PIM, what is it and why do you need it?

What is PIM? What is PIM used for? What are the advantages of PIM? Do I need a PIM? These are some of the most common questions we get in connection with PIM. Any company that sells products can use a PIM system and benefit from it. Do you still have no idea what a PIM is and what the benefits are? Then be sure to read the article below where we answer all your questions.

At PHPro, we ourselves always recommend Akeneo as an Open Source PIM system.

A  PIM or Product Information Management systeem is a tool you use to collect, manage and enrich all product information in a central location.

This ensures that changes or additions to a product catalog are done through the same tool. The PIM system is also connected to your various sales platforms so they are all automatically updated when you make changes to the PIM system.

As a result, your sales platforms are all consistent and there are no differences in price or description on your different platforms.

A PIM system will be able to track all information about your products. Some typical examples include:

• Product specifications
• Product description
• Price
• Related products
• Product images
• Translations
• ...

CENTRALIZE PRODUCT INFO

So a PIM system is primarily used to keep product information centralized. It is therefore easy to import information from suppliers and export your product information to your sales platforms.

CHANGE AND ENRICH DATA

However, it is also possible to apply data enrichment. That is, you can change or add fields to your products. The PIM system can also indicate whether all recommended and necessary fields have been completed for your products.

TRANSLATIONS

In addition, you can also add and track translations of your products. Of course, this is not interesting for everyone because not everyone sells products in different languages. When you do, this is a very useful functionality.

Finally, a PIM system is also useful for companies that do not do e-commerce. For example, a company can also create catalogs with the images and information contained in the system.

1. BETTER PRODUCT INFORMATION

Because all product information is kept in the same place, it can also be checked and updated more easily. By checking your product information, you can catch any errors.

Because the product information is automatically uploaded to your different sales platforms, you don't have to enter the information manually everywhere. This also avoids the risk of errors because you only have to enter the information once in the PIM system.

Also when entering product specifications or other information, the chance of errors is much lower because it is usually possible to import the supplier's information into the PIM system.

All this contributes to higher quality in product information which also creates more trust from your customers.

2. MORE EFFICIENCY

In the past, and perhaps still today, product information was often maintained in multiple Excel files or in different tools. When adjustments were needed, this had to be done in all tools or Excel files.

In the case of the Excel files, this was not always clear, especially when there were many fields per product. In both cases, this could lead to inconsistency if a tool or file was forgotten.

It also took a lot of time to make adjustments due to a lack of usability. This problem was solved by keeping everything centrally in a PIM system.

The PIM system normally also has a graphical user interface which facilitates data modification. Due to the user-friendliness of a PIM system, less time is needed to make adjustments, resulting in increased efficiency.

3. BETTER SEO

For SEO, the content on your website plays a big role. On a blog, the articles are considered the content of the website, but for e-commerce, the products are considered the content.

It is important for a search engine to understand the content of a website, and your product information helps with that. By providing better product information, a search engine will better understand your content.

Because a PIM allows you to apply data enrichment and provide better product information, you will rank better in search results.

4. SHORTER TIME-TO-MARKET

Because you can easily import information from suppliers, modify data and then immediately export it to all your sales platforms, you can offer a new product very quickly.

This is important because you don't want to fall behind competitors when there is a new product. If your competitors offer the product a day early they can immediately gain market share.

When you are ahead of the competition you have the opportunity to bring in the first customers for the new product. These customers may later become repeat customers who keep coming back, including for other products.

There are several departments and individuals who work more efficiently by using a PIM system:

• Sales/sales department always need up-to-date product information
• E-commerce administrators need to keep products up-to-date at all times
• Marketers use the product information for campaigns on different channels
• Customers are sure that you show correct and good product information

Any company that sells products can use a PIM system; the company doesn't even have to do e-commerce. It is especially useful when the company has a large number of SKUs, sells products through multiple sales platforms or in multiple languages.

Also, when a lot of manual work is done with Excel files or the product information is spread across multiple tools, it can be useful to switch to a PIM system.

So a PIM system is used to keep the product information of all your products in a central location. This eliminates the need to work with different tools or Excel files and can ensure greater quality and efficiency. This also ensures a better impression with your customers, as well as better performance in search results.