Product Information Management: what is PIM?
Hey there! In this article you will find an overview of the world of Product Information Management.
You’ll find out what the acronym PIM stands for, understand the meaning of the term Product Information Management, and learn about the benefits of a team adopting PIM software. Let’s get going!
Product Information Management: what is PIM?
Let’s start with the acronym: PIM stands for Product Information Management.
In IT circles, the acronym is rather well known because it denotes a widespread type of software that, as you might guess, enables the management of product information.
In addition to being an IT solution, Product Information Management is also a process, establishing the optimal flow by which companies should govern their product data.
What is meant by Product Information?
Product Information means any data useful for identifying, describing, promoting and selling an item in the company’s assortment.
This information consists of a set of attributes (common to a product category or the entire assortment) and their value (data), which varies from item to item.
In the simple example in the table above, all attributes are in common with the “Shoe” and “Jeans” categories except Fitting, which pertains only to pants.
Of course, product code, size and color are just a few examples of attributes, the number of which can range from a few dozen to several hundred, depending on aspects such as product type, geographic markets and sales channels.
The key role of product data
A product’s information is crucial to shopping, especially online.
In general, there are statistics galore attesting to the importance of product data in the e-commerce world. For example, according to research, 94% of consumers abandon a purchase because of irrelevant search results.
Product sheets with up-to-date information are crucial for an omnichannel shopping experience, because they avoid destabilizing the user when switching from one channel to another.
In addition, curated and engaging descriptions provide many other benefits: from optimal search engine placement (SEO) to consolidating brand perception in the marketplace and reducing returns and negative reviews.
Merchandise that does not conform to descriptions (and photos) is among the top causes of negative reviews in various industries, such as toys (23 percent), jewelry (17 percent), fashion and beauty (12 percent), and food (4 percent).
What does it mean to manage product information?
Having grasped the importance of product data, we must now ask what it means to manage it.
In general, all those activities aimed at ensuring that product data are integral, consistent, searchable, up-to-date and accessible on the journey from business management to sales channels, B2B or B2C, online but also offline, fall under the PIM umbrella.
A long and varied journey, which is why product data management (from English Product Information Management) is an activity to which disparate teams in the company contribute.
Who manages product information in the company?
In structured companies that also sell online, E-Commerce and Digital Managers are among the key figures in PIM Product Information Management.
Their figure, among other things, is called upon to organize product content and monitor its distribution to end channels. Product information management, however, is influenced by and impacts the operations of many other teams.
Copywriters and translators, for example, enrich product data derived from management systems such as ERP, with catchy, multilingual descriptions.
If the PIM approach is quality, it also improves the consistency and effectiveness of Marketing‘s content strategy activities, just as Sales can rely on consistent information at all times.
What a PIM software is for
The number of stakeholders and the extreme importance of product information to the market amplify the volume of activities required, elevating the teams’ dose of manual labor.
It is at this juncture that technology provides valuable support.
Sometimes labeled Product Information Manager, a PIM software addresses two of the main needs of any company: reducing manual labor and increasing sales.
How does PIM software work?
First and foremost, a Product Information Management software acts as a link between management systems and end channels such as websites, portals, e-commerce and marketplaces.
In addition to providing continuity to the information flow, a PIM centralizes data favoring searchability, transforms it on the basis of automated rules, and enables its storytelling to be enriched with descriptions, images and videos.
What benefits does PIM software provide
The introduction of a Product Information Management solution centralizes every piece of data, preventing its dispersion, loss and misalignment. In addition, a PIM cuts down on manual labor and reduces errors resulting from copy-paste typical of non-digitized environments.
No more scattered Excel spreadsheets, then, in addition to instant publication on web channels, which shortens Time to Market, the time it takes to reach users to products, campaigns or collections.