As a loyal ambassador for your retail company, you already have a lot on your plate as you focus on growing the business and all that comes with the retail process. It can often feel like your valuable time is being wasted when you consistently need to follow up with suppliers for complete, accurate product data. Even after product orders are received, and you’re ready to list the items for sale on your retail site, the process can be held up and potential profits lost because of missing or incomplete product information. Rather than spending your time on more valuable tasks, like planning ads and promos, you’re stuck sending e-mails and making phone calls, trying to track down the data, all while the profit clock is ticking and sales are dropping.
So, what’s the alternative to such an unwieldy, time-consuming process that’s laden with a multitude of challenges? Since you’re probably actively researching a better process, by now you may have heard of a managed service, which steps in on your behalf and collects the product information directly from the supplier. A managed service can utilize all the raw, unstructured data the suppliers already have on hand, processing the information to your specific standards to enhance product content on your site. Plus, this service can collect the suppliers’ complete catalog of product information upfront and prepare everything at once, significantly decreasing any lag time between when product orders are finalized and when the items can actually be listed for sale.
Clearly, a managed service is the solution your retail company needs. But how do you help your decision-maker come to the same conclusion? Here are some tips for what to say when proposing a managed service to the decision-maker at your retail company:
Make it clear that hiring a managed service would not cost your company. Instead, it has the potential to save a wealth of company resources that are currently being wasted and misplaced. Instead of spending countless hours tracking down product content from suppliers, and then needing to repeat the process several times as a result of inaccurate or incomplete information, you could work more efficiently with buyers and Web planners to make sure inventory and ads are locked down and ready to go. Perhaps of even greater importance, your company could see higher profit margins, since you could be listing products for sale at a much faster pace than your retail competitors. Instead of purchasing the same product from another retailer, consumers would be more likely to purchase from your company because they found the product they’re looking for on your site first, listed with all the product information details they need to make an informed purchasing decision.
You know that time to market is important for virtually every industry. The clock is ticking and time to market is suffering while you’re working with numerous suppliers, season after season, requesting complete, thorough product information for the items your company has purchased for sale. A managed service would be able to take over the manual burden of that process, while also providing complete, optimized product data back to your retail company at a faster rate, getting your products in front of consumers as soon as they’re available. This is the specialty of managed product data services: to obtain a large volume of unorganized, raw data up front, and process that information to your retail company’s standards as soon as the products are ready to be sold on your site.
People who’ve been in your role previously have probably suffered under the pressure of juggling their normal responsibilities working with the buyers and Web planners while continuously tracking down product content from suppliers. With this inefficient process in place, turnover is generally at a heightened rate since employees can often feel burnt out and unfulfilled in their roles. When the product data management is handed off to a dedicated outside company who can perform the duties with efficiency and necessary resources, your company no longer suffers from high turnover and discouraged employees. Instead, your team members will be able to thrive at what they do best.
A managed service isn’t just a tool or a piece of software – it’s run by a dedicated team of human beings who are ready to take on the task of organizing and optimizing the various types of product information suppliers provide. Not only does that team work efficiently with the suppliers themselves, it’s also at the ready to assist your retail company at any time if questions arise or if a change in process becomes necessary. Rather than simply plugging information into an impersonal tool that can lead to user error and inconsistencies, a committed onboarding team can make sure the process is always running smoothly, performing quality control and making any adjustments needed to ensure product information is delivered to your retail company on time, when it’s needed the most.
Is your retail company ready to start benefitting from a managed product data service? When it’s time to have the important conversation with your decision-maker, point them in the direction of Virtucom Group.
Data integrity, time to market and increased conversions are vital to all e-commerce retailers. Our product data management and unique content creation program ensures consistent product names, robust product descriptions, complete and accurate product attributes and an array of digital assets are at your disposal, providing time to market and quality improvements that will outpace your fiercest competition. Contact our team and get started with Virtucom Group today.