How PIM Systems Helps Companies to Provide Business Value?  

PIM

An organization having a product-based business should focus primarily on developing its products. These organizations should be able to present their products to their customers in the best possible manner to attract more and more publicity. The Product Information Management (PIM) system allows the organization for managing the entire product-related data efficiently.

This PIM system plays a very important role for all the members who are part of the product supply chain. This software system is beneficial to different members like the sellers, retailers, wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, etc. The use of this PIM software makes several product data-related tasks easier and faster.

The PIM system enables a centralized source for all the product information from different departments. All the members of the supply chain including the providers and representatives can access this data with ease. The PIM allows displaying the catalog with correct product details through different channels.

The customers check these details and are prompted to purchase the product.

What is a Product Information System (PIM)?

Product Information Management System (PIM) is a tool that gathers & stores data in a centralized location from various channels and manipulates before distributing them for the improvement of product sales.

Companies across the globe prefer the PIM tool for managing complex data and collecting data from multiple sources for manipulation. After manipulation, the optimized data is distributed to promote sales and improve customer satisfaction.

Key benefits of using the PIM system

Implementing a modern and user-friendly PIM solution for your business will streamline your business data & product data management along with easy integration among multiple systems. However, when it comes to handling data across multiple channels, PIM solutions offer amazing benefits.

• Single Source of Truth
• Quick distribution of optimized data
• High data accuracy
• Highly optimized content to boost product sales
• Increases customer loyalty
• Satisfies all level customers

When Your Company/Organization Needs a PIM System?

Managing the product details on the digital platform over the different channels becomes easier by using the PIM system. This also allows the organization to address the issues on an urgent basis. This timely management of the data encourages the growth of the business. This allows the organization to appropriate management of their time and resources.

1. Improving omnichannel strategy

PIM acts as an omnichannel solution for the companies allowing them for optimized sales and marketing of their product. This channel helps in creating a synchronized, secured, and trustworthy content network. This omnichannel strategy enables the organization to provide their product details to their customers through online marketplaces, purchases on social networks, eCommerce stores, digital catalogs, etc.

2. Expanding or Refreshing Catalog

Expanding the products list is possible by launching more new products in the catalog. This inclusion of new products means the need for updating the larger information like images, descriptions, product details, metric systems, currencies, etc. Increasing the products makes data management complex. The use of the PIM system makes this expansion process easier and ensures the incorporation of correct details.

3. Changing Digital Management Platform 

Changing the eCommerce platform from one to the other includes transporting even all the product-related files. These include different files like images, spreadsheets, videos, etc., and transferring these files may become tedious. PIM system due to its centralized information storage of all the product, catalog, and company details makes this transfer faster and easier.

4. Looks to Improve Customer’s Shopping Experience 

For increasing the online business it is important to keep their customers satisfied and attract them to the products of their requirements. The use of an adequate search engine will help in identifying and highlighting the product. This will allow them to obtain a better position in the market and provide the best recommendations to their customers. This will help in increasing the sales of their product by giving accurate product information.

5. Looks to Strengthening Brand Image

Considering the increasing competition in the market, an organization needs to ensure providing quality data related to the different products to their customers. Using the PIM system will help in the better compilation of data to improve impression for potential buyers. PIM system ensures greater control over the quality of content that is shared with the customers through the different channels. These details will allow the product to stand ahead in this competitive market.

Business Benefits Offered By PIM Solution:

PIM system allows the organization to develop the product information and make it available to the different teams that are involved in the supply chain. This system benefits the different departments in the organization.

1. Who needs Product Information Management?

The PIM system allows in providing a single reliable source of true product data. It enables circulating true data across the different channels to meet the demands of their customers. The different members that need this PIM include the product owners, manufacturers, category managers, IT department, business development, distributors, retailers, etc. The PIM system allows the different departments in the organization and the teams involved in the product supply chain to work in unison for the development of the product.

2. Benefits Offered by PIM To E-commerce Team:

The task of the e-Commerce team is challenging as they need to keep their customers engaged. As the competition in the market increases, this eCommerce team needs to keep the product details updated. They provide consistent and extensive product details to the customers through different sales channels. They help in providing a better product experience. This eCommerce is beneficial for providing faster time-to-market for the products.

3. Benefits Offered by PIM To Marketing Team:

The different benefits gained by the marketing team by using the PIM system include efficient external and internal collaborative work. It allows combining the ready-to-use integration with different platforms. It improves the product experience through different sales channels. It allows integrated digital asset management. Using this PIM system, the marketing team helps in developing the fast-growing marketplace for the product using different smart marketing tools.

4. Benefits Offered by PIM To IT Department:

A properly implemented PIM system helps the IT department of the organization by reducing the various risks and costs. Having centralized data management allows the involvement of lesser IT systems. It ensures scalability for growing the business. It allows seamless integration with different eCommerce platforms. It helps in providing an automated process for exchanging vast product information through different channels.

The PIM software plays a very important role for an organization as it allows managing, enriching, and providing product information to all the essential members involved in the product supply chain.

This makes all the processes related to product and catalog information easily available to all. The management and updating of these details become easy due to the centralized storage of data.

How To Select the Right PIM System?

Selecting the right PIM system is important for availing all benefits. However, if you are a beginner then picking the right PIM system for your business or organization could be overwhelming. Here we have provided what you should do to get rid of those overwhelming thoughts while choosing the right PIM and to pick the right PIM solution. All you need is to find appropriate answers to the below-given questions.

1. Who’s Going to Use The PIM Tool?

When it comes to PIM selection, the first and foremost thing you should figure out is who is going to use the PIM system based on the users, you can decide what kind of features that your PIM system should include.

Take a look at how to determine a PIM tool based on who going to use

• Number of Users: Determining the number of users who go to use the PIM tool could be the crucial factor in making the final decision of choosing a PIM system. Always consider how many users you can add to a PIM tool and how many users you can able to add in upcoming years based on your business growth.
• Types of Users: PIM is a kind of tool in which different types of users may interact like manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, managers, and so. Your selected PIM should have the option to restrict user’s permission based on their role.
• Users Skillset: PIM tool selection should be done based on how much skill does it required for a user to handle it effectively. By doing so, you need to up-skill your PIM users to handle PIM effectively by providing hours of training. So the learning curve of a PIM solution needs to be considered before selection.

2. What Kind of Data Management Functionality Do You Need?

Well, this section will elaborate you what kind of functions (both must-have and nice-to-have) does your PIM tool needs to provide.

• Data On-boarding: PIM tool with centralized onboarding features will ease the processing of onboarding data. Also, it would be nice to have a PIM tool that comes with automating regulatory processes.
• Data Quality Control: The kind of data quality and data management service offered by a PIM solution plays a key role in making the final purchase decision of a PIM system.
• Integrations: In general, a PIM system acts as a central hub for product data. Apart from that, it should have the ability to gather and distribute data across multiple sales channels.

3. What Challenges You Face on Data Distribution?

This section will illustrate how different businesses face different challenges when it comes to distributing data across multiple channels.

• Multi-language Support: Managing product data in multiple languages is the toughest for a PIM system. Choose a PIM system that can support multiple languages if your business deals with an overseas market.
• Automated Distribution: Picking a PIM system with the capability of doing automated data distribution is essential if your business has a vast amount of products.

4. What Kind of Maintenance Does a PIM Solution Require?

In general, businesses across the globe prefer PIM solutions that will long last. So, it is wise to pick the one that has minimum issues when it comes to maintenance and scalability.

• Maintenance: When it comes to maintenance mostly will be on handling bugs, upgrading, and receiving essential support from the makers. So, while picking a PIM system, consider how much you need to pay for up-gradation and make sure it offers any custom features in the future.
• Scalability: Scalability is one of the important features you need to consider if you are thinking about using a PIM system for years. PIM scalability makes things easier for you to handle your business by avoiding those hassles which you may face down the years once your business starts experiencing growth.

Criteria for picking the right PIM system gets differ from business to business. So, make sure you pick the one that your business wants most. Having the right set of answers to the above-listed questionnaires will pick the right PIM vendors and do a comparison between PIM tools effectively.

What Set of Features to Look at Before Finalizing a PIM System?

Most business people believe features like working with multiple platforms to gather and to deliver accurate data in time is enough to finalize a Product Information Management Solutions but they need to be aware that there is more to look at.

Here we have listed all those features one should look at before finalizing a right PIM tool

• A PIM System should provide centralized data management
• A PIM system should be highly configurable
• Flexibility is one of the essential features of a PIM tool
• Easy to manage, maintain, and transfer the product data
• Should manage all those business communications including purchasing data efficiently

Different PIM tools offer a different set of features by setting different price tags based on the set of features. All you need is to pick the right PIM tool that offers the right set of features your business is looking for.

Bottom Line:

Smart use of PIM solutions allows the organization for managing the growing product information with the growth in the business. Providing an accurate and updated product to the customers helps in gaining their trust thus boosting business.

PIM allows the organization to provide product details to all the customers through different channels. This will help in retaining the customers and attracting new ones leading to enhancement in the business.