Introducing the Product Library
A powerful new tool for the Insider Picks team at Insider Inc.
Insider Inc., which launched as a tech blog in 2007, has undergone significant changes over the years. As it grew as a media company, it looked to diversify revenue streams beyond advertising, a pivotal one being e-commerce.
In 2014, Insider Picks, a publisher of product recommendations, was launched. Its mission was to remove uncertainty for readers while they shop online, while providing them with product and deal recommendations that they trust and purchase.
Insider Picks now has a team of over 20 individuals and have outgrown the tool set they were given. Providing them the correct tools will allow the team to drive more content, increase productivity, and hopefully increase revenue. To do this, the engineering group at the company formed a Story Commerce Team to develop new tools for the Insider Picks team.
So how did the Picks team outgrow their editorial tools?
Every day the Insider Picks team publishes Buying Guides, Gift Ideas, and Reviews, producing a potential database of hundreds — even thousands — of products. But without being able to manage all this data, editors were unable to make much use of it. For instance, they were unable to easily update their content with up-to-date pricing data and product availability.
As an example, an editor who wrote a recommendation about an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker would pull together photos, product information, and affiliate links, but if another editor wanted to include that same pressure cooker in another article — eg, best kitchen gadgets — that editor would have to duplicate all the information.
What was our solution?
Our solution was to treat products similarly to how we treat images. It is common to create an Image Manager to manage all of the images that we utilize within our content. Image managers allow you to maintain an image database, search, filter and prevent duplication of images. Translating that approach to products, we wanted a way to maintain a product database that would allow us to have the same functionality as an image manager.
We creatively called it the Product Library. As a result, Insider Picks can now:
- Create and maintain a product database — now a product is created once and re-used across multiple articles.
- Add products to articles, allowing them to be reused and grouped based on the content the editor is creating.
- See product updates reflected across all articles that refer to a product.
This new project also helps engineers:
- Utilize new technology (we created the tool in Angular 7)
- Create new content improvements, such as product showcases within buying guides, which help drive increased engagement.
How are we utilizing new technology?
A priority for us was building the Product Library using the latest technology, while also making it compatible with our current CMS and infrastructure.
Beginning with the Product Library, we started upgrading our technology for Viking, the CMS that powers all of our journalists.
The Product Library was our first app built using Angular 7, a framework for building web applications. Viking, our CMS, was built five years ago using AngularJS. Angular 7 is backward compatible to AngularJS, meaning we can create an application or component using Angular 7 and have it still work with our existing CMS. This paves the way for new features to be built in Angular 7.
Another benefit that comes with Angular 7 is the ability to create unit tests more easily. The Angular CLI comes with the initial configuration for Jasmine and Karma, allowing us to easily focus on unit testing, while developing new features (a topic for another article).
How is the Product Library working now? How do we measure our success?
The Product Library is a success, already featuring hundreds of products, and helping Picks editors to be more efficient.
The Story Commerce team is iterating on the tool in every sprint. We have channels for feedback from editors, helping us make a more robust product.
Externally, we measure our success through content that is created with the new Product Library. Buying Guides built using our new tool can be measured through click-through rate and conversions.
Internally, we measure our success by removing duplication of work and limiting the number of clicks to update products across all of our articles.
While still relatively new, we know that the Product Library has led to a more streamlined workflow for editors, giving them new capabilities and freeing up more of their valuable time.
Looking for a new job opportunity? Become a part of our team! We are always looking for new Insiders.
