Customers are now more discriminating when buying a product. They are now more tenacious at demanding a shopping experience that is seamless, consistent, compelling, and information-rich.
Brands and manufacturers have already recognized that they are no longer in charge; now, the customers and buyers drive their business. If their customers want a more connected and digital shopping experience, then all touchpoints must have high-quality information, be consistent and engaging. And with their drive to sell more and increase revenues, they need to sell through more channels and touchpoints – to do this means leveraging their product content, eliminating data silos, and operating seamlessly.
More sales channels, higher chances to increase brand discoverability
According to a report1, customers discover brands through:
- Search engines, 35%
- TV ads, 34%
- Word of mouth, 29%
- Social ads, 27%
- Brand websites, 25%
- Ads on websites, 25%
- Retail website, 24%
- Social media recommendations, 23%
However, 71%2 of consumers prefer to discover brands themselves through channels such as recommendations and online searches rather than be subjected to advertising. Still, a laser-focused approach is needed to increase brand discoverability across all channels.
Where does product content syndication come in?
Product content syndication is sharing product information with distribution partners, marketplaces, data pools, and the retail network. At the same time, it automates the collection and enrichment of product pages so it’s easier for companies to optimize customer experience without the need to invest large amounts of time and effort.
Effective product content syndication enables businesses to open new sales channels and ensure that products are more discoverable and visible to consumers and buyers.
Companies must then leverage a strategy to syndicate product content to different channels through e-commerce platforms and marketplaces to expand their reach and increase discoverability.
Syndication via e-commerce platforms
E-commerce platforms allow online businesses to manage their website, marketing, and sales operations. Companies can efficiently distribute rich, consistent, and complete product content through said platforms and even integrate with existing systems within the enterprise. This level of flexibility minimizes silos, easing the pressure of maintaining more systems and redundant data management processes.
Syndication to marketplaces
Companies can also syndicate to online marketplaces such as Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay. Marketplaces represent an easy way for smaller companies to compete in a competitive business landscape. Whether a brand is just starting on marketplaces or expanding to new ones, companies need two crucial capabilities: product information management and inventory management.
Whether a business chooses to syndicate through an e-commerce platform or to a marketplace, it is essential to remember that in the middle of it all, a solution that holds all product data is needed; one that integrates easily with e-commerce solutions and marketplace platforms.
Product content syndication through PIM integration
Product Information Management (PIM) is a solution that allows businesses to easily and quickly onboard, validate, manage, enrich and publish the product information needed to successfully market and sell products across multiple sales channels.
A truly powerful PIM is not limited to publishing product content on a brand’s website. It extends the capabilities by allowing integrations with other solutions such as ERP, CRM, DAM, and e-commerce platforms and marketplaces via APIs and proprietary connectors.
By integrating PIM systems with e-commerce platforms and marketplaces, businesses can:
- Automate the distribution of synced product data to different channels, easily extending their reach, improving discoverability, and growing their sales channels
- Optimize product information with rich, complete, and up to date data, ensuring a consistent and balanced distribution of localized channel-specific product content
- Facilitate consistent and engaging customer experiences, enabling a seamless and omnichannel experience that consumers demand
- Simplify product content syndication efforts, saving time, money, and resources
The buyer and consumer path to purchase is more complex than ever and they constantly seek information from their favorite sources before they purchase -- whether it’s from a search engine, a website, or online marketplaces. Businesses need to be there to offer consistent information and compelling experiences to get ahead of the competition.
Resources:
1 https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-global-digital-overview
2 https://www.marketingweek.com/consumers-do-not-trust-traditional-advertising-channels/
