Leading retailer in France and abroad, Auchan has been engaged in a far-reaching digital transformation for several years. The challenge is to meet the new expectations of consumers looking for an ever more fluid, personalised and enriched shopping experience, whatever the channel.
To achieve this ambition, Auchan is focusing on the end-to-end digitalisation of its value chain, from the centralisation of product information to the omnichannel distribution of digital content. This challenge involves integrating and automating processes around reliable data and high value-added media.
Media asset management is central to this strategy. Michel Deshayes, Proxy Product Owner PIM and DAM at Auchan Retail France, gives us an insight into the implementation of the Keepeek solution.
For Michel Deshayes, the main challenge is to optimise the time between collecting media and making them available: ‘Our aim is to reduce this time-to-market to half a day, even though it can sometimes take up to 48 hours. All our systems are connected every 1/2 hour, so we are trying to identify the special cases that slow down the process.’
Another challenge is to extend product enrichment to all references, beyond the products only sold online. ‘Today, we are far from being able to offer everything online, particularly in the food sector, which is more limited. Our aim is to be able to query our repository, whether the product is sold online or not’, he says.
Before implementing Keepeek, Auchan used the Step tool, which only managed product media. ‘The difficulty was desynchronisation, with a break in the media validation process on the one hand and the complete product sheet on the other. With Keepeek, we have gained in terms of graphical functionality (clipping, blurring, advanced search) and productivity, thanks to mass media management. Where we can still make progress is in synchronisation with our applications’ analyses Michel Deshayes.
Today, Keepeek is used by more than 200 Auchan employees and manages 800,000 products, out of a global repository of 1.5 million. Eventually, it is intended to become the single repository for Auchan Retail France media, to make brand assets and brand guidelines available.
‘Keepeek is a genuine media asset management tool, capable of managing all the associated issues: formats, rights, archiving, etc. It simplifies the work of teams by automating certain tasks such as detecting duplicates or archiving, and by helping them to manage the volume. It makes a real contribution to the media validation workflow and increases productivity’ concludes Michel Deshayes.
In addition to managing product media, Keepeek integrates with all the tools in Auchan's retail ecosystem (PIM, PLM, MDM, ERP, e-commerce platforms, etc.) to automate content indexing and guarantee constant updating.
Adapted workflows streamline the media production and validation chain, while automatic generation of the various formats ensures an optimal customer experience, with no processing delays.
Multilingual, Keepeek can also manage media-related data in several languages, and interfaces with the best automatic translation solutions. Keepeek has all the ingredients to support Auchan's international development.
What's next? Deploy Keepeek to new product scopes (non-food, textiles) and functionalities, particularly around AI. ‘We've already implemented some automation functions, and others are in the pipeline with AI. This is a major area of development’ Michel Deshayes points out.
This will enhance Auchan's value proposition and further enrich the customer experience with high value-added media. The challenge is to meet the growing expectations of consumers who are looking for an ever richer, more immersive and engaging experience. With Keepeek, Auchan is giving itself the means to achieve its ambitions.
Michel Deshayes began his career in 1998 at Altran, where he worked for 10 years as a service provider for various clients, including Auchan for 7 years. He joined Auchan internally in 2008, where he has held a number of key positions in information system optimisation.
In particular, he worked as an application architect on the entire SIA commerce (hyper sales management), then on the overhaul of the after-sales IT system for 5 years. He then took part in the creation of auchan.fr, firstly for consumer electronics, then for food, catering and delicatessen, and finally for the drive.
For the last 5-6 years, he has been working in the referencing and enrichment department as Proxy Product Owner on the Keepeek DAM and PIM. In this role, he works in coordination with various contacts: data management, purchasing teams, e-commerce, etc. His or her role is to ensure that these tools are maintained in operational condition and to contribute to development projects as part of a comprehensive product roadmap.
