Digital transformation in retail content creation: Three retail brands flipping the script on content marketing chaos

How digital transformation helps retail content creators

Digital transformation is essential if retailers want to overcome challenges in their content creation and optimize their processes for omnichannel customer engagement.

Fortunately, technology has kept pace with these challenges. Numerous software solutions exist to make content creation faster and easier to manage. And, in doing so, unlocking team capacity, streamlining workflows, and creating modern digital-first processes.

Three examples of digital transformation in retail content management

WoodWing has over 20 years of experience helping brands digitally transform their content creation processes - as well as their productivity and profitability. Here are examples of how three of WoodWing’s global retail customers have de-siloed, streamlined, and automated their way to content nirvana.

Creating digital-first workflows

How UK fashion brand Next redesigned their workflows from the ground up

One common problem in retail content management is unfit-for-purpose processes. Processes that have evolved and are just ‘good enough’ to get the job done. For many longer-standing brands, their content production has evolved from print-centric workflows to accommodate new digital needs too. This can seriously hamper productivity compared to digital-first e-retail brands that have built fit-for-purpose processes from the ground up.

That was certainly the case with one WoodWing customer, Next. Next is one of the most recognized names on the high street in the UK. Starting with physical stores in the 80s, the business went on to dominate the mail-order catalog market, before becoming the country’s largest online clothes retailer.

They struggled with historically print-centric workflows that weren’t suitable for e-retail marketing needs, plus undocumented processes that had grown organically rather than strategically.

They needed new processes and technology to allow the business to rapidly grow content creation, without an increase in resources. They wanted to transform their creative workflow into a digital-first approach, that was agile, scalable, and delivered faster time-to-market.

The retailer introduced a DAM system to become ‘the content factory for all channels and outputs’. Using WoodWing Assets, the creative operations team:

• Redesigned workflows from the ground up
• Increased automation and semi-automated workflows
• Eliminated manual handling of imagery, video, and artwork
• Streamlined creative workflows through best-in-class Adobe CS integrations
• Harmonized systems across all creative departments, reducing friction

Slashing catalog production time and cost

How Holland’s Hoogvliet cut catalog production time by 50%

Think omnichannel and we often imagine e-retail platforms first. But omnichannel also includes shopping in-store. And many in the retail industry - particularly in the supermarket and grocery sector - still rely heavily on printed materials to drive footfall and increase in-store sales.

Retail giants selling everyday essentials often produce POS and in-store collateral, as well as numerous catalogs localized to specific geographies. Given the fast-moving nature of consumer packaged goods, managing product information and content processes is a challenge. Especially when print is just one part of an omnichannel marketing strategy, which may also include e-commerce, app and social media.

Many retailers have mastered this problem by introducing DAM and integrating it with their Product Information Management (PIM) system and publishing software.

The integration of DAM and PIM allows product information and digital assets to be synced, meaning product images and information are always correct. When used alongside catalog automation software or Adobe InDesign, assets and information can be automatically pulled into templates, delivering considerable time and cost in the design process. 

Hoogvliet is one of the top ten supermarket chains in Holland, boasting 71 stores, an e-commerce site and mobile app. Struggling to manage the content for these channels, they called in workflow consultants Graphit (now Qonqord) for help to optimize and redesign their processes.

Graphit immediately spotted Hoogvliet was hampered by manual processes for catalog production.

• Manual data input
• Fully outsourced layout and design
• Poor asset management
• Asynchronous approval processes via email and PDF

Supported by Graphit, Hoogvliet integrated a number of publishing software solutions to create a seamless end-to-end workflow. These included:

• WoodWing Assets for asset management integrated with PIM for product data
• EasyCatalog and Adobe InDesign for automated catalog design creation
• WoodWing Studio for real-time approval, amend and sign-off processes

They’re now able to create a master data source that contains product and promotion information, push a button and automatically populate an InDesign catalog template.

The process pulls in product images from WoodWing Assets as their single-source-of-truth for product imagery and creates proof that all collaborators can view and feedback on within WoodWing Studio. If product details change, Hoogvliet can amend the master data source and the catalog artwork is automatically updated with the changes. Once agreed, the artwork is shared with their design agency, who finalizes the design.

Graphit estimates that this has cut catalog production times by 40-50%, whilst bringing the initial production stages in-house has reduced outsourcing and agency costs.