What happens when eCommerce loses its homepage? When buyers don’t search, but AI agents do it for them? In this episode, we talk with Romain Fouache, CEO of Akeneo, about the seismic shift in how products will be discovered, described, and sold in the next wave of commerce. From skyrocketing return rates to disappearing websites, this is the reality check every product team needs.
About
Romain Fouache is CEO of Akeneo, a global leader in product experience management. With 20+ years in AI and data transformation, he’s held leadership roles at Dataiku and now leads Akeneo in helping brands create more meaningful product experiences through intelligent data and scalable systems. Originally a data scientist, Romain blends deep technical knowledge with global business strategy.
Akeneo is the global leader in Product Experience (PX) and Product Information Management (PIM). Its cloud-native platform helps brands like Kering, CarParts.com, and Chico’s deliver compelling, consistent product experiences across every channel. From supplier data onboarding to AI-powered enrichment and syndication, Akeneo empowers commerce teams to reduce returns, boost conversions, and scale globally—faster and smarter.
The Key Takeaways
AI Is Reshaping the Entire Buying Journey
- Romain explains how AI is replacing keyword-driven navigation with intent-based conversation. Personal AI agents may soon make purchases on behalf of users, with no website visits at all.
It All Starts with Product Data
- AI’s success depends entirely on the quality of product data. If your product information is incomplete, inconsistent, or siloed, no AI can save the experience.
Returns = Margin Killers
- 65% of consumers returned a holiday gift. Stats are very clear. The reason for such a high rate? Half of those returns are due to poor product information. Improving product data can significantly reduce return rates and bring back lost margin.
How AI Helps Today—Not Someday
- AI can already generate copy, translations, extract attributes from PDFs or images, edit visuals, and connect systems. Akeneo uses AI for everything from product copywriting to insights from Google Shopping and customer reviews.
The Misconception: “Our Data Is Fine”
- Many companies think storing data in Snowflake or a cloud database solves the problem. It doesn’t. If data isn’t accessible to the people who understand it, it’s worthless.
Transformation Isn’t About Tools
- “Technology is the easy part. Getting people to adopt and trust it—that’s the hard part.” Change management and usability are 90% of any successful transformation.
Resources Mentioned
- Akeneo – Product Experience Management software
- PX Insights – Akeneo’s new AI-powered tool that brings customer review data and performance feedback into the product information stream
- Shopping Agents (OpenAI, Amazon Rufus, Perplexity) – The rise of AI assistants in commerce
Conclusion
From the disappearance of eCommerce websites to the rise of AI shoppers, Romain Fouache makes it clear: product data is no longer a backend chore; it’s a strategic asset. If you want to reduce returns, scale globally, and prepare for AI-first commerce, start with the product experience.
The No.1 eCom Operations hack
“Better product data can directly bring you back several points of margin just by lowering the return rates.”
