ASSORTMENT PLAYBOOK FOR RETAILERS

Transcription

1 6STEPS to partnering with your vendor community to deliver the product information your consumers expect. Managing product information has never been easy, and it becomes even more difficult as consumers demand ever-increasing amounts of product details before making a purchase. To meet this demand, you need to continually enhance the quality of product information presented to consumers as well as the frequency in which it is exchanged both challenging the traditional methods of distributing content. How do you handle the increased flow of product information while maintaining a process that is smooth for your internal teams and beneficial to your supplier community? Here are six steps to point you in the right direction.

2 1 Define your long-term vision. Identify the team members who should create and approve your vision. All too often, its scope becomes intimidating and leads to paralysis, so define both short-term and long-term goals, along with who will drive the vision internally. To define the vision and articulate its value, the team needs to agree on several critical components of the program and communicate them across the organization. Explain why now is the right time to make this change. Estimate how much time it is going to take and who needs to be involved at each stage of the process. For example, is this new process going to impact your current product data management system completely? And are the adjustments impactful to a limited number of people and/or system components? Be clear, and if you do not know all the answers yet, share that too. Finally, determine how to measure success. From our work with many retailers on successful item management initiatives, we ve found that the most common retailer goals are: Driving sales by meeting consumer expectations for product data. Improving product data quality and accuracy, including pricing. Supplying an integrated view of product information from multiple vendors. Ensuring customers purchase the best product for their needs. plenty of product detail best prices PHOTOS/VIDEO PRICE SIZE COLOR AVERAGE CONSUMER RATING PRODUCT COMPARISONS limitless choices and variations fast order fulfillment consistency across platforms

3 2 Develop your operational plan. Determine how to put your goals into action by developing a cohesive plan while remaining mindful of team dynamics, required tasks and delivery dates. Establish a list of key stakeholders, including more team members than those who perform the day-to-day work. 3 Identify, train and rally your team. Contributions from both technical and business team members will be required to make your program a success. All team members should understand the initiative s value so they are committed to its success. That includes acknowledging that there are different users with multiple roles, each of which is helping in their own way. The team members should also be allowed to provide their own input on the process before its implementation. Key team members typically include: An executive program sponsor to champion the project internally and with the supplier community acting as a change agent driving new behaviors and processes. A project manager to lead the project internally and identify required tasks for the organization, ensuring that the right people are engaged and on track with timelines. A data owner or power user to understand the type of information being collected, along with the attributes and how they are used, which attributes are required versus optional, and any validations that need to occur. Requires knowledge of how to process the information using various internal systems.

4 4 Define project milestones and timeline. Think of the initiative from the consumer s viewpoint by visualizing what they might want and structuring your system accordingly. By beginning with this end goal in mind, you can set smaller goals and more easily define success at each phase of the process. Timelines will vary widely based on project scope and the state of the organization. Common questions that help create a list of goals, include: What is the overall structure of the item management system? Which attributes will be required, conditional or encouraged? Which attributes are most important now versus in the future? How will you handle product images? How will you add new items and manage attribute updates? 5 Communicate with your suppliers. Consider how the initiative will affect your suppliers, then determine the most effective way to communicate new requirements. Buy-in from suppliers is crucial, so ensure the overall message is cohesive by aligning communications from every team member. Topics to communicate to suppliers, include: Benefits of the initiative, such as driving sales, expanding the product assortment and strengthening your business relationship through increased collaboration. Products or categories included in the program. Specific changes to the supplier s process. Your expectations and timelines.

5 6 Implement the system with your supplier community. Determine whether you will manage this final step yourself or whether third-party expertise makes better sense based on your internal resources and workload. When making this decision for your business, it important to remember that every item management initiative requires ongoing reiteration, retraining and revisions. SPS Commerce can ensure your company is fully prepared to manage your retail partners item data. Your customers deserve detailed product information arm them with the tools they need to make a purchasing decision. Kickstart your product data management solution with SPS Commerce. Contact our team of customer strategists to get started. spscommerce.com/products/ assortment/