Streamlining Product Data and Digital Assets for Zeeman

As part of Zeeman’s marketing transformation, Squadra was asked to analyze and optimize the company’s product data and digital asset management processes. Zeeman sought to move away from a mass-distribution marketing approach to an omnichannel, fit-for-purpose strategy.

Squadra provided recommendations to enhance efficiency, accelerate time-to-market and replatform the eCommerce platform and implement a PIM solution that serves as a ‘single version of truth’ for product data and digital assets, fulfilling a QA role during the implementation phase of PIM. Additionally, Squadra played a role in implementing AI-powered content generation to optimize SEO and improve conversion rates.

Customer Profile: Zeeman  

Zeeman is a leading European retailer specializing in affordable, high-quality basics and household textiles. With 1,335 stores across 8 countries, including 450 in the Netherlands, Zeeman serves 70 million customers annually. The company offers clothing for all ages, undergarments, socks, household textiles and baby essentials. Sustainability is a core value, with Zeeman prioritizing recycled materials and ethical labor practices.

Central for this company is simplicity, which reflected in its products and stores. This emphasizes Zeeman’s slogan: “Zeeman. Zo eenvoudig kan het zijn.” / “Zeeman. It can be that simple.”

The Challenge: Outdated Processes Hindering Business Agility  

Years ago, Zeeman successfully started its online presence and digitized some of its processes, resulting in the Zeeman.com website and webshop. Over the years, this platform has grown and was upgraded into a monolith that served Zeeman well.

In late 2021, it was concluded that the website was not able to serve Zeeman in their future journeys. To keep meeting the needs of the ever-changing customer and enhance business agility, Zeeman had to modernize both its processes and technology. From omnichannel marketing activities to new digital shopping journeys; most elements needed improvement.

“Squadra really helped us in our digital transformation by bringing in their expertise and best practices in both PIM and eCommerce as well with their PowerSuite AI solution. More importantly, the Squadra people really blended very well with our own teams” - Alex Bloemendal, eCommerce Director Zeeman

The Solution: Implementing an eCommerce, PIM and AI Solution as part of Zeeman’s Digital Strategy  

Squadra conducted an in-depth assessment of Zeeman’s product data and digital asset processes, working closely with key stakeholders to identify bottlenecks. The solution was executed in 3 phases:

1. Ecommerce platform: architecture and RFP  

Squadra assisted the Zeeman Marketing & eCommerce team in finding the right approach to “replatform’ the old eCommerce monolith, validating a new MarTech approach (MACH) and helping with selecting the right eCommerce solutions and SI. The chosen systems (e.g. CommerceTools, MachComposer) were implemented in the period following this assignment.

2. Product Information Management (PIM): Tool Selection and Implementation  

Squadra then guided Zeeman through the selection and implementation of a fit-for-purpose PIM system, Bluestone. A uniform product data model and data flows were established across all systems to support Zeeman’s replatforming efforts.

3. AI-Powered Marketing Content Generation  

Zeeman conducted a proof-of-concept for AI-driven product text generation. Squadra’s PowerText.ai was selected, offering superior usability and output quality, while also supporting product images as inputs. This tool generates large volumes of SEO-optimized product descriptions in multiple languages, enhancing search visibility and conversion rates.

“Squadra played a crucial role in improving the process for enriching our product data for marketing content. They brought a clear vision - based on their extensive experience in the retail market - around data, systems and innovation through process thinking and the use of AI. With their guidance, we made significant progress in product content and our eCommerce capabilities.” - Caroline van Turennout, Marketing & eCommerce Director Zeeman

The Result: A Scalable, AI-Enhanced Marketing & eCommerce Ecosystem  

With Squadra’s expertise, Zeeman successfully implemented a unified PIM solution that is fully aligned with its digital strategy and started a successful replatforming project. The solution has:

• Reduced operational costs by eliminating duplicate work and manual inefficiencies.
• Established a standardized data structure, ensuring consistency across all platforms.
• Accelerated time-to-market for product updates and marketing campaigns.
• Integrated AI-powered content generation, streamlining market workflows and enhancing product discoverability.

The replatforming project ultimately resulted in a redesign of Zeeman’s website:

Moving forward, Zeeman and Squadra continue to continuously improve its PIM and DAM solution and explore advanced AI applications, including AI-generated fashion and lifestyle images, to further enhance digital marketing efforts. This successful collaboration marks a significant milestone in Zeeman’s digital transformation journey.

Unlock the full potential of your product data and digital assets.

At Squadra, we help businesses like Zeeman to streamline their product information, optimize digital assets and leverage AI for smarter marketing. Whether you’re looking to enhance efficiency, improve time-to-market or scale your omnichannel strategy, our experts are here to support you.

Ready to take the next step? Contact us to explore how we can help you transform your product data strategy!