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Case Study: Petra

Petra Picks Akeneo To Revolutionize Its Product Experience

Akeneo has become a critical part of our infrastructure.

Josh Williams, Director of Digital and eCommerce Marketing

Challenges

  • Planned eCommerce platform migration was made more challenging by a large amount of unorganized product information.
  • Product information trapped in silos spread out across the organization made product data difficult to access and use, slowing down enrichment speed and time-to-market.
  • Disconnected sources of product data led to errors and inconsistencies in information presented to customers online.

Benefits

  • Organizing product information via families and channels within Akeneo PIM led to a faster and easier migration.
  • Created a system of record for all product information, increasing access to data and accelerating enrichment time from several weeks to a single day.
  • Used the new system of record to add accurate information to eCommerce sites and improve their product experience.

The Challenge

Founded in 1985 and initially operating from a small garage, Petra has spent the years since growing into a massive distributor, offering products in more than 60 categories.

Petra knew that if it wanted to continue its earlier growth, it needed to improve the quality of its product information. For more than three decades, the company had survived without a dedicated solution for enriching and managing product information. As a result, the company lacked a system of record for accurate, consistent product information, leading to struggles with a slow-time-to-market and inaccurate or inconsistent product data to reach customers, according to Josh Williams, the company’s director of digital and eCommerce marketing.

This was a particular challenge when it came to onboarding products. Williams noted that before adopting Akeneo PIM, it could take weeks to onboard complete information on new SKUs from suppliers into Petra’s databases. What’s more, it took even more time to organize that information and prepare it to be shared with retailers, further slowing the company’s turnaround times.

So, after more than thirty years, Petra decided to implement PIM in hopes of continuing its history of growth into the digital age.

 

Before Akeneo, we were using a combination of internal systems, but there wasn’t any single place where all our product data lived. We didn’t have that single source for all product information.

Josh Williams, Director of Digital and eCommerce Marketing

The Solution

The PIM due-diligence process was not an easy nor short one for Petra. After reviewing several solutions over the course of nearly five years, Petra eventually elected to go with Akeneo. Williams noted that Akeneo PIM’s userfriendly interface, open-source nature, and more affordable cost set the solution apart from many others in the space.

“We had looked at quite a few PIM solutions over the course of five years…but most just weren’t going to be cost-effective for us,” Williams explained. “Then we found Akeneo, which worked well for us and was open-source.”

Thanks in large part to Akeneo PIM’s user interface, more than 20 regular users across three different departments were trained quickly. Within a matter of days, users across three distinct departments were using Akeneo PIM to more easily enrich and manage more than 33,000 products from more than 600 suppliers.

 

 

 

We’re light years ahead of where we’d be without Akeneo.

Josh Williams, Director of Digital and eCommerce Marketing

The Result

Single source of truth

Before implementing Akeneo PIM, Petra’s product information was stuck in silos spread across the company, which led to errors in product information and a slow time-to-market. Now, with the addition of a central repository and system of record for product information, the company was able to acclerate enrichment time from several weeks to just a single day while cutting down on errors and inconsistencies.

 

Easier migration

Having a robust PIM solution like Akeneo allowed Petra to more easily complete its recent re-platforming to Oro Commerce. “Going through an eCommerce platform is a huge challenge,” Williams said. “Being able to have a connector in place, and have our categorization set in Akeneo already was a big time saver.”

 

More sales

The biggest impact Akeneo PIM had on Petra? Increased sales revenue. By providing a single source of truth for accurate, consistent product information, Akeneo helped Petra move more quickly and provide a better customer experience for B2B buyers. Add it all together, and the result is increased sales and decreased returns.

 

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