Building a Future-Proof PIM Foundation for Pets Place Boerenbond

IJsvogel Retail, owner of the Pets Place Boerenbond retail stores, approached Squadra to evaluate whether its existing Product Information Management (PIM) system was sufficient for future growth. After a thorough investigation and careful selection process for a new PIM system and implementation partner, Squadra also guided IJsvogel Retail through the implementation journey.

Key elements included developing the data model, defining future processes based on best practices, positioning PIM within the system landscape and facilitating data migration. The integration with the GS1 Datasource data pool has been included as a starting point from the beginning.

Customer Profile: IJsvogel Retail  

With Pets Place Boerenbond, IJsvogel Retail is operating in the pet and garden supplies market. Their head office is located in Ede, where also the procurement and logistics organization are based. They serve customers through multiple channels.

Pets Place is the largest retail chain of pet stores in the Netherlands. Animal lovers will find everything they need in their online webshop or one of their 200 pet stores. Next to pet supplies, their 67 stores also specialize in gardening and outdoor living, for which they have an extensive range of products of garden supplies, plant care, outdoor furniture and outdoor cooking.

With an impressive inventory of over 200.000 products - 20.000 of which are stocked in their distribution center - IJsvogel Retail uses approximately 30 trucks on a daily basis to supply 170 physical stores and 800 wholesale customers. Their customers can also shop online. IJsvogel Retail has around 1.600 staff members and is committed to expertise and service, while they are also focused on sustainability. The company aims to open 40 to 50 new store locations over the next three years.

With this PIM system and the connection to GS1 Datasource, we’ve established a foundation for processing and sharing more and better product information with our customers.” - Ard Malenstein, CEO IJsvogel Retail

The Challenge: Preparing For Expansion And Omnichannel Excellence  

By late 2022, IJsvogel Retail recognized that the PIM system, along with the data model and processes, might not be the right foundation for its ambitions and new market trends. With international expansion plans and the rapidly increasing importance of omnichannel strategies and integrated customer experiences, IJsvogel Retail needed a centralized, state-of-the-art PIM system.

The existing PIM system was primarily focused on powering the ERP and point-of-sale system. Additionally, IJsvogel Retail had built its own PIM add-on application to support the webshop and e-commerce channels. The company wanted to improve its product data management capabilities, focusing on greater efficiency through automated processes and improved data quality.

This improvement required

• An extensive data model
• Intelligent onboarding processes
• Integration with the GS1 Datasource data pool and other sources, like ISA for hazardous materials information
• Multilingual support
• Omnichannel distribution to websites in the Netherlands and Belgium, and potentially other countries
• Connection to various marketplaces

The Solution: A New PIM System And GS1-Datamodel Integration  

Squadra helped IJsvogel Retail select a new PIM system using a proven fast-track method that has already helped more than 40 clients. After a thorough selection process, Contentserv was chosen as the PIM system, with Xsarus as the technical implementation partner.

Squadra focused on preparing for implementation by designing future processes and a central PIM data model, fully integrating the GS1 data model. This integration is necessary because suppliers in this sector have agreed to share product information through the GS1 data pool. The scope for phase 1 was defined based on business priorities to enable further step-by-step expansion of the solution.

Executing The Implementation Roadmap  

To accelerate the implementation, the team prioritized data migration from the old system to enable early testing of key features, including the GS1 Datasource integration. The integration between the PIM system and other business systems proved to be a greater challenge than initially estimated.

The new process begins with Category Management that creates articles through the supplier portal, which are automatically enriched via GS1 Datasource where possible. A workflow then involves all key departments, to complete and verify the data before it is distributed across all business systems such as ERP, POS system, Promotion Management, Order Management System, webshop, and Channel Management.

The Result: A Solid Foundation For Future Growth  

By connecting to the GS1 Datasource pool, IJsvogel Retail can receive standardized product data and import it directly into the PIM system, saving significant time and reducing manual work. Time-to-market and efficiency have greatly improved: the streamlined process and PIM workflow ensure that product information is available to other systems in a faster and simpler way. The new PIM system has also laid the foundation for capturing and sharing richer product information with customers through the webshop and marketplaces.

Now that phase 1 is complete, IJsvogel Retail has a strong foundation for their next steps. Thanks to this PIM implementation, IJsvogel Retail has established a solid product data foundation and will be well-positioned for the future.

Are You Ready To Take Your Product Information Management To The Next Level?

Is your organization facing challenges with product data management or preparing for omnichannel expansion? Squadra’s expertise can help you select and implement the right PIM solution that fits your business needs, with our proven methodologies for successful implementation.

Contact us to discover how we can help you create a solid product information foundation that supports your growth ambitions and enhances your customer experience across all channels.