This is How PIM Enhances the Product Experience for the Retail Industry
TechInsightPro
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Retailers in 2024 are experimenting with their physical and digital commerce capabilities, like none has done before. They are just reinventing the wheel, they simply believe in investing in a new wheel, built from scratch!
What could be the reasons for the experiments?? The pandemic hit us like wildfire, which made people have everything at their doorstep in the blink of an eye! This has surfaced the constant pressure on the retailers to satisfy their customers’ demand for speed and convenience.?
This is where a solid and centralized foundation of product information management system (PIM) can play an essential role in unifying the retail experience, not just for the customers but for the business too!
New encounters and experiments are primarily driving different digital revolutions, supply chain resiliency, and workforce crunch. Despite the shortcomings, retail businesses have to play along with their customer's needs and provide a more enjoyable and productive shopper experience.
The Makeshift in Retail Business Since 2020
Trends have been evolving, and retail companies need to piggyback on them and adapt them to stay competitive. It is the need of the hour to evolve and experiment for protecting margins managing logistics, and adapting change in consumer behavior. Retail business needs to make the necessary adjustments to stay ahead of the curve.?
They must be able to effectively engage with customers across multiple channels. And to engage they need to flow with the significant changes digital commerce has undergone since 2020:
These shifts in customer expectations have naturally made product experience an important pillar of the retail commerce strategy!
What is the need of the “Hour”??
Oh, you don’t need to do long coding or decoding. The need for the “Hour” is simple and direct.
Businesses can't deny the fact that the pandemic had a profound effect on the way we shop. With so many aspects that have been disrupting our lives, we are forced to reevaluate our priorities and what truly matters to us. This has led to a shift in our shopping habits, with more and more people opting for digital platforms to purchase items - from hairpins to aerosol cans!
As we have moved to the post-pandemic world, these new habits are sticking around. Offline shopping is slowly becoming something very yesterday!
So, to stay in the trend, we need to improve our Product Experience!
Yet some people want to touch, feel, and try items before purchase, which an offline retail shop can accommodate, will an online shop offer such a product experience?
Well, an online business will be able to touch, feel, and try on items just like offline shopping. Thanks to technological advancement we can now get a realistic product experience without ever leaving our homes. And we have become comfortable with this kind of shopping experience! It is the NEW NORMAL!
Products are no longer just physical but also experiences that are easy to enjoy and share. To create long-lasting memories with the customers, product experience is imperative! It should be unique and innovative which can be nurtured and cherished both online and offline. This also includes a virtual reality shopping experience, providing interactive product demonstrations, or hosting events and workshops!
And talking of virtual reality, nothing could be a better example than Lenskart! (Case Study ALERT!!) India’s leading online and offline eyewear retailer transforming spectacles into a fashion statement rather than a device for correcting poor vision. There’s a 3D AI technology on the app that allows customers to try on different frames virtually and see which one suits them best. This is a convenience for the customers. They no longer need to visit physical stores if they don't want to. They can choose the correct frame from the comfort of their couch.
Three R’s of Poor Product Experience?
Well, if a business is not able to attract customers or stay in the league like other competitors, then they are also low on their three R’s of Product Experience:
Low Retention!
The most frustrating of the three R’s. it can be challenging to overcome if your product has garnered a bad reputation. Once a customer has had a negative experience with your product, it will be hard to convince them or win them back!?
In some instances, it is seen that low retention rates are simply because of the lack of features in the product or poor customer support. However, if your customers are leaving because they’re unhappy with the quality of your product, it’s essential to take steps to improve the situation. Evaluate the area where the product is falling short and make changes, You also need to support additional training for your customer service team to better deal with unhappy customers. With some effort, you can turn the low retention rates around and create a more positive experience for the customers.
Higher Return!
The high product return rate can be due to many factors. And the inevitable and the most imperative reason is poor product experience. When a customer encounters with negative experience they are more likely to return your product. Poor quality, incorrect sizing, and shipping damages all contribute to a bad product experience. So it is essential to provide a good customer experience and prevent high returns.
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Poor Revenue!
Bad product experience is the enemy of your revenue! This can happen for several reasons, such as poor-quality products, lack of variety, or lousy customer service. And you can't deny the fact that at one point in your business, you have not faced this! So every fiscal year it is essential to evaluate your customers and check what customers don't like about your products and make changes accordingly. The focus should be on improving the overall product experience by offering more choices, better service, and more value.
PIM: Avengers of the Retail Industry
Managing product data can be a daunting task, especially when dealing with large volumes and diverse types of information. Enter the world of PIM – the product information management (PIM) software designed to tackle any product data challenge, no matter how complex. Let's dive into how PIM can revolutionize the way you handle your product catalogs and related data.
Quick and Easy Data Import
Imagine centralizing all your product content and information from various sources like Excel/CSV files, ERP systems, PLM tools, suppliers, and marketing channels in just a few minutes. With PIM, you can do just that! It allows you to create custom product hierarchies, perform data modeling, and apply validations and versioning effortlessly.
Seamless Enrichment
Enriching your product data has never been easier. PIM’s context-sensitive user interface, operated through intuitive drag-and-drop functions, simplifies the enrichment process. You can now manage everything directly in your web browser without breaking a sweat.
Digitize and Optimize Product Catalogs
Say goodbye to cluttered and disorganized product catalogs. PIM helps you create and manage catalogs packed with comprehensive information. From product descriptions and images to videos, specifications, attributes, accessories, and parts – everything is neatly organized and easily accessible.
Real-time Syndication and Distribution
Need to export and publish data across multiple channels? PIMs got you covered. You can share data in various formats in real-time across different customer touchpoints, channel partners, suppliers, and agencies, ensuring that everyone has access to the latest information.
Customizable Front Ends
Building supplier and vendor portals is a breeze with PIM software. You can create a simplified, self-service interface that allows product data to be uploaded simultaneously, making onboarding and introducing new products a seamless process.
Deliver Consistent and Personalized Product Experience
It's crucial to keep your product information consistent across all channels, whether online or offline. This means that no matter if customers are browsing your website, chatting with customer service, or reading a printed brochure, they should get the same information.
Besides being consistent, your product details should be clear and easy to understand, so customers can find what they need quickly without getting overwhelmed. And don't forget to deliver this information in a friendly, personable way. Doing so helps build trust and ensures customers have a positive experience with your brand.
Help Visualize Customer Journey
Successful businesses prioritize a great customer experience, which can be understood by visualizing the customer journey. This journey includes stages from initial awareness to purchase and loyal advocacy. By mapping out this path, businesses can identify opportunities and address pain points.
While each customer journey is unique, common stages include awareness, interest, evaluation, and purchase. Understanding these stages helps identify where improvements are needed. For example, customers might need more information at the awareness stage or face confusion during evaluation. Addressing these issues leads to a better overall customer experience.
Create Meaningful Shopping Moments
Retailers traditionally used personalization to better target customers, but with big data, they must now focus on enhancing the personalized shopper experience. Big data enables organizations to gather extensive customer information and use it in real-time to tailor marketing, sales, digital commerce, and customer service to individual preferences. This leads to increased customer loyalty and satisfaction, ultimately boosting sales and revenue.?
Therefore, personalization should be seen as a means to make every shopping moment more enjoyable and meaningful, not just as a tool for better targeting.
In a nutshell…
As we see PIM is raining benefits which is hard to ignore for a retail industry, who can help you choose the right PIM in the market. It is hard to piggyback on the online reviews or simply you don’t have the time to spend on the hard-core research time as there are so many business nuances to handle.
Then, who can help you choose the right PIM?
Meet TIP or TechnInsightPro, a team of seasoned Enterprise Architects specializing in Data Management (PIM, MDM, PXM, and Data Governance).?
We are here to help you compete in the next era of retail business and will help to maintain new and extended ways to engage with consumers through unique and immersive PIMs which entail top-notch product experiences at every stage. We help you plan to invest strategically in your kind of PIM software that attunes to your buyer’s behavior and identifies relevant intent to open new revenue streams and enhance brand loyalty.