In the consumer goods industry, product information management (PIM) has become an essential tool for managing and distributing product data efficiently. PIM software enables brands, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to handle the complexity of product data and digital assets in a centralized platform. This blog will explore what PIM is, why it's so necessary for the Consumer Products industry, and how it can benefit businesses that sell online.
What is PIM?
Product Information Management (PIM) solutions are designed to manage the data required for the marketing and sale of products. It enables businesses to handle product data and digital assets in a centralized platform, which becomes the single source of truth. This provides a consistent and accurate view of product data, helping businesses to streamline their processes and improve their time-to-market.
A PIM solution collates product information from multiple internal and external data sources such as an ERP, PLM, or supplier feeds, enabling Consumer Product companies to efficiently manage data structures and product relationships.
Why use a PIM solution?
PIM is essential for Consumer Product companies that sell online, especially those that import data and assets from multiple disparate systems in varied formats. It's common for these companies to identify discrepancies, errors, or contradictions in product data and documents, and frequently need to make changes to product data.
A PIM solution is also beneficial for businesses that deal with a wide variety of product relationships, sell to marketplaces with specific data requirements/formats, need to provide different layers of product data detail to customers, partners, and internal teams, distribute product information to multiple sales channels and/or geographies, and need to maintain data consistency for regulatory purposes.
Efficient data onboarding and powerful automation enable businesses to speed up time to market, gain vital extra selling days, and stay ahead of their competition. Streamlined processes make it easy to create new product categories, marketplaces, and territories, allowing businesses to quickly react to the latest trends and drive more demand with super relevant search terms to boost their SEO performance. PIM also enables businesses to tap into new opportunities such as dropshipping or long-tailing to further boost revenues.
Personalization is becoming increasingly important for businesses that sell online, and PIM enables businesses to improve conversion rates and boost average order values (AOV) with "shop the look" options and intelligent product recommendations. Businesses can give customers total confidence in their buying decisions with rich, accurate, and up-to-date product information that delivers better conversion rates. This, in turn, increases customer lifetime value (CLV), with returning shoppers being more likely to leave positive product reviews, recommend the products, and eventually become brand advocates.
What are the key capabilities of a PIM solution?
So, you want to make sure your products look amazing across all channels, from website to sales reps tablets. Enter PIM, the solution to your product information management woes. But what exactly can PIM do for you? Here are the top five capabilities of a PIM solution that can help streamline your product information and take your business to the next level.
Centralized Product Information Management: A single source of truth for all product information
Digital Asset Management: The ability to manage and distribute product images, videos, and other digital assets
Data Governance: Tools and processes to ensure data quality, consistency, and accuracy
Workflow and Collaboration: The ability to manage and automate product-related workflows and collaborate with internal and external teams
Channel Syndication: The ability to distribute product information to multiple sales channels, marketplaces, and geographies
PIM can be a vital tool for businesses in the consumer goods industry that sell online. It enables businesses to manage their product data and digital assets in a centralized platform, providing a consistent and accurate view of product data that streamlines processes, improves time-to-market, and drives revenue growth.
By using Aforza's industry-leading PIM solution, our customers can stay ahead of their competition, tap into new opportunities, and deliver exceptional personalized user experience, increasing conversion rates and customer lifetime value.