Some manufacturers provide detailed product information to Schuler Shoes, but most do not. Filling in these data gaps requires a combination of manual data work, along with automation, and Schuler Shoes was not able to keep up. They tried a “very expensive” solution to solve this problem, but didn’t get the results they were after.
Schuler Shoes, founded in 1889, is the leading destination for men, women, and kids looking for comfortable shoes and top brands. They have 240 employees and operate 10 retail locations in addition to their online presence.
“ Managing the expansion of data and utilizing it in all areas of our Magento catalog was a big job, especially as new vendors and products were added. We collected some data from our partners, but could not process it all because we were doing everything manually.”
Michael Schuler, Director of eCommerce
Schuler Shoes was held back from improving customer experience and growing sales because they could not update their product catalog fast enough. Then they found GrowByData. GrowByData’s unique approach to Catalog Management provided Schuler Shoes with everything they needed to update their product catalog faster. The solution includes database engineering, data entry analysts to perform manual work, and GrowByData’s proprietary Universal Data Hub.
GrowByData is enabling Schuler Shoes to increase productivity and sales by quickly deepening product data throughout its entire catalog. In just 5 months, 58,180 attributes have been added to 100% of its product catalog (16,980 items), solving a problem that had lingered for years. Schuler Shoes is now spending less money on more expensive vendors, and its internal team has more time to work on other strategic initiatives. Sales are growing too. When asked if GrowByData has met his expectations, Schuler responses, “yes, definitely!”
What was most important to you when evaluating your options?
SCHULER: Understanding of our goals and the data required, as well as the quality of the new data generated — both for search engine purposes and for our audience.
How long did it take to get up and running?
SCHULER: It took a couple weeks to get the data planned out and in place to make sure that we were passing the right info back and forth. But after that it has been very simple to continue receiving updates and import those into our catalog.
Is there a particular aspect of our solution that you rely on most?
SCHULER: At this time, we use all of the data we receive from GrowByData to update and build out our catalog with richer attributes, so we definitely rely on that the most.
