Product Information Management
Integrate and Execute Successful Multichannel Commerce
Still using Excel spreadsheets to store and manage your product data? Does your company have a defined workflow process for creating and updating product data? Where is all of your product information located?
All of these questions relate to Product Information Management (PIM).
Companies need a 360-degree view of their product data.
Information about a company's products are typically scattered across many contrasting websites and databases. This can create a confusing environment for both customers and sales professionals. In an organization utilizing a PIM system, the PIM system serves as a “360-degree” view for all other systems that deal with product data. This single view of product information is a key component for both operational and analytical processes. Product information management solutions ensure all information related to a specific product is synchronized across all information channels such as the company’s website, catalogs, and ERP system.
For Manufacturers, Distributors, and Retailers, a PIM can and should play a key role within the organization.
Business Values
How can a product information management solution help my company? Consider the following business values a PIM solution can address:
- Improve Supplier Collaboration
- Enable Endless Aisle
- Accelerate Time-to-Market
- Reduce Returns
- Reduce Cost/Time for Publication
- Increase Sales from Targeted Campaigns
- Reduce Costs in Customer Service
- Increase Conversion Rates
- Increase Shopping Cart Revenue
- Improve Worker Productivity
- Improve Multichannel Execution
Click here to read the PIM ROI study!
Manufacturers
As a manufacturer, detailed product data and the ability to share that data is key to success. Distributors clamor for more data to drive their websites and catalogs. Detailed data allows for differentiation from your competitors. In this era of websites, where the primary purchase decision is more likely to be made in front of a computer rather than in a store, effective product data is your best means of interacting with your customer and “showing” your product.
Imagine updating all your distributors’ sites with new product information when you do. PIM can make that happen.
By implementing a PIM system, a manufacturer can establish a single area where all product data can be stored and updated. From the PIM, data can be syndicated to catalogs and flyers, customer-facing informational websites, internal applications for customer service, distributors via EDI or an API, or to an ERP system to drive purchasing and pricing. In a PIM-centric model, a change in the specification of an item does not require replicating the change in every system that depends on product data. The change is made in the PIM and pushed to the dependent systems.
PIM for Brand Management
Part of your brand management strategy has to include the information about your product that is available online. Sparse or inconsistent data sends the wrong message to your potential consumers. Sparse data doesn’t give a consumer enough information to make a purchase decision. Inconsistent data sends the message that your company doesn’t care about the product it sells. Neither message is a good one to send to your potential consumer.
With a PIM system managing a robust set of data and sourcing it to your website as well as all the others that sell your product, your future consumers are sent the message that your company stands behind and believes in the product. The consumer is given enough information to make a confident purchase decision. Enable your future consumers to become your lifelong customers by providing them the data they need to decide on your product.
Distributors
Imagine letting your suppliers push product information to you and having it flow seamlessly to your website and catalog.
For distributors, the product information management situation is even more complicated. For every line you sell, data from the manufacturer has to be integrated into your system. With a robust PIM system, data can be imported from multiple sources and mapped to your own product hierarchy. Adding another line to your offering just got easier.
The internal usefulness of a PIM cannot be underestimated. Make your data available to your customer service reps to help them find up-sells, cross-sells and replacement items. Give your data to your sales team for side-by-side comparisons of products. Let your tech support use the data to find replacement parts or warranty-related information.
PIM Systems
Ideosity has worked with a number of PIM systems including Heiler’s Product Manager, QAD’s FullTilt, Oracle, and Hybris. All are capable of bringing your product data into a central place and syndicating information out to your various channels. All are capable of driving a world-class website. There is one, in our minds, that stands above the rest.
Heiler Product Manager
We have worked with a number of systems that claim to manage product data. Most ERP systems claim handle product data to some extent and some even have modules which can extend their abilities…to a point. Ideosity has partnered with Heiler Software to implement their Product Manager due to its robust product management abilities available out of the box, powerful user interface, multi-language support, and rich export capabilities. We believe Heiler’s Enterprise PIM Suite is the best PIM solution on the market today.
FullTilt Migrations
Have you outgrown your FullTilt installation? Need multi-language support? Our staff has experience migrating FullTilt customers to Heiler Product Manager. Preserve your existing hierarchy and workflows. Gain a more powerful user interface and multi-language capabilities. Lose the restrictions on the number of products in your system.