Case Study: Deventrade

The initial DEVENTRADE PIM project took four months working with an independent integrator to complete. The focus was on integrating Akeneo PIM into operations, improving web updates, and the production of print catalogs. At launch, there were 3 team members who were regular Akeneo users with more being added as the project expanded.

The project was lead by the marketing manager and E-commerce manager in conjunction with the buying and marketing teams responsible for product enrichment. They needed to be able to handle 20,000 products with 1,000 variant groups distributed to 14 different E-commerce websites as well as their print channel.

The team received some initial training from the Akeneo integrator they worked with, but the team was able to quickly figure out many of the features on their own using the Akeneo user guides.

The product catalog now included 90 possible attributes– significantly more than in the past. With PIM, DEVENTRADE could include more information per product and increase the quality of their data. Before, they could only manage basic information like color and size, but now they could easily include gender, material, washing instructions, etc.

DEVENTRADE took advantage of the PIM2Catalog connector to radically simplify their production process for print catalogs. The designers could make just one template/catalog, fill in the product information, and then quickly translate needed copy and product data into the appropriate language. It didn’t matter what language the product information was in originally, the PIM2Catalog connector carried over all the necessary translations and placed them in the proper location.

DEVENTRADE now has 14 websites connected to Akeneo PIM and hopes to integrate the remaining 10 websites into the Akeneo platform over the next two years. Like every manufacturer, DEVENTRADE is constantly adding and modifying its collections, products, and SKUs. By using Akeneo PIM they can regularly create and update products rather than updating their website on just a semi-annual basis.

Previously, DEVENTRADE only updated their websites four times a year, now they update them on a daily basis!

DEVENTRADE creates 5-6 print catalogs per brand for a variety of languages and regions. Akeneo PIM + the PIM2Catalog connector significantly streamlined this process and makes a huge variety of catalogs practical. Previously, DEVENTRADE had to make every catalog individually, and every year they found outdated product data along with minor mistakes making their way into the final catalogs.

Now, the connector allows DEVENTRADE to ensure that uniform and always up-to-date product data is utilized for the final catalogs. Even last minute changes are automatically properly incorporated into the final InDesign files. The savings in time and expense means that not only are their main catalogs more accurate and up-to-date, but DEVENTRADE can now produce more speciality catalogs such as customized catalogs dedicated to a specific club.

DEVENTRADE also uses the PIM to send a product data feed to their resellers, so they can benefit from DEVENTRADE’s detailed and up-to-date product information in their own channels.

Akeneo was the perfect solution for all of DEVENTRADE’s PIM needs. They can now centralize their data, update and enrich that data, and send it different channels easily and quickly. Both web updates and print catalog design and production have been radically transformed with more frequent and accurate updates. Everything is faster with PIM.