At Woolworths we have enabled the business users to save significant time and costs by providing an 'enterprise 2.0' application that has streamlined its product management process, whilst allowing Woolworths to repurpose this information to multiple sales channels (website, catalogue, in-store).

Business Benefits of Woolworths' Product Management Portal:

• 40% improvement in productivity
• 20% improvement in QA
• 400% increase in user base over 6 months
• Improved visibility within the company
• Real time reporting

Woolworths has moved away from traditional enterprise software to web-based applications to manage their products, with extraordinary results

 

Woolworths PLC needs no introduction.  The brand is known for its commitment to the UK high street and its extensive product range. Managing over 50,000 products and their corresponding images and copy is a massive task, and with a yearly product line growth of 33% and the need to repurpose this information to multiple channels, such as the website, the Big Red Book and in-store kiosks, it was clear to the business that their current systems were restricting product line growth and increasing time to market.

The problem

The documentation of product and workflow  – described as “enrichment” - involved five different applications and offline processes dedicated to analysing a  product, writing copy, storing photographs, approving the results and then getting that information out to where it was needed. When you’re dealing with 50,000 items, with new products being added every day, it’s not surprising that Woolworths started looking for a more efficient way to run the process.

The approach

“Our objectives were three-fold”, says Paul Shang, Woolworths’ head of multi-channel content management. “First, we had to remove the frustrations and bottlenecks our users were experiencing and increase the throughput of products in any one cycle. In order to accomplish that we needed to streamline the product enrichment process on to a unified web based portal. Second, we wanted to bring greater visibility to the entire process and empower users managing content. Finally, we needed a flexible solution that is responsive to our users’ needs and a partner who could bring a fresh perspective to what we were trying to do and help us manage the changes.”

The platform

Woolworths teamed up with VYRE, a UK company specialising in web based content management applications. VYRE developed a bespoke core application – affectionately known as PET (Product Enrichment Technology) - to manage copy, photography and products.  “We took an agile approach and spent a lot of time with users working out what the application needed to do for them, and giving the workflow process some serious critical examination” says Finnur Magnusson, VYRE’s lead analyst on the project. “As part of that approach we built a prototype that the users actively participated in testing. Their feedback  went back into the requirements process.”

“We also made good use of AJAX and web 2.0 technologies to create an application that has the capabilities of a thick desktop application without its disadvantages”, adds Siavash Etemadieh, VYRE’s lead developer on the project, “It’s easy to extend, and we can present a customised experience for every user that’s appropriate to their role and the tasks they need to complete.”

The results have been spectacular, bringing a 40% increase in productivity. “Not only are business users really happy with the results” says Shang “but we’re also delivering high quality information to consumers faster and more efficiently than ever before.” At the heart of the application is the search engine, which allows Woolworths to mine their content in ways that were simply not possible before. “It’s all about search,” says Magnusson, “if you get your content and metadata right, and combine that with a rich taxonomy structure, you can really reap the benefits of a search driven application.” For the first time users from across the business can run custom reports on content that’s key to the Woolworths brand. “Finally we had clear visibility of a key business process for everyone involved” says Shang, “and we’re capturing marketing collateral for reuse across Woolworths. It’s been a real enabler.”

The future

The first version of the portal was delivered on time and it is now rapidly evolving with new features and a fast release cycle. “The buy in from the users and the success of the project has made the business case for us to extend the portal further” says Joshua Gavin, image and content specialist. “We’re investigating the potential  to extend the portal’s capabilities to include store planograms and licensing material. Woolworths have the highest turnover for licensed events in Europe, the potential benefits of managing this content more efficiently are very attractive to the business.”

View The Guardian editorial piece.