Recently, with the explosive growth of online shopping and ecommerce, you may have heard some say retail is dead or dying. You may have even read a blog predicting this. But if, like me, you attended ShopTalk in Las Vegas, you know those predictions were wrong.

In my previous post, I discussed the power of matching supply and demand data using master data management (MDM). I showcased challenges many retail, footwear and apparel (RFA) makers face in the market today, as well as the value of applying MDM as a strategic asset that improves decision making and collaboration. 

For retailers around the world, the data economy has put a premium on leveraging information as a strategic asset that directly impacts revenue and growth. This is a growing trend that isn’t surprising given today’s ubiquitous use of mobile devices and the digital consumer. 

If you rely on CRM, ERP, ecommerce, data warehouses and related systems, you’ve likely experienced challenges associated with costly manual entries, siloed systems and inefficient processes. These challenges often result in the creation of duplicate records that contain mismatched pieces of information – or worse – inaccurate or conflicting data. 

Several Stibo Systems employees recently attended the Gartner Data and Analytics conference, the largest they’ve hosted, with over 4,200 people in attendance and the most vendors to date. Our booth enjoyed excellent traffic, with multiple prospect conversations across verticals, titles and business needs. We conducted several very positive analyst meetings, shared a presentation in the Gartner Showcase area and even celebrated our 225th birthday with a great cake and interview with Niels Stenfeldt! Over the three and a half days, the team and I, as well as the other attendees were bombarded by a lot of hype around emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and Internet of Things (IoT). Some of the hype was similar from previous summits, and some was new. The one constant across the last few years is, while master data management (MDM) is not as sexy as these technologies, desired business outcomes cannot be delivered without clean, high-quality, trusted data enabled by the foundation of robust MDM.

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by TAG’s (Technology Association of Georgia) Julie Bryant Fisher. As someone who works in the master data management industry, it was an interesting and eye-opening reminder for me. It made me realize that most people not working directly with data management, data governance, ecommerce systems, etc., often do not know exactly what master data management (MDM) is – or even what master data is – much less what a significant impact it has on the average consumer.

With this in mind, I want to take this opportunity to explain MDM from a consumer perspective.

The business of product management requires innovation. And no matter what type of change that requires, from incremental to disruptive to radical, customers today expect brands to innovate. A Nielsen study reveals that 63% of customers value it when manufacturers offer new products. Moreover, innovation isn't merely a matter of raising your R&D budget. According to the consulting firm Booz & Company (now part of PwC), brands that invest heavily in R&D aren’t more innovative than those that don’t.

If customers expect innovation, and spending on R&D isn't a simple solution, what can companies do? That's where data makes a difference. By improving how you manage, share and enrich data that fuels your many business systems and workflows, you can eliminate inefficiencies and develop processes that drive a whole new level of innovation and business value. You apply more accurate, data-driven decision-making across the enterprise.

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are making a digital transformation. With the ease of delivery services today, more consumers purchase grocery and CPG products online than ever before. In fact, according to the Food Marketing Institute, in the U.S. alone 49% of consumers shop primarily online for consumer packaged goods. This is big news for CPG enterprises, which represents one of the largest industries in North America, valued at approximately $2 trillion annually. While packaged goods have traditionally been sold at brick and mortar stores, customer expectations have spurred companies to reach out to consumers across digital channels. In addition, manufacturing and supply chain processes have become data-intensive.

One of the reasons for Amazon’s stunning success is their vast number of products – 564 million in the US alone according to the latest count. This makes Amazon more than an online shop; it’s a search engine for shopping.

As an MDM manager at a retailer, you probably want to imitate that success. This means, you have to launch new products quickly and reliably. This is only possible by means of product data syndication. The obstacle for a fast product launch is usually not logistics or even really about the physical product; it’s about the processing of that physical product’s master data twin.

Established companies know the number of resources it takes to push a product through development: sketching and designing, numerous trips through R&D, distribution and promotion. Furthermore, as competition for customer attention increases, agile product development and sales processes will become critical.

For online retailers, one of the biggest challenges that directly impact the customer experience is inaccurate product data. If the image doesn’t match the description, reviews aren’t associated correctly, dimensions are inaccurate, or the description doesn’t live up to the actual product then chances are good that the product will be returned. This leads to additional costs for freight and extra handling and maybe even loss of customers. By consolidating and mastering your product data, product returns can be reduced by 25%, creating tremendous opportunities for cost savings and improving customer loyalty.