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What is a PIM and Why Do You Need One?

A Product Information Management (PIM) solution acts as a central source of truth for data that enables the collection, management, and enrichment of product information to create and distribute product catalogs seamlessly and efficiently. By simplifying the management of product information and automating manual processes, a PIM solution enables businesses to create richer, more engaging product experiences at scale, allowing them to better respond to market demands and customer expectations.

What is Product Information Management (PIM)?

PIM (Product Information Management) is a system or solution that helps businesses manage, centralize, and distribute product information effectively across different sales and marketing channels. The primary goal of PIM is to ensure that accurate, consistent, and up-to-date product data is available to customers and stakeholders, regardless of where they encounter it (eCommerce sites, print catalogs, mobile apps, etc.).

Key features include:

  • A single platform to store and manage product information
  • Tools to enhance product data
  • Distribution capabilities
  • Support for managing localized content for different regions and languages
  • Enhanced team collaboration and communication
  • Automation of repetitive tasks, such as categorizing products

What data does PIM store?

  • Technical data – Essential product specifications such as dimensions, colors, SKU numbers, materials or ingredients, and product page data like titles and descriptions.
  • Usage data – Information about and where the product should be used, such as instructions, care guides, recommended applications, or maintenance tips.
  • Emotional data – Brand messaging, storytelling, and marketing-focused content that highlights the emotional appeal of a product.
  • Sales and pricing data –Pricing, discounts, and promotions data, such as wholesale and retail pricing, and tiered pricing for various customer segments.
  • Categorization and classification data – Product categories, tags, and attributes that enable easy classification of products.
  • Localization data – Translations, region-specific descriptions, and currency adaptations.
  • Regulatory and compliance data – Information such as compliance data, warranty details, and any certifications that prove regulation compliance.

Benefits of PIM

  • Improved efficiency: Reduces manual work by automating tasks like updating and distributing product information, allowing teams to focus on more strategic activities.
  • Increased data accuracy: Eliminates data errors and inconsistencies across channels, ensuring customers see the right product details.
  • Enhanced customer experience: By providing rich, detailed, and consistent product information, PIM improves the overall shopping experience, building customer trust.
  • Faster time-to-market: Centralized product data and efficient workflows speed up the process of getting products to market across different regions and channels.
  • Reduced returns: Providing accurate, detailed, and consistent product data ensures customers have a clear understanding of what they are purchasing.
  • Increased conversions: Delivering enriched, accurate, and compelling product content across all channels empowers customers to make confident purchase decisions.

How PIM Works

Collect & Centralize Data
  • Collect data from your ERP, MDM, PLM, and other systems
  • Onboard product data directly from suppliers in the format that works best for your team
  • Connect to DAM systems for images, videos, and documents
Manage & Organize Data
  • Classify products into families, categories, and channels to easily filter and search
  • Measure, control, and track product data quality across teams and systems
  • Govern users with roles and permissions, and audit processes with validation workflows
  • Manage catalog completeness, versions, and publication schedule
Enrich & Localize Data
  • Enrich product descriptions with technical and usage data
  • Associate images, videos, documents with each product
  • Leverage rules engine to automate enrichment of standardized attributes
  • Localize and translate product information for each market and region
Distribute & Syndicate Data
  • Manage catalogs for every sales channel in one system of record, ensuring consistency
  • Select channel-specific attributes for each channel for the most relevant experience
  • Connect to all online and print channels through API-based connectors
  • Syndicate catalogs to unowned marketplaces and shopping channels

Explore Akeneo PIM

How PIM Helps the Entire Team

Marketers

Marketers

A PIM solution benefits marketing teams by centralizing product information, ensuring consistency across channels, and speeding up time-to-market for new products, PIM helps marketers create rich, engaging product content with accurate data, reducing errors and improving customer trust. It also supports SEO and digital marketing efforts, simplifies updates for product campaigns, and provides valuable insights for optimizing marketing strategies.

eCommerce Managers

eCommerce Managers

With a centralized platform to manage and distribute product data consistently across all digital channels, PIM streamlines product launches and updates, enabling faster go-to-market times and reducing manual tasks. eCommerce managers can easily enrich product pages with detailed and localized descriptions, images, videos, and SEO-optimized content, improving product discoverability and customer engagement while enhancing the efficiency of managing large product catalogs and ensuring a smooth, scalable eCommerce operation.

The C-Suite

The C-Suite

PIM offers strategic value by driving operational efficiency, improving time-to-market, and enhancing customer experience, all of which contribute to higher revenue growth. By providing a single source of truth for product data, reducing errors, and ensuring consistency across channels, PIM strengthens brand reputation and customer trust while fostering better cross-department collaboration, allowing leadership to focus on innovation, scalability, and maintaining a competitive edge in the market.

IT Teams

IT Teams

A PIM solution simplifies data management by centralizing product information into a single, easy-to-maintain system, reducing the complexity of managing multiple, disconnected databases or spreadsheets. A composable cloud-based PIM will integrate smoothly with existing systems such as ERP, CRM, and eCommerce platforms, creating a seamless flow of product data throughout the organization. By reducing the need for manual updates and minimizing the risk of errors, PIM can free up IT resources for more strategic projects.

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PIM & MACH: The Perfect Match

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Perfect Your PIM Selection Process

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PIM for Good: Master Sustainable Marketing Strategies with PIM

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PIM Taxonomy: A Best Practices Guide for Product Information Managers

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How to Choose a PIM Vendor

There are so many factors to consider when choosing a PIM vendor that it can be overwhelming. Lucky for you, we’ve put together a guide for the first three steps you need to take when selecting the right PIM software for your team.

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PIM vs PLM Software: What’s the Difference?

Learn everything you need to know about the differences between Product Information Management and Product Lifecycle Management to make the right choice for your business.

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PIM vs. MDM: Why Product Information isn’t like the other 1’s and 0’s

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Product Information Management 101

Our in-depth guide walks you through how PIM supports a strong product experience offering across all channels, and what to look for in a PIM solution. Download it today!

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Are you ready to take the next step?

Our Akeneo Experts are here to answer all the questions you might have about our products and help you to move forward on your PXM journey.