PIM: What is it?
What is PIM? Simply put, a PIM is a software tool that helps you manage all of your product information, across channels, from a centralized location. After all, PIM stands for Product Information Management software. Makes sense, right? Product information typically includes a collection of elements (descriptions, dimensions, photos, shipping information, SKUs etc… ) that describe or are connected to whatever you’re selling.
Why is PIM useful? In the age of rapidly growing e-commerce, the companies that will win are those who can stand out from competitors on a myriad of online marketplaces, in addition to managing traditional sales channels effectively. And a PIM, at least in our case, gives you a centralized place to store, enhance, and send product information to all your various channels. This includes automatically-integrated pricing rules and unique attributes per channel, rep, retailer, or region. This saves you from the disorganized chaos of chasing after and updating countless spreadsheets.
Who will benefit at my company? All teams who need access to up-to-date, accurate product information will benefit from the centralized storage and distribution of that information. Gone are the days of chasing after the elusive spreadsheet with all the current data. When it's all in one place, it's automatically accessible and up to date. The departments within your organization that are likely to see the biggest benefit are e-commerce, marketing, sales, and product development.
PIM is important to your company for two major reasons:
E-commerce channels become expensive to manage when you're working off spreadsheets, dropbox, and FTP accounts. Using a PIM will make your life easier while also making you the all-star for saving the company money.
Centralized control over the storage and distribution of your data gives you the power to choose what goes to whom and under what conditions (i.e. special pricing rules for a certain retailer). Let that sink in a moment: you can automate the most time-consuming parts of e-commerce project management.
