“Great leaders don’t tell you what to do they show you how it’s done.” – Anonymous

In IDC Corporation’s new research report, “IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Brand Product Innovation and PLM 2016 Vendor Assessment”, they named PTC as a leader in the Retail Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) industry along with 11 other vendors. The report examined the capabilities and strategies of the 12 vendors and noted that all had a significant retail brand market presence, continuous growth and a wealth of experience and best practices to share with retail brands.

"The bar has been reset for excellence in retail brand product innovation and PLM platforms. Today's best-in-class capabilities enable the digital transformation of product innovation...to optimize responsiveness to customers and suppliers.” - Leslie Hand, vice president, IDC Retail Insights.

Retail Market Factors

The IDC MarketScape report explains how the retail market for PLM software is growing rapidly and how a PLM solution can assist retail brands during this period of growth and transformation. When used appropriately, PLM processes and software can help retailers generate better ideas, manage product pipelines, design more efficiently, and collaborate across functional, organizational and geographical boundaries.

There are numerous market factors driving the popularity and need for retailers to adopt a PLM solution and they are:

• Product assortment complexity
• Global expansion and competition
• Mass customization and personalization of products
• Value chain expansion
• Increase in social networking data that fuels innovation
• Untethered work and workers
• And 3rd platform technologies

Choosing a Retail PLM Vendor

The task of choosing the best Retail PLM solution for your organization should not be taken lightly and IDC recognized that. The report also provides a guide on what to look for when trying to decide on a PLM vendor. Things to keep in mind are:

• Knowing what’s possible, defining best practices, and developing road maps that meet current and future needs
• Understanding the market for retail brand product innovation and PLM software
• Aligning with vendors and partners that work with organizations similar to yours
• Making sure line of business and IT are aligned
• Interviewing references to learn about changes and solutions
• Asking about R& D investments and platform advancements

Overall, this report is a great resource for both retailers and consumers. The research and analysis completed in the process of developing it reflect how a technology buyer today would evaluate vendor capabilities, with an eye on how the company is digitally transforming to continue to satisfy customer needs. PTC’s FLexPLM® PLM Solution is happy to have been recognized by IDC as a leading product innovation and PLM platform.

To learn more, download the full report Now!