February 11, 2020 
With customers being tech-savvy and embracing the multi-device usage approach, the eCommerce landscape has observed a significant shift. Having an eCommerce presence or a mere platform is no more enough for today’s businesses if they are eyeing to thrive rather than survive the increasing competition.
Thus, businesses are planning to sharpen their eCommerce strategy as well as streamline their eCommerce operations to cater to the surge in demand from the customers’ front. And, as we know, managing product information is a crucial factor when it comes to eCommerce platforms.
As businesses scale and roll out numerous products to the market, they would need an equally efficient platform/tool to manage product-related information. Here, having a PIM or Product Information Management system will play a pivotal role in deciding the success and ROI for a business.
A PIM goes a long way in keeping the customers engaged and encouraging them throughout the purchase journey by providing real-time product information and consistent customer experience.
Before we navigate further, let’s first understand what exactly a Product Information Management system is.
What is PIM?
With a myriad of software being introduced into the marketing landscape each day, a PIM can be easily considered one of the lots.
A Product Information Management system can be defined as a software that serves as a one-stop platform to create, manage, store, and distribute product-related information seamlessly across the various sales channels.
The software comes equipped with the requisite technologies and tools to assort and edit product content in real-time, build product catalog structures and enables cross-platform and multi-device sharing of product data.
The objective of using a PIM
Businesses irrespective of their size and dynamics would need a PIM. However, for businesses that are already riding on the growth curve, a PIM system is a must-have.
Here are some of the use case scenarios wherein a PIM system’s role is inevitable:
Centralized Product Directory
With scalability, comes the onus of managing a rather wide array of product information such as name, unique description, physical attributes, and relevant price details. It has been a crucial challenge for businesses across the globe, lately and a PIM is an absolute solution, these businesses can bank on.
A PIM system offers a platform for bulk storage and management of product-related data in a safe, secure and central place. The centralized product directory features of a PIM system will go a long way in ensuring that there are no cases of duplicate or redundant product information across the data repositories.
Time-efficient
Product Information Management systems enable eCommerce professionals with a central UI to make product-related data entry and updates. This is the perfect alternative to doing manual and multiple data entries.
With the process being simplified and somewhat automated, the people involved in this process can actually leverage this time rather productively and may concentrate on other core activities.
Omni-channel Product Information
With the introduction of advanced technologies and mobile marketing making trends, the purchase journey of today’s customers is highly evolved.
Their purchase journey is no more confined to a single device of interaction, for instance, a customer might browse through your product offerings on a desktop and might save some articles into the shopping cart, however, when it comes to purchasing, he/she might prefer the mobile device for completing the transaction.
Now, this scenario calls for an effective synchronization of product information between these devices of usage. A PIM system comes handy at this juncture as it allows the consolidation of product information in one central place.
Further, it ensures that accurate product data is being made available for the end-users in an accurate and seamless manner, resultantly improving the customer experience.
Business Benefits of PIM Systems for eCommerce Strategy
With the narrowing attention span of today’s customers, the product lifecycle is getting shorter. Customer expectations have evolved, and they are eyeing to get a holistic view of a product at one place before making the purchase decision.
Businesses might lose out on a potential customer base if their eCommerce platform does not provide complete, accurate and consistent product information on-the-go. And, this has been backed up by studies!
According to a Forrester Research study, 87% of shoppers had to leave a B2B website to conduct research on the product they intended to buy, elsewhere. And, studies also have highlighted the fact that eCommerce platforms offering a holistic and consistent view of product information stand a chance in boosting their conversions multifold.
It might seem easy to do; however, it involves a great deal of effort in streamlining the product-related content gathering, creating and enriching processes. A PIM system will prove to be beneficial by automating and streamlining these processes that in turn will reduce the time-to-market efforts at the business’s end.
If you are still not convinced regarding the significance of a PIM system, these below pointers might sway your perspective, in a good way:
- Real-time, accurate and consistent product information across multiple sales channels
- Enhances the omnichannel customer experience pertaining to product-related information
- Inter-functional and integration capabilities to improve the coordination among various stakeholders
- Faster time-to-market that will boost the sales ROI
Overall Business Benefits
Apart from the eCommerce strategy, businesses may leverage PIM systems to improve their other functional aspects as well.
The marketing team can benefit from a PIM in several ways such as with efficient internal and external collaboration opportunities, ready-to-deploy integration abilities, integrated digital asset management, as well as enhanced product experience.
The IT team can also benefit from a PIM as they can leverage seamless integration capabilities with ERP, CMS, and other eCommerce platforms in a cost-effective manner and at a lesser risk involved.
When it comes to Product Information Management systems, businesses are faced with a myriad of choices. However, if you are looking at adopting a robust and reliable solution, do get in touch with the Vinculum experts, today!
