EXECUTIVE BRIEFING
In a nutshell:
| In an increasingly competitive market – characterized by omnichannel demand and declining customer loyalty – a well-performing supply chain for content retailers provides a significant competitive advantage. Brands that use PIM-DAM integration to streamline marketing workflows gain operational efficiencies that translate into financial – and commercial – benefits. What is PIM? PIM is the Product Information Management system. It is the only source of truth for all your product information, such as prices, descriptions and promotional text. It can import data directly from vendors or from other internal software solutions such as your ERP. What is DAM? DAM is the Digital Asset Management System. It’s the one central repository for all your product assets-such as photos, video, 360-degree spinners, illustrations for digital and print marketing assets, vendor logos and more. DAM makes it easier to access, securely share and distribute digital assets to digital platforms. PIM-DAM integration PIM-DAM integration is very common in retail, e-commerce and CPG companies. Allows synchronization of product data and digital assets. This means that when information is updated in one system, it is also updated in the other. Everyone accessing products – through both systems – will see the same up-to-date, consistent information. Within the marketing and digital content supply chain, this provides several operational and financial benefits BENEFITS: Omnichannel opportunities – Process efficiency creates the capacity to create more content for more different channels, seizing the post-pandemic omnichannel opportunity. Workflow automation – Integration of PIM with DAM drives automated processes that save significant time, creating opportunities for more strategic activities. Less risk – PIM-DAM integration reduces manual processes and the associated risk of human error, minimizing legal risks to your brand. Process scalability – Automated processes can be scaled so that your business can grow without increasing headcount and overhead. Faster time-to-market – PIM-DAM integration provides the basis for a more efficient content supply chain, delivering faster time-to-market and competitive advantage. Improved cost efficiency – Automation and digitalization enable retailers to produce the same thing with fewer people, without reducing service levels, or to make the same people do more marketing. |
The market opportunity
Brand experience is key to competitive advantage – According to Shopify’s Future of Ecommerce in 2022 report, increased competition and high customer acquisition costs are key challenges for e-commerce brands. It is harder than ever for these brands to cut through the noise online. Retailers that focus on building an exceptional brand experience will win – and retain – customers in a demanding and fickle marketplace.
First-party data collection and personalization – While Google works to remove third-party cookies, marketers will increasingly rely on data collection by trusted parties – creating content for which customers are eager to share their contact information. Personalization and curated content represent an opportunity. But meeting these additional requirements requires a streamlined content supply chain.
The omnichannel opportunity – Research shows that consumers rely on 20 or more channels in their interactions with brands , and such shoppers are spending up to three times more than those who rely on one channel. Retailers with a strong omnichannel presence experience increasing sales and a strong competitive advantage by improving the customer’s shopping experience. This means the need for creating consistent content across more channels.
Challenges in the content supply chain
The “content supply chain” describes all the people, processes and technology involved in creating marketing content for digital and traditional platforms. It is a complex ecosystem that includes all creative ideas, editorial, design, approval and publishing processes. It can include multiple departments, internal colleagues and external collaborators – from product suppliers to photographers, videographers and copywriters.
Unless properly managed, this complexity can become a major operational challenge. Poorly managed processes, isolated teams and systems, and failure to centralize digital assets and product information can lead to lower productivity and slower time to market. For example, by:
- Missed opportunities to automate – if you use inappropriate systems, you risk missing the opportunity to automate important content processes, such as automatic catalog creation and filling e-commerce sites
- Lost or unknown digital assets – systems in silos can cause teams to replicate or recreate digital assets – such as photography or illustrations – creating a significant time and cost penalty
- Duplicate data entry – entering data into multiple disparate systems takes time and increases the risk of inconsistency and human error
- Work-over-work – Asana’s Anatomy of Work study found that searching for information, switching between apps, communicating about work and chasing status updates) takes up as much as 58% of the day and is a “persistent threat
Implementing – and integrating PIM with DAM – can eliminate these risks and provide a significant competitive advantage.
Benefits of PIM-DAM integration
Workflow automation – Integrated software drives automated processes that reduce the inefficiencies associated with manual work processes. PIM-DAM integration allows, for example InDesign automation enabling retailers to reduce the amount of time it takes to create printed materials in-store. This can significantly reduce your design costs if you hire an outside design firm. Or – if you use an in-house designer – they can be reassigned to create content for the rapidly growing number of digital channels they have to serve.
Lower staff costs – By increasing staff productivity – through automation and more streamlined workflows – staff can get more done during work hours. This means you can do the same work with fewer resources, or use existing resources to produce more work. Standardized workflows also support resource optimization by enabling employees to easily switch between teams and tasks when they have the capacity, reducing idle resource costs.
Higher cost efficiency – PIM-DAM integration is more cost-effective because it creates more efficient and productive workflows. You eliminate low-value processes that are easy to automate, saving on personnel costs previously involved in that work. You also eliminate the waste associated with duplication of effort caused by teams in silos that do not effectively pool their resources.
More time for value-added tasks – Eliminating unnecessary manual processes and increasing productivity creates more time for value-added tasks that give your business a competitive advantage. In the retail content supply chain, this can mean more time for creativity and strategy that underpins your business. Consider, for example, coming up with original creative concepts for campaigns that create brand awareness, engagement and loyalty.
More scalable processes – Efficient cloud-based content workflows allow you to build your content team based on talent anywhere in the world. Consistent workflows – supported by anywhere-accessible technology – make your content supply chain more scalable and responsive to opportunities. You can also take advantage of more cost-effective suppliers from around the world.
Faster time to market – Ecommerce marketers know that the first to market often gets the largest market share for new products. An efficient PIM-DAM integration can reduce content creation, approval and publishing from days to hours, meaning faster time-to-market and you gain the competitive edge.
Shopper experience – PIM-DAM integration provides a better shopping experience by meeting their expectation of a seamless omnichannel experience, where they can jump between website, app and social media and see exactly the same thing. PIM-DAM integration provides your creatives with near-instant access to in-sync product information, digital assets and the latest campaign illustrations to create consistency across every channel.
Less risk – Re-entering information into multiple systems is a huge risk for retailers managing thousands of products, where information can change quickly. With multiple data storage systems – such as a disconnected PIM and DAM – this can lead to non-matching information in marketing materials, on packaging, etc. This can lead to customer confusion and cart abandonment when images or prices do not match. Or, in the case of allergen information, it can have much more serious consequences.
What does PIM-DAM integration entail?
To integrate your existing PIM and DAM solutions, you need:
● Determine scope of integration requirements
● Determine feasibility and integration methods
● Data model mapping and cleansing, ready for integration
● Setting up and embedding new processes
For easy integration, this process can be managed internally with a project manager, business analyst and DevOps engineer. For more complex integrations, it is advisable to hire an experienced software partner to manage the process for you.
Next steps
Qonqord has more than 20 years of experience helping retailers automate processes and achieve efficiencies through PIM-DAM integration.
To discuss your unique use case with one of our experienced consultants, contact us.
About Qonqord:
Orchestrating the processes surrounding content creation and publishing is becoming an increasing challenge for (corporate) publishers and brands. This is caused by the enormously growing need for visual content, its ultimately daily use on all relevant media channels and the increasing complexity of these processes.
Agility and speed of creation are an ultimate precondition for the speed of sometimes daily campaigns. Qonqord employees are enthusiastic and are happy to take on the challenge of helping customers speed up the creation and publication processes.
We do this by analyzing all facets of content – from asset management to product data management to automated formatting – and ultimately orchestrating them into one cohesive and balanced process.
