Getting Smart About Product Information

When a retailer includes the word “brain” right in its name, a certain level of operational intelligence is expected. For 30-plus-unit specialty educational toy and game retailer Marbles: The Brain Store, smartening up operations has included organizing product data on the Salsify product information management platform to provide merchandise intelligence across the organization.



For the 2015 holiday season, Marbles input new workflows, photos and other digital assets for direct mail holiday catalogs into the Salsify database.



“We’re notified if catalog inventory gets low,” said Hallie Steube, director of marketing at Marbles. “We log in every day and check inventory. We also adjust graphics used for our home page and marketing emails.”



In addition, Marbles streamlined the research and selection of items for its holiday assortment using a mobile app developed by Salsify to help the company’s chief merchant attend global trade shows and collect information on potential new products.



“Our chief merchant formerly used spreadsheets,” Steube said. “Now with the app, he takes a picture and creates an item with basic product information. He can also record verbal commitments from vendors. Later on, he completes the entries to present proposed new merchandise to the product management group.”