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Consumers today are shopping via multiple channels: in stores, online and from their mobiles. Increasingly, they are using digital media to inform their buying decisions. They look up product information on retailers and suppliers web pages, read reviews on consumer portals or social media and compare prices online. Most of the facts consumers are looking for such as features, ingredients and source of the product - are freely available at the shoppers fingertips. But is this information really trustworthy? At present, there is every chance some of the data retrieved will be incomplete, incorrect and outdated or may come from dubious sources.
Consumers retrieving product information via their smartphones expect trustworthy data.
Data quality is becoming ever more of a challenge for retailers. They need to feed their systems with consistent product information across all channels and along the supply chain. And they need more data each day if they want to communicate with customers at a multitude of touch points: at point of sale, at home - through print media, websites as well as social media and increasingly on the move, via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs. The data required for all this far exceeds the scope of traditional master data, and now includes marketing information, images and multimedia files. The vexed question of enhanced product information for consumers in the digital world was one of the most discussed topics in Wiesbaden at last weeks ECR Tag 2012 conference, the major networking event for retailer and supplier collaboration in the German-speaking countries. GS1 Germany, which hosted the conference, used the occasion to make an announcement designed to support trading partners in their efforts to manage product data from the supply chain to the consumer.
Seeking standardisation
Merging its recently acquired product master data pool SA2 Worldsync with 1Sync, a similar tool operated by its US counterpart, the standardisation body has created the worlds largest provider of global data synchronisation network services in the industry. The new platform, called 1WorldSync serves 15,000 customers in 40 countries and is certified for the GS1 Global Data Synchronisation Network (GDSN).
Implications
The mobile internet and increasing consumer demand for reliable product information urges retailers and their suppliers to collaborate in developing a unified and trusted source of data. Global standardisation body GS1 and its Global Data Synchronisation Network GDSN are supporting both retailers and FMCG companies in their efforts to communicate master data electronically in a standardised way. The worlds largest provider of global data synchronisation services in the industry, 1WorldSync - resulting from the merger of SA2 WorldSync and 1Sync - is set to help not only big players but also the large number of small and medium-sized companies to improve data quality and contribute to a consistent repository.
In a joint press statement, Jrg Pretzel, CEO of GS1 Germany, and Bob Carpenter, CEO of GS1 US, said: Brand owners and other businesses will benefit from this venture as we create a proven leader in the development and implementation of solutions to build a better-informed world. The sharing of product information beyond the traditional business-to-business model has
rapidly become a flashpoint for businesses and 1WorldSync will be at the forefront of this major shift. GS1 US and GS1 Germany will supply equal representation to the 1WorldSync Board of Directors, whose voting members are Carpenter, Pretzel and external directors Otmar Debald, Managing Director, Procter & Gamble Germany; Erich Harsch, Chairman of the Board, dm drugstores; Rodney McMullen, President and Chief Operating Officer at Kroger in the US and Joe Pleasant, Chief Information Officer of the Premier healthcare alliance in the US. 1WorldSyncs CEO is Nihat Arkan, formerly the CEO of SA2 Worldsync. Ulf Adebahr, Chief Information Officer of 1WorldSync told Planet Retail that the new platform will be based on the existing software architecture from SA2 Worldsync. He also underpinned the fact that retailers require more and more additional product information to fulfil the high expectations of an always on consumer. Previously, master data management was mainly focused on the B2B process and information necessary for logistics. 1WorldSyncs strategy is aimed at widening the view. Adebahr calls it B2B2C, creating transparency on a unified platform from business to business to consumer. Jrg Pretzel, CEO of GS1 Germany hosted the ECR Conference 2012 in Wiesbaden.
with attribute data such as product dimensions and weight. Whats more, the provider ensures that all the information captured is reviewed and approved by the supplier. Only with services such as these can smaller manufacturers and retailers, with their private labels, participate in a new consistent data repository. This will not only improve the quality of consumer information but also enable communication via new channels: digital screens in stores or virtual shopping walls, as well as smartphones or tablets, all of which rely on image availability and comprehensive product descriptions.