Every year CPG manufacturers and retailers spend billions annually developing, marketing and distributing new products. But the typical product launch is delayed unnecessarily by 2-4 weeks due to lack of a consistent, automated workflow process for new product introduction.

Instead of receiving new product data electronically from suppliers, merchandising personnel use a combination of manual efforts to aggregate new item data. Digital cameras are used to capture images, tape measures are used to capture dimensions and document scanners are used to capture warranty details. The delays caused by these inefficiencies can result in millions of dollars in opportunity cost for new consumer products being introduced. 

New e-commerce standards for data synchronization developed globally by retailers and suppliers with the GS1 organization, offer a low-cost solution to simplifying new item setup. GXS offers data synchronization solutions in partnership with GS1 organizations in over 20 countries today.

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As a supplier, how do you aggregate all of the description, dimension, weight, packaging, recycling, warranty, pricing and promotion data about new products from the marketing, warehouse, manufacturing, legal and pricing groups within your enterprise? 

As a retailer, how do you ensure that your store managers, warehouse personnel and information technology personnel have point-of-sale, inventory and accounting applications ready for new products? 

Your Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) application doesn’t offer this capability. Chances are, neither does your ERP. 

You should consider deploying a specialized Product Information Management (PIM) application designed specifically for managing product attribute information. A PIM streamlines and simplifies new product introductions, by enforcing a consistent process for aggregating new product data across multiple divisions within your business. GXS has been recognized by several industry analysts as a leading provider of PIM technology to over 50 retailers and suppliers around the world.

Learn how GXS PIM is the perfect solution for your enterprise>>

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One of the most challenging aspects of new product launches has been monitoring of new product sales during the first few weeks after launch. Brand managers at the manufacturer and merchandising managers at the retailer both struggle to understand highly inconsistent sales data from each store. Why do some stores exceed sales expectations for new products in week #1 and #2, while others don’t generate any sales at all? Often, the lack of sales is not due to lack of consumer demand, but inefficient store-processing as new products sit in the back room for weeks awaiting release to the sales floor.

GXS Inventory Visibility service can provide you with real-time insights into the true location of products in the supply chain.  For each new product introduced, retailers and suppliers can view inventory in-store, in-warehouse, in-transit and on-order. As a result, out-of-stocks or overstocks can be identified and remedied quickly ensuring the appropriate amount of product is available.  

Learn more about GXS Inventory Visibility service, designed to help retailers share real-time signals regarding inventory status with partners>>

Share forecasts, POS and other supply chain information from your business system directly with your partners using GXS Trading Grid>>