Using PIM To Succeed In Modern Marketplaces

But succeeding on these marketplaces is often a tall order, and presents a different challenge compared to more traditional eCommerce offerings. Brands and retailers must be able to ensure that customers can find their products simply and easily, even if they aren’t searching directly for a brand or product name. What’s more, each marketplace has its own set of product information standards and requirements, making the process of adding a marketplace channel even more challenging and complex.

That’s why it’s crucial to have accurate, compelling product information, provided in the proper context for marketplace customers — and why your company needs Akeneo PIM.

Why is product information management (PIM) a key driver for a successful marketplace expansion?

Akeneo PIM is a gateway technology that can help your business cost-effectively expand to marketplaces by providing the infrastructure your company needs. It does this by centralizing and harmonizing all the technical, usage, and emotional information for your product listings and catalogs, ensuring that you provide shoppers with data that is accurate, consistent and contextual.

Hit the product information bullseye

When consumers are shopping online, they crave product information. They want to know everything there is to know about a product, from the colors and sizes it comes in, to what each product looks and feels like and even how it should be cared for.

That means that providing them with incorrect or misleading product information can be an absolute disaster for companies hoping to find success on marketplaces like Amazon and TMall.

If marketplace shoppers don’t feel as if though they can trust that product information is accurate, they’ll likely find a different seller to buy from. What’s more, if a customer does purchase a product, only to find out once it’s delivered that it doesn’t match their expectations, they’re likely to return the item, sending it right back to the seller and hurting your bottom line in the process.

Akeneo PIM avoids all this by making sure that your product information is accurate and complies with the unique requirement of each marketplace. That way, customers will find your products easily and be pleased with their purchase when it arrives.

Keep things consistent

Accurate product data may be important, but it isn’t enough — at least not on its own.

Customers often research products across a wide range of information sources, from marketplaces like Amazon to a company’s own eCommerce store, on the hunt for a wide range of information, and the best possible price. If the information they find via one source doesn’t match the corresponding info on another site, they’re likely to lose faith in the product, if not the brand as a whole, and abandon a potential purchase in favor of a merchant they feel they can trust.

But using a PIM, your company can make sure that all product information isn’t just accurate, but consistent across a wide range of commerce channels, making sure you earn customers’ trust and make the sale.

Provide the right info for the right channel

Ensuring that product information is consistent across is crucial — but offering consistency without regard to context is a surefire recipe for disaster.

While keeping product information consistent is key, each channel is different. Amazon has different requirements than TMall, for example, which displays product information and assets in different ways than other marketplaces. Failing to pay attention to these sometimes subtle differences will lead to failure overall.

Akeneo PIM, however, makes sure your information is perfectly tailored to the context of each marketplace, be it Amazon, eBay, TMall or anywhere else. This provides a competitive advantage, as customers who can seamlessly transition between channels without losing context typically immerse themselves more deeply in a company’s story, are more likely to make new purchases, and remain loyal customers.

Make marketplace magic! Contact us to learn more about PIM, get started by downloading our eBook Product Information Management 101 or find out how to beat the competition by reading our blog Winning the Battle of the Brands.