How Do You Know If You Need A DAM System?
How Do You Know If You Need A DAM System?
There are many digital asset management systems available today.
To pick the right one, you must understand your pain points and your organization’s requirements.
With the appearance of desktop publishing and digital photography there was a “big bang” of sorts. The sheer volume of digital assets – photos, illustrations, and later videos and audio – grew exponentially. As our devices gave us more and more power to create digital assets, keeping track of them became harder and harder. Just count the number of images in your photo gallery app, multiply that by the number of devices out there, and you’ll get the idea.
For retail creative services managers, production managers, and their IT counterparts, this is not a trivial problem. By some estimates, retail marketing teams can spend as much as three weeks out of a year looking for digital files, not to mention the labor involved in using those files in print and digital media workflows. Besides the drain on efficiency, there are also the costs of using the wrong image or an outdated one – lost sales, returns, and damage to the retailer’s reputation. The ever-present threat of security breaches also enables unscrupulous players to misrepresent products or sell knock-off versions.
DAM Basics
Of course, the obvious solution is a robust Digital Asset Management or DAM system. Such a system must store each asset in a secure but accessible location. However, it must also maintain the proper identifiers (SKU number, name, modification, creation date, manufacturer, visual thumbnail, and more, known as metadata) for each item. These identifiers allow humans and production systems to find and utilize each asset with minimal manual effort. And it must do so – quickly and accurately – for every product or part currently sold by the retailer. That could easily add up to millions of assets.
As an added wrinkle, a good DAM system for retailers must also connect with related information about the actual products, such as that found in a Product Information Management (PIM) system or an inventory or pricing database. It must also connect seamlessly with print and online ad production systems, including those based on Adobe InDesign.
Finding the Right System – Seven Questions
Every large organization needs to store, organize, and share digital content. For non-retailers, the needs may be more straightforward – from brand identity elements and presentations to internal communications documents. Publishers’ needs are more complex, but the most demanding DAM requirements are those of retailers responsible for reselling millions of branded products made by other companies.
To identify a retailer’s need for a DAM system – or for a system better than the one they’re using – the best place to start is by asking questions about the retailer’s pain points and requirements, such as:
- Typically, how long does it take to locate the right digital asset – and be confident that it’s the most recent version of the file?
- How common is the inadvertent use of off-brand or outdated digital content?
- Are the organization’s digital assets stored securely and fully accessible to authorized individuals?
- Are approvals required to use or modify digital assets?
- Is there sufficient storage for present and future digital assets, either in the cloud, on-site, or a combination of both?
- Do digital assets need to be shared internally, externally, or both?
- Do you need to track how and where digital asset files are used?
Answering the above questions will provide most businesses with a clear picture of their need for DAM. But for retailers, the requirements are even more intense.
The very nature of retail campaigns creates other demands. Due to the rapid turnaround times for print and digital media channels, with scores of products per campaign, the DAM must also be bi-directional. Changes in the data, such as the existence of a modified or updated product photo, must automatically update the layout right up to the point where the piece is printed. The update must happen for digital media at any moment—even after the digital ad is published. Similarly, the DAM must accommodate that change if the data are modified on the production side, such as a photo retouch made with the appropriate permissions.
The Optimum Solution
DAM is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s also not something that can function well in isolation from other IT resources. But when an organization cannot satisfactorily answer the above seven questions, it’s time for a change. Most DAM systems, even the competent, enterprise-level ones, do not meet large retailers’ unique needs running multichannel marketing campaigns.
On the other hand, the DAM approach in Comosoft LAGO was built with those retailers’ needs in mind. From its origins as a print catalog automation system, LAGO has evolved rapidly into a multichannel planning, production, and campaign management system for retail creative and production services managers. The system provides its own cloud-based or on-premises DAM module but also works with other third-party DAM systems. Above all, LAGO treats digital assets not as isolated information but as integrated parts of a highly complex process.
LAGO’s DAM resources are well integrated with the related data in the product information management (PIM) system and the retailer’s pricing, inventory, and sales history databases. Combined, these data sources are used to facilitate multi-version catalog and circular production using Adobe InDesign, and the results are exported to online and mobile applications.
The big DAM question for retailers is not merely, “Where the heck is that file?” More importantly, the big question is, how can a digital asset – and millions of others – be orchestrated into an ongoing, sustainable, and genuinely multichannel campaign?
Find out more about Comosoft LAGO’s approach to DAM, and its potential to streamline and transform your retail data and marketing strategy. Or book a demo to see for yourself.
3 Reasons why brand consistency is essential & how DAM helps
3 Reasons why brand consistency is essential & how DAM helps
Are you staying true to your brand?
Here’s the exciting thing about brand consistency: It pays off. In fact, it can increase revenue anywhere between 10 and 20 percent. Brand consistency is about providing your customers with the same experience and impression of who you are as a company when they interact with you, no matter the marketing avenue or communication channel.
When a company establishes its branding, it creates–and, just as importantly, coordinates–the assets for the company and its products. When this branding syncs up, it can benefit your internal operations, help you build trust within your target audience, and get everything working in better alignment. Here’s why brand consistency is crucial–and how digital asset management can help.
1. Build trust that translates into sales
Trust is so essential for today’s consumers that 46 percent will pay more for a brand name they trust than one they don’t. Perhaps that’s why most leading brands expend so much effort building trust.
It’s easy enough to be a “one-hit-wonder;” to create a one-off positive customer experience and make an excellent first impression. Consumers form an initial impression about whether or not they trust a brand in the first seven seconds. And true, a solid initial impression makes for a good beginning–but this does little to foster a long-term relationship with customers–and it may not be enough to inspire that first sale.
Here’s why: Today’s consumers are inundated with advertising and brand messaging on their computers, phones, on television, in circulars and magazines, out in the world, and in their homes. It’s not very likely that they will make their first purchase from a brand they don’t have a relationship with.
That’s where brand consistency comes into play. Consistent brand messaging and cohesive digital assets can make all the difference in nurturing consumer trust with new and repeat customers.
2. Boost brand recognition and memorability
Some color combinations–and even some colors all on their own–are instantly recognizable and forever tied to a brand in many consumers’ minds. This has everything to do with brand consistency. For example, a global restaurant chain known for golden arches and vibrant red and yellow branding is perhaps one of the most recognizable brands worldwide. Or the particular shade of blue associated with a particular name in jewelry.
By some estimates, the right colors can amplify awareness of your brand by as much as 80 percent.
A good, consistent brand image can make your company more recognized and valued. Brand consistency can (and should) include colors. But it can also be achieved through formatting, messaging, an image’s hue or tone, a photo, video, or graphic style, or the most updated company logo. All of these factors create a consistent, trustworthy, recognizable brand that your target audience can get to know faster and easier than brands that operate without the same level of cohesion.
When you have the right tools–like a robust digital asset management system, your entire team and your third-party vendors alike can have searchable, trackable access to all the same digital assets to establish and maintain brand consistency and make the marketing process faster and more agile.
3. Nurture customer connections
Once customers recognize and trust your brand, they can start to anticipate how it will behave and what actions you’ll take. From here, they’ll begin to form an opinion and even connect with your brand personally and emotionally.
The reason behind this? Customers who recognize and trust your brand learn who you are as a company. It’s easier to spot your values, learn your identity–and connect to your mission. This can make all the difference. When customers have an emotional connection with a brand and identify with and share your values, they are far more likely to purchase from that brand. This is increasingly important to today’s consumers. In truth, 64 percent of customers report that sharing values with a brand is one of the most significant ways they connect with a brand.
Your brand should inspire specific, positive emotions in your target audience. This can start as soon as they see your logo (or even just the colors in your logo), but it’s far simpler to accomplish this when you remain consistent.
The link between brand consistency and your digital asset management solution
Wherever you are as a company, that’s where your brand is–whether you realize it or not. It shows up in your company name and logo but also in places like your catchphrases, designs, images, and videos. But it also includes the less tangible, evocative, emotional part of your brand that helps to establish a relationship with your target audience.
Your brand shows up everywhere. It’s in every aspect of your digital assets. That’s why having the right digital asset management tool is essential; it ensures that all your digital assets match across every channel and marketing campaign. It’s the key to ensuring your whole team is painting from the same palette and with the same colors, literally and figuratively.
Digital asset management, then, is all about brand consistency. It helps improve your brand memorability and recognizability, reinforcing your company’s identity and solidifying your messaging across channels. From the beginning of the sales funnel to the end, everything is aligned toward a common goal.
How Comosoft can help
When you’re ready to change creative directions, update your branding, or pivot quickly as your brand evolves, a digital asset management (DAM) solution ensures that your team works from the same tools: the most updated assets.
As you learn which assets are most impactful–based on the metadata for each asset, all logged in your DAM–you can make changes on every channel. And with Comosoft by LAGO, these changes can be created to existing digital channels immediately. In this way, Comosoft’s digital asset management system can also help you keep pace with industry trends and stay competitive within your market based on both outside influence and cutting-edge internal data.
What’s more, Comosoft’s DAM tools can make every team within your company more efficient by securing their access to the assets they need and fostering a seamless workflow from creation to review to publication. Thanks to Comosoft, there’s no time wasted revising or searching for the right assets to maintain consistency; the same assets are updated and available company-wide.
Want to see firsthand how Comosoft’s DAM solution supports brand consistency? Book a Demo today!
5 Retail printing trends you can expect to see in 2024
5 Retail printing trends you can expect to see in 2024
Those claiming that the power of print is waning need only look at the numbers to see how far this is from the truth. Print media is one of the most trusted media channels among consumers, who reportedly trust newspapers and magazines to help make a purchase more than any other type of advertising. In fact, 82 percent of Americans rely on newspaper and magazine advertising as a reliable source.
As a reflection of this trust, the retail print and consumables market is demonstrating significant growth. Looking ahead, the demand for these materials is anticipated to grow between 2023 and 2033 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5 percent.
Overall, the retail industry is showing signs of growth – and with plenty of innovations in publishing print, retail print marketing is having a moment to carry into the new year.
The U.S. Postal Service recently shared that consumers who receive direct mail from retailers not only purchase 28 percent more items but also spend 28 percent more compared to those who do not receive direct mail marketing materials. Print marketing continues to connect with consumers in fresh, exciting ways. Here are some retail print marketing trends predicted to blaze new trails and lead the way in 2024.
1. A focused effort towards real sustainability
Regarding publishing print marketing materials, retailers are looking for strategies to make their processes more sustainable. This drive toward sustainability includes factors like:
- Limiting carbon footprint and reducing waste production
- Choosing recycled materials for paper, ink cartridges, and other supplies
- Sustainable printers and printing devices
Where is this drive toward sustainability coming from? It’s coming directly from consumers. Recently, an astonishing 84 percent of customers stated that discovering that a brand has poor environmental practices would alienate them from that company – and 55 percent of these customers would even pay more to support an eco-friendly brand than those with less sustainable practices.
Moving into 2024, brands should examine their printing processes to discover how they might make them more sustainable – and how they can share this information with their audience to foster a transparent connection with environmentally-minded consumers.
2. Printing according to demand: Short-run printing
Short-run production and printing on demand are tied closely with a movement toward sustainable publishing. Not only does this limit waste, but it also reduces excess production and costs associated with it. With on-demand printing, retailers are becoming more strategic and printing fewer copies of their printed marketing materials while only producing additional copies as needed.
Short-run printing can be a smarter alternative to larger printing runs when introducing a new product, trying out new content, or even targeting a smaller, niche market with a more focused message. It can also be an effective tool for market research analysis. By including unique promotional codes or QR codes in short-run printing materials, retailers can gather more specific data about how their customers respond to a particular product or marketing initiative.
3. A continued push toward personalisation
Personalised print marketing will continue to be an essential trend moving into 2024 for one primary reason: It works. This highly effective print marketing strategy has proven results. Direct mail print marketing personalised to the recipient generates 135 percent better response rates.
There’s much power in personalisation. Consumers already possess a strong emotional connection to a tangible message they receive and can hold. But when retailers match the impact of direct mail with personalisation through customer data, custom greetings, and product recommendations, it amplifies this connection.
Customers feel valued and prioritised When they get a message from a brand that’s meant specifically for them. Perhaps that’s why 75 percent of millennial-aged consumers share that when they receive personal direct mail, they feel special and there’s something quite powerful in that.
With advances in publishing solutions, personalised printed marketing materials aren’t out of reach. Personalisation can be a simple and affordable way to strengthen relationships between retailers and consumers. It can include customisations for location, industry-based marketing, and even customer retargeting – which was once only financially feasible online.
4. The sensory experience of print
Perhaps one of the most significant assets of a print catalog, magazine, or direct mailer? It’s not online. The typical U.S. consumer will spend a daily average of 4 hours and 25 minutes – or 65 full days – on their phones in 2023. Conversely, Americans keep printed, direct mail advertisements in their home for an average of 17 days – and 41 percent of all Americans look forward to checking the mail daily, most of which consists of advertisements.
A printed catalog is a unique, memorable experience in a world saturated with digital interactions. For this reason, many retailers will continue designing print marketing materials that focus on the tactile experience to interact with consumers’ senses in a way digital media can’t. This strengthens the emotional connection consumers feel toward a particular product or brand.
What do these tactile experiences look like – or rather, feel like? It might be the feel of the paper, with choices like linen or textured paper, or even letterpress printing, engraving, or embossing, raised UV and polymer finishes, or specialty coatings like leather or even paper with a sandy texture. It might also be the added texture, look, and feel of interacting with hand-sewn or high-end binding.
The trend of creating a sensory experience for consumers isn’t limited to the tactile feel of printed materials. Some retailers are looking for ways to reach the other senses, even experimenting with adding scented inks, coatings, and varnishes during the print run. Since the sense of smell connects to emotion and memory, this can be a powerful tool for retailers to delight and surprise their customers and make a lasting impression.
5. Embracing new technologies and augmented realities offline
While not a new trend, including personalized URLs and QR codes to drive customers online and track behavior continues to be popular – but these are not the only ways retailers will leverage technology in their printed marketing campaigns.
Consumers are incredibly excited about the possibility of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR); they’re eager to test out these tools and see all the different ways they might be used.
Printed augmented reality features included in these printed campaigns can capture the attention and imagination of consumers, with options to discover a product on the page, then use their phone to get a 360-degree view or detailed look at what this product can do or even how it will look in their home.
AR can enhance the user experience and help customers through their decision-making or buying process by scanning a link on the printed page. It’s important to note that customers in 2023 and 2024 may not be eager to download an app to use these features. Thanks to the introduction of WebAR, however, retailers can still implement AR experiences into their print media.
With WebAR, consumers can access many AR features through their device’s web browser. These web-based AR tools present an incredible opportunity for retailers to build innovative campaigns that merge the digital and physical worlds with interactive content and try-it-before-you-buy-it offers that enrich the entire customer experience in a brand-new way.
Comosoft keeps you ahead of the trends
LAGO by Comosoft is a one-of-a-kind marketing automation tool that revolutionizes the entire collaborative workflow process in real time, making it possible for retailers to store data and digital assets in one secure repository accessible from anywhere. The result is a more efficient publishing process that lets you stay updated on the latest trends. When you manage the entire Digital Asset Management (DAM), Production Information Management (PIM), and publishing process from one place, there’s more time to keep up with the newest innovations.
Comosoft LAGO is an all-in-one marketing production solution fully equipped with both a PIM and DAM solution. It supports your operations with integrated workflow collaboration support, versioning
LAGO TANA Release
LAGO TANA – Explore a whole new version of LAGO!
Improved interface, streamlined features and proven workflows:
With this release Comosoft enters a new era of LAGO versions – Beginning with the name Tana and a new LAGO logo. If you ever happened to have an encounter with a manta ray, our new logo mascot, you met one of the most calm and majestic animals on the planet. The version name Tana refers to the biggest lake in Ethiopia, which is the water mouth of the Blue Nile, and the surrounding prolific reserve.
HIGHLIGHTS
A completely new look and feel of LAGO is a long awaited change and above all reflects the new modern technology behind LAGO TANA. Despite the new UI, LAGO retains the familiar user experience. The most impact will be brought by the flat design and a general brighter appearance of the interface. Calm sections with reduced design elements will help users focus on their tasks.
Better overview, faster access. The new LAGO Dashboard, included in our web client will greet all users upon login and before navigating into one of our various applications.
LAGO Dashboard allows to configure global and personal dashboards. Global dashboards can be shared with user groups to ensure that users of the same group have access to the same information. Optionally users can create their own dashboards. Editing the layout of a dashboard is easily done by simple drag and drop actions.
For the content of the dashboards, various widgets are available, such as a global job list, which allows to directly jump into different application depending on the job (e.g. opening a document directly in LAGO Whiteboard or LAGO Proof). The widget “Search Results”, which is based on search folders contains quick links into the applications (e.g. to directly edit an article shown in a filter). LAGO Dashboard can also be used to distribute information such as announcements or links to other important resources, using the widget “HTML Content”.
For over 20 years, LAGO has been using Adobe Photoshop® to process assets for various use cases, from which the import of assets is the main use case. With more parts of the application moving towards the server and aways from client applications, the usage of Adobe Photoshop® has become challenging for IT departments.
The solution is the LAGO Asset Processor, which is the server-based solution for LAGO Pict with Adobe Photoshop®. LAGO Asset Processor runs on the LAGO Application Server (“LAS”) as a servlet within Apache Tomcat and performs asset processing for import and export purposes without the need of Adobe Photoshop®. It is designed for scalability and allows the setup of multiple instances in multiple Apache Tomcats if needed. It is also possible to assign different tasks to different LAGO Asset Processor instances.
Configuration and management of LAGO Asset Processor is being done within LAGO Admin, where instances, tasks and task configurations (e.g. “Hotfolder” configurations) can be configured. The logging and activity can be viewed within LAGO Monitor. The tasks can be activated and deactivated on the fly without having to restart the LAS.
The LAGO Asset Server within LAGO Pict, including the plugin for Adobe Photoshop® is still available with LAGO TANA. However, asset processing without Adobe Photoshop® is only possible when using the LAGO Asset Processor.
The module “LAGO History” including the corresponding application LAGO History has historically been an application for administrators, which allows to view a history on specific data changes per data entity. For example, showing which user has updated a certain price or article. Due to the potentially massive amount of data changes, end users were not the target audience for LAGO History.
This changes with LAGO TANA, since now we offer customisable reports for which administrators can define which data fields are visible in the report and for the first time allow to combine data from various different entities. This makes it possible to not only show a price change for a certain article, but also to which element that article might be assigned as well as the page on which the price change has happened. Previously this information had to be gathered from several views. In addition, an extended search and filtering is now possible for the data to be shown in the report as well as being able to compress variants. The result are condensed reports that can be viewed by end users.
The customised reports are configured within LAGO Admin and LAGO History. Users can access them directly from the project list of LAGO Whiteboard and even within LAGO Whiteboard itself. When selecting a custom report for a page, only changes for articles and elements assigned to page are shown. When selecting a raster field, only changes for that element and its articles are shown.
The usage of the custom reports in LAGO History requires the module “LAGO History”.
The LAGO article type structure is the backbone of every LAGO installation, especially when using LAGO as the centralised product information management system. As the business of our customers grows and evolves, so does the article type structure. New product ranges are added, others are removed or changed. This can have an impact on the article properties as well and might lead to the situation where article property types need to be consolidated and/or deleted.
The article property types however are used in various places in LAGO, such as document templates, scripts and tables. A deletion of a property type could therefore cause a data loss in the system.
With LAGO TANA the new module “LAGO Property Remapping” allows a remapping of article property types which will remap all references of an article property type to a new one.
Support of Adobe InDesign and Photoshop 2024
LAGO TANA will add the support of Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop 2024.
LAGO Layout: Easy access to placeholder settings and highlights
Changing placeholder settings (e.g. dummy values) within document templates can now be done directly in the placeholder palette instead of having to go the template settings dialog. Moreover, the highlight of placeholders can now be enabled/disabled with a single click with the palette “Annotations”.
LAGO Layout: On-demand update for all placeholders of current document
A new button within the placeholder palette allows to update all placeholders of the document without having to close and reopen the document.
LAGO Layout: Move elements between documents
It is now possible to move elements to other documents within the same project. The elements will be moved including all its details, such as components and assigned articles directly within LAGO Layout and without having to rely on LAGO Whiteboard or LAGO PIM/Explorer.
LAGO Layout: Generate PDF documents for a variants of different projects
For customers that are spreading the page production for one printed publication among different projects it is now possible to generate a PDF per project variant type across multiple projects.
LAGO Layout: Open document template of document
A shortcut is now available within the document palette that allows to open the assigned document template of a selected document.
LAGO DAM: Administrative Tasks
The administrative tasks known from LAGO Pict are now all available within LAGO DAM. This includes functions like completely deleting an asset, cleaning up the database from all logically deleted assets or the re-creation of an FPO/Preview for selected assets.
LAGO DAM: Display of asset properties
Asset properties, which were previously only available in LAGO Layout and the LAGO API are now also visible within LAGO DAM.
LAGO Admin: Default Password Policy
LAGO TANA enforces a new default password policy. All passwords must have at least 10 characters. Two of the same characters in a row are not allowed and the password must be different from the user name. This also applies if no password policy is configured within LAGO and also to all technical users, including the users for database connection. The password policy can be strengthened to be even more restrictive.
This was just an appetizer...
Schedule a demo to discover the high potential of LAGO TANA!
2024 Marketing predictions for retailers
2024 Marketing predictions for retailers
A preview of 2024 trends and data challenges retail chains will face in the age of Amazon and Artificial Intelligence
As retailers celebrate the end of the holiday shopping season and anxiously plan for the new year, one subject is on everyone’s mind: data. There’s so much of it, so decision-makers must ask some hard questions in 2024. Is our data managed as a “single source of truth” for marketing and advertising decisions? Can they be utilised effectively – and ethically – for personalised marketing? How can our data work well with AI, eCommerce, or multichannel marketing?
It’s safe to say then that 2024 trends for retailers will be all about how marketing and advertising directors can leverage all that data to increase profitability.
AI, the “new” data challenge
When it comes to the topics of big data and artificial intelligence, 2023 has been a chaotic year, to say the least. Our posts in September and October covered the basics, starting with the value of data-driven retail marketing decisions. We then explored ways retail chains can use AI to enhance that value – drawing valid inferences from customer purchase behavior data. In November, we narrowed the discussion to a defined strategy for retailers, showing that AI-enhanced data can be used effectively to find meaningful “diamonds in the rough” in a mountain of data every retailer has about their products and purchase history.
AI is certainly not a new phenomenon. Ever since its early research in the 1950s – and in countless fictional stories – we have been intrigued by the notion that computers could solve massively complex problems automatically, and even autonomously. As the volume of data and sheer processing power have grown exponentially, AI has proven its worth many times over. Despite our media-fueled worries, it presents unique and powerful ways to turn our data into business success.
For retailers, the 2024 trend will be less in the generative area of AI, such as ChatGPT or Midjourney. Instead, it will be how they use AI with real-world product and purchase behavior data. As demonstrated in our recent case study, AI can enhance retail marketing effectiveness and increase overall sales.
Retail reality in the age of Amazon
Since the early 2000s, retailers have had to cope with the emergence of the eCommerce phenomenon and the rise of smart devices. This rise has meant media fragmentation, heavier demands on shoppers’ attention, and direct competition from online sites offering convenience and a sense of instant gratification. Every retailer’s nightmare includes seeing a customer browsing through the store, phone in hand, ready to price-check on Amazon. They may even make an online purchase on the spot, having used the store as Amazon’s de facto showroom.
The answer – and a significant 2024 trend – is in the wise use of multichannel marketing. This means much more than putting the same ads on every device and medium. It means that each retail brand must have a reliable, two-way connection with consumers, especially with its loyal, core customers. In today’s hybrid shopping experience, the lines between print and digital – and between in-store and remote – have been forever blurred. Targeted ads and offers on every medium are only part of the solution. Customers must also be able to find and even buy with their phones, wherever they happen to be.
This two-way, multichannel connection can only be achieved when the retailer understands and controls their data. Their vast product information management (PIM) system, their digital asset management (DAM) system, and myriad other data sources must be well integrated – as a “single source of truth,” also known as master data management. This is essential for retail campaign planning and creating effective print and digital output with regional, demographic, and personal customization. It must also provide the ability to measure a campaign’s results and, through AI, refine and apply that data to guide future campaigns.
If that seems like a tall order, retail advertising and marketing directors can take comfort in the fact that they need not start from square one. Since its founding in 1994, Comosoft’s LAGO system and the data integration teams behind it has allowed retail chains to integrate their PIM, DAM, and other data sources into a streamlined campaign planning and production process. But, like the web itself, the LAGO approach has only just begun.
The future of data marketing
Another obvious 2024 trend for retailers is that the mobile web and its constellation of AI-enabled apps are not going away. The impact on retailers and their ability to thrive in that arena will continue. But the importance of print cannot be underestimated. Even eCommerce players are discovering the intrinsic value of print in growing their business.
The LAGO system has already demonstrated its ability to unify multiple data sources, streamline the production of multiple-version print and digital output, and even use AI to optimise such campaigns. But it also has created a direct individualised marketing (DIM) system, using integrated, personalised data to create a unique customer experience throughout their shopping journey. It has also helped retailers master the complexities of hybrid shopping, providing a continuity of experience across the increasingly blurry print/digital divide.
All of this relies on detailed, expert data management and on the tools necessary to keep retailers competitive. The future of retail commerce in person or online will involve integrating existing systems with social commerce, where users can shop directly from social media platforms or whatever new thing comes with the new year.
The future of retail data technology will not be without disruption and anxiety. But with the right tools and partners, it will be a good year.
Putting AI To Work: How Retailers Can Find More “Diamonds In the Rough”
Putting AI To Work: How Retailers Can Find More “Diamonds In the Rough”
Last month, we discovered that artificial intelligence, far from being a threat to retail marketing teams, is, in fact, an essential team player. The early results of using DecaSIM’s AI tools in conjunction with Comosoft LAGO showed that the two systems complement one another, each providing unique benefits for retail advertising and marketing directors. In this month’s article, we look at the two companies’ plans and what they mean for retailers of every kind.
Test overview
Recently, we tested the effect of using AI to optimize product selection in a regional grocery chain’s marketing campaigns. As reported in the published case study, the results were truly remarkable.
In the test, the regional grocery chain selected a 104-store region (out of over 300 stores) and, using Comosoft LAGO, created a specific version of its weekly ad circular to optimize during the test period. Each week’s promotional plan was run through DecaSIM’s AI optimizer during the test period. The analysis results were used to select which items to feature on each page of the circular. Compared with the sixty-five other stores chosen as a control group, the AI-assisted promotions increased sales by over $4,000 per store per week.
As AI improves profitability in the retail grocery sector, other retail chains can expect similar or even better results.
The importance of foot traffic
DecaSIM co-founder Doug Edmonds described a crucial factor in the grocery retail industry that is common to all retailers.
“All retail is trying to drive foot traffic, often with price as an incentive,” he said. “Whether you’re a grocery business or a home improvement retailer, if you depend solely on infrequent shoppers, you won’t survive.”
Edmonds continued, “Every retailer has a ‘core shopper group’ they must satisfy. Whether they’re buying tomatoes or socket wrenches doesn’t matter; their product preferences, shopping habits, and price sensitivity matter. Using AI to learn those things gives all retailers an edge. It will help them sell more to that core group. It will also grow that regular foot traffic over the long term.”
Comosoft’s US President Randy Evans noted that the grocery industry was only the beginning. “Grocery retailers have been using LAGO for years,” he said, “especially those chains that require regional versions of their weekly flyers and mobile shopping apps. We’ve always made it easy to prioritize offers, pull data from various sources, and streamline the design process across multiple stores. A fast turnaround is essential. But with DecaSIM’s AI tools, grocery advertising and marketing directors can know what products to prioritize in each campaign. It’s a slam dunk for our grocery clients, but our other retail clients can do the same thing.”
Diamonds in the rough
This use of artificial intelligence solves a problem facing all retailers—finding meaningful information in a mountain of product data. With thousands or even millions of individual products from many sources, retailers’ databases today are jammed with data related to each SKU. Typically, these reside in product information management (PIM), digital asset management (DAM), inventory, pricing, and marketing management databases. Too often, they are poorly integrated, forcing marketing heads and designers alike to hunt for detailed information for each product. This process is both time-consuming and prone to costly errors. With limited time and a seemingly unlimited array of print and digital channels, picking which products to feature involves a combination of intuition and guesswork.
LAGO’s unique ability to unify the PIM, DAM, and other data sources is part of the solution, creating a collaborative workflow, including both the design and the review and approval process. But even with a data-optimised, multichannel workflow, it still falls to the advertising and marketing directors to make priority decisions during the planning process. And even experienced planners may miss promotional opportunities amidst all that data.
Enter the AI part of the equation. DecaSIM’s artificial intelligence tools take data from each previous LAGO-driven campaign, identify patterns of core shoppers’ product preferences, and derive inferences and purchasing patterns, faster and with greater accuracy from that mountain of data. It then returns the results to LAGO, in effect “supercharging” the metadata used to create multiple versioned campaigns. AI can, in effect, find marketing diamonds amid raw data that would take humans too long to process.
Roadmap to marketing success
Comosoft Product Manager Steve May outlined what this could mean for future versions of LAGO.
“Today, campaign planners use our whiteboarding feature to create offers and product groupings that make the most sense based on margin, availability, and success in previous campaigns,” he said. “LAGO could add AI-generated weighted scores, relationships to other products, seasonal or regional patterns, and other useful indicators to featured products. They would still choose which ones to use but would be more informed marketing choices.”
By adding AI to LAGO, sales and marketing campaigns could be planned and executed at scale, with an objective knowledge of their sales potential. Far from taking jobs away from retail marketing professionals, AI would serve as a highly efficient research assistant, gathering objectively valuable information that the planner would use to create effective campaigns.
“Today, people are nervous about AI and what it will do to their careers,” Evans said. “In the case of retail marketing, it’s pretty obvious that AI is an ally in our data-intensive world.”
Why you absolutely need a digital catalog
Why you absolutely need a digital catalog
Just like when a patron sits down to eat at a restaurant and expects to see some menu, your customers want to know what your brand has available for purchase. Diners at a restaurant want to read descriptions of what’s on the menu, complete with ingredients and information like potential allergens and prices.
With your catalog, your customers want to see specific details for each product they might be interested in, with a thorough description, price list, and eye-catching photos that help them see how your products can fit into their lives.
But here’s the thing: Many restaurants have shifted their menus online over the past few years. With QR codes posted at every table, restaurant patrons can peruse the menu on their smartphones to get a taste of its offerings. While this shift to digital menus is related to the COVID-19 pandemic, many in the restaurant industry say that this change is permanent.
Similarly, many retail brands are incorporating a digital catalog into their marketing toolbox and finding it incredibly worthwhile. Consumers spend a great deal of time researching products before they make a purchase, and having a catalog readily available – wherever they may be – is essential.
Whether connecting and selling to consumers directly or working in a B2B capacity, you need a digital catalog. Not only does this streamline your eCommerce channels and make them more accessible, but it can also change the entire user experience for those who interact with your brand online. Here’s an in-depth look at why a digital catalog isn’t just a nice-to-have feature anymore.
Do more with digital
Sure, a printed catalog is a tangible reminder of your brand and can be a powerful tool. But beyond flipping through the pages, there’s only so much else to do with it. On the other hand, a digital catalog can be interactive and engage readers in new and unexpected ways.
With a digital catalog, flipping through a catalog can be much more immersive. For example, readers can click on a picture to read an article, see a product description, get a linked list of all the products displayed in that one photo, or even make a purchase. And with freeform navigation, readers can explore the catalog ways that hold their interest.
Digital catalogs empower you to do all kinds of things that wouldn’t be possible with a print catalog. For example, you can incorporate hidden depth content, which allows readers to click and gain access to extra features like:
- Downloadable PDFs
- Extended photo galleries
- Captions and additional information
You can also incorporate features like video content, personalisation, audio recordings, animation, and more for a truly unforgettable catalog experience.
Make it personal
With the advent of AI-driven tools, personalization is more popular than ever. Digital catalogs make personalization possible on a much broader scale. Why is personalization so popular?
Because it works.
Ninety-nine percent of marketing professionals agree that implementing personalization into their efforts advances customer relationships. And consumers agree. Eighty percent of consumers report that they are more likely to purchase if a brand offers a more customised experience.
This experience is significant for business-to-business (B2B) brands that might craft a personalised catalog for one company – or even one person – if it means they could land a new account or make a big sale. In many cases, drafting, publishing, and printing a one-off catalog could be cost-prohibitive. Creating a digital catalog opens the door to providing this level of personalisation to even more readers.
Digital catalogs also help you capture data about the shopping experience to deepen personalisation. They can help you understand things like:
- Customer behavior
- Personal preferences
- Purchase history
This information can then be passed off to sales teams to help them connect with customers and better address the problems they are looking to solve. It can mean higher conversions and an increase in customer satisfaction.
Connect your catalog to your eCommerce site
Perhaps one of the most captivating reasons to create a digital catalog is that it enables you to sell your products online – and take your selling beyond just a webpage to an eCommerce-supported catalog. With catalog software, you can add new products every day, remove them from the catalog as inventory shifts, and make it easier for readers and customers to discover a product and then make a purchase.
As a combined digital asset management (DAM) and product information management (PIM) solution, LAGO by Comosoft makes this happen. Catalog pages can be automatically updated to stay current with the latest pictures and digital assets and the latest inventory information.
What’s more, LAGO easily syncs with your existing eCommerce technology, turning your digital catalog into a fully functional selling platform; readers can purchase your products without having to navigate away from the catalog.
Support your team via a range of devices
Digital catalogs also fill a particular gap in supporting your team wherever they are: Getting them the information they need on their mobile devices. Digital catalogs – and digital catalog management software – enable your internal teams to access data from anywhere. Digital catalogs fill the gap in finding product information quickly and efficiently with features like:
- Fast product search
- Communication in real-time
- Streamlined workflows
Take your catalog digital with Comosoft
At Comosoft, we’re here to make digital publishing easier than ever. We aim to expand what’s possible so you can meet your customers wherever possible. And, with tools to support the entire creation and publishing process, we’ll support and streamline your work from workflow collaboration to publication and distribution.
LAGO by Comosoft is a digital publishing solution that’s both simple and advanced. We know that each page – printed or digital – is a chance to forge connections with your customers and highlight your brand’s best features.
Via a fully integrated PIM and DAM system solution, we’ll empower you to connect your digital catalog with your library of assets and your inventory management solution so you’re always providing your customers with the latest details. Enjoy collaborative workflows powered by real-time versioning optimization and intuitive proofing solutions to create a modern digital catalog faster and simpler.
LAGO Product Information Management
Learn more about our LAGO PIM and how we can help you organise your product information efficiently.
Is your catalog ready for the 2023 holiday shopping season?
Is your catalog ready for the 2023 holiday shopping season?
Consumer spending during the Holiday 2022 season shifted some, returning to more “typical” levels compared to the outsized holiday spending seen in 2020 and 2021, when consumers spent and shopped more – likely as a result of plans, trips, and others celebrations that were stifled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But in 2023, the economy faces some uncertainty. While holiday consumer spending is expected to stay close to the same figures as last year, engaging with shoppers is more important than ever. What should retail marketers expect – and how can they craft a catalog that meets today’s consumers where they are?
Whether you’re opting to publish a printed copy of your catalog or incorporate a digital catalog into your holiday retail strategy, here are a few considerations to get your seasonal catalog ready.
Incorporate interactive digital content
Digital catalogs are one way that retailers are helping customers dive deeper into their brand, explore their products, and learn more about who they are and what they have to offer.
Digital catalogs are available anywhere and can be published and distributed at a lower cost than paper catalogs, but they also present a unique opportunity for interactive content.
With interactive content, brands can use digital formats to go beyond what’s possible with paper catalogs. This includes elements like:
- Collapsible and expandable sections
- Free-form navigation to jump to specific pages or sections
- Clickable links to product listings and content
- New tabs connecting consumers to even more products, videos, and additional content
Some brands are exploring what’s possible with this interactive content. Within SteinMart’s digital catalog, every page is organized like its own individual site that organizes products by style groups, divided up by collections and even life events to let shoppers interact with the retailer exactly how they want.
- The clickable header at the top of every page allows readers to jump to different departments and categories with one tap.
- The bottom of each page includes a call to action to expand the shopping experience and browse a related category, page, or department.
There are so many more opportunities available to engage with consumers via a digital catalog that go just beyond the page – and the holiday shopping season is a perfect opportunity to anticipate customer needs, offer purchasing suggestions, and drive overall brand engagement.
Encourage engagement with QR codes
QR codes (quick-response codes) were emerging as the “next big thing” in 2011 when 14 million Americans started using their mobile devices to pick up links on the go, but then this trend started to slow down – and even die off, according to some reports. This is because, at the time, QR codes required secondary scanner apps, making the real-life application of this technology clunky at best.
Now, smartphones have built-in QR scanning capabilities, streamlining the process and removing the unnecessary steps of downloading and opening a third-party application. Particularly after the pandemic, QR code usage is on the rise as a fast way to share information and a hands-free option instead of restaurant menus or printed handouts.
In 2021, 75.8 million smartphone users in the U.S. scanned a QR code on their mobile devices, and this figure is anticipated to climb to 99.5 million American smartphone users by 2025.
The main things consumers are using these codes for currently include accessing promotional offers, but by 2024 or 2025, QR codes will also be used for things like accessing payment portals and more.
How should retailers think about using QR codes in their Holiday 2023 catalogs?
- To encourage readers to download the retailer’s app in both print and digital media (including videos and images)
- To enhance the reader experience and encourage them to learn more about a product, read a story about a product user, case study, or unique use-case scenario
- To include “Santa tags” as some retailers have done, and include a scannable QR code with any purchase to link gift recipients to a personalized audio message recorded by the gift-giver
- To share step-by-step instructions (for gifted furniture or complex, multi-part toys, for example)
- To view exclusive, holiday-themed video content
- To unlock a promotional code or sign up for promotional emails
Find inspiration for social interaction
In 2022, the holiday shopping season saw increased commerce coming in via social channels. This is because more consumers are discovering brands and products – and making purchases – through social media ads and social content. In fact, during last year’s holiday season, traffic referrals from social media content rose by 23 percent, which accounted for 12 percent of all mobile eCommerce traffic.
This trend won’t likely be slowing for the 2023 season, and retailers should look to social media as a significant investment to bring new traffic to their digital stores. Social media is a major player in connecting with new customers and driving discovery.
In particular, the social platform TikTok is a big reason social media-based sales are expected to grow during the 2023 holiday shopping season. Many target audiences contribute to this growth by jumping on the #TikTokmademebuyit trend and making some products go viral. Now that TikTok has expanded into selling, social commerce is anticipated to grow by 29.8 percent in 2023.
Lifestyle and consumer brands should use this time to find strategies to maximize their social media reach via their catalogs and help drive conversions. Social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok can amplify retail brands through strategies like in-app live-streamed shopping content and links to digital product catalogs to bring catalogs and social media together to connect with consumers.
A strong connection to digital assets and product inventory
Especially as more consumers prefer to use their mobile devices for browsing and purchasing, dynamic digital catalogs will become increasingly important to the holiday shopping season. In fact, across the retail industry, mobile devices account for 77 percent of all traffic during the peak shopping season in 2022, which is a 4 percent increase over the previous year and 65 percent of all buying sessions, up 5 percent from 2021.
This means catalogs should be stocked with the most effective digital assets and the latest, most accurate product information to provide consumers with the best online shopping experience.
What does this mean? Digital Asset Management (DAM) and Product Information Management (PIM) solutions are more critical than ever in the intersection of digital catalogs, eCommerce, and mobile shopping.
Retailers can use DAM tools to prep their catalogs by tracking metadata on compelling images, videos, and other digital assets that can help make the most impact for print and online catalogs. They can also use a DAM solution to create, review, publish, and share holiday-specific assets and media, manage versioning, streamline workflows, and simplify and transparent communication regarding peak season.
As for PIM solutions? These can keep online catalogs automatically updated with the latest product information and marketing data with product identifiers, titles, descriptions, images, pricing, quantities, and more.
Tackle the holiday 2023 season head-on with LAGO
LAGO by Comosoft is the ultimate tool in preparing for the busy holiday season. Why? Because this PIM DAM solution has been intentionally engineered to make publishing – and multichannel marketing in general – easier and more potent than ever before.
Creating catalogs is a breeze with LAGO, which updates drafts in real time as assets are updated and revised. Layouts, edits, and versioning workflows are stress-free, as there’s never a question about who’s responsible for completing a task or which assets are licensed, up-to-date, and available for particular campaigns.
What’s more, you can use LAGO to create your free-form and dynamic digital catalog for the holiday season, then connect it directly to the shared PIM system to align your eCommerce initiatives with your marketing campaigns for a smooth workflow and a seamless customer experience.
Ready to learn more about how you can revolutionize your Holiday 2023 catalog campaign? Request a demo today!
The data-driven world
The data-driven world: How retailers & manufacturers can thrive in a competitive market
With all the media noise about “big data” and artificial intelligence (AI), it’s easy to forget that data has been at the heart of retail success since well before the digital era. Keeping accurate records of sales, inventory, and product information is as old as handwriting, while product images are at least as old as photography. Digital computing did not create information technology per se; it merely moved that information from people’s heads and pieces of paper to complex code on a device. Data have always driven retail decisions; computers made the process faster and gave marketing directors more tools to plan and deliver campaigns. However, the tools can be problematic.
Case in point: Big retailers are virtually swimming (and sometimes drowning) in the detailed product information. Nearly all of this comes from the product manufacturers. The data are often incomplete, and the product data labels or metadata are inconsistent. Retailers must refine and house all this data in a sprawling product information management or PIM system.
Add another layer of data that portrays each product in the potential buyer’s imagination. Everything must be housed in another sprawling database, digital asset management or DAM system, from product photos and videos to detailed descriptions and reviews. This setup can be plagued with the same issues as a PIM system. Things can be further complicated by the need to have separate databases for inventory, pricing, customer feedback, and sales history.
The value of data-driven decisions
Having so much data gives marketing and advertising directors a considerable advantage. It provided the means of objectively knowing all there is to know about what products they should sell more of, why (and when and where) people buy them, and how best to advertise them across multiple regions and media channels. In practice, however, it is no simple matter. Reconciling and normalizing data from different product manufacturers is a huge task. Retailers need to do this and much more continuously.
Optimizing and using data usually requires a high level of automation. New product information and images are being created constantly and must flow smoothly and accurately into their respective PIM, DAM, and other database locations. All those data sources must also “speak” with each other, providing a complete picture of each product to those planning a campaign and putting that picture into every channel output.
Think of this complex data flow for retailers and manufacturers as a symphony orchestra. There are so many different instruments and qualities to consider. It can quickly become chaotic, but they all work together under a single conductor. The “music” they create can move the audience. In the case of retail, the audience is an incredibly diverse buying public. When they respond positively to all that orchestrated data, it means measurable growth and profitability.
Realising the value of data
While most retailers and manufacturers acknowledge the value of data-driven decisions, some may need more wherewithal to make it a practical reality. Retail has become more competitive and complex, and media channels have multiplied. In response, Comosoft’s LAGO system has emerged as the preeminent “conductor” for data-driven decision-making.
LAGO is uniquely positioned to leverage that complex data and effectively channel it into various well-planned, multichannel retail campaigns. This may include Comosoft’s PIM and DAM systems but can integrate smoothly with existing PIM, DAM, and other data sources as well. As described previously and in greater detail, LAGO uses its comprehensive data framework to inform the marketing decision-maker’s planning process. LAGO can do so even when marketing decisions must be made early and before the data are complete.
LAGO’s whiteboard capabilities allow marketing and advertising decision-makers to identify ideal products for promotion, place them in the best order, and transmit their decisions directly to their design and production teams. Once a campaign has been executed, LAGO enables them to judge its effectiveness and continuously improve their decision-making process.
The benefits of integrating PIM, DAM, and other complex data are seen in LAGO’s approach to marketing campaign design. Using LAGO’s innovative plugin for Adobe InDesign, production designers can access all the related data for a particular product without spending time hunting for it. If the PIM or DAM data are updated or modified, the information or images in the layout are updated automatically. That way, the designer can focus on what they do best—design a compelling display for the campaign.
LAGO can also quickly generate multiple regional versions of each marketing or advertising piece. Once the print version(s) are created, the resulting data can be automatically channeled to the retailer’s web and mobile app channels and even used for in-store displays.
Of course, integrating and optimizing all that mission-critical data is only the beginning. Comosoft has a long history of successful systems integration and database administration—all geared to empower better, data-driven decision-making. But still, more will be required as “big data” expands. Comosoft has recently partnered with retail AI developer DecaSIM to add artificial intelligence to LAGO’s already powerful toolset. In a recent case study, a large grocery chain used the combination of LAGO and DecaSIM’s AI-based model to enhance product selection in its weekly marketing campaigns, significantly increasing per-store sales results.
There is little doubt that mastery of one’s data is the “secret sauce” for retailers’ and manufacturer’s success in an increasingly competitive world. Making the right data-driven decisions will make all the difference. As it has been with structured PIM and DAM data, LAGO promises to be a leader when it comes to using artificial intelligence and “big data” to inform those decisions.
Find out more about Comosoft LAGO and our unique approach to data-driven, multichannel marketing. Or book a demo to see for yourself.
AI and Retail Marketing: Using data and AI to grow business exponentially
AI and Retail Marketing: Using data and AI to grow business exponentially
Without a doubt, Artificial Intelligence is the number one story of 2023, with breaking news and hyperbolic predictions popping up daily. Retailers and their partners are justifiably concerned. Retail marketing and advertising directors are asking what AI will mean for their current operations and the future of retail marketing in general.
The first thing to remember is that AI and its related technologies – machine learning (ML) and “big data” – are nothing new. The idea of using large training data sets to automate routine activities or predict future outcomes, often called “narrow AI,” has been around for decades. But with all the advances in cloud computing and the November release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the floods of new information (and misinformation) have created more than their fair share of anxiety for some retail professionals. However, the secret to overcoming these fears is the same as it has been for any new technology – understanding its abilities and limitations.
Basic concepts
AI can be applied to almost any digital data, including structured data (usually alphanumeric fields with logical labels and relationships) and unstructured data. Think of structured data like a spreadsheet with clearly labeled rows (records) and columns (fields). Unstructured data does not have such neat labels and includes digital images and unclassified text, such as that found in social media posts. But even if a data set doesn’t have logical, structured labels (or metadata), it can still have meaning.
AI is designed to detect patterns in large volumes of unstructured data. Those patterns, often confirmed with human assistance, are used in ML algorithms to train a system to recognize similar patterns – in images or text – and make predictive decisions automatically. An AI does not understand the meaning of those patterns as a human can, but it can simulate a human’s meaning-aware response far faster than human decision-makers.
Let’s consider the difference between human understanding and how AI can simulate it. A retail marketing manager, for example, may understand the meaning of certain facts about a product:
- It has sold well at certain times of the year.
- It has a reasonably high-profit margin and a reliable supply chain.
- The manufacturer has supplied most of the product’s relevant information.
- It has had many favorable reviews on social media and elsewhere.
- It has been favorably described in various blogs and articles.
- There are publicly available images and videos of people using it.
Items 1–3 represent structured data, typically found in sales history, inventory, or product information management (PIM) databases. Items 4–6 are unstructured, for the most part. But from those data points, a human might reasonably conclude that a sales campaign for that product is a good idea. But because there are so many different products and product variables, it would be impossible for one human being – or even an entire marketing department – to make those decisions on a massive scale. On the other hand, an AI-based system can detect meaningful patterns (as confirmed by humans) from all kinds of available data and automatically prioritize the most likely candidates for a marketing campaign.
Doing this at scale would accomplish several things. If the AI’s pattern recognition is accurate – an easily testable hypothesis – then the effectiveness of retail marketing campaigns would be greatly increased. It would also lessen the cost and drudgery of combing through data to find meaningful, actionable insights. Finally, if marketing and advertising directors were freed from these burdens, then they could focus more on things that artificial intelligence will likely never do, namely consider the aesthetic and psychological preferences and biases of their audience. Creative and insightful humans will always have the edge regardless of how well or quickly AI can mimic human behavior.
The retailer’s advantage
In this area, large retailers already have a big advantage over other companies, namely their ready access to massive amounts of mostly structured, product-related data. This is only natural since they must handle thousands (or millions) of individual products from multiple manufacturers. Every product SKU must have an array of feature and component data, usually stored in a PIM system. At the same time, it must maintain all the images and descriptions of each product, typically stored in a digital asset management (DAM) system. Add an array of other data sources for sales, inventory, pricing, and other essentials. Many companies now also include e-commerce sales histories and customer reviews.
That ocean of data has to be well managed, of course, which can be challenging. Fortunately, Comosoft’s data integration teams have helped many retailers unify their PIM, DAM, and other structured data sources, using the LAGO system for meaningful, collaborative planning and efficient, InDesign-based workflow optimisation for multi-version print and digital campaigns.
Of course, the difference is that the typical PIM, DAM, and other data sources are highly structured – as they should be. We are only in the early stages of adding structure to new varieties of data, such as customer reviews and customer-supplied images and videos. But those new data types offer incredible potential value to the retail marketer. And AI will only accelerate that value.
Focus on data-readiness
Before anyone can realistically tackle AI and masses of unstructured data, they must first master their structured data – turning it into marketing gold, as it were. Comosoft LAGO is a proven tool for doing just that.
Once a large retailer has found a way to be “data ready” with what they already have, the next step into artificial intelligence will be a logical, powerful next step. With this readiness level, AI can only launch the retailer into new levels of efficiency and growth.
Find out more about Comosoft’s custom systems integration and data strategy service and book a demo to see for yourself how LAGO can streamline your data workflow.