Retail PLM: How to Manage Change and Drive Adoption, With Examples

A retail PLM (or fashion PLM) manages how a brand or retailer develops its collections: tech packs, bills of materials, samples, costing, compliance and supplier collaboration. Its success depends less on the software than on change management: designers, product managers, buyers, quality and sourcing teams must give up spreadsheets and email for a single shared product record.

Introduction

In the world of retail, effective product lifecycle management is a strategic lever to meet consumer expectations, optimize costs, and accelerate time-to-market. Companies are therefore increasingly adopting PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) solutions to centralize and automate their processes.

Related use case: PLM system implementation for every role

However, implementing a PLM involves major organizational changes, affecting teams such as design, purchasing, production, quality, and marketing. Change management then becomes a key success factor to ensure effective adoption of the new tool.

In this article, we will explore the specifics of PLM solutions for retail, detail the best practices for change management and present real-world examples of retailers that have chosen a retail PLM.

1. The Challenges of PLM in the Retail Sector

The retail sector is facing several major challenges:

• Shorter product lifecycles: trends are evolving rapidly, forcing brands to constantly innovate.
• Increased complexity of supply chains: between suppliers, regulations, and inventory management, coordination is essential.
• Growing consumer expectations for transparency and quality: they want to know where products come from and how they are made.
• Fierce competition: retailers must maximize their efficiency to remain competitive.

PLM software helps address these challenges by optimizing product data management, facilitating collaboration between departments, and accelerating development processes.

2. Specific Features of PLM Solutions for Retail

Unlike PLM systems used in manufacturing, Retail PLM solutions have specific functionalities tailored to the needs of brands and retailers:

2.1. Centralized Product Information Management

A Retail PLM enables real-time storage and sharing of all product-related information:

• Technical specifications (composition, colors, dimensions, materials).
• Compliance documents (standards, certifications).
• Costs and suppliers.

This ensures a single, reliable view of data, essential for avoiding errors and reducing time-to-market.

2.2. Seamless Team Collaboration

In retail, many departments are involved with a product before it goes to market. A Retail PLM facilitates their coordination by offering features such as:

• An automated workflow to validate each step of product development.
• Collaboration spaces where designers, product managers, and supply chain teams can collaborate.
• Change tracking to avoid inconsistencies.

2.3. Improved Supplier and Production Management

Retail brands work with numerous suppliers, often located in different countries. A Retail PLM helps standardize procurement processes and better managing product compliance.

Through an integration with ERP systems, companies can also optimize inventory management and reduce the risks of stockouts or overproduction.

What features should a fashion and retail PLM include?

Beyond centralizing data, a PLM built for fashion and retail covers the steps specific to collection development:

• Line planning: building the collection plan by season, category and channel, with margin targets.
• Tech packs: measurements, grading, sketches and construction details shared with suppliers.
• Materials and trims BOM: fabrics, trims and colorways, the retail equivalent of an engineering bill of materials.
• Sample management: requests, receipts, fittings and comments, prototype after prototype.
• Costing: materials, labor and logistics costs, and comparison of supplier quotes.
• Sourcing and compliance: supplier portal, certificates, quality tests, material traceability and environmental data.
• Connection to other systems: approved items flow to the ERP for purchasing and inventory, and to the PIM for e-commerce product pages, as part of a PLM digital thread.

Each of these features changes the daily work of a different team, which is why a retail PLM project is first and foremost a change management project.

3. Change Management in a Retail PLM Project: Best Practices

Implementing a PLM system leads to a re-engineering of work processes, which can cause internal resistance. To ensure a successful transition, here are the key steps for change management.

3.1. Create a Clear Vision and Strategy

Before deploying a PLM, it is essential to define the project objectives:

• Improve product quality and compliance.
• Accelerate development and reduce time-to-market.
• Standardize processes within the company.

This vision must be shared with all stakeholders to encourage buy-in for the change.

3.2. Involve employees from the start

Successful adoption requires involving teams from the project's initial phases. Here are some key actions:

• Create a steering committee with representatives from the main departments involved.
• Identify ambassadors who will test the solution and support their colleagues.
• Organize co-creation sessions to gather expectations and adjust the PLM's configuration.

3.3. Focus on training and support

One of the major barriers to PLM adoption is the perceived complexity of the tool. It is therefore crucial to:

• Provide interactive training based on "learning by doing".
• Implement integrated digital guides to support users in real-time.
• Provide responsive and accessible support to answer questions.

The use of a digital adoption platform, such as those offered by Knowmore, facilitates this transition by providing continuous assistance to users.

3.4. Continuously monitor and adjust

Change management doesn't stop with PLM deployment. It is important to:

• Monitor adoption metrics (utilization rate, reduced number of errors, user feedback).
• Regularly gather feedback from the teams and adjust training programs if necessary.
• Highlight successes by showcasing the tangible benefits achieved through PLM.

Which teams need support in a retail PLM rollout?

The Prosci ADKAR model describes individual change in five elements: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement. In a retail PLM project, each team goes through them differently:

Start with the teams whose daily work changes most, usually design and product development, and ask their ambassadors to test the screens before go-live. For each team, appoint a referent, measure real usage after go-live and adapt user onboarding accordingly.

4. Examples of PLM projects in retail

Many retailers have already taken the plunge. Here are three projects announced by the vendor Centric Software, with the objectives set at launch.

4.1. Tesco: better product data management

The British retail giant chose Centric Retail PLM in 2019 for its F&F clothing business, to exchange product information more efficiently between internal teams and suppliers. Stated objectives:

• More efficient information exchange with suppliers.
• A simpler, more efficient way of working.
• Reliable data that teams can work on together in real time.

4.2. Siplec (E.Leclerc): optimization of purchasing processes

Siplec, a subsidiary of E.Leclerc, chose Centric PLM in 2019 to unify product processes for its manufactured goods (apparel, home) across its Paris and Asian offices. Stated objectives:

• Better international collaboration between retail and product teams.
• Productivity gains.
• Shorter development lead times.

4.3. Balabala: accelerating product innovation in kidswear

A kidswear brand of the Semir Group with nearly 5,000 stores and counters in China, Balabala chose Centric PLM in 2019 to speed up product development. Stated objectives:

• Faster product development based on consumer insight.
• Standardized business processes across categories and channels.

Conclusion

Implementing a Retail PLM is a strategic transformation that improves product management, accelerates innovation, and strengthens brand competitiveness.

However, to ensure the success of such a project, change management is essential. A structured approach, combined with digital adoption tools, supports a smooth transition and lasting adoption by teams.

Do you want to optimize the adoption of your Retail PLM? Discover the support solutions from Knowmore .