OMR Review: 4 tips to better product data

OMR, the large business review site and knowledge platform for digital marketing in Europe, recently evaluated Syndigo as part of their overall discussion of product information management (PIM), and more specifically, the concept of Product Optimization. Here is a synopsis of the OMR article review (German/English), with some good pointers on why product data optimization is so important—and how it can help with business success.

Product data requires a strategic approach

First, it’s not surprising that data should be intertwined with business strategy. As online sales are set to increase to over 3 trillion euros (US$ 3.06T) by 2025, it’s clear that better optimization equals more profit. Managing product data is worth a closer look, and not just for consumer goods. It should be interlinked with the overall business strategy, with a clear focus on optimizing the information for continual improvement.

According to OMR, that’s why you should optimize your product information.

Product optimization isn’t new, it’s just that it has become more business-critical in recent years. With the ability to collect more information, the challenge now is how to harness that data to deliver more insightful analysis. The focus today is on data quality rather than quantity.

This applies to retailers as well. Despite the fact that many retail companies act as a gatekeeper of product data through their sites, the reality is that the shopper is the one who is ultimately in control. This is also underlined by a study that shows nearly 62% of buyers look for product information before making a purchase. If they are not successful, they look at the next offer or buy a similar product.

Given that both brands and retailers wish to drive continually-improving results with product information, OMR highlighted the following four tips for product data optimization:

OMR Tip #1: Understand your data

First, poor—or incomplete—data can quickly lead to fewer customer interactions and lower sales, according to OMR. When optimizing product data, they suggest creating different content for the format and usage needed. For example, the taxonomy of a single product may be different between two retailers, which also have different requirements than information flowing through supply chain partners. Tapping into resources that understand these taxonomies is a sure way to help adapt faster and more flexibly to the different needs of data recipients and the ultimate customers, the shopper.

OMR Tip #2: Connect your content

We noted earlier that the ability to harness the massive amounts of available data is a significant value to operators today. OMR also highlights this, stating that the real strength of product information comes from it being connected to other data. This gives product information incredible context.

For example, while capturing all the attributes of a single item is important, the ability to link that information to location data or customer data gives incredible insights that can be leveraged throughout your organization. This kind of “golden record” is really the goal—the ability to not just understand a product’s characteristics, but also each unit of that product and where it is within the supply chain. Being connected in real time to these data sources helps to ensure information is always current.

OMR Tip #3: Adjust content regularly

We all understand ‘you manage what you measure’, but in practice, it can often be a challenge to understand which information to assess. OMR highlighted that using Product Information Management (PIM) capabilities with analytics can deliver the insights to understand this information. Syndigo was highlighted as one such organization to do so.

Our analysis of more than a billion product pages per year highlights the importance of having content beyond core marketing requirements online. The additional images, rich media, comparison charts, and other engaging information is called Enhanced Content. A continual analysis of product detail pages (PDPs) online has shown that by simply having additional Enhanced Content on a product page increases shopper conversion rates by an average of 90%. This number climbs even higher if the shopper clicks on the Enhanced Content.

It is important to remember that the shopper has the ultimate control. With a majority looking for detailed information before making a purchase, the way that product content is presented has a strong impact on success.

OMR Tip #4: Don’t forget the search engines 

In many cases, the first point of contact with a product is by searching the Internet. And everyone knows how important it is to ensure that products appear at the top of the search engine results. As companies like Google continually update their algorithms to try and find the most relevant results, it’s important to stay on top of product descriptions so that they are complete, accurate, and tuned for the search engine, continually.

For even more tips and advice from OMR, please check out their article on Product Information Management.

OMR’s Syndigo Synopsis

As part of their overall discussion, OMR also conducted reviews of Syndigo, which can be found here. The review highlighted three additional features that OMR considers critical for the best optimization.

• Cross-Team Collaboration: Product data content is typically created by multiple departments inside and outside an organization, including things like product design and  nutritional labeling for consumer goods. By including this vastly different data within the same solution, Syndigo ensures that all the product information can be published and updated easily. You also have the option of making all changes within the software in real time.
• Content distribution: Another important step is the ability to be flexible enough to adapt and update integrated product content as needed. This is especially critical with items that may have different packaging for different markets or seasons. Syndigo’s solutions allow brand clients to enter and validate all these specifications, while enabling retailers to manage the content to their requirements. Syndigo’s solution delivers an automated way to ensure accuracy in updating product detail pages.
• Analysis of your data: Beyond content creation and distribution, analytics is what turns data into insight. It is an important element in the overall context of continual improvement. Syndigo’s capabilities extend beyond basic management of product data, delivering an engine that can evaluate content structures, taxonomies and product activity online. Using these tools, clients can check in which areas the product information is performing well and where it can be improved. This helps in resource planning as well as content compliance.

If you are considering an upgrade to the way you manage your product information, both internally and across your industry partners, perhaps you should consider Syndigo. With positive evaluations from industry leaders like OMR, you can join the more than 14,000 manufacturer and 1,750 retailer/distributor clients worldwide who use Syndigo’s services to drive better commerce and greater sales. Click here to request a demo.