As consumer shopping behaviors increasingly become more omnichannel, reliance on complete, accurate and high-quality product content to influence faster purchase decisions faster has become the norm. So much so that 50% of purchasing decisions are influenced by the availability of product information¹, according to data from CMI of Informa. The bottom line? Product information needs to be credible to ensure that brands are properly represented, and product content is educational, of the highest quality, complete, accurate and available.

With that, come increasing complexities behind-the-scenes around the exchange of efficient, effective product information between manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and retailers. Across all global commerce processes and stakeholders involved, there is a strong desire to have confidence in the accuracy and effectiveness of product content and data.

To bridge such gaps and facilitate more harmonious B2B and B2C relationships, 1WorldSync remains committed to its brand promise—to unite global commerce to confidently create, manage and exchange product content. Below, we take a look at some of the recent actions and investments made—including this Thanksgiving week’s acquisition of CNET Content Solutions and revitalized, rebranded website—to stay committed to our brand pillars of outpacing change, enhancing data quality and creating a stronger network to help our community leverage our reach to their advantage.

Instilling Confidence Across All Commerce: Accurate product content is the key to unlocking commerce success—but innovative solutions that integrate, simplify and accelerate data syndication are the passport to your product content journey. With years of credible, industry experience built on a foundation of trust, we are committed to helping industry pros create personalized global commerce experiences at the speed that consumers and customers ask for. This includes our October launch of Content Acceleration to deliver improved search discoverability and conversion effectiveness through enriched content. The available solution suite not only increases speed-to-market for brands and manufacturers in the areas of content sourcing/creation, enrichments and distribution—it addresses the end-to-end, integrated process of item-setup and syndication to simplify back-end processes.

Meeting all commerce capability demands: We recognize the importance of meeting all our retailer and manufacturer commerce needs—from corporate enterprises to the small- to mid-sized businesses (SMBs)—when it comes to effective product content processes. Especially given that an overwhelming majority of retailers and suppliers happen to be small businesses. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), more than 98% of all retail companies employ fewer than 50 people². And for SMB manufacturers, greater distribution across regions in recent years meant more shelf space at stores and greater market capture—especially in the Food & Beverage (F&B) space. According to research from The Nielsen Co. LLC, for approximately 900 F&B items added to shelves since 2013, 88% came from SMBs³. In some scenarios that SMB retailers and manufacturers may face, less resources, labor and time to support daily job functions can also cause challenges to concurrently meet unwavering consumer demands.

Through our agreement to acquire CNET Content Solutions from Red Ventures in the fourth quarter of 2020, 1WorldSync will be able to expand our level of product content and solutions across all channels—including consumer electronics, IT, office supplies and appliances. The move not only strengthens our e-commerce content creation and syndication capabilities across such sectors, it also enforces our commitment to support retailers and manufacturers in their need to provide consistent, trusted product content for omnichannel commerce. Lastly, it strengthens our ability to provide greater capabilities in analytics, imagery and content details.

Remaining competitive, flexible and agile: Consumers have come to expect personalized shopping experiences—in aisles and on digital shelves—from retailers and brands. Similarly so, creating a strong, digital community presence where retailers and suppliers alike can come together to share best practices and apply efficient product content syndications processes through a single pane of glass was key to the refreshed look and feel of 1worldsync.com. The new website features a responsive design that builds upon the company’s foundation to scale in both its story and capabilities as it continues to invest in its company, people, partners and customers to grow as the global leader in commerce product content.

“The new look and feel of our website represents our story, our strategy,” confirmed T.J. Waldorf, vice president of sales and marketing, 1WorldSync. “No longer do we refer to in-store experiences or e-commerce in a siloed fashion—it’s just commerce. Our website reflects our presence as not just the largest GDSN data pool but as a holistic product content platform provider that empowers confident commerce.”

Reinforcing the power of standardization for product content: 1WorldSync has played a critical role in establishing and advancing the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) as a key ingredient to improving supply chain efficiency for in-store assortments. But as consumers continue to require credible, accurate product information for their omnichannel experiences across CPG, foodservice, DIY/hardlines, healthcare and other industries, our focus and efforts on global standardization of product information has to grow more than it has ever before. Retailers and suppliers alike need easier capabilities to ensure product information is current and complies with GDSN standards, and data syndication processes are sustainable. The new 1WorldSync Global Standards Innovation team intensifies its organizational focus on the application of global standards to the digital shelf. It will help fulfill industry guidance needs around the use of the GDSN, and provide community thought leadership and expertise on how to best leverage standards to better serve the consumer landscape.

1WorldSync continues to rapidly evolve its capabilities to cover the entire product content value chain that powers commerce. Interested in learning more or discussing any of the organization’s recent developments? Contact us today or reach our team for global media inquiries.

References

1. Content Marketing Institute (CMI) of Informa PLC, “How Content Influences the Purchasing Process,” 2017: https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/smartbrief-content-marketing-institute-how-content-influences-purchasing-process-research.pdf
2. The National Retail Federation (NRF), https://nrf.com/insights/small-business
3. The Nielsen Co. LLC, “Amid the FMCG downturn, small manufacturers are tapping big growth,” June 1, 2017:
   https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2017/amid-the-fmcg-downturn-small-manufacturers-are-tapping-big-growth/