Product Information Management (PIM) systems are a driving force behind a good customer experience. A 2023 survey entitled “Elevating customer experiences with product experiences”, sheds light on how product information can greatly enhance CX. Virginie Blot, Product Experience Management evangelist at Akeneo, gave us her point of view and analysis on that survey. Place a Product Information Management System at the heart of your Customer Experience Web-rooming/Showrooming: What are the trends? Let’s start with Webrooming and Showrooming. Akeneo’s 2023 B2C study (see methodological note at the end) shows that about 90% of consumers research products online before buying, especially, in-store. Webrooming has been a strong trend for many years and continues to grow. On the other hand, Showrooming is less common than Webrooming: only 77% of consumers have been to the store to complete their online purchase. Eighty-five percent carry on to do their research online before making their final decisions. Worthy of note: 71% of consumers order online first and then pick up their product from the store, this is what is called click and collect. Customers love this ability to switch from one channel to another. Is Showrooming a risk or an opportunity for brands? The strongest brands are distributed on many channels, both physical and digital. This reinforces their brand image. Consumers will see and try out products in one physical store, but then purchase them online. Either way, the brand wins. For retailers, it’s a different story. If they haven’t opted for an omnichannel strategy (online, in-store, and on social networks), it will become more complicated for them as time goes by. How is physical retail holding up in the ROBO/ROPO era? In recent times, we have heard a lot about store closures, the reason behind this is that humans are more attracted to bad news. Nonetheless, there is good news too. For example, DNVBs (Digital Native Virtual Brands), are brands that were directly created as digital, usually on Instagram. Once they have been successful, they will tend to open a pop-up store. Physical locations are best for building relationships with consumers and sharing more than just products, as well as offering an experience. On the Champs-Élysées in Paris, I noticed that L’Occitane en Provence had opened at the same time as Pierre Hermé (macaroons, chocolates, and pastry shop). Now consumers are able to come to the store and have a great time tasting macaroons while shopping. It’s a unique experience and a perfect example of how physical stores are reinventing themselves. L’Occitane has 3,500 points of sale worldwide, it only makes 16% of its sales through digital channels. Therefore, we must not forget that not everything is digital. It’s a great image booster as it attracts people to the store, but stores remain essential. Retail: will laggards disappear? The sooner retailers jump on the customer experience bandwagon, the better. It’s never too late to do it the right way.