Tom Hedgecoth - eCommerce Practice Director
This is first of a series of three blog posts focusing on Leatherman’s transformative journey with Aleysian as they implemented Akeneo to empower growth and success.
Leatherman, the leading global manufacturer of top-notch multi-tools, was confronted with a series of operational hurdles. Their outdated and cumbersome in-house product information management system (PIM) was hindering its ability to keep up with growth targets.
If that sounds familiar (trust us, you’re not alone), keep reading.
Leatherman realized they needed to streamline internal processes and improve agility while opening new sales channels. Their homegrown PIM system was slow and clunky, with data validation issues that allowed bad and duplicate data to enter the system. The search functionality was lacking and navigation was a challenge. This duplication of effort across multiple systems was negatively impacting the company's ability to quickly bring new products to market.
Recognizing the need for a scalable and efficient solution to fuel their growth, Leatherman focused on selecting a new PIM. After researching several solutions, Leatherman selected Akeneo due to its robust capabilities and user-friendly interface. Akeneo made it easy for Leatherman to manage their product data effectively and efficiently. With Akeneo, Leatherman has been able to customize their workflow, streamlining the product creation and approval process. The result has been fewer errors, quicker time to market and a smooth onboarding of new products and sales channels.
But like with most any PIM, Leatherman needed an implementation partner to truly unlock the power of Akeneo. Enter Aleysian.
“I’ve been through quite a few software selections and implementations,” said Liz Lee, IT Director at Leatherman Tool Company. “And, honestly, so often you get into an implementation and you realize the software isn’t quite as great as how it was sold to you. You find out the gotchas and limitations and things don’t work quite the way you want.”
And with the crowded implementation consulting space, it was essential Lee found a true partner.
“I like to be thorough and do my due diligence, so we looked at more than one option for our implementation,” Lee said. “In the end, it was a clear decision for us to go with Aleysian. From the beginning they made us feel very comfortable. We got to meet the people who would actually be assigned to our project, which is always so important to me. We could tell the team had a wealth of knowledge and experience that they would work well with our team.”
With the right PIM identified and a partner secured, it was time to start unlocking growth. Through Akeneo's user-friendly interface, Leatherman has benefited from an intuitive and easy-to-use platform. Their team has been able to work in a more collaborative way, with less training required, leading to faster adoption and implementation. Akeneo made it simple and straightforward for Leatherman to import, transfer, and manage product information allowing them to be more agile when responding to customer needs.
The PIM system has widened their product offerings to more markets and developed a closer relationship with their consumers, improving their experience. Leatherman's D2C efforts are also expanding to other marketplaces. Additionally, the company plans to grow by increasing their international e-commerce footprint through Akeneo's localization features.
“Our team loves the tool more and more all the time,” Lee said. “And that is so refreshing. Our dev team has really enjoyed working with it and feel they have all the tools they need. And overall our team feels very empowered with the tool.”
For Leatherman, implementing Akeneo's user-friendly PIM solution has been a game-changer. An outdated, slow, and clunky homegrown PIM system was holding Leatherman back from realizing their growth potential. However, now they can manage their product information with ease, minimizing inefficiencies and reducing errors. The Akeneo solution has enabled Leatherman to focus on increasing product offerings and market channels, improving their relationships with consumers worldwide. Every company seeking growth potential should consider implementing a user-friendly PIM solution like Akeneo.
Check out parts two and three of the three-part blog series on Leatherman’s transformative journey with Aleysian as they implemented Akeneo to empower growth and success.
Interested in Akeneo or implementing a PIM for your business? Reach out to an Aleysian eCommerce expert today.