Top 3 things I learned at Imagine 2019

May 2019

1. Images are important for SEO

A.I. is more scalable than people. The presentation on how images can increase your visibility due to image search and how Adobe Sensei can automate that process was amazing. The AI has the ability to determine what the product is in the image, based on the percentage how much real-estate it takes up. The days of image recognition that requires the product to face the camera are over.

2. Local Docker instance for managing Magento Cloud

I had set up a local Docker for AEM development a few years ago using this repo as the base. In the long run we ended up using Vagrant, but that is a different write up.

The Magento Cloud set up for docker is perfect for containers. The way you can split up php code, ElasticSearch, and the database into their own separation of concerns makes perfect sense.

The challenges I struggled with, which might be due to the lack of experience, was how much the set up depended on the composer. My assumption is that the solution was easier for their current development base to keep moving forward with something they are familiar with.

Overall the training was great for me as an overview.

3. A PIM is a necessity for products

When your company reaches a certain level, your products are rarely configured in one system. Each system ends up defining the what and how a product is configured. This limits the ability for the marketing team to "brand" the product. If your product catalog only supports dimensions and specs, then you are limited on how you can describe a product. Most marketing teams end up putting together a hodge-podge of spreadsheets and sending that over to the development team. This solution becomes more complicated once you want to talk omni-channel.

There is no source of truth. Just a bunch of systems with their own version.

There are other options, like CRUD, MDM, or more spreadsheets, but having a tool that allows a Marketer to customize how they want to talk about the product is key. This gives them options to have content on the website, eCommerce solution, email, or print coming from one system.