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Showing posts from December, 2017

B2B Catalog Creation Software – An Overview

B2B customer needs are changing at a fast pace. They expect a highly efficient B2C-like experience when they make a purchase – whether they engage with retailer’s online, offline or on their mobiles. Thus the catalogs catering to the B2B customers need to evolve accordingly. Questudio’s CatalogStudio is powerful software to create full line and specialty catalogs. It consists of several modules providing the features needed to create, manage and maintain all product information in one central repository. Its functionality also includes PDF catalog publishing and content management. One can create both print catalogs and web catalogs with equal ease. The design of a catalog is as important as its functionality. A catalog creation software helps in the process of creating catalogs in multiple formats. The catalog production is maintained such that it picks up data from the product information management system. This database consists of cross-referenced part numbers that in tu...
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Why is PIM important?

Product information management is the organization and maintenance of all company product info in one central database repository. PIM manages the data required to sell and market your products through different distribution channels. It helps you reach out to your customers at the right place and time. With a PIM system in place, you can avoid frustrated customers who are tired of looking for the item they need. Questudio’s CatalogStudio helps you maintain, create, and manage product information from one central location. So, why is PIM important? Format Independent and User friendly PIM allows business to be more efficient. You can author and publish product information easily. You can allow all parties, such as retailers and distributors, to collaborate over the web. You can also set it up so that external contributors can give their input by using the data import capabilities. Automated Data It makes creating and maintaining accurate product data for extensive product p...
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How can PIM benefit your company?

PIM technology can have a positive influence on the performance of eCommerce organizations. It is highly beneficial for organizations that transact with many users or customers. Questudio’s PIM software, CatalogStudio, is a powerful system that you can use to create, maintain and manage all product related information in one central repository. PIM has elements that include content management, data security, workflow management, reporting, catalog publisher, import and export tools, etc. So, how can PIM benefit your company? Increase Frequency of New Product Introductions Companies can reduce timelines for new product introductions by a huge percentage by using CatalogStudio. If an organization has a complex set of products, PIM can help simplify the product stream. You can store, retrieve, and navigate data without any limitations with such a robust software in place. You can save product information such as images, videos, CAD drawings, multimedia files, PDFs, etc. Improved...
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Who Needs PIM?

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Product Information Management or PIM are the processes and technologies focused on managing information about products. It focuses on the data required to market and sell the products through different channels. So who needs PIM? CatalogStudio is Questudio’s PIM software. It provides features to create, manage and maintain all product information in a central repository. It consists of a powerful system comprising several modules. Following are some of the factors based on which one should adopt a PIM solution. Increasing Sales An organization that is planning to increase its sales must look at employing PIM. It can help in creating collections of products. Rules can be applied to the collection at the click of a button for a sale or for discounts. PIM can help in bettering the navigation of the website and thus increasing sales. It helps in updating the product information in a matter of seconds. Improving SEO PIM includes the feature of digital asset management for au...
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Mobile Commerce is a Revolutionary Tool

Mobile devices are becoming more and more of an essential tool for brand marketers, so much so that mobile commerce has become just as powerful as eCommerce. With more mobile devices in the world than people, consumers now expect their smart phone experience to be as seamless as their web, and even their in-store experience. Thus, retailers must work even harder to keep their customers happy on all platforms. What is mobile commerce and why does it matter? Mobile commerce is a revolutionary tool that embraces mobile apps and websites. It has completely transformed the way retailers promote, market, and sell products and services. Consumers use mobile commerce to research and compare products, check prices, and even purchase items on their phones. In order for retailers to be successful, they must not think of mobile commerce, ecommerce, and in-store shopping as separate channels. Instead, it’s imperative to view all channels as a whole, thus creating a seamless and consistent bran...
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Product Information Management is Key for Mobile Commerce

Mobile devices can no longer be disregarded as a simple tool for texting and gaming. They are an imperative tool for keeping up with consumer’s needs and allowing immediate access to your store. As the environment flourishes for mobile commerce, it’s vital for retailers to offer a seamless, functional, and compelling shopping experience through the mobile marketing channel. Accuracy and consistency in product information management is key for mobile commerce. Why is PIM necessary in mobile commerce? A retailer that lacks a PIM solution for mobile commerce faces the risk of losing customers and therefore, profits. Regardless of channel, the demand for accurate and consistent product information when searching for and purchasing products is extremely high. Product information management (PIM) allows retailers to serve the needs of site visitors immediately when they interact with their mobile devices. It enables product information to not only be accurate across every channel, but ...
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How to Choose the Right eCommerce Platform

Establishing a dynamic digital presence is a priority for B2C and B2B companies, but selecting an eCommerce platform can be particularly complicated. All platforms are not created equal, and one size does not fit all. Choosing the right one can be the most important decision you’ll make in the early stages of business, as it could easily make or break you. The options are endless, but if you take the time to do your research, your business will surely reap the benefits. How do you choose the right eCommerce platform? Here are some vital factors you should consider before making the tough decision. Functionality and Integration The potential channels to interact with consumers are abundant (brick & mortar, kiosks, digital commerce, mobile commerce, catalogs, infomercials, etc.). In order to stay ahead, and/or merely keep up with the changing business landscape, it’s important for businesses to interact customers seamlessly across all channels. When choosing an eCommerce pla...
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5 Critical Signs It’s Time to Choose a New eCommerce Platform

The digital world is evolving at such a rapid pace that it can be a struggle to keep up. Consumer’s expectations for your brand and online presence are higher than ever before. They want quick and convenient websites that are easy to navigate and are consistent with a company’s brand. It ‘s quite the challenge to maintain a relevant and thriving eCommerce site in this ever-changing landscape. There comes a time when you must evaluate your current website and decide whether you’ve outgrown it. Here are 5 critical signs it’s time to choose a new eCommerce platform. Your current site does not have a responsive design. Maintaining the look, feel, and usability of your webpage effortlessly across all devices is absolutely vital in today’s technology-driven society. If you do not have a responsive design, you will easily fall behind. Adding and updating product information is timely and difficult. You should be able to easily and efficiently control the content on your website wi...
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Print Catalogs are Coming Back in Style

The world of print has been slowly declining in popularity since the digital age erupted. After the recession in 2008, many retailers dropped print catalogs from their budgets due to the major rise in online sales. The years following saw a continuous decline, with 2012 recording the lowest number of mailings since 2001. However, in the current landscape of multichannel marketing, it is the perfect time to bring them back. Why Print Catalogs? Consumers today want information delivered to them when and where they desire. They want a variety of channels; they want choices. With multichannel marketing, retailers may offer information in an abundance of ways. By offering choices, including access to a print catalog, companies show potential customers that they are prepared to adapt to their dynamic wants and needs. Print catalogs also help marketers fulfill their goals more efficiently. Advanced technology allows for focused customer targeting and effortless tracking. Databases hold...
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Should You Offer a Print Catalog for Your eCommerce Business?

In today’s changing marketing landscape, it may seem like print is a dying breed. With the speed and convenience of digital marketing, a print catalog may seem useless and inferior. However, print catalogs still remain an extremely effective means of selling. Online and offline channels must coexist in order for your company’s brand to remain relevant and thriving. Should you offer a print catalog for your eCommerce business? In short, yes. Why should you offer a print catalog for your eCommerce business? Each marketing channel must support the other. Online cannot replace offline marketing, and vice versa. When all channels coexist to create a seamless brand experience, it generates a more powerful strategy overall. Here are a few specific reasons your business should offer a print catalog. Product and brand placement:  Print catalogs are tangible sources of marketing. They are a way to physically place your company and your products in front of potential customers. ...
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5 Benefits of Catalog Automation Software

Challenges in eCommerce increase daily as consumers decide when, where, and how they shop. The growing number of marketing channels makes catalog management much more difficult for retailers. They must deliver product information to customers in a timely, efficient, and personalized manner. Otherwise, they risk losing them to competitors. A properly implemented catalog automation software simplifies eCommerce challenges and increases opportunities for retailers to get ahead. It’s a powerful tool used to create, store, manage, and review all product content in one place in order to present it quickly, accurately, and effectively. Here are 5 key benefits of catalog automation software. Easy to use: Catalog automation software allows you to create and update products, images, and pricing easily and automatically, and keep your catalogs up-to-date at all times. Faster publishing: With less manual effort and errors, you’re able to publish catalogs quicker, and create product up...
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What’s Included in Catalog Automation Software?

Technological advancements and marketing innovations have pushed catalog creation requirements to the next level. Retailers’ objectives become increasingly harder to reach without the proper tools to keep up. If your business relies on print and digital catalogs, you are faced with the challenge of creating unique, brand-oriented material that is timely, consistent, cost-effective, up-to-date, and always accurate. Time is the most precious resource is today’s dynamic and competitive retail atmosphere. In order to stay relevant, your business needs to simplify and streamline the catalog creation process without losing your originality. Catalog automation software is key to ensure your company has a competitive edge. It ensures product information is accurate and up-to-date, increases efficiency, speeds up time-to-market, and allows you to create flexible, customized catalogs without restrictions. While every version is different, here’s what’s included in most catalog automation ...
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How Catalog Automation Improves Customer Experience

Your customers expect a consistent, highly tailored, and contextualized experience across all channels and devices, each time they interact with your brand. It’s not just about grabbing their attention, it’s about keeping it. The 2015 Digital Trends Briefingrevealed customer experience as the leading business essential in 2015, as well as the next 5 years to come. How can you stay relevant? By using catalog automation software, your company can ensure a truly effective customer experience. An all-encompassing and effective customer experience depends on consistency, aesthetics, and user control. Customers want something eye-catching and concise that flows seamlessly across every channel. But, most of all they want each encounter to be tailored to their needs. Here are a few ways catalog automation improves customer experience. Consistency Enforced branding:  With catalog automation, you are able to create brand-specific catalogs with very little effort. You can import your ...
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What is a Product Configurator?

Society today moves at an extremely rapid pace. Efficiency is essential in everything we do, especially business initiatives. Thus, companies everywhere are adopting solutions to cut any wasted time and effort. A product configurator gives companies a competitive edge by boosting their performance and expediency. It allows companies to configure complex products in a quick, accurate, and effective fashion. Product Configurator 101 A product configurator is a powerful tool that enables you to customize core products, price them and create fast and accurate quotes based on the information. It lets you add and/or change functionalities of items to create entirely custom products for purchase. Product configuration simplifies your product offerings–across all sales channels–for you and your customers. As technology advances, so do customer demands. They want personalized products at the click of a button, as well as prices. Without the right tools, sales processes can be lengthy and...
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5 Trends of eCommerce Websites

The online retail industry is growing at a rapid pace, with no signs of slowing down. 2015 has seen bigger growth than ever before. eCommerce matures daily as innovation and technological improvements evolve.  To ensure success in today’s online retail landscape, keeping up with industry trends is no longer a competitive advantage, it’s an absolute necessity. Here are 5 trends of eCommerce websites that are crucial for reaping maximum benefits in 2015. 1. Responsive Design Gone are the days when Internet browsing occurred only on your desktop computer. With the variety of device shapes and sizes, it’s imperative for a website to adjust accordingly for maximum viewing efficiency. 61% of customers will actually leave a site if it isn’t mobile-friendly. Responsive design maintains the look, feel, and usability of a webpage effortlessly across all devices, which leads to increased site traffic, improved customer experience, and higher conversion rates. As more changes and advanc...
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The Future of eCommerce Websites

Throughout the last decade, the Internet has completely transformed the way people buy and sell goods and services. Online retail is revolutionizing the entire shopping process. Consumers are adopting new technologies quicker than ever before. As a retailer, you must keep up with your consumers to provide them the most efficient and pleasurable online shopping experience. As we move toward the future, the mission for eCommerce stores is to stay ahead of the curve by identifying and implementing game-changing trends early. The future of eCommerce websites is all about personalization, mobile, and creating experiences. Personalization With all the data that’s available about customers today, it makes personalized communication much easier, and expected. The eCommerce companies that show they care and take the time to personalize their communication will move ahead. Messaging, on-site experiences, social targeting, and e-mail will all be personalized within the coming years. It wi...
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How To Know When Your Business Needs a Product Information Management System

Over the last few years, the amount of product data that eCommerce stores hold has exponentially increased. With customers demands growing more complex and personalized, organized and accessible product information becomes more and more important. In fact, overall brand impressions drop by 19% on average due to limited product information. To solve this, many companies implement a product information management system. Product information management (PIM) is an application that acts as a central hub for all product data. It allows you to create dynamic groupings of products, add and edit product information and pricing, make bulk updates, and much more. The benefits are abundant, but how do you know when your business needs a product information management system? Here are a few key signs that your business could benefit from a product information management system. You have a large number of products With a small amount of product SKUs, keeping everything under control is fai...
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How Can Product Content Management Help With Marketing?

A company’s sales and marketing collateral depends on relevant, up-to-date, and efficient product content. Yet, organizing and monitoring all your product information is not an easy task, especially if you have a vast product catalog. Usually synonymous with PIM, product content management is an optimal solution that can help improve your marketing and branding. A product content management system is a multichannel marketing tool that allows retailers to gather, create, and enrich consistent product content in a single system. The objective of product content management is to deliver information quickly, synchronously, and accurately, to reduce inefficiencies in the marketing supply chain. So how can product content management help with marketing exactly? Here are a few key aspects of PCM that make it a multichannel marketer’s best friend. The ability to consolidate all product data related to marketing in a single repository for instant access anytime and anywhere allows for bet...
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Keep an Eye Out for These eCommerce Trends

The distinction between eCommerce and brick and mortar stores is getting blurred by the day. Consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet to make their purchasing decisions. This will go even further in the future. The technology involved in shopping is changing at a rapid pace. One need not travel all the way to the store, sift through the printed product catalog, or wait to talk to a product representative for placing an order. Accordingly, merchants have to embrace the latest eCommerce trends, such as omni-channel marketing, m-commerce, and quick checkouts. Questudio’s products are a powerful tool for creating, managing, and maintaining all product information in one place. It gives the ability to quickly deploy a store or a catalog online. It also provides a platform that can be customized and integrated with existing IT infrastructure. Keep an eye out for these eCommerce trends in the near future. Social commerce Social commerce is set to grow at rates as high as ...
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The Difference Between PIM and PCM

Product Content Management (PCM) is a feature that is offered in almost all e-commerce solutions by default. PCM mainly offers data enrichment capabilities. Data enrichment encompasses the ability to add or delete product descriptions. It also includes adding more product features such as images, attributes etc. PCM also includes adding the classification of products as a capability. This helps maintain a single source of truth for all product related information. PCM helps to consolidate the data scattered across the whole enterprise. It also includes enriching the consolidated data and publishing it. It provides for an environment in which marketers, price managers and product managers can all collaborate. Thus, giving an opportunity for publishing rich customer experiences. It also enables a seamless experience for customers across all channels. A Product Information Management or PIM system usually goes even further than just data enrichment. It has additional mechanisms that ...
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What Do Customers Want From eCommerce Retailers?

Successful eCommerce retailers all have one critical thing in common. They know what their customers want.​ But, with constantly shifting demands and evolving technology, it can be difficult to pinpoint what they are really looking for. Take a step back and view your eCommerce site from another perspective: the customer’s. What is it that customers really want from eCommerce retailers? Begin by asking yourself: Who are our customers? What appeals to them? Are we speaking the same language? Truly grasping your customer personas can help tremendously with creating the ultimate customer experience. While each business will have a distinct consumer base, here are a few critical factors that all customers of today are seeking in your eCommerce website. Design People are generally drawn to websites that are aesthetically pleasing. Overall design is extremely vital for bringing in customers, and more so keeping them. Just like a brick-and-mortar location, a website that is cluttere...
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How Does Accurate Product Information Help Your Business?

In today’s digital society, your customers have high expectations regarding your product data. They want to know as much about products as they can, and they want this information to be clear, customized, and consistent. Poor or inaccurate product data is beyond frustrating to customers. It can ultimately lead them away from your store and into the arms of your competitor. Incorrect product information can also negatively impact your brand reputation and growth. On the other hand, accurate product information will drive customer acquisition, accumulate sales, and contribute towards a better customer experience. With product information, remember: quality is better than quantity. Customers rely on this information to make informed purchase decisions. If you have a ton of information listed with your products, but it’s misleading or incorrect, then it will do more harm than good. Customers expect information on your website, in your store, and in your catalogs to be completely and co...
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Product Information Management Equals Faster Time-to-Market

One of the primary benefits of using product information management is the ability to organize and maintain data effortlessly. The time and effort associated with data maintenance is greatly reduced for retailers after implementing a PIM system. In today’s high-speed society, this efficiency is vital to succeed as an online retailer. In short, product information management equals faster time-to-market. What is time-to-market? Time-to-market (TTM) is basically the length of time it takes from the moment a product is conceived until it is available for sale. The most successful retailers usually have an extremely fast TTM. What are the benefits of having a faster time-to-market? It gives you a competitive edge. Fast moving companies have a leg up on competition, as their products are the first available for customers. If you are the first one to release a product, you will sell more than competitors and generate mass revenue. It saves you money. The quicker (and thus, sho...
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Popular posts from this blog

B2B Catalog Creation Software – An Overview

B2B customer needs are changing at a fast pace. They expect a highly efficient B2C-like experience when they make a purchase – whether they engage with retailer’s online, offline or on their mobiles. Thus the catalogs catering to the B2B customers need to evolve accordingly. Questudio’s CatalogStudio is powerful software to create full line and specialty catalogs. It consists of several modules providing the features needed to create, manage and maintain all product information in one central repository. Its functionality also includes PDF catalog publishing and content management. One can create both print catalogs and web catalogs with equal ease. The design of a catalog is as important as its functionality. A catalog creation software helps in the process of creating catalogs in multiple formats. The catalog production is maintained such that it picks up data from the product information management system. This database consists of cross-referenced part numbers that in tu...
Read more

What does your product information say to the customer?

Product information is the data related to the product that helps customer buy the product. Consumers today demand rich data and related images to make their purchasing decisions. In today’s content driven commerce environment, it is important to have detailed product information. Product information flows through multiple departments, such as IT, accounts, sales, marketing etc., across an organization.  The precise flow of the data is essential for successful touch points on the customer side. Questudio’s Product Information Management makes use of processes and technologies to manage information about products centrally.  PIM acts as a single repository for all product data coupled with data integration and governance capabilities. A business through its product information conveys the following to the customer: Unique Selling Point A seller must strategically answer the customer queries on what the business is, what they do and why they must buy the produc...
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Benefits of storing all information in a Central Repository

Repository is derived from the Latin term “repositorium” which means a place where things are stored or collected. Similarly a central data repository is an aggregation of stored data in some place such that it can be shared, updated, analyzed and secured by every user in an organization. The complexity of huge data created and used by several divisions of a business or organization poses great threats to its security, access, accuracy and quality increasing the need for more efficient centralized, integrated data management. In addition, inaccurate data can be harmful and can lead to wrong decisions resulting in loss; hence a central data repository is a necessity to support your business. Improves decision making Data is crucial for making business decisions; especially complete and accurate data is vital for making business analysis and taking effective decisions. When data is integrated in one place in the central repository, management can make better decisions to run the bus...
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