According to studies, e-commerce operators lose roughly 24% of their patronage due to obsolete and conflicting product information. If you want to stay ahead of the curve as an online retailer, your products must carry error-free and consistent details. Thankfully, there are a number of top PIM features that can help with that.
The right PIM tool delivers impressive PIM features that can help retailers streamline how they manage product info. The right PIM solution can help you boost productivity, accuracy, and compliance across your operations.
So, exactly what is PIM?
Read on to learn about the best PIM solution, PIM pricing and some of the top PIM features to look out for when investing in a product info management system.
What Is PIM Solution
A PIM product information management solution is a tool that centralizes and maintains your product data. The PIM solution will ensure that everything is correct, consistent, and in accordance with industry standards.
There are several PIM use cases, such as managing product data, creating product catalogues, syncing info across different enterprise touchpoints, and enhancing product info accuracy and consistency.
A PIM solution has significance to e-commerce as it helps businesses manage their product information more effectively. Knowing the top PIM features to look for when choosing a PIM solution will help to reduce errors and streamline listings, which can increase client satisfaction and sales. According to one report, companies that implement and use a PIM solution see improvements of up to 25 percent.
A PIM solution can also help you make the most of your retail operations. For example, PIM syndication will make it easy to connect with your ecosystem of partners and share product info across enterprise touchpoints.
TOP PIM Feature #1: Data Validation And Enrichment
Validation and enrichment of data is a key part of any PIM solution. This top PIM feature works to automatically check, correct, and enhance product data to make sure it is accurate, complete, and consistent. This functionality in a PIM solution uses rules to check for errors, add missing info, and improve product images and descriptions.
The PIM solution can also suggest relevant attributes and descriptions based on client behavior.
There are several benefits to using this eCommerce PIM feature, such as improving data accuracy and consistency, reducing time-to-market, increasing efficiency, and enhancing the client experience. This is also one of the top PIM features that can help to reduce cart abandonment
Amazon is an example of how a PIM solution can help companies achieve info consistency. Amazon imposes strict requirements for product info and sellers can only stay updated with these guidelines using this top PIM feature.
A PIM solution centralizes product info, serving as an SSOT (single source of truth) for everything. This improved PIM data quality allows marketing teams to adapt info for each sales channel, ensuring the consistency of product info and saving time for teams.
TOP PIM Feature #2: Workflow And Collaboration Management
Another key feature of a good PIM solution is workflow and collaboration management. This top PIM feature is particularly useful for companies with many online stores and team members.
This feature in a PIM solution makes it easy to streamline workflows and collaborate with all these people—onsite or remotely.
The PIM solution also keeps a record of changes and approvals, allowing teams to track progress and ensure that product info is accurate and consistent. This top PIM feature will also enhance team productivity and speed up the product time-to-market.
Providing a central place for both internal and external teams to interface is a key example of how companies have used a PIM strategy to boost productivity.
Customers may have a query about an item on your site, because your client care team has access to all the product info via the PIM solution, they will be able to provide an answer that takes the client further down the sales funnel.
TOP PIM Feature #3: Data Governance And Compliance
One of the critical features of a reliable PIM solution is data governance and compliance. This top PIM feature allows companies to take control of their info and effectively enrich it for product pages.
Data compliance in the PIM solution means that companies have to make sure they’re keeping people’s personal info private and secure.
Here are some of the benefits of a PIM solution for info governance and compliance:
- This top PIM feature—info governance and compliance—delivers a centralized place where consistent info can be accessed by all stakeholders.
- Automated validation to ensure that the PIM solution info is accurate, complete, and conforms to info governance policies.
- Improved security to ensure that info in the PIM solution is protected from unauthorized access, modification, or deletion.
- Builds trust with customers by showing that the enterprise is following rules to keep their info safe.
- This top PIM feature allows for streamlined reporting to demonstrate conformity with info regulations.
- Efficient information management with automated features and workflows.
One of the best PIM software examples to explain info compliance is California’s Proposition 65. This proposition requires retailers to inform users of any harmful substance in their products.
A PIM solution can help automate the inclusion of regulatory labels on product descriptions, including warnings for chemicals, choking hazards, small parts, etc. By maintaining and storing these labels in one place using this top PIM functionality, companies can easily add them to product pages as attributes.
TOP PIM Feature #4: Channel-Specific Data Management (CDM)
The enterprise CDM feature of a reliable PIM solution helps online vendors tailor product info to meet the unique requirements of different sales enterprise touchpoints. This top PIM feature includes optimizing product titles, descriptions, images, and other attributes to maximize visibility and sales on each channel.
Used properly, this top PIM feature can help companies reach a wider audience, increase sales, and improve client satisfaction.
For example, a PIM system allows companies like Walmart to automate the process of developing customized sales and marketing materials like brochures, flyers, price lists, technical documents, fact sheets, and presentations. This top PIM feature enables marketing teams to design targeted campaigns for both physical and online use, providing customers with a variety of alternatives.
TOP PIM Feature #5: Localization And Translation Management
A solid PIM product enables you to share your product info internationally and customize it for regional audiences. This means that you can publish info about your products in the dialect, currency, and language that your target market chooses thanks to this top PIM feature.
A good PIM solution includes capabilities that modify the product info based on the viewer’s location. This PIM functionality will help you expand your enterprise internationally.
To illustrate, a company like Maclaren can leverage PIM for manufacturers to automatically translate baby stroller descriptions into various languages. This top PIM feature simplifies the process for global customers to access and understand product info.
TOP PIM Feature #6: Analytics And Reporting
Companies can generate real-time info in the PIM database and use it to figure out which products are doing well and which are not. This insight from the PIM solution can then be used to adjust strategy and improve overall results.
A cosmetics shop, for example, can use a PIM solution to analyze info to identify which items are popular with customers. Using this top PIM feature—in-built data analytics—in your PIM solution will also save lots of time. You no longer need to prepare reports manually. The PIM process generates them automatically, so you can focus on making decisions.
TOP PIM Feature #7: Integration And Scalability
PIM integration is another top PIM feature that helps you maintain consistent product info across systems. For e-commerce operations, this typically includes ERP, CRM, CMS, and sales enterprise touchpoints. With this top PIM feature, you won’t need to enter the same info repeatedly since it will remain the same even if it is copied into another system.
For example, if you are to launch a new product idea, you need to gather info about it like color, and pricing from different departments and put it into your ERP system.
Now, you can use a PIM service with your ERP. Using PIM sync software, SKU info will be pulled from your ERP and enriched with SEO-friendly descriptions, photos, and videos to engage customers.
Conclusion
Managing extensive and intricate product catalogs can be a challenging undertaking, but companies can overcome these difficulties by working with reliable PIM solution providers and vendors. Be sure to look out for the top PIM features covered in this article, so you can maintain a competitive edge and achieve long-term market success.
