Sun City Group's success: a B2B experience with the PIM
In mid-September, we decided to go back to school with a bang and for the occasion, we invited the Sun City Group to a webinar. It was the moment for us, and especially for you, to understand how one of the European leaders in fashion under license for adults, children (85% of its products), and babies, harmonizes its customer experience in this very special business that is the textile industry in B2B and B2B2C.
The Sun City Group
Since 1986, Sun-City has been working with prestigious production studios to develop ranges featuring the most fashionable heroes and artists of the moment (Disney, Harry Potter, Warner, Universal and many others). The group develops about 5000 models per year, whose textile and accessory collections are designed in France, thus offering a great capacity of adaptation to current trends, while privileging the quality of the products. With teams in Asia, offices in Europe and more than 200 employees, the group's activity extends mainly in Europe, in more than 50 countries in total. The group's customers are not only large-scale distributors (e.g. Leclerc), but also retailers, wholesalers and specialist stores throughout Europe. Sun City's distribution channels are mainly its sales force in Europe and the B2B internet, which is used more for retailers.
Why a PIM at Sun City?
Or to put it another way: what were the difficulties encountered by the group that led them to seek and choose PIM Quable?
The major thorn in the group's side was the centralization of product data: all the information concerning the pre-ordering of purchases from suppliers was not managed efficiently, in other words everything related to the creation of the product, its PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) and the management of this information. All this data was managed on Excel files, each of which had a different version. In addition to this, there were the objectives of visibility and redesign of the brand's website , which had a constant need for enriched data in order to market and sell the products effectively.
With this lack of tools, the group would have experienced complications slowing down its commercial activity by making it difficult to open new sales channels and new markets.
According to Jean-François Martins, CIO at Sun City, "PIM was an obvious choice compared to other tools such as PLM or PDM which have a completely different approach and scope".
What are the different roles that contribute to PIM ?
In addition to the centralization of data mentioned above, the time savings are considerable : no need to search for text, media or other information in two or even three different tools. It's simple: it's all in the PIM. There's no loss of information, so its quality is not altered - quite the contrary. The overview provided by PIM Quable makes it possible to manage and monitor projects effectively, and to take action quickly afterwards. "Everyone has an eye on their own work and on the work of others, both upstream and downstream", according to Fabrice Pierre, consultant and project manager for the implementation of PIM. In Olivier's words, "it'sa very malleableIt allows you to automate certain tasks, and everything takes care of itself. Today, PIM is a peace of mind because it's much easier to administer than other tools, according to the group's IT Director. Other successful fashion and textile customers testify to its benefits, including Jennyfer, Bonpoint and Gémo.
Conclusion
Speed, fluidity and accessibility of information are the key words characterizing the success of the PIM project within the Sun City group. In addition to unifying the customer experience in B2B, PIM offers the group the possibility of easily projecting its future progress because "we know we have the tool that allows us to do it from now on". That's why the group decided to expand its use of PIM by choosing the brand portal, which will make available products ordered by buyers according to seasons, trends and collections.