Customer success story: Stibo
A global data management platform based on Listings API to help its customers reach the next level
About Stibo
Stibo Systems is a software and business services company headquartered in Denmark. From its offices around the globe, it offers master data management (MDM) solutions to a range of industries, from retail and manufacturing to insurance, banking, and more. Stibo’s mission is to create the world’s most versatile MDM solutions, built to enable businesses to optimize their business, environmental and social performance.
Stibo’s Product Data Exchange (PDX) product line helps sellers and manufacturers send and receive product data and content across supply and retail networks—including Amazon market segments.
PDX is designed for brand owners and manufacturers as well as their third-party service providers, distributors, and retailers. Users can share up-to-date product data, get instant notifications about retail requirements that affect their items; automatically publish updates to meet channel standards; and gain greater visibility and insight into product performance.
Stibo’s Product Data Exchange (PDX) product line helps sellers and manufacturers send and receive product data and content across supply and retail networks—including Amazon market segments.
PDX is designed for brand owners and manufacturers as well as their third-party service providers, distributors, and retailers. Users can share up-to-date product data, get instant notifications about retail requirements that affect their items; automatically publish updates to meet channel standards; and gain greater visibility and insight into product performance.
Leveling up PDX with API
Stibo Systems wanted to help its PDX customers grow in the Amazon store. The company saw a need for easier maintenance of items and listings, better multi-lingual and international support, and Amazon A+ Content integration.
The goal to expand our customers’ success with Amazon drove us to begin exploring the SP-API. When we saw there was a new, more efficient way to integrate with Amazon, especially one that supported A+ Content, we knew we needed to adopt it.Alex OshaProduct Manager, Stibo Systems
After some research, Stibo decided to integrate its PDX software with the Amazon API.
Testing the solution with a pilot-driven rollout
Stibo knew it needed to maintain customer transparency and communication during the API implementation process. Explaining the new listings workflow in a user-friendly way proved challenging, especially because Stibo couldn’t “test” the API without live customer data.
Check out the latest listings workflows guide here.
“The hardest part was understanding the entire listing process in combination with how to use each API to support that process. We needed to communicate that in a way that was transparent and simple to customers.”
- Alex Osha, Product Manager, Stibo Systems
The solution? Tapping longtime partner vendors to serve as pilots. Stibo picked customers with a lot of experience using PDX to onboard products to Amazon. Those pilot vendors tested the initial SP-API integration and reported any gaps back to Stibo. That way, Stibo could workshop its onboarding process to ensure a smooth transition for all PDX users.
Check out the latest listings workflows guide here.
“The hardest part was understanding the entire listing process in combination with how to use each API to support that process. We needed to communicate that in a way that was transparent and simple to customers.”
- Alex Osha, Product Manager, Stibo Systems
The solution? Tapping longtime partner vendors to serve as pilots. Stibo picked customers with a lot of experience using PDX to onboard products to Amazon. Those pilot vendors tested the initial SP-API integration and reported any gaps back to Stibo. That way, Stibo could workshop its onboarding process to ensure a smooth transition for all PDX users.
We worked closely with pilot customers…and had them report back if there were any discrepancies with product uploads to their Vendor or Seller Central accounts. After we tested APIs with key pilot customers across a handful of categories, we felt we had validated the solution and opened it up to all customers.
Solution spotlight: Listings Items API
Stibo Systems’ PDX solution now supports both Vendors and Sellers in the Amazon store. The platform contains several API integrations, including Catalog Items, Feeds, and Listings Items, Product Type Definitions, with A+ Content support planned for the near future.
The Listings Items API helps users upload product data to Amazon and seamlessly create new listings.
The Listings Items API helps users upload product data to Amazon and seamlessly create new listings.
Listings Items API allows more rapid onboarding so our customers can start selling sooner. The API ensures our validations are as up-to-date as possible, so that there is no disconnect between what our customers see and the real-time requirements from Amazon.
The near-real-time feedback offered by the Listings Items API gives sellers confirmation of a successful listing—or notifies them of errors—without unnecessary delays of a successful listings submission.
Smoother processes, better results for customers
“Our customers have noted that the overall process is more streamlined. The ability to list products with images included vastly shortens the time to market for their products.”
- Alex Osha, Product Manager, Stibo Systems
Prior to adopting the SP-API, Stibo relied on Amazon’s AFS offerings, including Product Feed. But AFS-powered operations were slower, less automated, and less flexible.
“The processes that went into AFS, such as generating the schema, submitting products, and getting results back, all relied very heavily on file transmissions rather than API interactions. The faster product listing experience possible with the API has allowed us to offer a streamlined experience for our customers.”
- Alex Osha, Product Manager, Stibo Systems
Since the implementation, Stibo Systems has been able to attract new customers to its PDX product line with better service and a wider variety of features, all made possible by SP-API. Best of all, the range of available APIs allows Stibo to plan new features that will better serve its customers in the future.
- Alex Osha, Product Manager, Stibo Systems
Prior to adopting the SP-API, Stibo relied on Amazon’s AFS offerings, including Product Feed. But AFS-powered operations were slower, less automated, and less flexible.
“The processes that went into AFS, such as generating the schema, submitting products, and getting results back, all relied very heavily on file transmissions rather than API interactions. The faster product listing experience possible with the API has allowed us to offer a streamlined experience for our customers.”
- Alex Osha, Product Manager, Stibo Systems
Since the implementation, Stibo Systems has been able to attract new customers to its PDX product line with better service and a wider variety of features, all made possible by SP-API. Best of all, the range of available APIs allows Stibo to plan new features that will better serve its customers in the future.
What Amazon Selling Partners are saying about Stibo Systems’ application:
I have been using Stibo Systems’ PDX application to syndicate items to Amazon Vendor Central for 3 years and was able to automate my listing management by integrating their system into our internal system. This allows us to publish items with all of the required information directly to the Amazon catalog across multiple categories very efficiently. With PDX Syndication for Amazon, we can set up 2,400 items on Amazon Vendor Central in 15 minutes – a process that would previously take 3-4 hours. Faster time to market with more products and better data quality due to the use of PDX Syndication have resulted in a 30-40% increase in sales. Any tweaks we need to make are easy and updated quickly in the Amazon catalog.- Caroline's Treasures Inc.
LOCATION
Aarhus, Denmark
INDUSTRY
Software - Data management
AMAZON LAUNCH
2018
Aarhus, Denmark
INDUSTRY
Software - Data management
AMAZON LAUNCH
2018
Not all apps/services may be available in all stores/all languages and all Selling Partners should check their representative Selling Partner Appstore for the referenced service.
