The retail industry stands at a critical inflection point. Once defined by supply chains and store shelves, today’s commerce ecosystem is increasingly defined by product data – and the experiences that data enables. For brands and retailers, the management, monetization, and activation of this information is no longer a back-office function. It has become the very foundation of competitive advantage.
A recent conversation with Tarun Chandrasekhar, President and Chief Product Officer at Syndigo, underscored this shift. His perspective illustrates how Product Experience Management (PXM) has moved from a supporting technology to a strategic growth engine.
The Shockwave: Retail Media Surpasses AWS
Perhaps the most striking datapoint is this: Amazon generated more revenue last year from retail media and product sponsorships than from its AWS cloud business. For years, AWS was viewed as Amazon’s crown jewel – the enterprise-grade platform funding its retail operations. That balance has now flipped.
This milestone is more than financial trivia. It signals a deeper transformation: product information itself has become as valuable as the products. Sponsored listings, enriched media, influencer-driven campaigns – all of these depend on the structured, reliable, and dynamic flow of product data. Walmart, Target, and other major players are racing to replicate this model, layering AI-powered experiences onto their ecosystems to capture similar value.
In this new paradigm, retailers are no longer just sellers of goods. They are data platforms. And brands are realizing that the way their product is represented in digital ecosystems can matter as much as the product itself.
The Layered Stack of Commerce
Commerce today operates as a multi-tiered information system. At the base is the supply chain, moving goods from factories to shelves. Next are ERP systems that track inventory. Above that lies the product information layer, where Syndigo and other PXM providers operate.
But that’s only part of the picture. Digital asset management, ratings and reviews, purchase orders, and marketing content all represent additional layers. Finally, there is the customer experience itself – the culmination of how well those layers align.
Historically, each layer functioned in isolation. Supply chain data rarely spoke to product information systems; marketing teams rarely connected their insights back to ERP. But companies with digital maturity are now weaving these threads together. The organizations that succeed are not those with the most data, but those with the most connected data.
The Post-COVID Acceleration
COVID forced a dramatic acceleration of this integration. Where once 15 to 20 employees might have managed a company’s product content, today many organizations run similar operations with teams as small as four. And their scope has widened: syndicating content to retailers, coordinating with social influencers, optimizing digital shelves, and ensuring compliance across regions.
This is less about trimming fat and more about necessity. The scale and speed of digital commerce demand it. Retailers expect real-time updates. Customers expect seamless omnichannel consistency. Regulators expect accuracy. The only way to deliver is through systems designed to handle complexity at scale – intuitive, automated, and intelligent.
The Different Motivations of the C-Suite
Buying decisions in this environment rarely fall to a single executive. Instead, three voices dominate:
- The CIO wants efficiency. They are tasked with rationalizing systems and reducing cost of ownership.
- The COO wants operational stability. Mistakes in product data can cascade into recalls, lawsuits, or reputational damage.
- The CMO wants monetization. Their mandate is to turn enriched product information into differentiated campaigns, sponsored listings, and ultimately, revenue.
This triad reflects a shift in how ROI is calculated. Where once the pitch for PXM was cost savings, today it is revenue generation. The question is no longer “How much will this save?” but “How much more can we sell if our product data performs better?”
Drowning in Data
Ironically, the challenge is not scarcity of information but overabundance. Retailers and brands are drowning in content, SKUs, attributes, and media assets. The true opportunity lies in making sense of it – in connecting the dots at speed and scale.
As Chandrasekhar put it, the task resembles “a 3D jigsaw puzzle we’re building as we’re free-falling from the sky.” Companies cannot afford to stop the fall; they must assemble coherence while in motion. For many, this is the difference between thriving and merely surviving.
Beyond Search: AI Redefines the Buying Journey
Perhaps the most profound change underway is the shift in how customers find products in the first place. Traditional search patterns – typing keywords into a browser or app – are giving way to AI-driven interactions. Tools like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, or Shopify’s AI assistants are already being used to conduct deep product research on behalf of consumers.
In this environment, the quality of underlying product data is paramount. If AI assistants surface incomplete or inaccurate information, a brand risks being filtered out before a customer ever sees it. PXM is no longer about optimizing for human eyes alone; it is about optimizing for machine interpretation.
This forces a rethinking of experience metrics. “Customer experience” cannot be separated from “product experience.” And “location experience” – the context in which the interaction happens, whether in-store, online, or via voice assistant – becomes just as critical.
The Next Frontier: Connecting Content and Customer Intelligence
The ultimate prize is clear: connecting rich product content with customer intelligence at scale, while maintaining privacy and trust. Retailers have made progress linking customer journeys with location data, but connecting those journeys with product-level intelligence remains incomplete.
When that bridge is built, the potential is enormous. Imagine retail ecosystems where AI can instantly match individual preferences with verified, multimedia-rich product content, all delivered in the right channel at the right time. That is the future of shopping and the battleground on which brands will compete.
The Takeaway
The retail industry is entering a phase where product experience is not just an enabler of commerce but a revenue stream in itself. Amazon’s media milestone makes this clear, but the implications ripple far beyond a single retailer. Every brand and retailer must now treat product information as a strategic asset, worthy of investment, integration, and innovation.
The winners will be those who:
- Break down silos between data layers.
- Equip leaner teams with smarter tools.
- Shift ROI conversations from savings to sales.
- Prepare their product data not just for people, but for AI.
In this race, hesitation is costly. The monetization of product data has already begun. The question is whether brands and retailers can keep pace or risk being left behind in a market where experience is the new currency.
