The Ultimate Guide to Product Information Management (PIM)

The Ultimate Guide to Product Information Management (PIM)

From bakeries to clothing brands, all businesses have moved online (and the ones that haven’t must be having a hard time competing). With the ever-growing demands of the buyers due to their increased buying capacity, markets are witnessing all-time high revenues be it for any industry. Considering how the number of online shoppers is increasing significantly with every passing year, the number of products available to shop from is also increasing. Today, a buyer has chiliads of options even if he just wants to buy a T-shirt!

But have you ever wondered about the amount of data businesses have to maintain that revolves around their products? Where do they store their product information? How do they manage it? How is it distributed?

It’s a massive amount of information though!

Businesses must create, modify, manage, and distribute this information regularly and they choose to do it in various ways using different software. The most common are CRM, ERP, and so on, but not all tools have the same functionalities and capabilities. One of the best solutions is certainly PIM!

If you are a retailer ready for PIM implementation or just a knowledge geek, this article is just for you!

Table of contents

Chapter 1: PIM Overview

1. What is PIM?
2. What Information Does a PIM System handle?
3. PIM capabilities
4. Who benefits from PIM?

Chapter 2: Need for PIM

1. How PIM has brought about significant changes in the eCommerce realm
2. A peek into the past – Limitations that PIM overcame
3. When does your business need PIM?
4. Choosing the right PIM tool

Chapter 3: PIM Deployment

1. Types of PIM deployments: On-Premise and On-Cloud
2. An in-depth comparison of types of PIM deployments

Chapter 4: PIM Implementation

1. Steps to PIM implementation
2. Best practices for PIM integration
3. Common Tools confused with PIM

Chapter 5: PIM for Ecommerce

Chapter 6: PIM Trends and Future Outlook

Chapter 7: Final words

1. How PIM users are outperforming others
2. Challenges with PIM
3. Conclusion
4. FAQs

Chapter 1: PIM Overview

1.   What is PIM?

The Evolution from ERP Systems to PIM

ERP systems were insufficient for ecommerce as they lacked capabilities to handle extensive product information like taxonomies and digital assets, and they didn't support data governance or ensure timely data accuracy.

As the industry transitioned to multi-channel environments in the mid-2000s, the need for Product Information Management (PIM) systems emerged. PIM provided centralized, consistent information repositories, proving crucial for managing product information across multiple marketing channels and facilitating omnichannel selling strategies.

Defining PIM

PIM stands for Product Information Management and is a tool or a set of business practices required to market and sell products through various distribution channels. Its centralized repository helps make processes fast and efficient as all the data is in one place- a single point of truth; different departments can modify, access, and distribute it with accuracy and without any inconsistencies.

PIM systems store all product-related information such as descriptions, SKUs, pricing, images, videos, or any other digital assets. This data is in sync for all channels and hence facilitates smooth distribution and excludes repetitive data leading to an enhanced buyer experience.

It is a common thought that PIM is only a marketing tool, but PIM has a lot to offer. It empowers businesses to expand their horizons and leverage PIM innovation to drive sales by conquering new markets.

2.   What Information Does a PIM System handle?

Detailed and accurate product information is the essence of PIM. To manage a large number of SKUs, strong and well-structured data architecture is needed. There is a plethora of information a PIM manages that includes:

General product information

The most basic information that PIM stores are the product details like name, colour, barcode, SKUs and more

Design data

PIM stores the data on how a product looks and is positioned in the market. It may contain guides and notes revolving around a product's design that help marketing campaigns understand and market the products accordingly.

Sales data

Data that revolves around the sale is a piece of vital information to be displayed to the customers and should be error-free to get better conversions. PIM stores information like product pricing, reviews, feedback, testimonials and so on, that can be used for sales.

Marketing data

The marketing process makes use of information like SEO data (Keywords, descriptions etc), buyer personas, analytical data and so on. It may also include images, videos and other assets that are used for marketing purposes.

Classifications

PIM captures product data in a structured way like the product variations, categories, and bundles as they make up the product catalogue. It minimises redundancy and repetitiveness.

Assets and their information

A crucial piece of information is how the product looks like. No customers would buy products without seeing what they are spending their money on. PIM stores images, videos, gifs, etc and any other data that describes the product.

3. PIM Capabilities

PIM makes life easy for businesses and helps them with everything they can think of in terms of handling product data. It saves teams a lot of time and automates processes avoiding human errors which are inevitable while handling a humongous pile of data.

• PIM empowers businesses to create rich product descriptions and specifications.
• It distributes data to multiple channels without getting it uploaded repeatedly. Managing omnichannel presence becomes smooth and efficient with PIM. It keeps the data in sync on multiple channels allowing cross-selling and up-selling and creating efficient promotions.
• A user can link a variety of content with products.
• It keeps the data well-structured and centralised. Being a single source of truth makes data usage and distribution error-free.
• PIM can be integrated with other empowering tools like ERPs and PLMs to extract technical data.
• It makes it easy to analyse product performance and build custom feeds for an enhanced experience.
• It helps automate maintenance.
• It is easy with PIM to maintain and sync data not only on eCommerce sites but also on other marketplaces.

4. Who benefits from a PIM?

PIM finds its use almost everywhere in an organisation and has many active users. Various departments find different uses for PIM. Mentioned below are the ones who benefit from PIM the most:

Sales and Marketing division

One of the most important segments that leverage the PIM capabilities is sales and marketing. PIM allows users to push their products to the market faster and delivers detailed, error-free information. It makes it easy for users to plan their course of action by analysing the performance efficiently. The hassle of coordinating among various departments to strategize has become old news now.

Technical Managers

PIM proves to be an excellent technology that has high returns on investment for the ones who are always looking for cutting-edge technology to integrate with their businesses and grow. Since PIM boosts automation, it reduces the overall cost of operations and makes the processes efficient.

E-commerce Managers

PIM offers a centralised place to store all the information of a product even when it has an Omni channel presence. It helps manage many SKUs, makes product data creation and maintenance easy and integrates with other tools seamlessly. Hence, making eCommerce managers’ lives easy and saving them a lot of time in creating new catalogues.

Design department

Designers may save their projects, documents, images, or other information in PIM which proves to be helpful in the whole product lifecycle. Various teams can collab and make use of this data judiciously.

Distributors, Retailers, and Manufacturers

The origin of data starts from where it has been manufactured.

Distributors need product data to be ready for different marketplaces for buyers. This vast amount of product data from different manufacturers need to be of high quality to manage their online presence well and grab buyer attention for conversions. PIM ensures high-quality data and the management of enormous amounts of data.

It’s imperative for retailers to have well-translated data that can be displayed in all geographies. PIM provides this omnichannel experience to help retailers capture different locations.

Chapter 2: Need for PIM

Research indicates that a significant majority of buyers, about 81%, conduct online research for insights and solutions regarding a product or service prior to making an in-store purchase. Furthermore, according to surveys, 85% of consumers emphasize the significance of detailed product descriptions and visual content in their decision-making process when choosing a brand or retailer.

All the more need for PIM!

1. How PIM has brought about significant changes in the eCommerce realm

The number of eCommerce stores has been exponentially increasing since the time technology has made it easy to build websites and reach out to the audience. As the businesses are growing, their product catalogues are also growing significantly.

Since the inception of PIM, things have only gotten better for everyone. Be it a customer or a business owner, PIM has made life easy for both. Where shoppers find it easy to make decisions related to the product of their choice, businesses find it easy to deliver the best they can and increase their profits.

PIM has changed the way consumers buy and the way retailers and brand sell. It has delivered to both consumers and eCommerce businesses alike; an enhanced shopping experience and optimised ways to handle product data and digital assets respectively.

2. A peek into the past – Limitations that PIM overcame

Certainly, PIM has revolutionised eCommerce, but earlier, life wasn’t that simple!

today, buyers can filter down their search results to an extent where they reach what exactly they want. PIM has empowered them to make decisions based on all the specifics they need. Earlier, there was no rich description of products and

There are myriad limitations that PIM has overcome but we won’t take up all of them here. Mentioned below are some of the important limitations which are enough to let you understand the power of PIM and how it has changed the eCommerce scene…for the better!

The power of Custom Attributes- Customer point of view

Imagine visiting an online store to buy a dress and the description just tells you its colour, size, and price with a single poor-quality picture. Would that information be enough for you to decide especially when the dress is expensive?

Yes, that’s almost the only information that was offered to customers before the inception of PIM.

Today, customers can take into consideration so many attributes that were not a possibility earlier. From the fabric to stitch to length to stretch, to hem to waist rise, there is an n-number of details available that make it easy for a customer to take a decision.

Consider the image above. One has the option to select if they need stretchable jeans or not. Should it be a low-distressed one or a high-distressed one?

PIM, with its powerful Custom-attributes functionality, made it possible to define a product as specifically as it could be, allowing customers to buy better. This has resulted in rapidly growing sales over the years. Customers can now browse thousands of products and narrow their search down to just a few in no time.

The power of Custom Attributes- Business point of view

Earlier, businesses were using tools like ERP or CMS to create product catalogues. Though these tools allowed them to push some product data to the eCommerce sites but did not give them the power to create rich content for products which would allow customers to choose specific products. Fewer details about products led to more returns and ultimately reduced profits for businesses. For example, inadequate product information and visuals confused customers about what the product looked like so they would order a few similar-looking products, keep the one that slightly met their expectations and return the others. This made businesses incur costs of returns and to an extent, the brand image got affected.

These tools, ERP or CMS, though provided product creation capabilities, did not serve the purpose successfully. Whereas, PIM has made it possible to help customers make better decisions by giving them complete details about the product leading to minimised returns.

It also had emotional effects as many customers would compromise on products needed only to keep what had been received. Not everyone willed to go through that time taking process of finding the right product.

Omnichannel Experience

PIM made it possible to take care of major hurdles businesses were going through- the omnichannel experience.

Suppose you are browsing a website from your laptop to shop for a pair of sneakers, you like one and you cart it. Later that day you are reminded of buying those shoes and you open your mobile app of that brand and see an empty cart!

PIM took tackled this challenge and enhanced the omnichannel experience. Now, wherever you are, whichever channel you shop through, the brands know you. Brands know their customers and their shopping activities. So even if you have been an online shopper for a brand and you visit their physical store for the first time, they would already know who you are, what have you bought before and all the clothes you have liked.

Enhanced product discovery

Tools that were used earlier, allowed limited details to be uploaded about a product and hence could not meet the SEO requirements. It made product discovery difficult on Google as businesses could not leverage keyword capabilities to their use. It was simpler if a customer knew already which store offers the product of his choice.

PIM has empowered businesses to push rich information about products giving them a chance to be found on google based on the keywords they use in their product details.

The image shows how someone can type in the specifics of a product and still find numerous products to choose from. In whatever online store the product is available, it is easy to find.

Price List Management

PIM has also empowered businesses to sell cross-border smoothly with its supporting features. One of them is Pricelist Management. Ecommerce businesses that were selling internationally had the challenge of creating and maintaining multiple pricelists with different conversion rates for every region they were selling in. earlier tools like ERPs, did not give considerable flexibility to do so. PIM is designed to meet these challenges and hence offers the most useful functionalities to tackle them. PIM allows users to manage multiple price lists. Users can now create dynamic and static price lists.

Dynamic Price List: These price lists are created by making use of the current conversion rates. Suppose a U.K business wants to sell in India, their price lists would be created based on the current conversion rate of the country and these converted prices only would be reflected on their eCommerce stores.

Static Price Lists: Businesses can create static pricelists by adding or subtracting from the conversion rate according to their requirements.

The images below are an apt example of a static price list. The first image shows the price of the jacket as $ 129.00 USD, while the second image shows the price as ₹ 7990.00 INR. Even though, considering the conversion rate, the amount for the Indian market should have been ₹10,667.65 but the business decided to keep it lower. This can be achieved by defining a buffer for conversions. For example, +/- 10 % on the conversion rate.

Price list management has empowered businesses to sell across borders with ease and hence given them a chance to expand their horizons by capturing markets of different regions.

Auto Scheduling Price lists and Product Launches

Imagine working for an eCommerce store and it’s black Friday tomorrow! You must upload changed prices, offers and discounts just as the clock hits 12!

E-commerce businesses that sell cross-border offer discounts according to the festivals or important events of different countries. These changed prices must be updated on the platform on particular days and at specific times. PIM made it possible to auto-schedule pricelists so that they could be planned and scheduled beforehand and would get updated when required.

Similarly, brands do not have to wait now for the launch dates of their new collections. They can simply schedule the launch giving them a faster time to market. This enables them to focus on the other aspects of sales and marketing and also reduces man-hours tremendously resulting in cost cutting.

3. When does your business call for PIM

In a continuously growing market and cut-throat competition, businesses are burning the candle at both ends to be the best in their respective fields. In an already saturated environment where almost all businesses are making the same efforts and following almost the same strategies for content marketing, advertising, SEO, eCommerce websites, and more, to compete, it has become an arduous journey to stand apart. So, wherever businesses can find even the smallest opportunity to do better than the rest, they must grab it.

This is where PIM comes to play. PIM provides a modern headless stack to Businesses that have outgrown their eCommerce technology and helps them streamline their product information in a better-structured way.

Having an enormous pile of data leads to the cumbersome task of handling it. Many businesses have cluttered and repetitive data on various channels or platforms, leading to chaos. Handling such unstructured data makes it prone to errors. PIM emerges as a saviour in such scenarios!

But not all businesses require PIM. Small businesses that are not omnipresent and have few products do not essentially require PIM. Let’s take a deep dive to know when a business should opt for PIM.

Consider these questions before onboarding-

Is your product catalogue humongous?

Managing the data of chiliads of products is a gruesome task and above that, each product has its variants too! Double trouble! From pricing to colour to manufacturer to material, a product comes along with scads of data associated with it. It requires a whole team to keep track of and deal with this data making it prone to human errors. Also, product information changes frequently for many products which lead to handling these data changes too. PIM takes care of everything here. It simplifies the process, reduces man-hours and eliminates errors as it’s a single source of truth ensuring data consistency.

PIM provides data with high accuracy and keeps the data organised making it easy to manage thousands of SKUs smoothly.

Businesses with a smaller number of SKUs and static product information do not necessarily require a PIM as it is costly. Businesses must make use of tools keeping in mind the return on investments.

Do you need strong data governance?

Organizations need to have a robust system for data governance to control who can access what set of data. All users are allocated work according to their skill set. Data that can be accessed by anyone makes it highly likely that errors would be made as not everyone can manage to do all the tasks. Data access to users when it is not required may also result in data leaks.

Do you have an international presence or are you ready to go international?

PIM helps you to reach new markets with its functionalities. It adapts linguistic conditions of various regions which helps in reaching out to customers speaking different languages and mould according to them. Language has always been a barrier to trade, but PIM solves the problem very efficiently.

Businesses are aiming for cross-border commerce very avidly and expanding their customer base. But their major requirements would be to understand consumer preferences from different regions and adapt to them. PIM makes it easy to store catalogues for different regions following their regulations. Undoubtedly, many people speak English, but stores that offer services and products in languages that people can connect to always have an edge over others.

Do you have an omnichannel presence?

Selling through multiple channels proves costly as businesses must push in the same data on all of them. But it is vital to businesses aiming to expand their customer bases who are present on different channels. It requires a big team to upload, maintain and make any changes on various platforms making data handling laborious and costly. PIM makes it possible to push product data from a centralised place to multiple channels which helps minimize errors and makes maintenance an easy and time-saving process. Creating new channels with PIM is easy and fast, giving businesses a chance to put their products faster in the market.

Do you want further automation?

Businesses use various tools and software to automate their processes yet lack many functionalities when it comes to data management solutions. An efficient way of managing data is Product Information management. It further automates tasks that are time-consuming like new item creation and linking assets and terminates repetition. It helps save a lot of time and money and ensures minimised errors.

Is scalability a challenge for you at present?

Often businesses make use of spreadsheets to manage product information. This costs them a lot of time and money as it is a labour-intensive task. Dealing with a lot of data manually is mostly error-ridden which might cost sales. It is always easy to scale when the data flow is consistent and non-erroneous, and an organisation is saving time only to divert to productive tasks. PIM helps increase efficiency, reduces errors and allows businesses to eventually scale. Also, PIM meets the constant requirements of data creation and alteration allowing a faster time-to-market for the products.

Are your data analyses not up-to-the-mark?

Product information and quality are associated closely with data analytics. Businesses decide on their strategies and course of action by fetching and understanding data analysis. Hence, poor data quality can lead to wrong decisions which in turn would affect business.

Do you want to minimize returns?

A major reason for product returns is a dissatisfied customer whose expectations the product couldn’t meet. It’s a common challenge for businesses to tackle product returns. Erroneous or incomplete product information leads to returns as the purchase is made by viewing the product online, so customers buy what the businesses show them. Sometimes returns are made if the product quality isn’t up to the mark, but that’s totally for the manufacturer to take care of.

PIM provides appropriate and a piece of detailed information about the products to the customers, giving them a lucid picture of what they are buying. There are bleak chances of returns if the product a customer receives looks exactly how it is described on the online store.

Do you want an enhanced shopping experience for your customers?

The appealing product information like images, videos, detailed descriptions etc attract customers more than anything. Visuals always help in grabbing attention and hence create an exceptional shopping experience. Customers love it when they can understand and view a product properly to make a choice.

PIM empowers businesses to create enhanced experiences for shoppers and connect them with rich content.

A PIM also provides marketing efficient support because the tool makes it much easier to add appropriate keywords to product information and make action plans according to the performance. Being a centralised data centre, SEO is automatically effective for all channels.

Chapter 3: PIM Deployment

1. Types of PIM Deployment- On-Premise and On-Cloud PIM

While looking forward to integrating PIM, one comes across two different PIM solutions namely On-premise PIM solutions and on-cloud PIM solutions. The crux of both solutions is the same as they serve the same purpose. The difference lies in how they are deployed. Hence before going about to be a PIM-ready business, it is imperative to understand the business requirements and then choose an appropriate PIM model.

Let us take a deep dive into understanding both:

On-Premise PIM

On-premise deployment is the physical setup of all hardware and software in the company premises using the business’s infrastructure. As the name suggests, an on-premise PIM is located physically on the site itself. On-premise PIM requires a license to be bought to make use of it on the business’s server.

On-premise deployment of PIM requires a good amount of expenditure to cover the costs of all assets that need to be deployed physically. Investments include software licensing, hardware, server, installation, integrations, and upgrades. Maintenance is expensive as on-premise deployment requires maintaining a whole team to make everything run effectively. Incessant upgrades and new customizations are continuous costs that must be incurred.

On-Cloud PIM

Cloud-based solutions have been gaining ground over the past decade and almost everything has moved to the cloud. From our pictures to business data, there’s everything there.

On-cloud PIM solution is hosted on the cloud by a third-party provider. Businesses do not require any hardware setup in their work location and can immediately start using the service without any time gone in setup. The hardware lies with the provider who maintains the installation, upgrades, and other integrations, and hence it is a great option as one gets the benefits of PIM without investing much.

2. An in-depth comparison between On-Premise and On-Cloud

1. PIM Project Costs

The first thing one considers before buying anything is pricing! On-cloud PIM certainly has cost benefits over on-premise PIM as the software deployment doesn’t require any physical setup of hardware and infra as it increases the cost of operation and maintenance. The on-cloud deployment follows a pay-as-you-go model where a business can pick and choose the applications required and pay accordingly.

The hardware setup for on-premise PIM is accompanied by hiring a team of experts who are responsible for any installations, upgrades, integrations, and maintenance, increasing the cost of the project. Unlike a subscription-based model, businesses must bear the burden of hefty pricing to maintain PIM. Software licensing is also required for an on-premise deployment which adds to the costs.

2. Speed

In a fast-paced world, businesses need to be able to leverage the latest technology and be deft with cutting-edge developments. On-cloud services have been gaining ground as they are fast and easy to implement. With businesses trying hard to take up a bigger customer base, all are making efforts to procure a bigger customer base. Hence, faster time-to-market plays an imperative role. The market is competitive and whoever gets to the customers first wins them over. On-cloud PIM serves the purpose as there is no physical deployment, hence, set-up and configuration time is cut short. It gives businesses a chance to step into the market faster giving them an edge over others.

On-premise deployment requires a workforce to handle the operations and make the project live. Working from scratch is always time taking and the in-house team is solely responsible for all the activities needed for implementation.

3. Security and Risks

Both on-premise and on-cloud deployments have their pros and cons. Considering the security perspective, many businesses that deal with highly confidential data opt for on-premise deployment as it offers better control, and confidentiality and maintains integrity.

For On-cloud deployment, data security is ensured by the PIM provider, which might make it prone to hacking. At times, shared servers are used by them which can allow hackers to make a move even if the data is encrypted. Though PIM providers invest highly in their security modules and often comply with international data privacy protocols to be more reliable, an in-house deployment always has an edge over on-cloud for this purpose.

4. Connectivity

Cloud services have made it possible to share data and connect to remote locations without people physically being available. Cloud PIM capabilities allow teams to collab among themselves to share files and manage data in real-time.

All devices can connect to an on-cloud PIM and are in sync for any data creation, modification or sharing. While teams can work remotely and still stay connected in real-time with on-cloud PIM, it is a hassle with an on-premise PIM deployment. For any action taken on data, teams must be present on the premises where PIM has been deployed.

5. Data Authority and Control

Both deployments have their pros and cons. An On-premise PIM allows users to completely control their platform as they have an in-house team that can upgrade to any functionalities as they please and go for required customizations for their business. On the other hand, considering an on-cloud PIM, a business depends upon what it’s the provider is offering. There are limited functionalities and features which the business can opt for. Hence On-premise PIM gives businesses better control over their data and platform and provides optimized confidentiality and integrity.

6. Scalability

When it comes to accessing data from any remote location, On-premise deployment has its limitations. While on the other hand businesses can access the required data from anywhere from a cloud PIM. 24*7 access to data from any location makes on-cloud PIM more desirable. On-cloud, PIM caters to continuously changing requirements smoothly, giving businesses a better chance to grab opportunities and scale. While on-premise PIM requires profuse amounts of investment in resources and a robust structure to deliver the same, scalability remains a challenge. It is not flexible and has restricted access from remote locations, making it hard to meet the increasing business demands for continuous changes and upgrades.

Chapter 4: Implementation

1. Steps to PIM implementation

A lot of businesses have moved to PIM, and many are heading towards it to achieve better product data management.

PIM implementation varies for different businesses due to their varied requirements. Yet there are some steps that almost all PIM implementations have in common.

Since, PIM implementation involves dealing with an enormous amount of data which if not structured and categorized at the early stages, might lead to discrepancies and repetition.

Dealing with the data

The steps to PIM implementation are a basic roadmap but the data we are dealing with must be simultaneously taken care of. Let us know how to deal with data-

• Data assembly

Before migrating to PIM, it is imperative to keep track of all the data that must be imported. Get all your data assets in one place and be certain of what data must be imported. Complete your data segmentation by cleaning unwanted data and categorizing it roughly to know the structure. Take cognizance of the purpose of your data and its size and decide accordingly how to divide it.

• Running a data check

It is crucial to check the data that you are planning to import to make it error-free. Running data checks ensures the completeness of data as you can always fill in the missing chunks and it also ensures data quality. Your checks may include spelling checks, repetitive data checks, redundancy checks and more. Data validation is an important process that must come about before the data migration.

• Data classification

No customer would like scattered data where they must spend time finding the information they need. A well-structured and classified data ensures ease of looking for required information. It enhances the customer experience by delivering rich content and helps engage potential customers. Structuring data always helps reduce chaos and increases the smooth flow of information.

• Data governance

Loads of data accessible by all can always lead to data breaches and leaks making an organisation suffer. When you have data, you must have data control as to who can access what data. Users authorised to access their share of data make sure they are responsible for it, hence taking care of what they are dealing with. They may lock and unlock systems and authorize access when required.

• Data characteristics

Defining product data characteristics is important to drive sales as the first thing a buyer considers is product descriptions and attributes. The purpose of PIM is to deliver rich product data to customers and enhance their shopping experience. You may segment your data attributes into various groups namely technical, physical, marketing and more.

• Migration

PIM implementation requires data migration from old systems to the PIM platform. This can be carried out in two different ways. Either all the data can be moved to PIM in a single go, or it can be done in stages regularly till everything is pushed to PIM. at times, businesses keep both systems integrated and use them both.

2. Implementation flow

STEP 1: Understanding and Process Planning

Action without a plan gets chaotic and leads to inefficiency, defying the whole purpose of the implementation. The collaborators must understand the workflow and then plan the outcomes accordingly. Having clear business goals makes the implementation efficient as the business knows what return it is expecting out of PIM implementation.

Understanding the tool is equally important, so this step might include training sessions to learn how data flows through PIM. At this stage, businesses ought to decide on data owners and get a lucid understanding of PIM capabilities.

It includes deciding the departments or individuals using the data and the recipients.

STEP 2: Project Architecture and Data Structuring

This step incorporates an understanding of the tool functionalities and how the work processes would flow. Data touchpoints are defined before the migration can take place.

In this step, product data is technically dealt with by categorizing, creating formats, and deciding the taxonomy. Commonly, data might be modified in the process but what’s reaching the recipients should always meet their requirements.

The step leads to data modelling and creating a well-defined structure for categorised data. The PIM architecture is a result of precisely understanding the data requirement, the data flow and how efficiently the data can be categorised. The step is certainly time-consuming but decides the most vital part of PIM implementation on which the future data flows depend.

STEP 3: Migration, Configuration, and Integration

Once the skeleton is ready and the flow has been decided, it is time to migrate the data into the PIM system. Data import takes place once the data positioning has been made well-categorized and data catalogues are structured properly. Then comes the main step and which is to push data into PIM. The data import may take place manually or in an automated way. This depends on the data formats and what data we are dealing with.

Once it has been done, integration of PIM with other tools would synchronise the data between systems and result in enhanced data management. Redundant and repetitive data is kept in check and data consistency is improved drastically. Data for syndication is detailed and error-free.

STEP 4: Testing the Implement

There is always room for improvement and hence the PIM users can test-run PIM implementation before going live. It is quite possible to make errors in this elaborate process as it includes a myriad of tasks from handling the data to be implemented to the flow of how the implementation has to go about.

It is imperative to make sure that the data going live is correct and that the workflow is optimized by avoiding errors in the process. Testing also ensures that the stakeholders understand the working of their project and provide feedback for any improvements.

STEP 5: Going Live

Though going live seems like the last step of the process but it is just the beginning of a streamlined workflow that needs to be continuously monitored and upgraded to meet the changing business requirements.

Once the system goes live it is crucial to have prompt support for an uninterrupted flow of data and maintenance.

2. Best practices for PIM implementation

1. Have a well-defined project scope

It’s vital to understand your pain points and what PIM can solve for you. From creating a data model to delivering what’s required, well-planned work processes reduce later hassle. The project scope must be defined

2. Define who can access what

PIM implementation is accompanied by many important decisions that a business must make. One of them is data governance. When you implement PIM, it is important you know who can access what level of data and who is authorized to manage it. Having it planned makes the process chaos-free and smooth.

3. Plan your catalogue structure rigorously

As PIM is all about product information, it goes without saying that a product catalogue must be well structured. Deciding on a good structure helps reduce errors or any changes later and makes the process more efficient.

4. Gathering and enhancing the product data

The purpose of PIM revolves around data; thus, you should make sure all the product information residing at different places is consolidated in a single place. This is an important step before implementation. You should also create a customer-centric data model and make any tweaks if needed to have rich content for the customers. As it’s the customer whom you want to build the data for. So, do it right!

5. Test

Before going in completely, you should go for a test run to fix any errors. Start with a small set of data. It would let you know if the data is structured well and is into the right categories, and whether the labelling is right. Are the products sorted into the right categories? This initial test would allow you to fix any errors, so they can be avoided for the vast data migration.

Check next for how the data is getting syndicated to different channels. Is the data flow smooth? Is it error-free? Did the product update get refreshed quickly? These tests would help determine how your PIM system.

3. Common Tools confused with PIM

People often confuse PIM with a lot of other tools which according to them seem to work in a similar fashion but hey, the differences are wide apart. Some tools might complement PIM in the overall functionalities and give better experiences to businesses, while other tools might be completely independent.

Below are some of the most ones that are likely to be confused with PIM. Let’s clear the air:

PIM vs DAM

Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital Asset Management (DAM) are often mistakenly considered similar tools in the realm of product data. Despite their apparent resemblances, they serve distinct purposes and are crucial elements in any online retail strategy, complementing each other effectively.

DAM is concerned with the secure storage and organization of an organization's digital content, including images, videos, documents, and other marketing materials. This system ensures that such assets are easily retrievable and ready for use, enhancing workflow efficiency by keeping digital resources well-organized and readily accessible, thereby saving significant time for teams.

Conversely, PIM is dedicated to the storage, management, and syndication of product-related digital content. It not only deals with managing information related to products but also plays a crucial role in distributing this content across various platforms, a function that might overlap with DAM to some extent. PIM is primarily focused on the details of the products being sold, encompassing all relevant data about them.

DAM facilitates the use of a wide range of valuable digital assets, allowing for their secure extraction and sharing within and outside the organization, across different departments. This division of roles between PIM and DAM underscores their importance in streamlining eCommerce operations, each contributing to the efficiency and effectiveness of digital asset and product information management.

PIM Vs MDM

Although often confused, Master Data Management (MDM) and Product Information Management (PIM) serve unique functions within data management frameworks. PIM is dedicated to the meticulous handling of product-centric data, including specifications, prices, and visual content, ensuring this information is organized and accessible.

Contrastingly, MDM takes a broader approach, concentrating on the foundational data that underpins an organization's critical operations. This includes a wide array of data types such as customer details, supplier information, and product data, among others. MDM aims to create a single source of truth for this core data, enhancing data accuracy and consistency across the enterprise.

While PIM is tailored to optimize sales and marketing efforts by ensuring product information is comprehensive and up-to-date, MDM's scope is more expansive, integrating and harmonizing all essential data to bolster organizational efficiency and decision-making. In essence, PIM focuses on the granular details of product information, while MDM addresses the overarching data management needs of an organization, ensuring coherence and reliability in all business data.

Also Read: PIM vs MDM: What's the Difference?

PIM Vs CMS

Content Management Systems (CMS) and PIM systems serve distinct but complementary roles in digital content and product data management. A CMS is a versatile tool designed for the creation, management, and optimization of digital content, such as blog posts, articles, and landing pages. It is essential for businesses looking to implement comprehensive digital marketing strategies, enabling the development of diverse websites and engaging multimedia campaigns to enhance user experiences.

On the other hand, PIM focuses on the centralized organization of structured product information, including detailed descriptions, pricing, and imagery, facilitating efficient management and distribution across various sales and marketing channels.

While CMS is ideal for businesses prioritizing content marketing and looking to captivate their audience with compelling digital content, PIM is crucial for organizations that require streamlined management of extensive product data to ensure consistency and accuracy across all customer touchpoints. Together, CMS and PIM provide a robust foundation for managing both unstructured content and structured product data, supporting a cohesive and effective online presence.

Also Read: Exploring the Difference Between PIM and eCommerce CMS

PIM Vs PLM

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and PIM cater to different stages and aspects of a product's journey within an organization. PLM encompasses the entire lifespan of a product, from the initial concept to its eventual withdrawal from the market. It involves tracking and documenting every phase of a product's development and lifecycle, facilitating collaboration across various teams. By integrating with design tools, PLM enhances the interactive nature of the design process, streamlining project workflows and leveraging stored data to consistently refine product quality.

On the flip side, PIM is centered on the meticulous organization and dissemination of product-related data across diverse marketing and sales channels. It focuses on ensuring that all product information, including descriptions, specifications, and pricing, is accurate, consistent, and easily accessible.

While PLM provides a comprehensive overview and management of a product's lifecycle, enabling continuous improvement and team collaboration, PIM ensures that the detailed product information is effectively managed and distributed, supporting marketing and sales initiatives. Together, PLM and PIM offer a holistic approach to product management, from conception to consumer engagement.

Also Read: PIM vs PLM: What's the Difference?

PIM Vs ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems serve as the operational backbone for businesses, seamlessly connecting various departments such as logistics, manufacturing, and warehousing. They facilitate the comprehensive management of a wide array of organizational data, streamlining processes from development and planning to sales and marketing. ERP systems enable businesses to operate more efficiently by providing a unified platform for managing diverse operations across the enterprise.

Contrastingly, Product Information Management (PIM) focuses specifically on the organization, management, and distribution of detailed product information. While ERP encompasses a broad spectrum of business processes, PIM hones-in on ensuring that product data is accurate, consistent, and readily available for marketing and sales purposes.

In essence, while ERP addresses the overarching needs of an organization's operational processes, PIM is dedicated to optimizing the management and dissemination of product-related data, both playing critical roles in the smooth functioning and success of a business.

Also Read: PIM vs ERP Systems: Which is Right for Your Business?

PIM Vs PXM

Today market competition is intense, and businesses are increasingly prioritizing customer experience, aiming for deep personalization to forge stronger connections with their audience. This shift acknowledges that beyond product quality and pricing, a compelling and personalized customer experience is crucial for brand growth and differentiation.

Product Experience Management (PXM) is pivotal in this context, focusing on contextualizing and enhancing content for seamless interaction across various channels. PXM seeks to refine the customer journey by offering personalized, engaging content informed by specific customer behaviours, preferences, device usage, and demographics. This strategy ensures that product information is not only relevant but also resonates with individual customers, enhancing their overall experience.

While Product Information Management (PIM) concentrates on the efficient organization and management of product data, facilitating smoother operational workflows, PXM builds on this foundation to enrich the customer experience. By effectively utilizing the structured data from PIM, PXM tailors the presentation and delivery of this information to meet the unique needs and preferences of each customer, thereby elevating the overall brand experience.

Chapter 5: PIM for Ecommerce

eCommerce success hinges on more than just the quality of products; it involves the strategic management and presentation of product information. This pivotal aspect of ecommerce has led to the emergence of Product Information Management systems as a critical tool for businesses looking to excel online. From ensuring consistent and accurate product data across various platforms to enabling personalized customer experiences, PIM stands at the core of modern ecommerce strategies.

The global PIM market, valued at $9.90 billion in 2019, is projected to reach $59.25 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 25.2%. This growth is driven by the need for centralized storage, enrichment, and distribution of product-related data in the booming digital era.

PIM systems are crucial for managing complex product information, leading to significant benefits such as a 20-50% increase in online conversions and enabling brands to correct errors 18 times faster than non-users.

1. PIM’s Role in eCommerce Success

• PIM systems are crucial for digital commerce success, offering a single, trusted source of product content and digital assets, supporting business and enabling omnichannel marketing.
• They help create a unified and enriched product narrative, meeting modern consumers' demands for depth and context in product information.

Streamlining Product Data for Online Marketplaces

• A PIM system can efficiently manage diverse product assortments, ensuring data is accurate, up-to-date, and consistent across all platforms, crucial for customer loyalty in digital commerce.

• It simplifies the management of extensive product catalogs and ensures synchronized dissemination as product lines expand.

Personalization and Dynamic Content

• Personalization is key in ecommerce, with McKinsey highlighting the substantial benefits of personalized marketing, including reduced customer acquisition costs and increased revenues.

• PIM systems support personalization by enabling brands to categorize and tailor product data, creating personalized shopping experiences that resonate with individual customer journeys.

Improving SEO and Searchability

• Unified product data managed by PIM contributes to better SEO by differentiating content from competitors and ensuring consistent distribution of high-quality content across all online outlets.

• Rich product attributions and well-structured site content, facilitated by PIM, significantly boost SEO rankings.

Integrating PIM with Ecommerce Platforms

• PIM solutions ensure seamless integration with ecommerce platforms, centralizing product information and publishing accurate digital product catalogs across all customer-facing touchpoints, enhancing omnichannel presence.

• They automate the update of ecommerce platforms with product data from the source point throughout the value chain, reducing manual efforts and minimizing error probabilities.

Implementing a robust PIM system can greatly enhance ecommerce success by ensuring streamlined product data management, personalization, improved searchability, and seamless integration with ecommerce platforms.

Chapter 6: PIM Trends and Future Outlook

As we move forward, PIM is increasingly becoming indispensable for businesses. With the advent of new technologies, PIM systems are poised to become faster and more efficient, promising a bright future. These advancements are set to revolutionize how businesses manage and utilize product information, ensuring they stay ahead in the digital marketplace.

AI and Machine Learning in PIM: The global AI market was valued at approximately $207.9 billion in 2023, showing significant growth from $136.55 billion in 2022. This rapid expansion underscores the increasing integration of AI across various sectors, including PIM.

AI and ML are being increasingly integrated into PIM systems to improve the management and optimization of product information. These technologies enable the analysis of vast amounts of data to identify patterns and make predictions, leading to more efficient and accurate product information management.

AI and ML can enhance search functionalities within PIM systems through intelligent algorithms that understand natural language, providing more accurate search results and improving the user experience.

IoT and Connected Devices: With the proliferation of IoT, connected devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, impacting various industries. While specific statistics for IoT's direct impact on PIM are less clear, the trend towards more interconnected devices will likely influence PIM systems to handle more dynamic and real-time product information.

Voice Commerce and PIM: Voice search and AI statistics reveal that 97% of mobile users utilize AI-powered voice assistants. As voice commerce continues to grow, PIM systems will need to adapt to optimize product information for voice search, ensuring compatibility with voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

PIM for Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR): The general growth of AR & VR in retail and ecommerce indicates a potential area for PIM integration. As AR and VR technologies offer innovative ways to showcase products, PIM systems will play a crucial role in supplying detailed product information to these platforms.

The Impact of 5G on PIM: The deployment of 5G technology is expected to significantly impact various tech sectors by enabling faster and more reliable data transmission. For PIM, this means improved efficiency in data synchronization across platforms and channels, leading to more consistent and up-to-date product information. Although specific statistics on 5G's impact on PIM are not available, the overall enhancement of network capabilities will undoubtedly benefit PIM systems.

Chapter 7: Final words

1. How PIM users are outperforming others

As technology is rising with every passing day, people are engaging in everything technologically driven. Whether it’s online education or shopping, people are preferring to be in the comfort of their homes and do everything that earlier required physical work.

The eCommerce market has become crowded as new businesses are entering the online commerce competition each day. There has been a saturation in the techniques that businesses follow to go online and grow. Hence out-of-the-box thinkers with a little more effort are the ones who are succeeding.

E-commerce has been growing rapidly over the past decades. According to a report by Statista, global online retail sales accounted for $ Five Trillion US dollars which are expected to even exceed $ 7 Trillion US dollars by 2025. A major e-commerce boom has been driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, where everyone could only afford to order requisites at home to be safe.

The big question is how PIM is helping businesses to outperform their competition and create a unique brand identity by enhancing customer experience.

Sailing the boat through a cutthroat Ecommerce competition

In 2023, the value of worldwide online retail sales hit approximately $5.8 trillion. Future forecasts suggest a significant growth of about 39%, with expectations for the market to exceed $8 trillion by 2027, highlighting the rapid expansion and potential of the e-commerce sector.

Considering the trend of how retail is growing, the competition is getting harder with each passing day. Businesses are trying their best to capture various segments of buyers with various strategies. PIM has proven to help with its capabilities to beat the competition and

PIM brings about better revenues

Using PIM decreases returns significantly, it’s easier to cross-sell and up-sell, there are reduced returns and cancellations.

Apart from these, a higher conversion rate is also a major contributor to increased revenues.

PIM users offer better customer satisfaction

The biggest challenge a buyer faces is receiving the correct product that matches the expectations that he sees online. PIM allows users to push rich content about a product from images to videos to technical descriptions or basic details. It makes it very easy for buyers to choose the right product as they have access to every little detail of the product. They can view crystal-clear images taken from different angles and get a good idea of what the product would look like in reality. Detailed information is directly associated with complete customer satisfaction as he can choose for himself after considering even the minutest details about the product.

PIM offers data accuracy

PIM users don’t have to rewrite every detail about a product to push it on multiple channels. doing so makes it highly likely to commit errors and reduces data accuracy. Being a single source of truth, that is having all the data in one place, PIM pushes the correct data on multiple channels without repetition and redundancy. Data accuracy has a major impact on businesses because if the product isn’t described correctly, it would affect sales.

Efficient decision making

PIM allows customers to make the right decisions based on the rich product descriptions available. They can view products from all angles with the help of high-resolution images and videos and read rich product descriptions with good readability. PIM pushes accurate data across all channels as it has a single source of truth and hence, easier for consumers to analyse the products properly.

Better analytics

PIM offers better customer journey analysis opportunities for businesses. They can monitor the likes and dislikes of customers and create different customer personas depending on the analytics. This helps in creating tailored campaigns to target customers.

Offering more than just a product

PIM offerings don’t stop at just enriched and accurate product descriptions. It optimises the overall customer experience by personalising it for them, so they feel more connected to the brand. Targeted campaigns, personalised messages, and recommendations make customers feel exclusive. High-resolution pictures and videos and rich content too play a role for that matter. Hence, PIM is not just a tool, it’s an experience.

Improved productivity and cost-cutting

With efficient data handling and better automation, PIM reduces the dependency on a big team. Faster product launches, better conversions, correct descriptions leading to lesser returns, and faster completion of projects are a few advantages that help reduce the overall cost.

Faster time to market

PIM makes it possible to get your products faster to the market. You can push precise and consistent data across all customer touch points easily and make your product available there faster.

Beating growth bottlenecks by selling cross-border

A visionary organisation would certainly want to scale up and grow their customer base across the globe. PIM empowers them to achieve it with its cross-border selling capabilities. Multiple price lists, for example, help businesses display prices in different currencies with static and dynamic conversion rates.

2. Challenges with PIM

Though PIM has revolutionised eCommerce to a great extent and made it easy for businesses to deal with humungous piles of data in a structured way, but even a good product also has its drawbacks.

Let’s have a look at some of the drawbacks of PIM:

Migrating to PIM

The transition phase of PIM is not easy and poses a great challenge to businesses. Product data includes an enormous amount of information and digital assets which become hard to deal with while shifting to PIM. PIM certainly has a lot of potentials to lead to business growth but moving to PIM is a challenging task. Vast product data that is spread across ERP systems, spreadsheets, and databases must be gathered, filtered, and tweaked to push into PIM systems.

This transition doesn’t happen in a jiffy and is very time-consuming leading to several disruptions, but a fine PIM system offers ease of implementation and onboarding.

Dealing with perpetually changing data

Businesses running their eCommerce stores know how much data a product is associated with. This data is not constant throughout its presence on the online store. This data must match updated keywords, changes due to occasions, correcting data errors and more. It becomes a cumbersome task as product data on eCommerce sites needs to move quickly. Product classifications and categorisations have a close correlation with product attributes and hence modifying the data frequently is a task within a PIM system. Some PIM platforms like BetterCommerce provide pre-integrated PxM that helps deal with such changes.

Efficient analytics

When it comes to business growth, a fine in-depth analysis of customer activities, what products are performing well, demographics and more, are imperative to make further business decisions. even though PIM succeeds in handling product information, it does not offer such analytical capabilities. This task is accomplished by a PxM. Though few PIM platforms now come with pre-integrated PxM, analytics remains a challenge for traditional PIM.

Product data quality

PIM is more about handling a massive amount of data, making sure it’s centralised and syndicates well on multiple channels when needed, but it does not necessarily mean the data quality it stores is super fine, rich and has great overall readability. For a customer, it is vital to have intelligible and comprehensible data to make the right decision.

A product has a vast number of attributes and other descriptions; hence data quality is not always achievable. It is required that a PIM platform allows users to validate data accuracy, and define quality standards, and data readability. It must also promise product data quality and continuously updated data.

3. Conclusion

The benefits of PIM are lucid now with all that has been shared in this article. PIM is incessantly empowering businesses to grow, leaving behind their non-PIM competition and allowing them to stand apart.

Early PIM adopters are certainly doing great and have an edge over others as their workflows are streamlined and they have learnt how to leverage the technology efficiently. Businesses are continuously trying to get the best out of PIM and getting high returns on investment.

Few businesses that are not technologically driven often go through a dilemma of whether their investments for PIM are worthwhile or not. their concerns lie in the mere fact of whether they will get good ROIs out of PIM implementation. But they need to understand that investing in technology is a path to success. Considering the initial investments would only blind them from seeing the growth that PIM can bring to them. One always must invest time and money to get good returns. Success doesn’t come quickly and so are the returns.

It is a fear of not being able to leverage the technology to the best of its use and draining their money on the high costs of PIM. these businesses need to understand that the world has become highly technologically driven and the ones who are adamant about not adapting to it would be left behind in the rat race.

4. FAQs

Q1. Is it difficult for non-technical users to go for PIM implementation?

The integration requires a basic understanding of the catalogue data. The implementation does not necessarily require any technical understanding as PIM is a user-friendly tool and is designed to be used with ease and with reduced technical support. PIM providers generally conduct workshops and learning sessions for the users before implementation and walk them through the software for ease of understanding.

Q2. Why do I need PIM or ERP software?

Enterprise Resource Planning software isn’t designed to take care of complex product data. It is software that deals with business processes like HR, Logistics, Supply chain and more and keeps them in sync, hence allowing cross-departmental collaborations. A PIM manages product data and syndicates it to various channels for sales and marketing purposes. The decision to choose one of them is driven by the use case. If you wish to focus on enhancing your product information to market it efficiently and get conversions, you should go for PIM. ERP is an apt choice when you need to streamline all your day-to-day business processes.

Q3. What is the cost of PIM implementation?

It depends completely on the level of other integrations required, data input and output workflows, channels, and other automation requirements. However, any PIM implementation can range from £25K to £100K based on multiple factors. PIM providers usually have a customisable cost model as not all businesses have the same requirements. Some leverage the capabilities of other modules like OMS, Analytics and so on which leads to an increased implementation cost.

Q4. How do I monitor Business progress after PIM implementation?

There are multiple tangible and Intangible KPIs that can be monitored that reflect your business progress. You can consider the following:

• Time consumption of your merchandising team in managing product data.

• Significant decrease in time to create, upload and update product data.

• Scheduling features of PIM to be ready for important sale days.

• Single point of truth for everything related to the product leading to data accuracy and consistency. Hence, less possibility of making errors.

• Limitless attribute creation and consumption of those values smartly help you enrich your product data to the next level leading to a high possibility of sales growth.

Q5. What does my Business require- On-cloud PIM or On-Premise PIM?

Most businesses go for an On-cloud PIM as it has its own benefits. It allows faster-time-to market than on-premise as the latter has to be set up with all its hardware at the physical location of the business. This also increases the cost of deployment for on-premise PIM. PIM providers have their own teams and infrastructure which reduces the cost of hiring a team for managing it. Businesses that deal with critical and highly confidential data go for an on-premise PIM as it offers better control over the data and high confidentiality. If you are a small business that wants to focus on sales and marketing rather than getting into the hassle of maintaining a team and spending a fortune to manage the tool, on-cloud PIM is the most appropriate choice for you.

Q6. What is an integrated PIM system?

An integrated Product Information Management system can seamlessly interact with essential platforms, ensuring a comprehensive, precise, and current representation of available products. From hand inventory to their completeness status for the websites and different marketplaces or sales channels. It also talks seamlessly with other IT solutions like OMS, WMS and your commerce platform when needed.

Q7. Can PIM integration increase sales?

It boosts your merchandising team to do a lot more with a good PIM system as compared to a workaround you might be using currently, which eventually will lead to growth in sales. PIM empowers businesses to push their products faster to market and enhances customer experience that leads to increased sales.

Q8. What data can a PIM system store?

As the name suggests, it has everything that a product requires. Brand, category, attributes-core and custom data. It can store images, videos, gifs, designs, and everything that can define a product. It also includes SEO information.

If defined in categories it handles product development lifecycle, pricelists, taxonomy, colours, merchandising, content enrichment, related products, bundles, media, and attributes.

Q9. How does PIM reduce Data inaccuracies and inconsistencies?

PIM has a centralised store for data where all product-related details are stored. This centralised data is used for multiple channels or marketplaces or for any other use reducing the chances of repetition and redundancy.

Its rich content creation and detailed descriptions help users minimise data errors and keep them consistent across all channels.

Q10. Do I need PIM or PxM?

In many situations, Product Experience Management (PxM) functions as a component of Product Information Management (PIM), focusing on refining the customer journey and bolstering the purchasing process through compelling product-related content. PxM fuels a buyer’s emotional connection as it allows personalisation depending upon what a business knows about a customer and his activity on the website. For example, a customer sees similar products on the website as he is frequently going through.