Digital Twins for Commerce

Digital twin technology is an important aspect in engineering. Only recently, has the concept started to be relevant in sales and eCommerce as well. How digital twins can drive more sales, reduce website bounces, make product pages error-proof and increase conversion rates?

Digital twin technology on a product page

Product pages are battlegrounds, where every description, picture, feature and error can affect the purchase. The product experience that they lay foundations for can be the last point of contact with your brand. That is why it is so essential that you not only add some information about your products, but provide as much content about them as you can. That’s how you can create a digital twin of a product - so convincing, content-rich and engaging that it will win your customer’s heart.

Digital transformation is now

The COVID-19 event changed the game for business globally. Now is not the time to test the waters when it comes to digital transformation, but to go all in. Therefore, focusing on the digital twins of your products is something that should be high on the priority list for business strategists. In fact, your products already have their digital twins, but you need to make sure that they will work for you, not against you. Poor product digital twins (based on incorrect, inconsistent or irrelevant product data) will harm your sales.

What are Digital Twins for Commerce?

A digital twin is the best possible digital equivalent of your product. It’s the entire product data, including a gallery of photos, videos, renders, product name or title and descriptions, technical specs and documentation etc. The list of assets that are necessary to create digital twins of products is never exhaustive, as new kinds of assets (for instance AR files) are being added and become standard features.

The other endpoint of the spectrum is the output channels, a product page is only one example of. Product content can be utilized in multiple output places.

Digital Transformation

Ecommerce has been juggling the term for years. Recent COVID-19 events have harshly proven that digitalizing your products is more than a fancy strategy. Currently, those brands that are further on in their digital transformation journey are beginning to win (or at least stay afloat on) the market.

As Jon Anders Aas-Haug, founder & EVP Corporate Strategy at Bluestone PIM puts it,

At some point, you have to do it the proper way: put product information at the center and create good digital representations of your products that help you sell well, no matter the channel or setting. The good news is, you can do this without disrupting your existing business. You can build great product content that makes up your products’ digital twins, and prepare for the future in parallel with what you have today. The PIM investment will bring benefits to your existing business, so there is every reason to do this now.

PIM for Digital Twins

A common challenge, faced by companies across verticals, is managing product content on one platform. Surprisingly, according to Ventana Research, 56% of organizations use more than five different systems that contain product data. The consequences for business growth of such manifold eCommerce stack are numerous:

• no single reference point for product content
• duplicate and inconsistent product information across different systems
• high cost of managing multiple platforms or SaaS tools
• limited collaboration
• siloed product data
• bad product experience
• poor digital twins of products

Why Product Information Management?

The benefits of implementing a Product Information Management solution are numerous. Most importantly, it brings consistency, relevance and efficiency to brands. Based on all the content gathered and organized in PIM, each product is ready to be displayed properly in any synced output channel. PIM also enables teams to collaborate on product content, all within one platform, which brings unparalleled efficiency to product enrichment. This translates to more time spent on creating outstanding customer experience. The same report from Ventana Research states that 58% of companies say that dedicated PIM software makes product information available in a consistent manner across sales channels.

Current state of PIM adoption

The extent to which Product Information Management solutions are implemented to create digital twins varies on the market. Below are the key findings of Ventana Research findings on PIM:

• 44% of organizations put significant effort to standardize product information into a complete, consistent, and reliable structure.
• 50% of companies are confident in the quality of their product information.
• 28% of companies use a dedicated product information management application.
• 62% of companies say the quality of product information management is very important to their business.
• 40% of companies that never use spreadsheets are satisfied with their product information management efforts.

Final tips

People interact with your products long before they actually purchase them. Don’t ignore this fact or you’ll keep losing potential customers. Instead, use the product content to engage buyers and drive purchase decisions through digital twins of your products. Your success truly revolves around the product experience you give your customers. It needs to be seamless, relevant and channel specific.