5 Steps to ‘Close the Loop’ in Digital Commerce

We’re all aware of the digital commerce revolution. Businesses see it every day—and, as shoppers, we live it every day. We know firsthand that our path to purchase has changed.

Across B2C and B2B, buyers and consumers demand more information, richer experiences, and faster commerce. This shift isn’t surprising, especially in the wake of a pandemic. But it does demand our attention.

To compete, enterprises need their data to be dynamic to power the right product experiences and insights. Yet many businesses are struggling to keep pace. Fragmented data and technology gaps often hold them back.

This is why Syndigo, including Riversand, is so powerful. We’ve brought together two technology leaders to create one powerful, end-to-end commerce ecosystem. And the possibilities are endless.

How does this ecosystem work? In this blog series, we’re diving into how to address the complete product content life cycle with five essential steps.

Why is Product Content Life Cycle Important in Digital Commerce?

Before discussing the how, it’s helpful to understand why the product content life cycle is so crucial in digital commerce.

Previously, implementing at least a basic Product Information Management (PIM) solution could help you compete with detailed product content. Now, businesses grapple with so much more than data quality—and often try to cover the gaps with a piecemeal approach.

In a recent report, Gartner states that organizations have various options for managing product data requirements (PIM, ERP, etc.). However, “they often struggle to choose between them or agree on a single approach across the business.”

Gartner explains, “This slows digital commerce initiatives and creates challenges, including unreliable reporting, improper recommendations, inability to drive personalization and compromised product search.”

(Recommended Reading: Gartner Report — Scaling Digital Commerce Requires Product Content Life Cycle Optimization)

The Answer: A Loop for Continual Improvement

So, what does your business need beyond basic PIM?

Complete, accurate product content is table stakes, but you also need to build the contextual experiences that tell a story and convert shoppers into loyal customers. This requires capturing and unifying data, creating channel-ready content, disseminating the data to various endpoints, and leveraging insights to drive improvements.

These are capabilities Syndigo and Riversand have mastered for years:

• Syndigo’s Content Experience Hub has been a trusted solution for customers across industries. Syndigo’s vision in the area of enhanced content, syndication, and digital shelf analytics (DAS) has been recognized by customers and analysts everywhere.
• Riversand, a Syndigo company, the only solution in the market to be ranked as a Leader in both the  Gartner Magic Quadrant for MDM  and Forrester’s PIM Wave. Riversand’s multi-domain Master Data Experience Platform, offers its clients the ability to harness the power of their data across various domains and eliminate silos of information.

The real power, however, comes from combining these strengths.

Rather than working in silos, Gartner tells us that “the complex product content life cycle is increasingly being understood as an end-to-end process,” or closed loop.

And, according to the research firm, “By 2024, organizations that develop ‘closed loop’ processes for organizing product data will increase revenue from digital channels by 30% more than organizations that fail to do so.”

SYNDIGO + RIVERSAND: LEADING ACROSS THE BOARD

From Gartner Leader in MDM, Forrester Leader in PIM, to G2 Leader for Mid-Market and Small Businesses in PIM and DAM, to Featured Customers Market Leader, Syndigo and Riversand have you covered. See why our two companies are even better together.

5 Steps to Close the Commerce Loop

Closing the loop requires addressing both technology and processes across five key steps, each building on the momentum of the last.

We call this approach the Growth Loop — and we deliver the only true end-to-end solution on the market that closes the loop and addresses the complete commerce ecosystem.

Here’s a quick snapshot of how the Growth Loop works:

1. 1. Create: Load the data, content, and assets into the platform (either on your own or with the help of an expert).
   2. Manage: Operationalize your data, enrich existing assets, and supercharge workflows.
   3. Syndicate: Seamlessly publish the content to all (upstream and downstream) endpoints.
   4. Engage: Create enhanced content and rich media within the platform to deliver engaging customer experiences.
   5. Optimize: Close the loop with digital shelf and content analytics, leveraging reports and insights to drive more sales.

Crucially, in bringing together Syndigo and Riversand, our current and future customers can leverage a single company to close the Growth Loop today. Our vision is to deliver a single commerce ecosystem encompassing multi-domain Master Data Management (MDM), PIM, Digital Asset Management (DAM), Syndication, Enhanced Content, and eCommere Analytics.

Wondering how to get your Growth Wheel in motion?

Then stay tuned for the next post in our series! Over the next five articles, we’ll introduce each step in the Growth Loop, and provide tips and best practices for implementing an end-to-end commerce strategy.

To learn more about scaling digital commerce with Syndigo and Riversand, reach out to us today.