Master Data Management: the best solution for retail
24/05/2022
Lately, new technologies lead us to renew our technological equipment with software, possibly in the cloud, augmented reality, robots, automated warehouses, etc. But what if, before welcoming the future, we had to rethink the basics?
Incorrect data management can lead to huge economic losses. Data is the basis of our business processes, yet it is often mistreated, thrown around on different systems, manipulated by those who should not be doing so, and wrongly brought to the final consumer. It is essential to focus on the importance of collecting all the information on our products in a single tool to avoid decreasing the margin on sales, incorrect pricing, coding the same product hundreds of times and risking losing control of the different sales channels.
It is important to harmonise the collaborative workflow among the various departments within the organisation:
Undoubtedly, tools have emerged over the years that have facilitated this management, such as PIM and DAM software.
We want to go further: we want to make sure that companies can have living, dynamic product data – and why not, add to it to give more information to end customers – but also the ability to put it alongside their own business rules.
To accomplish this purpose, we intend to provide buyers, logisticians, and the business office with a simple and intuitive tool that leaves everyone their own space and the necessary information to consult and edit.
Having full control over data and operations is a very valuable competitive advantage. Managing multichannel enables:
These are some of the reasons why Aton relies on a Master Data Management solution. One place to collect data, transmit it to all systems, achieving precise management of all sales channels and a drastic reduction in errors and wasted time.
The MDM is a much more complex system, and we are convinced that it fully reflects the needs of large-scale retailers. Its work area is divided into tabs, in which one enters not only all the indispensable information about a product (ingredients, origin, weight, allergens, etc.), but also the actors who are involved (typically suppliers), assortments and price lists for sales channels (e-commerce, direct and affiliated stores, Cash&Carry), product dimensions, thus harmonizing the data that are automatically transmitted to all systems (ERP, WMS, Back-Office, e-commerce).
Our goal is to work alongside the systems currently in use and put in a top layer that integrates with them, so that there is no information to update in two different parts, and that communicates with all systems for timely updating of all information.
This is not just product management, because we combine it with:
