Five Questions with Paul Lavery on Catalogue with Images April 24, 2008
Posted by Meg Sewell in Inovis Solutions.Tags: Catalogue with Images
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Today’s post is a Q&A with Paul Lavery, Director of Catalogue and Data Synchronization Services at Inovis. Paul is responsible for product strategy and planning, identifying market requirements, and defining specific features for product releases. Paul is a solid source about Data Synchronization and Catalogue for both Inovis employees and customers, and was kind enough to recently answer five questions frequently asked by customers in regards to the new Inovis Catalogue with Images.
1. What is Catalogue with Images?
Inovis Images Exchange is a Digital Media Registry Service where multiple image or media files can be stored and referenced internally or with trading partners. There are two distinct image related business initiatives that Inovis is pursuing with our Image Exchange service.
A. Provide storage and management of reference images
- This functionality will provide the ability to link a basic image (or set of images) to product item data stored in the Inovis Catalogue. This functionality allows customers to verify that a base image (or set of images) is attached at the appropriate product level (selection code/category, product/style, or item/GTIN). Additionally we provide a method to visually confirm the correct image is posted and stored within the supply chain via our user interface.
B. Real-time integration to 3rd party or internal systems that use image/media data
- Our service will allow an image (Digital Asset) management provider or internal IT group to synchronize stored images with the appropriate product attribute data contained within the Inovis Catalogue. This service offering leverages the Inovis Catalogue Web Services API functionality to provide a link for images to any external application that needs to provide an image. (e.g. ERP, WMS and VMI Systems)
2. What is the business purpose for sharing images via the Inovis catalogue?
Time and again, retailers have expressed their frustrations over the difficulty in matching up the correct detailed product information with the correct image. Not only is this activity time consuming, they are also investing time and money in snapping pictures of products that have already been photographed by vendors. Catalogue with Images can eliminate this redundancy and keep companies from sending millions of dollars down the drain.
3. What is the vendor’s advantage of sharing images through the Catalogue over just sending them via FTP or on a CD to the retail trading partner?
Vendors will be happy to know that they only have to send the image to Inovis once and then all retailers will have unlimited access to the image. Additionally, images are already linked with the rich Catalogue product data and are more easily queried in Inovis Catalogue than on a CD.
4. What are some of the end uses of images within the retail community?
A few uses include:
- Sales Planning: to aid in determining what is being put on sale
- Advertising: to use the digital asset in the advertising material
- Replenishment: to help validate what is being re-ordered
- Gift Registry: to display what is chosen
- Catalog/Web Selling: to display the item
- Stock Locator: to aid employees in locating requested item
- Shipping: to aid in making sure the right item is shipped
- Point of Sale: to display for the customer
5. What were the key findings from previous Inovis meetings and surveys?
We had some great discussions with key retailers and vendors from our Advisory Panel and received some very helpful feedback. Retailers expressed to us an interest in utilizing Catalogue as a vehicle for getting vendor images and attributes. They also expressed a need for a process whereby vendors are able to approve certain images and the use of these images. We also found that the major cost for retailers is having buyers call or fax vendors in regard to product information like fabric, care, extended description, etc. We are definitely taking all of the information we’ve acquired and using this knowledge to provide a solid and beneficial solution.
