overall revenue and customer loyalty? Or will these new return shipping fees help reduce return rates and costs?

Whatever etailers decide, product returns remain the public enemy of eCommerce and mail order businesses.

Do you charge for product returns?

• Yes (0%, 0 Votes)
• No (100%, 2 Votes)

Total Voters: 2

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How can Product Information Management (PIM) help reduce return rates?

1. Data stewardship: appoint a data steward who defines what quality data is in your company. This includes establishing a data policy and enforcing that this policy is followed.

2. Images and movies with as many details as possible help the buyers understand what they can expect.

3. Add product ratings and reviews to your enrich product information.

4. Start with rich quality data acquisition at the earliest point: when integrating supplier product data, begin with a high level of data quality.

5. Offer standards for classification and attributes to enable product comparisons online.

Big Product Data: Leverage the Best Content Merge for Better Customer Service

Posted on Feb 15, 2013 in Master Data Management, Product Information Management by Benjamin Rund 0 Comments

According to a Forbes article, the average organization will grow their data by 50 percent in the coming year. Overall corporate data is expected to grow by 94 percent. According to Informatica, data is predicted to increase by as much as 75 times the current volume by the year 2020. What is Big Data all about? Big Data is the management and analytics of an immensely growing volume, variety, and velocity of data in a digital world. A precise definition of big data from analysts like Gartner and Forrester is a hot topic right now that is covered in a lot of blogs.

In my point of view, big data is connecting the dots. It is connecting more than ever before. But what is the role of product data in a big data world?

After recently talking to our customer Halfords, the UK retailer for bicycle and auto parts revealed: All challenge Amazon. Halfords is known as the expert and friend for cyclists. Therefore they position their brand as the leading expert with the best information. They use product information as a differentiator in the market to gain customers’ trust.

This article refers to a challenge that a lot of distributors and retailers are facing. In order to better serve their B2B and B2C customers, they grow and position their product range to be the one trusted supplier. The long tail (endless aisle) strategy offers higher margins with niche products as well.

These distributors and retailers are faced with the challenge of handling 100s or 1000s of suppliers providing content for millions of products. What happens when different suppliers provide information for the same product?

A business case of big product data: Innovative distributors attempt to merge different product content to create the best and richest product information. This requires an intelligent analysis of a supplier’s product data, and intelligent automatism in order to merge this data to create superior product content. The role of the data steward in defining these rules and policies becomes more important than ever before.

How can this be solved?

Data doesn’t only come from suppliers but from other data sources as well. Basic product information might come from a data hub like GS1 or could be synchronized from the distributor’s ERP system, which in turn might be leading the creation of new products in the distributor’s master assortment.

This basic data will be enriched by data coming directly from the manufactures or the suppliers of the distributor. These different data sources provide content for the same products in different levels of quality, richness, and completeness.

Which parts of product information are used from which data sources is determined by objective data quality rules combined with a definition of trust specific to each data source. One supplier is known for accurate descriptions in English while another provides the better German information. And yet a third data source usually provides the best images.

Governance of Product Information Creates Competitive Advantages

This is when Product Information Management comes into the field: to control big product data. According to Heiler’s PIM Product Manager, Markus Schuster, these business processes can only be successful when used with intelligent, highly automated data quality proofpoints and workflows that adhere to the data governance policy.