Are you working on a project that requires the integration of a PIM? Are you wondering how to choose a PIM software package suited to your needs? The Numendo team explains everything you need to know about Product Information Management solutions!
To begin with, what is Product Information Management?
A PIM (Product Information Management) is a product information management system. It is a centralised tool that allows companies (particularly in e-commerce) to collect, organise, enrich and distribute all the data contained in their product pages. This includes marketing descriptions, product characteristics, images, videos, technical documents, packaging data or ingredients, and relationships with other products (cross-selling and upselling). This is “cold” data. Pricing and stock data is usually not held in a PIM; that is “hot” data.
As you can see, a PIM is far more than a simple database for an e-commerce catalogue. It acts as a single repository where data is stored and maintained consistently, thereby making it possible to deliver attractive product experiences more quickly and more easily.
How does a PIM work?
A PIM — or GIP in French (Gestion des Informations Produits), although the French acronym is very rarely used — works by gathering raw product data from different sources (PLM, ERP, Excel files, etc.).
Once a product has been created in the company’s information system, the PIM software structures the data and enriches it with additional information, such as translations, images or videos.
The product data repository, which constitutes a single source, is secure and accessible both internally and externally. Internal teams, external service providers and suppliers can access the information according to predefined access rights. This allows all stakeholders to work on the same version of the information, thereby encouraging smooth collaboration through automated or manual workflows.
A PIM also makes it possible to manage product variants, relationships between products (cross-selling), more complex product data models, and publication and distribution rules.
Once the data has been centralised and optimised, the PIM automatically distributes it to different sales channels: websites, marketplaces, e-commerce systems and other distribution media.
In short, a PIM solution allows you to:
- Centralise and organise your data
- Make it easier for teams to collaborate
- Adapt and distribute content across the different channels
What are the advantages of equipping yourself with a PIM?
One of the main advantages of a PIM solution lies in its ability to encourage collaboration and to prioritise product marketing enrichment work.
Indeed, a PIM makes it possible to bring users together around a single source of product data in order to carry out various tasks: creating new references and offers, completing product pages, translation, adding images and even distribution.
In terms of benefits, this translates into:
- Better access to product data, which is centralised.
- The ability to modify product information (characteristics, descriptions, media, instructions for use, etc.) directly in the PIM, without going through multiple exchanges of Excel files (time savings and a reduced margin for error thanks to the possibility of automatic checks).
- An easier translation process, by allowing smooth integration between the PIM and the translation tool, thereby ensuring that translated information in product pages is updated quickly and consistently.
- Simplified, smoother exchanges towards e-commerce sites or marketplace & retailer partners (wholesale or dropshipping) thanks to workflows and the use of predefined formats such as FAB-DIS, for example.
Who can benefit from a PIM?
As soon as your company has to manage a complex, extensive product catalogue, it can benefit from a PIM. Here are a few examples of stakeholders who can benefit from a PIM:
- Marketing teams, who have to create and manage a great deal of content for their campaigns, such as descriptions, images, videos, testimonials and so on. A PIM makes it easier to create consistent, impactful marketing content in different languages, while ensuring the accuracy of the information passed on to potential customers.
- E-commerce managers, who are looking to improve conversion rates and to keep product information up to date.
- Sales teams, who need accurate, accessible information about products.
- Consumers, who care about brand consistency and want to shop online with complete confidence.
Use case: which PIM solution should you put in place for an e-commerce business?
Imagine you run an online shop specialising in sports equipment. Your product catalogue includes thousands of different items, each with detailed descriptions and associated images. Now, how do you organise all this data effectively?
At first glance, you might think of creating an Excel file to manage this information. However, when you have thousands of rows of data, handling such a spreadsheet quickly becomes complicated. Product updates and exchanges between colleagues could soon turn into a nightmare (to put it politely).
That is where the PIM comes in! By bringing together and organising all the information within a centralised source of reference, the PIM makes it easier to update, check and distribute product information.
Before choosing a PIM, ask yourself what the specific needs of your online shop are. There are several PIM solutions on the market, each with its own features and specific characteristics. Generally speaking, a PIM should fulfil the following functions:
- Centralised management: the PIM makes it possible to centralise all product information within one single source, thereby avoiding multiple scattered files and consistency problems.
- Data structuring: the PIM offers the possibility of structuring product information clearly and in an organised way, using specific attributes tailored to the company’s needs.
- Content enrichment: thanks to the PIM, it is possible to enrich descriptions and to add images, videos and other relevant elements for each product, which improves the customer experience and boosts sales.
- Translation management: for international companies, the PIM can be integrated with translation solutions, thereby simplifying the localisation process and ensuring the consistency of information in different languages.
- Multichannel publishing: the PIM makes it easier to distribute product information across different sales channels, such as websites, 1P and 3P marketplaces, social media and so on. This makes it possible to maintain a consistent, effective presence across all channels.
In short, a good PIM software package should offer a simple, effective solution for organising and managing an e-commerce business’s product data, ensuring consistency and visibility on every sales channel.
PIM: frequently asked questions
Which PIM software should you use?
The choice of PIM software depends on each company’s specific needs. There are several PIM solutions on the market (let’s mention, for example, Quable, which is also a DAM, or YZR, a complementary tool that uses AI), each with its own features and specific characteristics. It is essential to assess a PIM software package’s features, user-friendliness, flexibility and integration capabilities before making a decision.
What is the difference between a PIM and a DAM?
Although the terms PIM (Product Information Management) and DAM (Digital Asset Management) are often linked and complementary, they refer to distinct solutions with different objectives. A PIM focuses mainly on managing product information, such as descriptions, characteristics, variants and so on. Its role is to centralise, organise, enrich and distribute this data in order to ensure its consistency and accuracy across all sales channels. A DAM, for its part, is focused on managing digital assets, such as images, videos, audio files, documents and so on. It aims to centralise and organise these digital resources in order to make them easier to store, search, share and use.
How much does a PIM cost?
The cost of a PIM can vary depending on several factors, such as the size of your company, the complexity of your product catalogue, the features required and the PIM solution you choose. There are PIM options at various price levels, ranging from free open-source solutions to customised platforms that may require a more substantial investment.
