We think a Product Information Management System is a great investment for any company that deals with products and is looking to grow. However, what are the key signs that your business would benefit from a PIM solution? We explore some of them in this post.
You are expanding your product catalogue
If you are increasing the number of SKUs you have, it will become harder to manage the information and media associated with those products. Implementing a PIM system will make it easier to initially fill in the information, edit it, track completion, and distribute it to wherever it needs to go. It also allows for more accurate and up-to-date data which can in turn lead to better customer experiences and faster growth.
You are expanding to different markets or marketplaces
If you are considering selling your products to other markets internationally, or even on other websites and/or e-commerce platforms, then it is useful to have a separate central source for all of your product data. This PIM system can then tailor the data to your chosen channels. This is particularly useful if other markets require storing the data in different languages.
Your team is growing and you want to improve internal processes
The larger an organisation gets, the more likely it is to encounter problems without proper product information management processes in place. Implementing a PIM system allows the company to have a central source for product data and detailed data validation, user permissions, processes, etc. in place. This allows for much easier scaling and growth for the company.
Your customer base is growing and you want to improve customer experience
Companies who sell their products to other companies can struggle once they have a larger client base who constantly are looking for product data. It becomes repetitive and stressful to constantly ask different departments for different bits of product information and to distribute them. A PIM system will automate a lot of these processes, saving huge amounts of time and resources which can be reinvested into improving the quality of the product data.
You have multiple sources for your product data
We often see companies struggling to collate product data that comes from many different sources. Some data is generated automatically from the ERP system, some are filled in by a technical/safety department, some come from external photography partners, some copy comes from the marketing department, and so on. A PIM system allows you to consolidate all of this data into one location making it much easier to find and manage.
Your product ranges have complicated relationships
If your product catalogues have lots of related products then it may be a good idea to implement a system that can store and handle these relationships. This could be anything from parent/variant relationships to “People also bought” or “Similar products”. These types of product relationships are a great way for customers to browse your catalogues and find what they are looking for and can lead to increased sales and revenue. However, they can become complex to manage without a PIM system or if they are managed solely within an e-commerce system.