About the client
As the distribution division of leading U.S. porcelain tile manufacturer Crossville, Inc., Crossville Studios provides porcelain tile, natural stone, glass, mosaics, porcelain countertops, and more at more than 23 locations across the nation.
In 2018, we first worked with Crossville Inc. to transform their Crossville Tile brand website. Then it was time to tackle the product launch strategy and digital transformation of Crossville Studios, their distribution and in-store experience division.
The challenge
Crossville Studios’ previous website was built on WordPress and had no proper way of managing tens of thousands of product data points. All their product information was being managed in different systems and multiple spreadsheets—with only one person with the full knowledge of getting the information displayed on the website. This meant product launches were time consuming and at risk for human error.
Crossville had also recently installed a new ERP. Upon audit, we found that the ERP data was inconsistent with many duplicate data points, causing all sorts of issues internally and externally. This complex, tangled data inhibited smooth product launches each month.
Our approach
Digital transformation doesn’t happen overnight. It takes organizational support and diligent planning. We first conducted a customer segmentation study to understand every angle of Crossville Studios’ business. The result of that study was a three-year roadmap that outlined investments, trends, and action items.
Through our research—including data analysis, stakeholder interviews, and customer surveys—we identified a huge priority: the new website must display accurate, clean marketing data. And the reliability of data across the organization was poor. The ERP data had hundreds of errors and duplicate data points. Searching for a single product could bring back multiple misspelled or incorrect products due to errors caused by manual entry. Before we could ingest their data into the product information management (PIM) platform, they needed a plan to fix said data.
Additionally, Crossville Studios customers expected to see the products that were available in their specific regions, which meant tying geographic data to product data. On top of all that, we also designed a new way for customers to experience Crossville Studios. So, we started with a data audit.
DATA AUDIT & ANALYSIS
Confirming approach and path forward
Our data audits are informed by stakeholder interviews and documented business requirements. Through this process, we identified what product data needed to live on the site and which users needed access. We asked Crossville to put together internal use cases to determine data must-haves, nice-to-haves, and items that could be executed post-launch.
The product data errors identified in the audit resulted in a data cleanliness score of 3 of 5. This indicated that significant work was needed to cleanse the data of errors. Otherwise, those errors could cost the company thousands of dollars.
IMPLEMENTATION
Prepping product data for launch
Our data audit and analysis resulted in a new, more robust data model. The combined power of much-needed data cleansing and the approved data model allowed products to be represented all the way down to the individual SKU level.
It also made it simple and easy to manage product lines for Studios employees, increasing speed to market for each launch. We built one outbound connector from inriver PIM to Kentico Xperience DXP.
Final result
We built a process where new products are seamlessly launched from inriver to Kentico. And when users visit the website, they can now see available tile and flooring products down to the SKU level within their region, based on ZIP code.
Crossville Studios and its clients now have access to accurate, up-to-date product data, brochures, and imagery. This ensures their customers are getting the right product for their project, resulting in less returns and happier customers.
And not only is the website a single source of truth for product marketing data for all users—it’s also a lead gen source for sales and marketing.
The Crossville Studios site allows potential customers to contact the sales team to start new residential or commercial projects. It also directs customers to find a showroom near them, if they prefer a more personal touch.
By the numbers
10,000
person hours of efficiency gained per year
6
systems consolidated
1
source of truth for marketing data
“Our sales leaders gave a very warm reception to the new site. As much as it’s a sales enablement tool, it’s also a customer experience destination. This transformation delivers a cohesive brand and product experience that feels seamless. I’m proud of the work and the results of the project.”
Lindsey Waldrep
Vice President of Marketing at Crossville, Inc.
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