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3 Best Practices for Product Information Management
DynamicWeb
As the internet continues to evolve, B2B and B2C businesses face a myriad of eCommerce challenges. Read on to learn common issues and effective solutions.
As companies have more sales channels, websites, apps and marketplaces to sell on, Product Information Management (PIM) solutions have become a necessity for product and marketing teams to keep up with managing all their product information across these channels. While it’s not a brand new technology, it’s certainly gaining traction with predictions that the global PIM market will grow from $10 Billion in 2019 to $59 Billion in 2027.
So let’s shed some light on the best practices around PIM and the huge benefits it brings to product sellers to make their product experiences more efficient and accurate across channels.
How does a PIM work?
PIM handles all of the product details, and digital assets needed to market and sell products, whether on a website or in a print catalog. A PIM works by streamlining internal operations so that businesses can disseminate high-quality, consistent, and accurate product information to their storefronts and other stakeholders. The PIM solution is a centralized database that serves as a single source of truth for all product information, typically integrating with the ERP for core master product data, like product ID. This increase in organization minimizes errors and redundancies and creates rich, accessible, content that is optimized across every channel.
What can you use a PIM for?
In most PIM solutions, the product portfolio consists of products imported from an external system - e.g. an ERP-system like NAV, AX, or Dynamics 365. These ERPs are typically well-suited for managing business resources and commitments, but do not contain a lot of additional information about each product. Within each product’s lifecycle, there is a lot of additional information such as SKUs, UPCs, titles, descriptions, measurements, ingredients, materials, labels, categories, variations, styles sheets, assembly instructions, images, videos, SEO keywords, prices, customer reviews, mobile descriptions, channel-specific information, language translations, supplier and manufacturer content, and more.
PIM is used to manage complex product relationships and catalogs, manage high volumes of SKUs, sell products on multiple channels and platforms, collect information from various suppliers and manufacturers, provide product information to multiple teams or individuals in-house, make seasonal changes to products, and more.
PIM is essential for aligning products across all channels, reducing the time to market, reducing the time required to update and manage product content, and establishing a simple and straightforward onboarding process for products on every channel.
Best Practices for Product Information Management
Integrate Your Systems
Many companies use several systems that contain product data. These may include ERP systems, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and other systems or platforms. In order to produce a single set of truth and transition to streamlined workflows, businesses need to integrate their various systems into the PIM platform. Integration makes it easier to manage product information and distribute product information to various external channels.
Clearly Define the Roles and Responsibilities of Your Team Members
In most B2B and B2C enterprises, multiple teams interact with the product content. When marketers, managers, designers, sales representatives, and other professionals collaborate directly within the PIM system, workflows can accelerate their processes and reduce errors. Many PIM solutions allow operators to create roles and designate access levels. These access levels can include admin, read-only, product manager, or publisher, with specific permissions established as default at each level. This granular level of customized access control reduces unnecessary risks and increases the optimization of the platform.
Use PIM to Improve the Customer Experience
PIM is a critical component of CX strategies for both B2B and B2C enterprises. Amongst CEOs worldwide, 54% perceive CX as a primary competitive differentiator. By improving the accuracy, quality, and timeliness of content across platforms, PIM allows users to experience the best presentation of your products. Furthermore, the dramatic operational efficiency improvements that PIM activates allows businesses to dedicate more time and resources to cultivating client relationships and developing engagement strategies.
Try Dynamicweb PIM Today
Take control of your extensive product information with Dynamicweb’s PIM solution. Working with Dynamicweb PIM means fewer applications, integrations, and systems. It is fast and inexpensive to implement and maintain, and it comes with both frontend and backend access. The PIM backend capabilities deliver multiple benefits that include the ability to enrich and organize products and variants, validate and monitor changes with notifications and workflows, import and export product data to Microsoft Excel. The PIM front-end enables controlled access and self-service for dealers and partners, downloadable product data and digital assets in relevant formats, and deliverable feeds to multiple channels.
For a quick overview of Dynamicweb PIM, watch this 2-minute video.
To learn more or see Dynamicweb PIM in action, contact us today!