Multi-channel data

Leroy Merlin, a DIY retail chain belonging to the French Groupe Adeo, is putting the management of its master product data on a new footing. This international group will in future be using the Step system supplied by Stibo Systems, a Hamburg-based German software company, as its so-called PIM/MDM platform (Product Information Management/Master Data Management). With some 20 000 employees and sales of € 5.378 bn in 2012 – of which € 4.885 bn was attributable to Leroy Merlin, the main sales channel, and € 493 mio to the Bricoman stores – Leroy Merlin is almost level-pegging in France with the British Kingfisher Group, which numbers among the really big suppliers of building materials and DIY products through its Castorama and Brico Dépôt stores. Groupe Adeo also plays a leading role on the international scene. Here a lead of just a few million euros on Kingfisher means it can claim the position of market leader in Europe. It operates DIY stores in Italy, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Romania, Cyprus and Turkey, and in Brazil and China as well. “On average we have 60 000 listed articles in one single store, without including 20 000 more that are available to order,” is how Franck Drecourt, IT director of Leroy Merlin, explains the decision in favour of the new MDM system. “With more than 3 000 suppliers and a constantly growing number of channels of distribution and information, the efficient management of this enormous volume of information is becoming a deciding factor for efficient business processes and also for increasing customer satisfaction and the creation of a positive shopping experience.” Groupe Adeo has launched the master data management plan at Leroy Merlin as part of an international MDM project. The software platform is designed to make product management possible right across all the different brands and to direct it into digital channels such as websites, mobile pages, smartphone and tablet applications as well. Leroy Merlin also wants to use it to optimise the exchange of data with suppliers. It stands to reason that the home market France is making the start/running in the introduction of the new platform for Leroy Merlin. The first workshops and training sessions have already been completed. It is possible that one or two further countries might be added in the course of the first and second quarters of 2014. “With Stibo Systems technology we are establishing a reliable central database that can be used by all…