Congratulations, you have a growing online store! Important numbers - visitors, sales - are growing! But wait a second, other numbers seem to be going up too ... cart abandonment? Customer complaints? Returns? And why are conversions going down? This is bad ... what's going on here?
There may be a problem with the quality of your product information and it's time to invest in a system that can help you deal with the complexity of product information. We call this PIM, short for Product Information Management.
In this article, we will look at some common issues that may indicate the need for PIM. But before we start, we need to explain what PIM is and what is not.
PIM is not only software
First, PIM is not just software. Product information management is much broader and includes policies, processes, documentation, reporting, and yes, technology, all combined to create a centralized ecosystem of product content designed for speed, efficiency, scalability, and crucially, the ability to serve product data across several subsequent systems.
In short, PIM enables and simplifies multi-channel commerce.
Any company selling products deals with product descriptions. Whether collected from suppliers or produced in-house, printed in a catalog, or published online, content is a critical marketing component.
Since the addition of products and categories is gradual, most online sellers don't feel too much trouble when starting out with a small assortment of products. Content management is simple at first, and it lulls team members into a false sense of security, leading to bad habits (read: Excel). However, problems become apparent when they try to scale up or perform large-scale data migrations.
We usually think of product information as anything a customer can see and interact with within a digital channel - images, videos, descriptions, attributes, features and benefits, PDFs, and more. All of these elements are associated with product master data - information needed to buy and sell that product, including brand, UPC, SKU number, assigned category, vendor information, etc.
Here is a list of 3 issues that suggest it is time to invest in PIM.
Problem # 1: Data management is a headache
Selling in a traditional retail or B2B environment means that product information must be created, modified and stored for later publication. Most often, this requires that we collect at least basic product information from suppliers, manipulate it in a format that is convenient for you, and then forward it to sales channels for publication.
Probably the most obvious internal sign that you need PIM is that these processes represent increasing costs within your organization.
Product information is needed everywhere, and if there is no single source of that data, it leads to chaos and inefficiency. The costs of product information management become apparent when different departments within the same company have their own sources of product descriptions, and there is little coordination between them to agree on which one is correct.
The lack of a data management policy exacerbates these headaches. Who is responsible and for what exactly when downloading product information from a supplier? Who can change this information? How do we know what has been updated? Where are the bottlenecks in this process? Why can't management get a clear view of the process of introducing new products and products from suppliers?
These challenges are further exacerbated when working with distributed teams, third-party content providers, and the constant push to add new categories, new products, and new channels, which is common in a growing digital organization.
So what is at the root of these headaches? There is no single source of truth. That is, there is no system that contains the latest, most complete and accurate version of information about a product and associated assets that can be confidently published and distributed through various channels.
Problem # 2: Lack of flexibility and long processing times
A direct consequence of weak data management processes is inefficiency when you need to use your product data for a specific purpose, for example, to enter a new channel.
Take a look at this example:
Companies A and B want to start selling on a marketplace, which requires setting up a data exchange containing brand, model number, product name, images, taxonomy, etc. Both companies are growing, making money, selling a similar range, and have a similar number of products.
But Company A, which considers itself lean and uses its own manual processes to manage product data, relies heavily on a few key people within the company who have created their own customized Excel-based processes to collect and process product information.
Company B, on the other hand, has invested in PIM and has strict control over the collection, enrichment, storage, and publication of product data.
How are these two companies doing when it comes time to offload data for the marketplace?
Company A
- Ivan from Internet Sales and his colleagues manage product information using manual processes, including email and spreadsheets, and go out of their way to get content into the ERP and / or online store platform.
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- Need an updated file? Run the finished export again or create an automatic export process that will fire at the right time.
This hypothetical situation is intended to illustrate an important point. As your product catalog grows, content can become cumbersome, and at some point, using manual manipulation of product data using manual processes becomes a burden on your company. Not only are these processes slow and inefficient, but the lack of documented, trainable, and repeatable data management processes puts your company at immense risk if key people leave.
Problem # 3: Poor customer experience in online channels
Some companies consider all of the above risks to be acceptable if the end result is the same. That is, they believe that content posted to their digital sales channels through ugly manual processes is no worse than content created by the organization that invested in PIM.
And they are wrong. The reason is simple: PIM delivers superior product data quality, leading to a better customer experience.
Consider the following examples:
Consistency in product data
Well-defined quality requirements for a category in PIM allow you to see which products need additional enrichment in order to meet minimum quality and completeness standards. When all products in a given category are filled to 100%, the customer is able to view the products in this category in a uniform way, viewing the images, descriptions and attributes necessary to make a purchase decision.
Filters and product comparison
Consistency also means customers using parametric filters on your websites get accurate results. How many times have you seen the same attribute value represented in different ways? One centimeter, 1 centimeter, 1 cm is the same value, but your platform does not know this if you do not use data types and units of measurement, and this is the main feature of PIM systems (and a great example of the fact that Excel does not enough). Product comparison capabilities depend on clean, normalized data.
Time to market
For most companies, the ability to respond quickly to market demand is an essential component of sales success. Customers want the latest products, the latest categories, and the most timely promotions. PIM helps simplify product data processing, which means your product goes on sale faster.
Various categories
Different customers have different needs, and a good salesperson will find several ways to sell the same product. Consider an office furniture retailer who may sell tables, chairs, and filing cabinets. Products will be categorized under their main category (eg Tables), but can also be grouped by collection, brand, or style, each of which is a separate category in the taxonomy. Companies adopting alternative taxonomies are seeing significant sales growth, but process support adds complexity that is best managed in a centralized system.
Repeat, additional sales and product bundles
Product-to-product relationships (such as their interchangeability), product to category, and category to category provide an intuitive shopping experience that can increase Average Order Value (AOV) and Customer Lifetime Value (LTVC). These links must be entered into PIM for maximum efficiency.
Search on site
Companies using site search engines just need to have great data, otherwise site searches will be cumbersome and useless. It was noted that companies that have implemented good site search converts 400% more than those who do not. Load clean, normalized data from PIM into your search and watch your sales grow!
Translations into foreign languages
A simple and effective method for creating and managing translations of product information into foreign languages is essential when entering international markets. PIM can facilitate this process by providing the necessary processes for creating, viewing and publishing your content in a foreign language.
Warning: PIM is not a silver bullet
I would like to end this article with a reminder of where we started: PIM is not just software. Thus, companies buying a PIM system should not expect to be able to take full advantage of PIM without putting in the effort required to use its core functionality.
Without policies and controls regarding product information, a PIM system will simply become an expensive new repository for the same bad data.
Companies planning to implement PIM in their e-commerce stack should create a system implementation plan that will involve both business and IT. At a minimum, they should consider the following questions:
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The answers to these questions are very important for the effective implementation and use of the PIM system.
With a PIM system running smoothly, a company is rewarded with efficiency and scalability in delivering content across channels that depend on the quality of product information, and can focus on optimizing the user experience for increased sales and profitability.