Dassault Systèmes announced that its subsidiary Centric Software, the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) market leader, has signed an agreement to acquire Contentserv, a leading provider of product information management (PIM) and product experience management (PXM) solutions for an enterprise value of €220 million. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source, price and sell products such as apparel, fashion, home, footwear, sporting goods, consumer electronics, cosmetics, food & beverage and luxury to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.
Founded in Germany in 2000, Contentserv enables fast-moving consumer goods and other companies to create and manage product content intuitively and effectively by means of AI to optimize consumer experiences across all digital sales channels. With Contentserv solutions, retailers, brands and manufacturers are able to execute strategies such as more or simply better product offers, regions and sales channels for increased product sell-through.
With over 1600 customers in 90 countries, Contentserv users have reported ROI such as a 30% reduction in time to market, 70% faster catalog creation, 75% more accurate product information and increased sales channel coverage in more languages.
Fashion and consumer goods brands and retailers continue to pivot around changing consumer trends and constantly evolving stock keeping units (SKUs) while also diversifying sales channels including own-stores, own e-commerce sites, marketplaces and social media. Harnessing and leveraging product information from inception through to commercialization are critical steps that not only reduce time to market, improve market success and also ensure accuracy for compliance labeling. Consumer loyalty is also increased via contextualized and personalized brand experiences.
“At Contentserv, we don’t just manage product data – we transform it into seamless, high-converting product experiences that drive revenue,” explained Michael Kugler, CEO of Contentserv. “This data flows in from multiple sources and formats and consumers expect accurate, rich and engaging product experiences, anytime, anywhere and across every conceivable channel and touchpoint. “Manufacturers and retailers strive to continuously refine and optimize product presentation based on insights from consumers, competitors and marketplaces. Contentserv meets these challenges with our AI-powered Product Experience Cloud (PXC), transforming product data into real revenue."
“We are thrilled to welcome Contentserv to the Centric Software family. Both companies share a customer-focused, innovation culture,” said Chris Groves, CEO of Centric Software. “By integrating Contentserv into the Centric family of solutions – from PLM to planning to competitive market intelligence, pricing & inventory optimization and visual boards – brands, retailers and manufacturers can seamlessly turn product content into enriched, market-ready experiences that drive engagement and conversion. In today’s competitive market, time-to-market and product experience go hand-in-hand. Together with Contentserv, our joint innovations will ensure that the moment a product is developed, it’s enriched, optimized and ready to convert.”
The transaction is due to close in the coming weeks subject to regulatory approval and other customary conditions for a transaction of this nature.
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