Do You Need a PIM?
by Michelle Lawrence | Last Updated: Sep 5, 2023
How do you distinguish a need from a want?
If something is beneficial for only a short period of time and doesn’t directly relate back to your company’s goals and objectives, it probably is considered a want.
But if you can make a connection to all of the above three, you’ve got a need you need to fill.
Manufacturers share common goals like driving revenue, providing excellent customer experience, and supplying the best products.
But how can companies do this without a way to successfully manage their product info and deliver dynamic product experiences?
Discover why a PIM is not a want, but a need.
What Is a PIM?
Your business likely has a ton of product data that needs to be used throughout departments in order to generate sales, create a good customer experience, etc. But you likely don’t have a system to manage your product data effectively. You’ve also likely run into frustration after frustration trying to locate, update, etc. this data.
A Product Information Management (PIM) solution enables manufacturers to store a variety of product data in a single, centralized location. PIMs are able to store product data including price, product descriptions, ingredients, owner’s manuals, and so much more.
PIMs are a necessary tool for manufacturers as they help organize product data and enable other departments in your organization to carry out daily tasks without being bombarded with frustrations.
Four Signs You Need a PIM
In case the challenges have swayed you over to the good side, take this list as your sign to invest in a PIM solution.
Expanding Marketing Resources - As your company grows, additional product catalogs, guides, and product experiences need to be created. However, you can’t keep up with these demands in a timely manner when you have to constantly track down product information in disparate spreadsheets.
Multiple Sales Channels - The spray and pray method doesn’t work when selling across multiple sales channels. You need to tailor your messaging and content to fit the needs of the audience for each channel.
Frequent Product Updates - It's challenging to stay on top of ever-changing product information and make sure all references to the product data are updated.
Friction Collaborating - Teamwork makes the dream work. However, successful teamwork can’t occur when employees aren’t set up with the right tools. If your team is constantly butting heads on where product information is and if it’s accurate, take this as your sign to invest in a PIM.
Challenges a PIM Solution Solves
PIM solutions are the closest thing manufacturers have to a magic silver bullet. Here are just some of the challenges PIM solutions solve.
Inconsistent Product Information
PIM centralizes all product data, ensuring consistency and accuracy across multiple platforms, such as landing pages, mobile apps, and product catalogs. With a single source, manufacturers can easily manage and update product details, reducing the likelihood of customers seeing conflicting or outdated information.
Data Inaccuracies
When you have multiple spreadsheets of product information, it’s hard to determine what spreadsheet to trust. A PIM solution eliminates data inaccuracies by providing a centralized place to store product information. Employees can trust the single source of truth a PIM creates when needing to look up product data, therefore minimizing the chances of errors and the chance of misinformation reaching customers.
Reduced Productivity
Instead of employees continuously manually entering and updating product information in spreadsheets and other homegrown solutions, a PIM helps make this process more efficient. Plus, PIM software frees up the time it takes for employees to update marketing resources where outdated product information is used.
On average, employees waste more than three hours wasting time trying to track down information that should be readily at their fingertips. That’s three precious hours they could be spending trying to increase sales for the business or enhance the customer experience.
Limited Scalability
The larger your business gets, the more product data you possess. Using a PIM, manufacturers can scale their business without worrying about managing an increasing amount of product information. PIM systems are designed to handle tons of product information and enable employees throughout the world to collaborate on product data as the number of locations for your business increases.
Negative Impact on Customer Experience and Sales
Some of the most common goals every manufacturer has is to increase sales and create a great customer experience. Inaccuracies and disorganized product data do not contribute to the success of those goals.
A PIM ensures that product information is accurate and consistent. When customers have access to reliable product details, they are more likely to make informed purchasing decisions, resulting in an increase in brand loyalty. As a result, manufacturers can benefit from an increase in revenue through this elevated customer experience.
Get Started with a PIM Today
The cherry on top of solving these challenges for your company is that it makes you the hero of the organization. If you’re the one who brought the solution to increase efficiency and ROI, you’re going to get the recognition you deserve from your company.
PIMs are crucial for manufacturers because they are a centralized solution for managing product data throughout the organization. PIMs reduce product data inaccuracies, enhance the customer experience, lead to an increased ROI, and ultimately make teams more productive.
Ready to get started with a PIM solution? Schedule a demo with our product experts and we’ll show you just how easy it is to get started.