People involved in eCommerce probably never imagined in their wildest dreams the situation that was one of the side effects of the coronavirus pandemic. At a time when many industries were falling - eCommerce was going from strength to strength. Companies that placed a greater emphasis on online sales scored such large increases that today they face entirely new, often problematic situations. How to control a growing business? How to manage product information to be consistent across multiple sales channels? How to simplify and automate work in product departments? Fortunately, the answer falls under three letters - PIM. Product Information Management.
The rapid growth of eCommerce has shown how much consumer habits can change and how a properly prepared market can be more inclusive, more consistent and offer the same positive shopping experience for different audiences. This, however, requires entrepreneurs to have excellent logistics, control over various sales channels and, most importantly, product information infrastructure. Modern eCommerce is not one monolithic platform, but many smaller ones that support sales. That is why complete, coherent and attractive product information is crucial for the recipient. As the reports show - the most important is the full description, photos, and opinions from other users. This data is the most important when making purchasing decisions. If you are looking for help with product information management - take a closer look at what Product Information Management offers.
PIM - what is it?
How do you manage product information in your eCommerce? Excel? A text file? In short - rather manually? And in case of sudden changes of deliveries or parameters? Are you tediously completing all the changes, wasting precious time and resources? Product information management is a breakneck task if you rely on outdated tools. According to Ventana Research (2017), 48% of companies create new product records by relying on manual work and 38% use spreadsheets. Such work has an extremely high risk of error, which is due to poor communication, but also to human haste, fatigue, or less concentration. This is why PIM systems, which organize the process of product data management from the moment of its creation to the completion of information and its further distribution, are becoming more and more popular.
Product Information Management is a system based on a single, central database, thanks to which you can easily create, and what is most important - distribute information about your product to various channels. Such an automated, intuitive system will make it easy for any changes concerning your product to reach such places as eCommerce systems, but also mobile applications, or various product catalogs. PIM is like a centralized warehouse of product data. It also acts as a data editor for both text and image data. Moreover, thanks to it you will be able to easily manage the shopping experience of your customers, as well as the work of your team. PIM will also help you communicate with the most important parties in your eCommerce - supplier, wholesaler, or vendor. Finally - high quality Product Information Management, by organizing product information, will make it easier to support other sales channels, including offline ones. What else?
Why is it worth using PIM? And who benefits?
You already know what PIM is and how it can serve you. However, is it really worth implementing the system in your company? Won't the old methods, although a bit tedious, bring the same results? Check for yourself what you will gain by choosing Product Information Management:
- control over data about all products in eCommerce,
- consistency of information across all sales channels,
- improvement and acceleration of information flow within the company and between business partners,
- faster product launches on multiple sales channels simultaneously,
- reduction of the number of questions about the product, thus relieving the customer service department ,
- fewer returns and abandoned shopping carts,
- increased quality of purchase experience for your customers,
- valuable time - yours and your team's,
- reduced labor costs,
- elimination of errors,
- data security.
Is PIM in eCommerce a necessity today? There are no universal tools for every business, so you don't need to implement Product Information Management right away. However, this solution will certainly be beneficial for larger eCommerce companies, as well as manufacturers and distributors who work with large product catalogs. In their case, implementing a PIM system will eliminate errors and inconsistencies and speed up work. The system is also recommended to organizations focused on international expansion, where product data must be translated into many different languages, as well as companies collecting data from many different sources, or having a larger number of sales channels.
PIM - comparison of systems
There are many different PIM systems available on the market. Let's take a closer look at their capabilities. The most popular open source Product Information Management solutions include Akaneo, TreoPIM and PimCore.
Akaneo was created in France, but the company's subsidiaries are also in Germany or the USA. By choosing this system you will be dependent on several providers of PIM service. The unquestionable advantage of Akaneo is the intuitiveness of the system, thanks to which moving around the tabs is easy. In addition, managing the product catalog and entering validation rules and workflow rules for data are also simplified. Akaneo allows for data quality, completeness checks and version control. In contrast, to manage master records (MDM), digital assets (DAM), and use content syndication, you need to choose another PIM system.
Product Information Management from Treo, unlike Akaneo and PimCore, does not have an Enterprise version. Instead, it allows you to enter tags and product types and multiple catalogs. PIM from Treo also allows for advanced product segmentation and brand management. Data completeness control functionality, on the other hand, can only be achieved with the implementation of an extension.
Among the PIM systems based on open source code, PimCore offers the most possibilities. In comparisons among possible functionalities - this system comes out best. Why?
- Is easy to use and further develop,
- Has many useful modules, including API and messaging system,
- API enables connection with CRM and ERP systems,
- thanks to "Connect Anything" technology you have the possibility to integrate all kinds of data,
- the system is scalable - you can expand it without limits,
- you gain integration with Google search engine and Google Analytics.
With PimCore, product management will be intuitive due to the ability to track change history, versioning, check product status, check data completeness, enter types and tags, as well as catalog, localization, and multi-language support. In favor of this PIM system are also product categorization, the option to create links, advanced segmentation, groups and attribute types, as well as functionalities such as DAM and MDM.
PimCore is also user-friendly, thanks to its extensive interface capabilities (customizable filters, configurable layouts, or advanced filtering). This tool is ideal for integrating any amount of data - regardless of its type, as well as the industry and size of the company. However, this PIM needs to be implemented by developers who will adjust the system to your expectations and needs.
Rely on specialists for PimCore implementations
PimCore is a revolutionary solution for many companies. Such companies as Burger King, Peugeot Motorcycles or AUDI already benefit from this tool. Universal and extremely helpful system will contribute to quick and positive effects also for your eCommerce. If you are interested in implementing PimCore, please contact us! We implement complex Product Information Management and be glad to help you improve your product information management. Remember that it is the key factor that will determine whether you gain or lose a customer.
