In the current digital world that is competitive like never before, enterprises have realized the limitless power of data and information. They have begun paying attention to the way they present product information to users. Huge investments have been made toward product information management (PIM) systems to manage and share marketing and business information efficiently. For the uninitiated, PIM or product information management refers to centralized information management of all of the company’s products—not just physical retail products, but virtual products too such as insurance policies and software licenses.

Maintaining product information is a real challenge

Why is PIM complex? As opposed to simple text information that was associated with products a few years ago, today, there is an array of related digital assets in the form of images and videos, technical specifications and warranty documents, customer reviews and feedback, etc. There is a huge amount of information on a single product and maintaining the large number of complex product attributes and relationships between products can be tough if businesses do not have a strong PIM strategy. There are other complexities too.

1. Changing business models: Around 20 years ago, customers had to visit brick-and-mortar stores to buy whatever they needed. But today, the business landscape has changed. Trends have reversed and businesses have started reaching out to customers. Those that are sticking on to the traditional outdated methods of selling are getting wiped out. Hence, enterprises need to adapt themselves to novel ways of selling. The increasing prominence of multi-channel and omnichannel presence is making the centralized management of product information important.
2. Consistency in product information across channels: Let’s admit it! Lack of centralization and a single source of truth for product information is a challenge. Consistency in information across mobile applications, websites, campaigns, etc. is becoming a key success factor. In a scenario where businesses are finding PIM itself highly complex, maintaining content uniformity with respect to context as well as branding is not easy. Consider an e-commerce website where a business sells products from over a thousand sellers. Is it possible to maintain information consistency across all the huge catalogs of products ranging in hundreds of thousands? Efficient PIM—with a strategy for having centralized product information to facilitate information delivery across all channels—provides the answer here.
3. Up-to-date product information delivery across channels at the right time: It is not only consistency but also the accuracy of product information that matters. Customers should be able to easily access the right information at the right time in the right content format across devices and channels to convert clicks into real purchases. Traditional PIM systems that don’t support data integration or information delivery in varied digital formats compromise on the customer experience, ultimately impacting businesses adversely.
4. Outdated legacy PIM systems: Since long, SAP, CRM systems and various other systems and applications have been helping enterprises manage product information. Unfortunately, many of these PIM systems are difficult to customize and they fail to adapt to changing business needs. The kind of information enterprises need these days has changed, but the traditional systems refuse to adapt to the new market scenarios.

As enterprises have invested heavily in their existing systems, switching to a new system every time requirements change is not the solution. A PIM system that can be easily tailored to business needs and one that can smoothly integrate with different existing systems is the need of the hour. Such a system should allow enterprises to add new product information, consolidate product data from diverse sources, enrich that product information, and deliver it across multiple channels—websites, enterprise partners, stores, customers, etc.

What should your 2020 PIM strategy focus on?

Enterprises should chalk out their 2020 strategy in line with the current PIM trends.

1. Omnichannel presence: If we go back a decade ago, when a customer visited a store, he/she depended on the store manager or salesperson to get product information. Today, users have more information about competitor products that are running in the market. To survive in the market, product owners or enterprises should be fully aware of their product information and they should be able to present that information in an easily consumable manner.

Users in the current digital era are information-savvy and enterprises are approaching them from all channels. Having just a website or store is not sufficient anymore. At the same time, information across all channels should be consistent and up to date. Customers should be able to: get required information effortlessly, search for what they need, understand how products compare with competitor products, gauge customer feedback on the product, etc.

2. The rise of open-source systems: With inflexible proprietary systems, enterprises are forced to adapt the business to the software. In such instances, product information is not and cannot be presented in a desirable format. Then, there’s the pressure to reduce costs due to tough competition. These challenges are making open-source systems extremely popular due to their favorable software cost, adaptability, customizability, and flexibility.

It is also true that businesses do not want to make huge upfront investments on PIM systems. Instead, they prefer investing in a system that will scale up as the business grows. Open-source systems allow rapid scale-up and system updates as per market needs.

3. Extensive use of the Cloud: The Cloud is gaining popularity due to the scalability of cloud platforms. Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Azure are some of the top cloud service providers. Enterprises are constantly looking for platforms that can be deployed in various scenarios—in the Cloud or on-premise. Deploying PIM systems on the Cloud allows enterprises to enjoy benefits of the Cloud, minus huge investments at the beginning itself. However, they should make sure to not restrict themselves to a single environment or cloud provider.
4. Integration with other products: Product information cannot be managed in isolation. It will need easy integration with other new and existing systems without major changes. Users should be able to consume product information from different systems without difficulty. Businesses should be able to enrich their product information, and once the information is enriched, they should be able to publish that information or share it with different partners or channels.
5. Customer-segmentation-based content personalization: Customer segmentation based on subtle as well as direct behavioral traits in real-time can help a great deal in delivering the right information to the right target segment. A robust PIM system will be able to execute automated rule-based actions connected to specific customer segments, personalizing and delivering a seamless transaction experience. Enterprises should consider a system that can manage and deliver digital data tailored to the unique interests of their target audience segments.
6. Digital asset management: Product information is not limited to text alone. It could include media assets such as images, videos, and documents containing technical specifications, warranty information, and more. That makes effective digital asset management (DAM) important for successful product information management. DAM is challenging on its own, and add to that the integration with product information! Enterprises should be able to relate their digital assets with their product information. Pimcore, with product information management and digital asset management in the same system, shines here!

Pimcore – The ideal PIM solution!

The Pimcore platform eliminates the need for integration between PIM and DAM systems. Different devices and channels need media in different formats, and Pimcore allows having multiple images and videos of products in multiple formats. An image that may look perfect on the desktop may not look equally good on a mobile device due to image dimensions, resolution, etc. Pimcore allows conversion of such media files into different formats based on the channels that the business is targeting. That’s not all! Once product information and digital assets are ready, Pimcore’s content management system (CMS) empowers enterprises with the required tools to set up their own product information, develop an e-commerce website or catalog, and present product information through different channels.

Pimcore also provides a robust customer data platform that handles customer experience management. Enterprises can track customer behavior on the website, present content, define customer segments, and target them with tailored content based on demographics, region, etc. Based on customer behavior and past purchases, Pimcore offers recommendations, enhancing click-to-conversion rates.

Pimcore happens to be one of the most cost-effective options with product information management, digital asset management, customer data management, enterprise content management and an e-commerce platform—all in one solution. Enterprises can deploy the 100% open-source PIM platform without any subscription or licensing costs. It is completely modular, flexible, and service-oriented. All that enterprises need to invest in is the implementation and support. Pimcore can be customized with ease, letting enterprises add new features if required—based on business needs. The PIM solution can be set up on any platform—on the Cloud or on-premise.

A Zion Market Research report highlights that the global PIM market that was approximately USD 8125 million in 2018 is expected to grow to ~USD 61263 million by 2027. Enterprises that are looking for seamless content management to bring about: systematic processes across the business, smoother and faster production, accelerated lead generation, and a greater click-to-conversion rate need to act now. It is time for them to come up with a strong strategy for 2020 and invest in a scalable, flexible and customizable PIM system to thrive and stay relevant.

Read complete blog