What’s product info administration (PIM)?
Product info administration is the method of managing and enhancing the product info throughout your promoting platforms. This course of (generally known as PIM) includes all product content material and digital property, together with photographs, movies, personalization renderings, product categorization and extra.
The aim of product info administration is to enhance your promoting efficiency throughout omnichannel and multichannel touchpoints. The intention ought to be to realize this while delivering a fascinating buying expertise.
What’s a PIM system?
Product info administration might be made simpler for retailers and producers alike when utilizing a top quality PIM answer. This device successfully simplifies your information importing, dealing with and optimizing processes.
As soon as product listings are created or up to date, these adjustments are routinely synced throughout all your related market and platforms. This permits your group to not solely save huge quantities of time and useful resource on product info administration, but additionally to counterpoint the standard of your product information and drive extra gross sales in consequence. Errors might be simply recognized and corrected, whereas duplicate listings and lacking information may also be eradicated.
Why do companies want a PIM device?
Whether or not your online business is B2B or D2C, you’ve possible come to understand the significance of sustaining high quality product information – and the problem of attaining this. Lacking information, deceptive info and error-filled content material might be massively detrimental to your gross sales. These points might be the deciding consider a lack of sale or a product return.
In reality, 88% of American corporations are anticipated to have been affected by dangerous information high quality, with the common firm shedding round 12% of its income. On high of this, IBM have estimated a lack of $3.1 trillion annually for the US economic system in consequence.
Thankfully, there’s a solution to mitigate this and guarantee your online business doesn’t turn into simply one other statistic. Using a PIM answer resembling Gross sales Layer will help you to optimize your processes, streamline your departments and guarantee a massively improved product expertise on your prospects.
Listed below are just some methods this may be achieved:
Diminished Information Entry
In case your group is at the moment counting on spreadsheets and a number of techniques with which to handle product information, there’s a enormous probability that point and useful resource is being wasted. With a PIM in place, you possibly can take away the necessity to manually enter product information throughout every channel, and you’ll set up a complicated product taxonomy.
Catalog and stock information monitoring in real-time
By performing as a centralized system, your PIM can sync your product information, each for digital and print catalogs, throughout your ecommerce platforms and channels. This ensures high quality and correct information is being offered to your on-line patrons at each touchpoint and stage of the shopping for course of.
You possibly can monitor product information throughout your catalogs, stock, and provide chain information in real-time, simply figuring out any errors or lacking information fields. You possibly can then make any vital adjustments and feed this new product info throughout channels routinely, within the appropriate format and in real-time, by use of an API.
Centralized database
As an alternative of internet hosting your product info in scattered repositories, a PIM platform can be utilized as your single supply of fact. This manner, you possibly can make certain that all your related gross sales channels are presenting the proper product info. As well as, any info sourced by your group throughout completely different departments will even be constant.
This centralization additionally empowers you to translate catalog contents into a number of languages and localize your information to match worldwide requirements and market norms.
Scalability
To fulfill buyer expectations and higher the consumer expertise, your digital shelf wants extra info than only a copy-and-pasted product description. Apart from a bespoke description, you’ll additionally have to enter the next for every product itemizing:
- Product specs
- SKU numbers
- Weight and different measurements
- Photos
- Movies
- USPs
- Info of post-purchase assist
Accumulating all of this information from stakeholders throughout your group or from third events might be an exhausting course of. That is made all of the extra laborious by outdated spreadsheets, information errors or lacking fields and communication points throughout departments. On high of this, the problem exists for each your present merchandise and for any new product traces or manufacturers you wish to launch.
With a PIM system, you possibly can simplify the whole course of and add your complete present product database. Our fast onboarding course of will allow you to centralize and optimize your product catalogs very quickly in any respect. Plus, while you’re able to scale and launch new merchandise, we will help you scale at whichever tempo you want.
Which product information must be managed in a PIM system?
With a PIM, you possibly can enter, enrich and synchronize a variety of product information, not restricted to:
Technical information
This consists of info resembling measurement, weight, colour, dimensions and different technical specs. By offering a complete view of the technical facets of every product, you possibly can present a greater product expertise and scale back the probability of a product return.
Beneath is an instance of an IKEA itemizing for a Hauga Upholstered mattress body.
As you possibly can see from the picture above, this finest follow technical information consists of all the required specs. This helps to coach potential patrons in regards to the top quality of the product marketed, and set up the purchasers’ expectations in consequence.
Utilization information
The primary goal of utilization information is solely to explain how customers ought to use your product. This will embrace suggesting main and extra use instances to assist the client perceive the total capabilities of the product and guarantee the next diploma of buyer satisfaction.
With the identical instance, of IKEA’s Hauga upholstered mattress body, we will word the implementation of utilization information in a product itemizing. Whereas it’s very apparent {that a} mattress body’s fundamental utilization is to boost the mattress above the ground, IKEA additionally suggests varied different use instances. These embrace leaning towards the gentle, padded headboard whereas studying or watching TV in mattress and storing further quilts and pillows beneath the mattress.
This information could, once more, appear to level out apparent options for many mattress frames. Nevertheless, they assist to offer an extra incentive for patrons to buy the merchandise.
Emotional information
This information intends to create a deeper tie between the product and potential purchaser by way of use of emotive language.
The IKEA mattress body is but once more a powerful instance of emotive language getting used to extend the probability of a sale.
When used successfully, phrases resembling “heat and softness” can be utilized to raise a product’s place within the eyes of the client.
How can Gross sales Layer’s PIM assist your online business?
At this level it goes with out saying {that a} PIM answer is totally indispensable for each retailers and producers. By collating and managing your product info with Gross sales Layer’s PIM device, you possibly can improve productiveness, scale your online business and save money and time throughout your group.
Our global-leading PIM answer is suited to corporations of all sizes, enabling you to handle and enrich thousands and thousands of product information fields and hundreds of product classes throughout a number of manufacturers.
With Gross sales Layer’s PIM, you can even:
- Combine any information supply (spreadsheets, ERP techniques, or others).
- Optimize your product content material for search engine optimisation and analyze information high quality.
- Automate the creation and updating of product content material to any gross sales channel, platform or market in real-time.
Get began with a free trial for 30 days and learn the way Gross sales Layer can prevent money and time, optimize your processes and assist take your online business to the following stage.
