How Does PIM Software Enrich Your Product Data?
To run a successful business optimizing and enriching the product data are the most essential aspects. Well, in practice it isn’t an easy job to verify and optimize the product data/information completely. Every business would face numerous challenges to keep their product data accurate.
In addition, to product data verification and optimization, enriching the product data which is fragmented across multiple channels would be a daunting task. To keep things simple and to manage the product data effectively a proper data management is required for the introduction of the PIM (Product Information Management) system becomes inevitable for modern-day businesses.
This article elaborates on how a PIM system enriches your business product data effectively.
What is a PIM?
A PIM system is a centralized database that allows its users to store, share, synchronize, optimize, and distribute data/information across multiple channels in desired formats. PIM helps businesses or organizations to handle complex data effectively and to carry out seamless data distribution to multiple channels.
Having good PIM software allows businesses to access their product data securely and offers a ‘Single Source of Truth’. The product information or data which are stored in the centralized PIM database can be easily accessed and enriched before distributing to numerous channels quickly and efficiently.
Apart from effective handling of product data, PIM software allows businesses to integrate their systems together and makes the entire business or organization’s data on one side separating from the external distribution channels.
To learn about product information management in detail, don’t miss reading What is PIM? – An Ultimate Guide for Product Information Management.
Why is PIM Important for Business?
The need for a PIM system arises when a company or business starts witnessing its growth and the management of their product data is no longer adequate to the old technique of manual handling. Also, A PIM system allows the range of the company’s/business product to grow without altering the inventory and product numbers in the ERP system.
Apart from streamlining the company’s or business’s internal processes, a PIM system increases its revenue by boosting the company’s marketing and sales efforts.
Here are the signs that indicate your business needs a PIM solution
- Time of your product reaching market becomes more important
- When your business requires an increase in customer experience across multiple channels
- When your business tends to promote products in multiple markets with different languages
- When your business requires eCommerce
- When your product data/information becomes more complex to handle in the old way
Good PIM software will show the value of product data by translating, updating, and publishing it across multiple markets with different languages quickly to cover the target audience group. Also, PIM plays a major role in enriching the product data with extra information to gain a competitive edge over the competitors.
To get better insights into the benefits of product information management platforms, you can read What Are the Benefits of PIM Systems?
Do you want to leverage all the above-listed benefits of product data enrichment by deploying the right PIM for your business?
What Types of Businesses Need A PIM?
Every business has its own set of customers and modern customers’ are highly focused on product data as they are interested in online purchases. Having comprehensive and well-optimized product data will give a competitive edge.
PIM is essential software for any industry or business that includes sellers, wholesalers, retailers, and distributors along with the product manufacturers. In simple words, businesses that are involved in the product supply chain will require a PIM system to beat the modern-day business competitors.
On the other hand, businesses that handle only a few products and those businesses that involve only a few workforces to manufacture or optimize their products don’t benefit a lot from a PIM system. So for such types of businesses or companies can prefer not to invest in the PIM system else they will not bear the investment costs.
A PIM system plays a key role in boosting businesses that fall under the below-given categories.
Brands & Manufacturers
Businesses in this category can expand their business growth by availing full control over their product information and create new sales channels with the aid of a PIM system.
Distribution
Businesses which involves in product distribution will be able to increase their product range by handling high volumes of product data across multiple channels at a time.
Retailers & Marketplaces
PIM empowers the businesses involved in the retailing field by creating a seamless omnichannel experience and increase their revenue.
Common Challenges Faced by Businesses on Handling Product Data
To have accurate and complete aggregated product data, departments on which products traveled during the manufacturing process need to access the product data. This helps companies or businesses to provide up-to-date and reliable product data to their customers.
However, to address all the complex requirements of the customers and to meet the evolving market conditions, businesses face few common challenges. This leads the path towards the implementation of the PIM system.
Take a look over the common challenges faced by a company and how a PIM solution addresses them.
1. Lack of Data Transparency
Lack of data transparency within a company may lead to the least productivity and inefficient. Proper data sharing is essential between internal teams and departments so that they can be more precious on goals, priorities and aware of the latest tools to use for developing an efficient product.
PIM Solution
PIM software helps companies or businesses to set a hassle-free communication platform where internal teams and departments can share information easily and quickly. The centralized platform provided by PIM will create more data transparency regarding tasks and deadlines among the departments or teams who are all involved.
2. Handling Multiple Sales Channel At a Time
To run a successful business, a company or business needs to establish a uniform presence to the customer from multiple touchpoints. Often businesses fail to meet the demands of the consumers who are from different markets. The main reason behind this would be the different marketplace requires different data formats.
PIM Solution
PIM software allows you to provide uniform and strong product information to multiple channels in desired formats. The up-to-date accurate latest information provided in different languages via different channels will enhance the customer experience in all channels.
3. Managing High Amount of Product Data
Businesses or companies which deal with a wide range of products usually suffer to deliver a better customer experience due to the difficulties in managing a massive amount of product data/information. It’s a tedious job to maintain, optimize, and deliver relevant product information from such huge data collections.
PIM Solution
PIM software with advanced features will collect and organize the product data in a structural layout in a centralized database. Owing to that, managing product information becomes much easier for the users/admin and to manipulate those effortlessly.
4. Organizing Product Catalog
Maintaining a product catalog becomes a daunting task for companies or brands selling a large number of products. As a business owner, you need to meet the expectation of the end-users and several vendors at a time. So, it’s really hard to maintain and update the product catalog uniformly.
PIM Solution
PIM software provides a flexible automated process that consolidates the product data/information in a centralized database. This allows business owners to easily access and manipulate all product data and makes product marketing so easy.
5. Effective Management of Digital Assets
A modern customer requires more aspects that elaborate product information to make a purchase decision quickly. For that business owner needs various value-added assets like videos, downloadable PDF product catalogs, 360-degree views of products, multiple angle product photos, and so on. Managing such cluttered digital assets becomes difficult for owners.
PIM Solution
PIM software provides an excel solution for managing numerous digital assets for a product in a centralized location. So, owners may find it easy to access that information and manipulate it as they need.
6. Lack of Communication
Setting a uniform communication platform among suppliers, vendors, and manufacturers become essential to provide all updates regarding a product launch or any other updates. However, business owners and brands are facing tough times to set such uniform communication platforms to share appropriate data.
PIM Solution
PIM software offers a platform that allows owners to interact directly with the suppliers and vendors seamlessly. This helps to streamline the supply chain process during an emergency situation.
To delve deep into the challenges faced by businesses in the absence of a product information management system, visit Most Common Product Information Management Challenges.
Do you want to build a solution that allows you to address all the above-listed challenges seamlessly?
What Does A PIM System Offer For Your Business?
A PIM system offers very diverse benefits to a company or a business. However, here we have highlighted key benefits your business can avail from a good PIM system.
- With the introduction of a PIM system, manual handling of the product data/information will be eliminated. This allows you to focus more on increasing productivity.
- PIM helps your product data set apart from competitors by providing it completely and consistently.
- A PIM system will increase your business ROI by allowing you to expand your business sales channel to foreign markets with effective product data in native languages.
- PIM system reduces the product return by providing clear product information to the buyers.
- Highly focused product information will boost product sales.
- PIM software offers seamless communication among the employees and creates flexible workflows.
- PIM creates cross-selling opportunities and boosts average product sales according to the buyer’s need by understanding them.
Product Data Types Handle By PIM
The centralized database created by a PIM system will allow businesses to enrich their product data according to their marketer’s needs. In general, product data is the key for driving the potential audience and converting them as a buyer or seller.
Product information stored and managed by a PIM system creates a seamless shopping experience for the customers and boosts product sales. Take a look over the types of product information a business or a company can store in a PIM system.
1. Product Identifiers
Product Identifiers are the set of information that reveals the basic information about the product to identify it easily by the buyers or customers. In general, it contains information like product name, SKU number, GTIN number, and so on.
With this information, local suppliers or distributors along with the internal team can easily identify the products. Also, the GTINs (Global Trade Item Numbers) will allow you to carry smoother sales of the product in different countries.
2. Product Images
A PIM system allows you to store high-quality images for each product. Also, it enables you to store and manage all kinds of digital assets which are essential for marketing. The feature of storing multiple images for a product will enhance the product listing quality and attract a larger audience.
Also, PIM allows you to keep a different set of images for a product on every sales channel.
3. Marketing Data
PIM system allows you to maintain a structural layout over the product descriptions which are crucial for marketing. Product descriptions or information stored in the centralized PIM database along with structural layout in multiple languages will reduce your time for making it customer-centric & SEO-friendly.
4. Enriched & Value-added Information
Modern customers prefer online shopping and looking to have the same feel as they experience in traditional shopping. So to match their expectation, it is the business owner’s responsibility to provide such enriched and value-added information to customers for increasing customer shopping experience.
PIM system allows you to add extra value-added assets for a product in the form of videos, PDF downloadable guides, tutorials, 360-degree product view, and more. This will enrich the customer shopping experience and boost product sales.
5. Technical Specification
The PIM system allows you to store the technical specification of the product like size, price, weight, color, and material along with the performance chart. This set of information is not necessary for internal usage, but from a customer’s perspective, it offers more transparency and triggers them to make a purchasing decision quickly.
Do you want to manage the various types of product data effectively in a centralized repository?
Conclusion
A PIM system becomes inevitable to the businesses or companies which are dealing high amounts to products and handles a large workforce for production. The ability to syndicate the product data while sending through multiple channels is the ultimate benefit every business can avail; it plays a major role in maximizing product sales and increases the accuracy when users tend to search for products.
Companies and businesses which are looking to drive towards their growth must make use of a PIM system before it gets late.
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