Online product comparison and purchase are increasingly prominent in today’s digital landscape. In light of this, many consumers extensively investigate aspects such as price, sale offers, and product availability online before setting foot in a store. Recognizing the benefits of PIM systems is crucial as they ensure that brands maintain accurate and current product details essential for consumer decision-making.
With consumers relying more on product information, it has become mandatory for brands or companies to keep their product information up-to-date and accurate. It is where a PIM solution comes into place.
Businesses deal with tons of data. From sales charts to website traffic reports, there are various types of data involved in business management. All kinds of data are critical for business success and growth. Management of any type and size of data can quickly be done by using a PIM solution.
Now let us look into the detailing of questions people may have in their minds about what is PIM and how it can be beneficial for their businesses or companies.
Quick jump:
What is PIM?
It is undoubtedly the most disruptive technology that is currently experiencing rapid growth in the retail sector.
So, what is the PIM system, and what does it do?
PIM is a product information management software for product data management in distribution channels. You can manage your product catalogs, technical data, like weights or sizes, reviews etc. In addition, it provides a centralized location for product information that all other channels and departments can source easily from. With a PIM system, you’ll have access to all the relevant and accurate product data you need to get your products on the shelves and out to the marker quicker. It will also help you save time, money, improve customer and experience and boost employee productivity
A good PIM software will save you a lot of time and reduce the workload in adding, updating, and distributing product information across multiple sales channels. It will help you manage product data and push updates to your other channels as soon as they occur. So, the product information of your company or business will always be accurate and up-to-date information.
When to implement a PIM solution?
Now the question that comes to many people’s minds is, “Do I need a PIM solution, and when should I consider implementing a Product Information Management solution in my company or eCommerce business? The truth is that not every business or company needs a PIM solution.
Product Information Management for small businesses may seem unnecessary; however, for large-scale businesses dealing with large amounts of data or multi-channel retailers, using a Product Information Management system is reasonably necessary to stay competitive in the coming years.
Some of the crucial things to consider when deciding if your business needs PIM software or whether you are at the right stage to implement it are:
Your business has a large product inventory
If your eCommerce site has less than 100 products, you don’t need a PIM solution for your business. Manually updating the product information such as prices, descriptions, images, and much more for all products will require a lot of time and effort but is manageable to some extent.
However, if your business has an extensive product inventory with hundreds and thousands of products, you cannot simply rely on a spreadsheet to manage the product information manually. That’s where a PIM solution will do its job. It will help you to manage product information efficiently and keep the products up-to-date.
Even for businesses looking to expand their product range, a PIM solution will be of great value and will make things a lot easier. In addition, it will help to streamline the operations and get the product to market much quicker.
Your business has a lot of products with common features
For businesses or companies with many products sharing specific attributes and features, updating them manually can be anything but easy. It will drain a lot of your time and energy and still cause many errors and mistakes.
The product information of your company or brand should be accurate and up-to-date. PIM solution will help work aggregately with product attributes. Instead of typing or pasting text, you need to select a product’s attribute from the list.
It is easy to create a product variant that only differs in particular attributes such as color or size. The best part of using the PIM solution is, that you will have to do this work once, and the product information will be automatically updated on all your other channels.
Your business sells its products across many digital channels
The days when everyone purchased the products they needed from a local shop or market just down the street are long gone. Nowadays, there are various online websites and marketplaces to shop from.
To stay competitive in the market, your business also needs to give customers options to interact with and purchase products through a most reliable medium, whether it is an eCommerce website or online marketplaces like eBay or Amazon.
However, updating and optimizing data for an increasing number of products is quite challenging, especially when these products have to be displayed across multiple channels. Numerous mistakes can be made, decreasing the data quality. With PIM, data is more accurate and consistent, which helps to optimise the customer journey and their experience of your products.
Implementing a PIM solution when selling across multiple channels will be a worthwhile investment. It will centrally manage the product information and send the accurate data to the right places without consuming a lot of time.
Your business wants to enter growing markets
Every business owner wants their business to enter into new or growing international markets. However, the biggest challenge that most local companies face while selling their products in international markets is translating their product information into local languages, currencies, etc.
Implementing a PIM solution makes managing these changes and additions much more efficient and easy. PIM systems such as Akeneo, Pimcore or Ergonode can quickly help you manage the translation and localization process of product information for your company. Also, PIM allows you to shorten time to market your product.
Benefits of Product Information Management
In recent years, PIM solutions have completely transformed the way companies controlled their data. To help you understand why PIM is necessary for your business if you are not using one already, some of the benefits of Product Information Management are:
Increased productivity
The PIM solution provides your team with a one-stop solution in finding all the information related to a particular product. As a result, there will be no time lost or energy wasted in trying to locate or piece together your product information.
The time and energy that would have been lost can be better spent working on new products or expanding your product catalog size. With a PIM solution organizing your product information, your customers will always find accurate and up-to-date product information, which eventually will boost your sales.
Enhanced customer experience
A PIM solution helps to create customer-centric categories and structure, which makes site navigation more customer-friendly. For example, all the customers will be able to do specific searches, such as finding a particular color or size, and all the relevant products will appear on the top.
It will eventually shorten the customer’s search process and find the desired products easily and quickly.
Improved product content quality
Using a PIM solution will help you to give your products the attention they deserve through enrichment. Customers will be able to read the exact and accurate product information along with videos or images. If the customers can’t find what they are looking for, or the product information fails to grab their attention, they will go to another retailer.
A PIM solution gives business owners the proper infrastructure to create high-quality product information. Well-crafted and accurate product descriptions bring customers closer to the purchase. A good PIM solution will allow you to add images, videos, and other product information in one location and make the checkout process for customers easy and hassle-free.
Control The Data Chaos With Product Information Management (PIM)
Summary
Nowadays, businesses depend a lot on Product Information Management systems to manage their large amounts of data. Companies should implement the PIM solution at the right stage to maximize the benefits and for business growth. If you want to expand your product inventory or sell your products across multiple channels, go ahead in the game and implement a robust PIM system to streamline your operations and achieve your business goals in a short period. Products are the core of any business or brand. Therefore, the product information should be as precise and comprehensive as possible, making the PIM solution worth the investment.
Do you need support with PIM implementation? If the answer to this question is “Yes”, reach out to us. We have certified developers with vast knowledge of PIM implementations and integrations. The business world is quite uncertain, and eCommerce competition is always fierce, but having a professional partner on your side, you will have everything you need not just to survive but to excel.