8,000+
SKUs
30
Countries
70%
Faster Time-to-Market
12
Languages Supported
executive summary
The client organization is one of Europe’s most recognizable lifestyle and accessories retailers, known for offering thousands of affordable, design-led products, from stationery and kitchen gadgets to toys and home décor, at price points typically between €1 and €5. With over 900 stores across 30 European countries, the brand had grown rapidly but its product information infrastructure had not kept pace.
Product data was scattered across Excel spreadsheets, local ERP systems, and regional databases. Each country team maintained its own translations, pricing, and product descriptions leading to inconsistencies, duplicated effort, and an average time-to-market of 6–8 weeks for new product launches across all markets. With seasonal collections rotating every 4–6 weeks and 2,000+ new SKUs introduced annually, this fragmentation was becoming a critical bottleneck.
We were engaged to architect and implement a centralized Product Information Management solution using Akeneo PIM as the single source of truth, integrated with Sitecore Experience Platform (XP) for multilingual content delivery across e-commerce, in-store digital signage, and mobile channels. The engagement transformed how the retailer manages, translates, and distributes product data across its entire European operation.
We take our clients’ confidentiality seriously. While we’ve changed their names and certain identifying details, the results are real.
CLIENT PROFILE
Sector
Duration
9 months
Region
Europe
Solution
Akaneo PIM
01. Context & Challenges
One product. One truth. 12 languages. 30 countries.
The retailer’s rapid expansion across Europe had created a complex web of disconnected product data systems. Each regional office operated independently, resulting in significant operational inefficiencies and brand inconsistencies.
Key Challenges
Fragmented Product Data
Product information lived in 15+ separate Excel files, 4 regional ERP systems, and countless email threads. No single source of truth existed for any SKU.
Translation Bottleneck
12 languages required for product descriptions, with each country team manually translating from English master files causing delays of 3–4 weeks per collection launch.
Pricing Inconsistencies
Regional pricing rules, VAT differences, and currency conversions were managed manually, leading to frequent errors and compliance risks across 30 markets.
Slow Collection Rollouts
New seasonal collections took 6–8 weeks to reach all markets. Competitors were launching in 2–3 weeks, eroding the brand's first-mover advantage on trend items.
Channel Disconnection
E-commerce, in-store digital displays, mobile app, and print catalogs each pulled product data from different sources, creating conflicting information for customers.
No Governance Framework
Without centralized workflows, there was no approval process for product data quality. Incomplete descriptions and missing attributes were published to live channels regularly.
2
02. our approach
Our Approach & Solution
RedEx designed a phased implementation strategy that prioritized quick wins while building toward a fully integrated PIM ecosystem. The approach balanced technical architecture with change management which is critical for an organization with 30 country teams accustomed to independent workflows.
Services Provided
- PIM Architecture & Design
- Akeneo Implementation
- Sitecore XP Integration
- Translation Workflow Automation
- Data Governance Framework
- ERP & Channel Connectors
- Taxonomy & Attribute Modeling
- Change Management & Training
- Data Quality Analytics
“We were managing 8,000 products across 30 countries with spreadsheets and email. RedEx redesigned how we think about product data as a strategic asset.”
— Head of Digital Operations, Client Organization
Implementation Phases
Phase 1
Discovery & Data Audit
- Mapped all existing product data sources across 30 country teams
- Audited 8,000+ SKUs for data completeness and quality
- Defined unified taxonomy with 120+ product attributes
- Designed Akeneo data model with category trees, families, and attribute groups
Phase 2
Core PIM Implementation
- Deployed Akeneo PIM Enterprise Edition on cloud infrastructure
- Built automated connectors to 4 regional ERP systems (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics)
- Implemented translation workflow engine with automated routing to 12 language teams
- Created data quality rules and completeness scoring dashboards
Phase 3
Sitecore Integration & Channel Syndication
- Built Akeneo-to-Sitecore XP connector for real-time product data sync
- Configured multilingual content delivery across e-commerce storefronts
- Integrated with in-store digital signage and mobile app via headless API
- Implemented regional pricing engine with VAT and currency rules
Phase 4
Rollout, Training & Optimization
- Phased rollout across 5 regional clusters
- Trained 120+ users across 30 country teams on Akeneo workflows
- Established data governance council with regional data stewards
- Optimized translation workflows based on first 3 months of live usage data
Technology Stack
Layer
Technology
Role
PIM
Akeneo Enterprise Edition
Single source of truth for all product data
CMS / DXP
Sitecore Experience Platform (XP)
Multilingual content delivery & personalization
ERP
SAP + Microsoft Dynamics
Pricing, inventory & supplier data sync
Search
Elasticsearch
Product search & faceted navigation
API Layer
REST + GraphQL
Headless content delivery to all channels
Infrastructure
AWS (EC2, RDS, S3, CloudFront)
Scalable cloud hosting with EU data residency
Analytics
Custom Akeneo Dashboards + Tableau
Data quality scoring & operational metrics
3
03. The OUTCOMES
Key Results
Before & After Comparison
METRIC
BEFORE PIM
AFTER PIM
IMPACT
Time-to-Market (new collection)
6–8 weeks
2 weeks
70% faster
Product Data Sources
15+ disconnected systems
1 single source of truth
100% centralized
Translation Turnaround
3–4 weeks per language
3–5 days per language
85% faster
SKU Onboarding Time
~2 hours per product
~15 minutes per product
87% reduction
Data Completeness Rate
~45% across all SKUs
94% across all SKUs
+49 percentage points
Content Reuse Rate
Manual copy-paste
85% automated syndication
Near-full automation
Strategic Impact
Revenue Acceleration
70% faster collection launches enabled the brand to capture seasonal demand windows more effectively. First-to-shelf advantage on trend items drove measurable uplift in same-store sales across key European markets.
Operational Scalability
The centralized PIM eliminated the need for each country team to maintain independent product databases. New market entry, previously a 3-month data setup exercise, now takes less than 2 weeks.
Omnichannel Consistency
99% channel alignment means customers see identical product information whether browsing online, in the mobile app, or standing in front of a digital display in-store, building trust in the brand.
Cost Efficiency
Automated translation workflows and centralized data governance reduced annual product data management costs by an estimated €1.2M, freeing budget for growth initiatives and new market expansion.
4
04. Outcome Summary
Insights & Lessons Learned
With a rapidly rotating catalog of 8,000+ active SKUs and 2,000+ new products introduced annually, the organization operates at the intersection of fast fashion and lifestyle retail requiring exceptional agility in product data management, multilingual content delivery, and omnichannel consistency across its pan-European footprint.
01
- Taxonomy Is the Foundation, Not the Technology
The most critical investment was not the Akeneo license but the 3 months spent designing the product taxonomy. With 8,000+ SKUs spanning categories from kitchen gadgets to plush toys, the attribute model needed to be both comprehensive and flexible. Getting this right meant every downstream process (translation, syndication, search) worked efficiently. Getting it wrong would have created an expensive, well-organized mess.
02
- Change Management Outweighs Technical Complexity
30 country teams had spent years building their own product data workflows. The technical Akeneo implementation was straightforward compared to convincing 120+ users to abandon familiar spreadsheets. The phased regional rollout, starting with the Nordics as early adopters, created internal champions who evangelized the platform to skeptical teams in later waves.
03
- Translation Workflows Need Cultural Context, Not Just Language
Automated translation routing solved the speed problem, but quality required more nuance. A ‘fun kitchen gadget’ in Denmark needed different descriptive language than the same product in Italy or Poland. Building cultural adaptation guidelines into the translation workflow, beyond literal translation, was essential for maintaining the brand’s playful voice across all markets.
04
- Low-Price-Point Retail Demands High-Volume PIM Efficiency
When your average product costs €2, the cost of managing product data per SKU must be minimal. The AI-assisted attribute suggestions and bulk editing tools were not nice-to-haves, they were essential for making the economics work. Reducing onboarding from 2 hours to 15 minutes per SKU made the difference between a viable PIM investment and an unsustainable overhead.
5
05. RedEx Perspective
Action That Translates Strategy
This engagement exemplifies how PIM implementation for high-volume, low-price-point retail is fundamentally different from luxury or B2B contexts. When you’re managing 8,000 products that each cost €1–5, the economics of data management must be ruthlessly efficient. Every manual step that takes 10 minutes instead of 1 minute multiplies across thousands of SKUs and 30 markets.
The Akeneo + Sitecore combination proved ideal for this use case. Akeneo’s strength in structured product data management, with its family-based attribute inheritance and completeness scoring, addressed the core challenge of maintaining quality across a massive, fast-rotating catalog. Sitecore XP’s multilingual content delivery capabilities then ensured that enriched product data reached every customer touchpoint consistently.
The regional rollout strategy was critical. Rather than a big-bang launch across 30 countries, the phased approach allowed us to refine workflows, fix integration edge cases, and build internal advocacy before scaling. The Nordic teams, already digitally mature and open to new tools, became powerful internal champions who helped onboard more resistant teams in later phases.
Engagement Lead
Senior Partner · Strategy & client alignment
Sitecore Lead
Senior Developer · XP integration & multilingual delivery
Integration Engineer
Senior Developer · ERP connectors & API layer
PIM Architect
Principal Consultant · Akeneo data model & integration design
Data Governance Specialist
Consultant · Taxonomy, quality rules & training
Change Management Lead
Consultant · Regional rollout & user adoption
READY TO TALK?
Ready to Centralize Your Product Data?
From PIM architecture and data governance to multilingual content delivery and omnichannel syndication, let our Akeneo and Sitecore experts transform how you manage product information.
HUMAN. INTELLIGENT. MEASURABLE.
