Product Information Management solutions (PIM solutions) are designed to help businesses efficiently manage their product information across multiple channels and platforms.
With the rise of e-commerce, businesses need to provide accurate and detailed product information to their customers. This information includes product descriptions, specifications, images, and other relevant details. However, managing this information can be a daunting task, especially for businesses that have a large number of products or sell their products through multiple channels.
A PIM solution can help businesses overcome these challenges by providing a centralized platform to manage all their product information. This platform allows businesses to create, manage, and distribute their product information across various channels, such as e-commerce websites, mobile apps, social media platforms, and more.
In addition to improving the efficiency of managing product information, PIM solutions can also help businesses improve the accuracy and consistency of their product information. This, in turn, can lead to increased customer satisfaction and sales.
What is PIM software?
Product information management software called PIM stores and manages a company’s product data across multiple channels from a single dashboard. Data at the SKU level can be uploaded, edited, and distributed across all of your e-commerce channels using PIM tools.
Product information accuracy and overall data quality can be improved by synchronizing product data across platforms. No matter how many SKUs you sell or which channels you use, these feed management systems help you keep track of that information and better manage it.
Why is PIM important?
The management of data becomes more difficult when you have more data. Errors, operational inefficiency, and a host of other critical business issues are typical outcomes of a manual and siloed approach, which ultimately results in higher operational costs, revenue loss, and, even worse, customer dissatisfaction.
Not only does implementing a product information management solution consolidate all product data into a single, easily accessible location, but it also streamlines and enhances customer experiences with products.
By eliminating challenges related to product information management, such as duplicates, inconsistency, inaccuracy, and incompleteness, including the creation and maintenance of accurate product data sheets, companies can concentrate on improving the content of their products.
10 Ways PIM solution helps scale eCommerce businesses
PIM solution helps you scale your business in the following ways:
1. Enhancement of product descriptions and specifications
Providing comprehensive product information can decrease the probability of abandoning a shopping cart.
Customers rely heavily on the information they have access to because they cannot physically touch, feel, or examine the products they want to purchase when they shop online. Customers will be more likely to purchase if you provide more product information.
Including images, graphics, and specific product specifications is great when describing your products. Customers can better understand what they are getting by looking at high-quality images showing the product from various angles and providing in-depth descriptions of its features and benefits.
Customers can also benefit from being provided with information about the product’s dimensions, weight, material, and any certifications or standards it satisfies.
When it comes to product information, providing too much information is preferable to providing too little. The likelihood of engaging and converting potential customers increases with the amount of information you provide.
You can help lower the likelihood of customers abandoning their shopping carts and boost sales by investing in a robust product information management system (PIM system) and ensuring that all product information is accurate and current.
2. Reduced Risk errors
When an employee is required to enter data that comes to him from multiple sources for a few hours a day, verify its accuracy, and group it appropriately, it is easy to make a mistake.
It is also difficult to maintain high productivity throughout the day while simultaneously controlling the accuracy of the data. Keep in mind that every error costs money, especially when working on a lot of products.
This cost can be significant at such a large scale because many errors result in lower conversion, and many corrections consume a lot of time. Implementing PIM software into your business can help you with this.
3. Exceptional product data management
As the shop grows, so does the number of products it offers. As a result, more and more data need to be entered into the system, cataloged, and organized. Data can be easily entered into the system without manually entering specific information.
Additionally, product information can be completed in multiple language versions using PIM systems. This kind of database is a reliable source of information that can also be used in printed brochures and catalogs.
4. Enhancing customer experience and loyalty
One of the organization’s primary goals is undoubtedly customer satisfaction. The more detailed the product information is, the better the shopping experience for him or her.
Therefore, small, hazy images and mysterious descriptions should be avoided because they can damage ties with customers effectively. Customers may be dissatisfied and likely won’t return to the store if they receive a winter dress instead of the summer dress they ordered.
You don’t want your customer to spend several hours in the shop looking through the products and be unable to find what they were looking for, so it is better to implement a PIM system to make it easier to find the right item.
5. Reduce time to market
In today’s fast-paced business environment, companies need to be able to quickly introduce new products to the market and respond to shifting customer demands. Because of this, the product life cycle is shorter than it used to be, and businesses need to be able to act quickly in order to stay ahead of the competition.
In this regard, a Product Information Management (PIM) system can be beneficial. A product information management (PIM) system can help businesses respond more quickly to market shifts by bringing all product data together in a single location.
Companies can easily update product information, create new product listings, and launch new products across a variety of channels, including marketplaces, e-commerce websites, and social media platforms, with a PIM system.
Companies can use this to ensure that they are providing customers with accurate and up-to-date product information while also expediting and speeding up the introduction of their products to the market.
6. Process automation of information exchanging
Managing and exchanging product information between different team members or departments can be made easier with the help of a PIM system.
Each team member can concentrate on their expertise when a PIM system is in place. The system will automatically combine all of the various pieces of information into a complete and accurate product listing.
For example, if one team member is in charge of adding photos, they can upload the images to the PIM system, and the system will link them to the right product listing.
Similarly, an additional member of the team can include extended descriptions or technical specifications, as well as SEO elements like keywords and meta descriptions. This information can be stored in a centralized location and easily shared between team members using a PIM system. This can save time and reduce the likelihood of product information errors or inconsistencies.
7. Improves cost- and time-efficiency
Just picture hundreds of Excel sheets overflowing with data that must be entered manually into the system. Yes, manually.
Other data sources, in addition to Excel, require a manual job. This activity can be partially or completely automated with the help of tools like PIM, which not only saves a lot of man-hours but also helps employees who are demotivated by long hours of repetitive work.
Additionally, fewer complaints and returns due to improved product information translate into increased sales profits.
8. Better product experience across all channels
Businesses can manage and distribute their product data across multiple channels, including marketplaces, social media, e-commerce websites, and other digital platforms, using a Product Information Management system (PIM system).
Businesses can easily update and maintain accurate and consistent product information with a centralized database, improving customer experience and boosting sales.
PIM frameworks likewise assist organizations with smoothing out their item data work processes, like information enhancement, approval, and distribution. Businesses can reduce errors, save time, and increase efficiency by automating these processes.
In addition, businesses can easily incorporate new channels and systems into their PIM system as they emerge, ensuring that all channels have access to the most recent product data. This flexibility is essential in today’s rapidly changing digital landscape, where businesses must be adaptable and quick to changing market conditions and customer demands.
9. Progress monitoring
You can keep track of how much of your product data is complete in a Product Information Management system (PIM system). The system can show how far along the data realization process is, showing how much of the data has been completed and how much remains to be done.
PIM frameworks typically give a dashboard or other visual portrayal that shows the situation with every item record. This could include information like whether a product has been translated into all of the required languages, has been approved for publication, and has all of the necessary attributes filled in.
PIM systems can help ensure that your product data is accurate and complete by tracking data completion. This can help you make better business decisions and improve the customer experience. They can also help you prioritize which products or attributes to focus on first and identify data gaps.
10. Easy integration
PIM systems can easily integrate with e-commerce platforms.
Since many PIMs operate as SaaS, integration is quick. In addition, PIM systems are simple to integrate with CRM (Customer Relationship Management), DAM (Digital Asset Management), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), and CMS (Content Management System). PIM is adaptable to managing all data processes.
Conclusion
It is important to note that effective product information management is essential in today’s dynamic and competitive environment.
A good PIM system automates manual data entry, improves customer service, saves time and money, and meets omnichannel requirements. If e-commerce managers and marketers want to stay one step ahead of the competition, they should definitely consider implementing PIM software in their business.
As an SEO & Link Builder Manager in Apimio, I manage and implement strategies to improve a company’s website ranking on search engines like Google. This role requires strong analytical and communication skills and working collaboratively with a team. Apimio is a platform for product information management solution that enables producers to share product information with retailers in a way that improves their relationships with customers.