Product Information Management System: What is it and why is it important?

What is PIM?

Today, various e-commerce sites, other online channels, and mobile search are the places consumers go when looking for product information. According to Retail Dive, more than 65% of consumers conduct product research online before setting foot in a store. More than 55% of consumers visit stores before shopping online, underscoring the idea that high-touch physical and seamless omnichannel experiences are critical to modern retail. As a result of changes in consumer behaviors and the increasing demand for seamless shopping experiences, companies have begun to use digital marketing strategies extensively.

With the increasing use of digital, it has become important for all businesses to communicate consistent brand and accurate product information across the omnichannel landscape. Therefore, a product information management system is required to overcome the complexity and scale created by various offline and online channels.

PIM is widely used by e-commerce managers, online merchants, sellers and product managers who are always looking for more user-friendly tools that allow them to manage all their product information in one place without having to constantly ask colleagues and partners for information. through emails and calls. .

Why is PIM important?

The product information management system is necessary to manage the customer-oriented product strategy. This is because consumers today spend a lot of time researching a product online before making a purchase. Consequently, the need for high-quality product content has become more important for manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and CPG companies. The product description nowadays has an important role to play for an online sale to happen.

In fact, retailers now prioritize improving online content over a variety of other merchandising ventures, such as product recommendation, A/B testing, and personalization. Here are the two main reasons why this is so:

• Having detailed product descriptions is the main differentiator in the customer experience. Studies have shown that 30% of online adults in the US would prefer to shop at online stores they have never purchased from if the product information on the website is detailed.
• There is a new generation of buyers due to the increased demand for consistent, high-quality product information. As a result, 33% of e-business and channel strategy professionals cited investing in a product information management system as their top priority.

Why do companies invest in PIM?

The decision to buy a PIM solution is not the same for everyone. The needs of retailers differ by industry and type of business. There are many scenarios that cause customer-obsessed companies to invest in PIM. The main scenarios are shown below.

• The need to have a single view of customer-facing product data. Companies that create their own products have used product information management systems since time immemorial to obtain buy-side supply chain-related data, such as product weight and dimensions. These companies also need the PIM for a repository for trusted, approved, consumer-ready product content that is accessible throughout their company to internal users and is also accessible to external channel partners such as resellers and retail distributors.
• Reduce the time needed to market the new products that have been launched. Manual processes make it difficult to simplify things like design, create, publish, and approve. The PIM helps to automate most of the processes necessary in the creation of products.
• To be able to support larger product catalogs. PIM offers scalable solutions that allow companies to grow their SKUs and products without worrying about system scalability.
• To support the increasingly demanding channels of distribution partners. PIM provides the ability to manage unique product content for each channel partner and the necessary tools to syndicate product content to the required predefined specifications.
• To ensure a consistent customer experience across all channels.