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Keep Your Data Under Control with PIM

PIM (Product Information Management) is a solution for managing the product information that allows you to manage, refresh and gather all data in one place. Using PIM will make your data preparation for all sales channels such as e-Shops, catalogues, SOP or brick and mortar stores faster and cheaper.
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Keep Your Data Under Control with PIM

Why Use PIM

Import and export
It ensures both export and import of data in various formats​.
It makes the data preparation faster and easier
It makes the data preparation for your sales and e-commerce channels faster and easier
It reduces costs
It reduces costs related to the preparation of product data.
SPOT
It manages all data in one database = Single Point of Truth (SPOT).

It Works with Product Parameters, Pictures and Data
for Your Sales Channels in One Place

What is PIM?

Imagine a central system for management of product information – it is PIM (Product Information Management). After you manually enter or upload data into PIM, the system will receive it, check and modifies if necessary, complete or translate the parameters to a foreign language. Then it sends the data to all your channels like E-Shop, online market, Excel or InDesign for printed catalogue preparation.
We can check and modify information in PIM either manually or automatically. In the latter case, you set up rules by which the PIM checks the product data and modifies it or alerts you to errors. The rule can be as follows: check of filled output, input and luminosity of all bulbs. The bulk change option ensures that you will not need to enter the colour for all products of the same colour repeatedly, but enter it just once. PIM will then assign it to appropriate products itself. System will also alert you if any of the parameters is missing.
As some specific industries work with product data in a standardized format, it is usually not necessary to enter data manually. You can import it directly from the supplier.

The biggest advantage of PIM is thus significant simplification of entering, managing and use of product information. You have full control over the data because you manage it centrally in one place. Any modification of information is automatically populated to all your platforms like E-Shop, mobile application or printed catalogue.

Before and after Deployment of PIM

Companies usually use ERP and several sales channels (e.g. E-Shop, electronic catalogues or Amazon). The company keeps data outside any system because various people are in charge for some products and individual channels. Most often product data is stored to Excel, which seems to be the best option at the moment.
An Excel spreadsheet with selected products is then prepared during the standard process of data preparation. Product managers fill in the technical information in it afterwards, then sales people put in the prices and subsequently content creators add descriptions and pictures. Finally, everything is uploaded to the web or printed into a catalogue. 

Unfortunately, this process is not sustainable in the long run. The change requirements come so fast that it is difficult to keep everything consistent. After a while, it is not clear if the Excel spreadsheet is still current or needs to be revised again. Additionally, new products arrive, the term of the catalogue printing is dangerously close and you need to make a decision under pressure. Publish outdated data or postpone the date of catalogue production. You will never need to deal with such a dilemma with a PIM solution.
Using a PIM system is the most efficient way of data preparation. It makes the whole process faster and the work easier for all people participating in it. PIM system creates one database on the SPOT (Single Point of Truth) principle integrated with other systems (E-Shops, warehouse, orders, InDesign etc.). It contains all data, so the staff working with PIM does not need to know the specifics of each sales channel. PIM system transforms the product data into the form required by the particular channel.

Why PIM?

Moving data from Excel into PIM is especially worthwhile for companies handling a bigger volume of goods and a group of suppliers. Every sales person should know the advantages of this solution however.

  • Higher Trust in Product Data
It is quite easy to control the accuracy and completeness of product information

because it is kept in one place. It is also easier to trust it then.

  • Faster Preparation of Products for sale

​As soon as you set up the PIM correctly, you shorten the Time-to-market (time you need to put a new product to your offer) significantly.

  • Faster Preparation of Product Data for Advertising

For example, you can prepare data for a printed catalogue within several days with PIM.

  • Easy Expansion Abroad

​You can automatically translate product information into a foreign language with PIM and thus sell abroad. You can enter for example Amazon or eBay any time due to the standardized data format.

  • Elimination of Routine Work

You do not need to process or rewrite product data manually for each system thanks to PIM any longer. The information should be processed (or better imported automatically) into the system only once. This will save routine work of your staff and a lot of money on wages.

  • Increase of Sales 
If you provide your customers with complete information about product and everything they need to know before the purchase, they will be more satisfied and spend more money.
 
  • Reduction of the Number of Returns 
When you sell goods with incomplete information, you may unknowingly mislead the customer who has to return the purchase. By delivering accurate and complete information, you reduce the risk of claims or returns.

Omni-channel

Companies use several marketing and sales channels commonly. The goal of the company should be to provide the same customer experience across all of these channels. None of them should be preferred when data quality is concerned. It means that no matter of the channel, the customer should always find data with the same information value, just in a different volume for example. There is less information in a printed catalogue than in an internet presentation of the product where you can list all the details.
The customer perceives you as one company, despite the fact that one department is in charge of e-commerce and another one administers brick and mortar stores. It is up to a customer to choose a channel for communication with you. Your goal should be simply to lead the customer through the purchase process and follow up the last interaction from one channel in another one when multiple channels are used. All this can influence the customer during making a decision. Information about the order should be available in all your systems during the purchase and also after it is closed. This improves your customer service and deepen the relationship with the customer who will come back for another purchase based on the good experience.
It is the domain of PIM systems to manage sales and marketing channels, offer products, provide the unified message about your products and simply exchange the data between these channels.

PIM

PIM
Product Information Management
It covers the area of data we normally use to describe the product. The goal is to have only one current source data and use it in printouts, in an E-Shop, send it to partners electronically etc. The goal is to cover the following needs:
 
  • Efficient data management
  • Bulk modifications
  • Data classification for its easier use
  • Check and administration of data in sales channels

DAM

DAM
Digital Asset Management
It serves to apply user rights when using and editing documents. The goal is to cover the following needs:
 
  • Share documents
  • Search and organize documents and pictures
  • Convert data into various formats
  • Document classification

MDM

MDM
Master Data Management
It solves the unification of data into one source and thus also simplification of its use. The goal is to increase the quality, reliability and the overall value of data which is achieved by:
 
  • Data administration in one place regardless on the format and way of use
  • Checking data quality
  • Approval of data
  • Data replication

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