Inriver PIM reimplementation within a complex product data landscape

Bugaboo

Bugaboo International is a Dutch design company that develops and produces modern products for (expectant) parents. Twenty years ago, they revolutionised the field of prams with innovative products that make parents' lives much easier. And Bugaboo still continuously improves its range. They conceive, develop, test, and manufacture products that not only have a beautiful design but are also sustainable and functional. Made for everyday use and designed to last a lifetime. In addition to its own online platform and physical brand stores, Bugaboo products are available worldwide through a large number of retailers.

Complex product data landscape

Due to the vast amount of product information that Bugaboo has to process, the need for a solution to manage all product data arose years ago. Because Bugaboo saw that inriver PIM is a solid solution for the industry in which they operate, the choice for inriver PIM was quickly made. The PIM system was initially largely managed by Bugaboo itself. When the landscape became increasingly complex and more sales channels needed to be added, the organisation started looking for an experienced PIM partner. A partner who could help with the complex landscape in which Bugaboo operates. Bugaboo chose XSARUS partly due to its proven track record in PIM implementations.

I really enjoy working with the consultants from XSARUS. Acquiring a good tool is not difficult, but understanding how the system really works is a different story. It's not about how good a tool or product is, but how you use it. Thanks to the expertise and excellent collaboration with XSARUS, the best is achieved from inriver PIM.

Bart Janssen, Global Content and Product Data Specialist at Bugaboo

Reimplementation of inriver by XSARUS

XSARUS examined the existing inriver PIM installation and first implemented an improved and more comprehensive product data model. Then the configuration of the system was addressed and updated. Thanks to this 'reimplementation,' inriver fits better into Bugaboo's complex product landscape. The numerous configuration options of Bugaboo products can now be much better managed within inriver PIM.

Position of inriver within the Bugaboo organisation

The inriver PIM system is Bugaboo’s ‘global data system’, that is, the place where all relevant (product) information and all details are gathered, enriched, and published for the various sales channels like b2c, b2b, and marketplaces. Thanks to the optimised configuration of the PIM system by XSARUS, inriver PIM is utilised better at Bugaboo than ever before.

Internally, more and more people are working with inriver. The inriver PIM system is therefore used within Bugaboo as a ‘cross-functional tool’ throughout the organisation. Various teams, from b2c and b2b to production and analytics, work with the data collected within inriver.

Inriver is an essential piece of technology for Bugaboo. There is so much data that needs to be stored per product. Bugaboo is an international brand that serves all kinds of markets. This requires a huge amount of product information. Within its own webshop, everything can be set up to one's own liking, but for sales through b2b channels or marketplaces, there are many requirements that the product information has to meet. Within inriver, all this can be realised.

Bart Janssen, Global Content and Product Data Specialist at Bugaboo

Success Factors for inriver at Bugaboo

There are three factors that make the inriver PIM system a success for Bugaboo:

Speed: Quickly and efficiently creating value, for example, bringing new products to market, but also displaying product data correctly and completely everywhere.
Flexibility: All the necessary product information is collected, enriched, and published in the right way for all different international sales channels. Flexibility is ensured with all the different requirements that product information must meet.
Scalability: Scaling up to more products is no longer a big deal; the time-to-market has been significantly reduced. Thanks to the PIM system, Bugaboo no longer turns its hand to publishing a large number of products.

Customised solutions implemented by XSARUS

While inriver already offers a huge number of possibilities as standard, XSARUS has made a large number of custom additions for Bugaboo to make inriver even more efficient. For example, bulk processing is simplified thanks to a specific template; item codes are automatically generated so that item codes are logical; EAN codes are automatically linked; product names are automatically constructed based on series, colour, and type; images are automatically linked to products based on the file name of the image, and certain metrics are automatically converted: where fields are filled in according to Dutch measurements - for example, centimetres - these are automatically adjusted to inches for other countries.

Lifecycle Management

We also implemented a piece of 'lifecycle management'. For each product that is newly created, a lifecycle is automatically created, indicating in which countries and through which channels the product will be sold. The start date and an end-of-life date are also provided. Based on the entered data, the status of the product per channel and country is calculated immediately and the necessary actions are scheduled.

Connections

In addition to this kind of custom addition, inriver is linked with systems important to Bugaboo such as Salesforce, Channel Engine (a feed management tool), a piece of middleware for linking to ERP, and TextMaster, for translations.

Textmaster for Translations

The last in this list, TextMaster, has recently been put into use. A complete translation process has been implemented for Bugaboo, whereby inriver users can submit a so-called multi-field multi-language translation request. In other words: translations can be requested at field level from inriver by any user for different languages. Before the request is forwarded, the Translation Manager within Bugaboo validates the request. The Translation Manager can also adjust specific settings per language and per item so that the translators can work even better prepared. Once the desired information has been translated, it is automatically imported into inriver PIM after approval.

Thanks to the connector with TextMaster, the process around translations of product information is much more efficient and the time-to-market of new products is significantly accelerated.

The digital world is in continuous development; this also applies to product data.

Continue

The digital world is in continuous development; this also applies to product data. It is an ongoing process that Bugaboo and XSARUS continue to work on together. Improvements to the product information management process and system are made in biweekly sprints. For example, a hotspot feature for images will be launched soon and adjustments will be made to the data model to better reuse data.