Perfect Cosmetics and Personal Care Product Assortments with Portfolio Management Technology

While customers are often driven by emotions, influencers and trends when making purchases; PPM is driven by data. Numbers including sales performance, projections, price points and margins must be rigorously analyzed. And, marketing data such as the overall product offering, packaging, branding, target markets and competitor information are also connected to perfecting product portfolio management. When assessing multiple products, across several regions and channels, this can seem like a monumental task especially when information and data visibility is concealed in scattered and disconnected systems.

To perfect product portfolios, cosmetics and personal care, retailers and manufacturers need a robust PPM software solution. Innovative digital technology powers end-to-end product development efficiency with full visibility and control of costs, supply chains and workflow from the initial idea all the way to when it’s ready for retail. Most importantly, digital solutions give product portfolio managers and assortment planners real-time data to inform business-critical decisions.

A Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution is the linchpin to mastering large-scale product portfolio management. PLM enables all categories of cosmetics and personal care brands, retailers and manufacturers to have full visibility throughout the entire product lifecycle. It offers robust analysis, reporting and team connectivity to ensure decision-makers are armed with the information needed to make strategic and profitable, product decisions.

PLM drives digital transformation for retailers by being the ‘single source of actionable truth’ for everyone involved in decision-making. PLM is the hub for product-related data and seamlessly connects with other systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Product Information Management (PIM), Digital Asset Management (DAM), e-commerce, packaging software and many more.

Because PLM is the central hub for all product data, cosmetics and personal care brands, retailers and manufacturers can rapidly manage workflows, estimate and track costs, streamline supplier communication, update and carry over bestsellers and swiftly adapt products for new seasons. The complete workflow and process management offered by PLM gives laser-like visibility into decisions impacting the bottom line. Decision makers can align financial and operational targets per season to reduce time to market, optimize assortments and set informed revenue targets.

To optimize your product assortment, ensure your digital PLM solution is equipped with portfolio management and assortment planning capabilities. By delivering real-time data and connecting key players throughout the workflow, users have 100% visibility across the entire product lifecycle. Another key benefit is that teams can create multiple “what if” cost scenarios that vary product design specifications, packaging, suppliers and more to understand the implications for cost, time, formulation and compliance.

For retailers entering into the potentially lucrative private label and supplier co-created product development space, a digital PLM solution is a must to streamline operations. PLM connects R&D with product developers, formulation, purchasing, compliance, legal, packaging, labeling and quality to ensure data-informed decisions are made on product development and assortment planning.

The retail transformation ushered in by PLM radically improves decision-making by making it easy to see complex product mixes, identify private label development opportunities and increase product margins while expanding into more markets and more channels with more product variety.

The cosmetics and personal care industry moves fast and real-time insight on product performance can make or break brands, retailers and manufacturers. Streamlining complex portfolio management is a superpower of PLM. Product Portfolio Management capabilities in PLM give industry players the ability to plan, optimize and manage product portfolios to speed time to market and adapt to consumer demand and market trends quickly.

Connecting sales and product performance data to narrow the focus on the right products for development, reduces confusion in the market by eliminating replicated products and reduces rework by leveraging existing products. Brands and retailers can easily identify revenue opportunities by updating carryover and bestsellers.

PPM is critical for cosmetics and personal care brands, retailers and manufacturers wanting to expand into new markets and geographies. With expansion comes complexity and the risks of costly duplication and redundancies are real. New geographies can pose challenges including operating in different languages, adhering to regulations and adapting to different market trends and consumer preferences.

The holistic, centralized PLM platform ensures 100% visibility across the product development chain and makes it easier to manage large, complex portfolios and eliminate barriers between departments and regions. Business critical activities such as defining local market commercial offers, adapting labeling, language copy and formulation information and ensuring regulatory compliance is streamlined with PLM.

Harnessing the power of a digital PLM solution with robust portfolio management capabilities is the key to streamlining workflow, perfecting product assortment and maximizing sales performance.