A Glance into Product Information Management

As online businesses are crowding the online marketplace the need for well-managed websites is a crucial factor for the success of every website. More and more brick-and-mortar businesses are going online to improve their sales and revenue. But this just not only requires a website but also requires the business to incorporate a proper data management system for product lifestyle management.

Product Information Management also commonly known as its abbreviation PIM, is mainly referred to as the process of handling business product data and content regarding prices and quantities, required for the hassle-free sales and marketing of the products.

PIM systems are generally implemented in businesses that handle many products and require to track each phase of the product lifestyle.

Abbreviations can get deceptive, PIM is also known for Personal Information Manager which is application software used typically as a personal organizer for storing basic information, calendar, special dates, alerts, reminders, address book, journal entries, etc. On the other side, there are several synonyms for PIM that is inclined to a specific industry, namely,

PDM is incorporated mainly in the engineering industry denoting the product development data and coordination of the manufacturing and distribution details.

It is a synonym mostly linked with Product Content Management (PCM) and is popularly used in the UK.

PLM is mainly associated with the IT industry with its goal to optimize the lifecycle that the product incurs from idea and design to coding, testing, and launch.

Most enterprises use an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) for maintaining the product basic details, prices, stock availability, etc. Online businesses including most of the eCommerce websites employ an ERP system to track their products and invoice details. While the ERP systems can handle a lot of data, it lacks the feature of adding more content elements including textual descriptions, images, tables, and customized content. This is where Product Information Management systems find their importance.

As the business keeps growing, there will be new additions to the product lists and even updated versions of the existing products. In such scenarios, it can get difficult to track the products. A PIM system can be used for logistics and inventory purposes to easy up the whole tracking process.

Who doesnt want to save some time and money simultaneously? Using PIM in your business will automatically import the data available in the existing ERP system of the business which will, in turn, save time as there is no need for re-entering the data manually.

With using PIM, the products shown online can now have more details such as related images, details regarding the model, available stock, dimensions, etc, a detailed description of the product and its brand, etc. This will greatly help in reducing the number of returns and complaints on the product due to the absence of relevant product details online.

With the detailed description of the product, customers now can get an easier understanding of whether the product is suitable for their needs or not. This will greatly reduce the time and effort for returning and replacing the purchased goodies. The multi-lingual functionality of PIM allows the system to provide details in different languages including printable catalogs and data.

PIM systems are designed to easily integrate with any business enterprise system that offers easier and faster installation. PIM is mostly customizable per your business requirements. Being a one-on-one system with many sub-functionalities enabled, PIM is a one-stop solution for your businesss data management needs. From sales to marketing, PIM has a varied are of functions that you can acquire that includes, printing catalogs, SEO, customizable design, etc.

Many of the manufacturers, distributors and shop owners own an enterprise system mainly an ERP. But as the number of product increase and the demand for more details and better catalogs become a necessity, employing PIM alongside your existing ERP system will be an efficient step to take early in your online business.

PIM, as we have discussed in the former section, is a multi-functional system that provides different results of which a few are:

The list just keeps going on! As you must have concluded on the importance of PIM for eCommerce, it is time to implement one in your online business too.