Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries worldwide, but its impact is particularly significant in retail. While chatbots and recommendation systems have enhanced customer engagement, they address just one facet of the retail experience.
Imagine a shopper browsing your online shop, only to find inconsistent product details, vague descriptions, or crucial information missing. Frustrating, isn't it?
Accurate and consistent product information is the cornerstone of success in retail. Minor errors can escalate into major setbacks, affecting sales, customer satisfaction, and tarnishing your brand's reputation. But what if there was a way to streamline product data management, minimise data errors, and enhance the customer experience - all at once?
Enter AI-powered PIM solutions.
Product Data Challenges that Retailers Commonly Face
Managing product information is no small feat, especially in an omnichannel model that combines multiple sales channels, including physical shops, online platforms, and third-party marketplaces. Retailers grapple with several challenges that can disrupt operations and affect customer satisfaction.
1. Inconsistent Product Information
With products from various suppliers, inconsistencies in data are almost inevitable. SKUs may differ, descriptions can vary, and images may be outdated or of poor quality, all of which can confuse customers and result in lost sales.
Different SKU conventions or errors in entries create inventory issues, causing inaccurate stock levels, overstocking, or stockouts. For example, one supplier might label a product 'AB123,' while another uses 'AB-123' for the same item, leading to it being treated as two separate products.
Inconsistent product descriptions and terminology can mislead customers, eroding trust and increasing return rates. Vague or conflicting details may make customers hesitate or feel disappointed upon receiving their purchase.
Low-quality or outdated images also lower perceived value, impacting merchandising and online engagement. Customers rely on visuals when deciding to buy, and poor images can deter purchases altogether.
2. Labor-Intensive Data Entry
Manual data entry is still a major bottleneck in retail operations. Managing a large product range requires precise updates of SKUs, descriptions, prices, and images - a task that’s not only time-consuming but also highly prone to human error.
Retail staff often spend countless hours entering and updating product information, which diverts resources away from more strategic activities like marketing and customer engagement.
Mistakes such as typos, incorrect data entries, or omissions can lead to problems like inaccurate pricing, stock discrepancies, and customer dissatisfaction. For example, a misplaced decimal point in pricing could lead to significant financial losses or disputes with customers.
Lengthy data entry processes also slow down the ability to launch new products or update existing ones, affecting competitiveness and responsiveness to market trends. This delay impedes inventory turnover and can cause missed opportunities in dynamic pricing and merchandising.
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3. Language and Localisation Needs
As retailers expand globally, offering product information in multiple languages and adapting it to local markets becomes essential. This process is filled with challenges that can affect brand consistency and customer satisfaction.
Accurate translations are crucial, as literal interpretations often lead to awkward or incorrect descriptions that may confuse or even offend customers. For instance, idiomatic expressions or industry-specific terms may lack direct equivalents in other languages, leading to misunderstandings.
Cultural nuances are also important; overlooking local customs, idioms, and preferences can make product descriptions feel out of place or insensitive, which can negatively impact customer engagement. Failing to convert units of measurement - such as inches to centimeters - can also create confusion and dissatisfaction.
Maintaining brand consistency across different languages and regions is challenging without a well-coordinated approach. Inconsistent messaging can weaken brand identity and reduce customer loyalty. Additionally, different countries have specific regulations regarding product information, and failing to comply can result in legal issues or penalties.
How AI in PIM Can Help With These Challenges
Bluestone PIM offers advanced, seamlessly integrated AI features like AI Analyst, AI Enrich, and AI Linguist, which streamline product information management, optimise product data quality, and enhance operational efficiency.
AI Analyst
AI Analyst identifies inconsistencies, gaps, and errors in product data. It evaluates information against user-predefined standards, offering actionable insights to ensure data accuracy and consistency across the catalogue.
Example: A major electronics retailer relies on multiple suppliers to manage a large catalogue of laptops, smartphones, and smart home devices. Each supplier submits data in different formats, often incomplete or inconsistent. These discrepancies may confuse customers, disrupt the shopping experience, and increase return rates.
Using Bluestone PIM’s AI Analyst, the retailer centralises and normalises product data. The AI scans incoming data, identifies discrepancies, and suggests standard values. AI Analyst also flags missing details like warranty terms or dimensions and suggests adding data based on past entries.
Results you can achieve with AI Analyst:
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A well-organised and consistent product catalogue featuring accurate and comprehensive product information, reducing confusion and building customer trust.
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Improved search functionality, powered by precise and detailed information, helping customers easily find what they’re looking for.
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Fewer returns and complaints, as products align with customer expectations thanks to accurate and reliable data.
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Enhanced operational efficiency, with teams spending less time on manual data reconciliation and more on value-driven tasks.
AI Enrich
Automates the creation of detailed product attributes and descriptions. By analysing existing product data and images, it generates engaging, brand-aligned content, cutting down on manual work and speeding up time-to-market.
Example: A global apparel brand launches thousands of products each season. Each item needs descriptions for material, fit, and care instructions to engage customers and reduce returns. Previously, manual data entry caused delays and inconsistencies.
Bluestone PIM's AI Enrich leverages machine learning to analyse images and existing labels, suggesting relevant attributes and generating accurate, branded product descriptions. It also crafts engaging descriptions aligned with the company’s branding style while enhancing existing content.
These AI-driven details are reviewed, refined, and seamlessly distributed across all sales channels, ensuring consistency and significantly reducing manual effort. Additionally, AI Enrich can produce tailored versions of product descriptions to target specific customer segments.
Results you can achieve with AI Enrich:
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Decreased reliance on manual intervention reduces operational expenses, making it a scalable solution for businesses of all sizes, especially those managing extensive product catalogues.
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Enhances existing product information by improving clarity, engagement, and overall product experience, leading to better customer interactions and trust.
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Enables quick generation of content previews to test and refine descriptions, ensuring the best-performing versions are selected to improve customer engagement.
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By producing keyword-rich, optimised content, AI improves search rankings and drives organic traffic, contributing to both visibility and long-term growth.
AI Linguist
Automates translation and localization of product information, ensuring cultural relevance and consistency across multiple languages. As a result, it helps optimise content and product page for local SEO, making it ideal for global retailers aiming to expand into new markets.
Example: An outdoor gear retailer expanding into Europe and Asia needs accurate, culturally relevant, SEO-optimised translations. Traditional methods are slow, costly, and inconsistent.
Using Bluestone PIM’s AI Linguist the company automates the translation of product information into over 20 languages. AI Linguist adapts content to local preferences, like converting measurements or using culturally suitable terms.
Results you can achieve with AI Linguist:
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Automate translation and text improvement processes, saving time and resources while lowering expenses associated with manual localisation and editing.
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Streamline translation and localisation workflows to enable quicker multilingual content delivery, giving your business a competitive edge in international markets.
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Maintain a unified and professional brand voice across all languages, ensuring accurate, on-brand, and culturally relevant messaging.
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Expand your global reach with high-quality localised content, driving increased engagement and revenue in international markets.
Discover how one of our customers, a leading sports retailer in the Nordics, is making use of AI Linguist in their operations to create multilingual content with ease and efficiency.
Unlock Smarter Product Management with Bluestone PIM AI Features
Bluestone PIM leverages AI to revolutionise how retailers manage product information and their product catalogues. It automates the creation of compelling product descriptions, effortlessly generates multilingual versions, and aligns product data with the requirements of various sales channels.
With advanced integrated AI features like AI Enrich, AI Analyst, and AI Linguist,
Bluestone PIM empowers your business to take product information management to the next level - seamless, scalable, and smarter than ever.
Ready to elevate your product management with the power of AI? Get in touch with our experts, watch our quick demo video, or book a session to explore how Bluestone PIM's AI features can help your brand thrive in e-commerce.
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