High-quality product information significantly influences the sales of products; it can sometimes be more important than the product itself. An effective product information management system (PIM) allows the rich data offered by product information standards to be easily managed and shared.

Product information standards define what each element means, how data is formatted, classified, and categorised, and how information is presented and communicated. Standards help ensure that product information is of high quality and consistent. They also facilitate the sharing and use of product knowledge between different parties. It is the responsibility of the standard owner to maintain and develop it. A good example of this is the intelligent 2D barcode, which conveniently presents dynamically changing information.

Many standards are international and enable consistent product information across different market areas (for example, the GS1-standard barcode, or GTIN code). Additionally, they can be industry-specific, such as sähkönumerot.fi, ensuring uniform product information in a particular industry.

Depending on the standard, products are divided into different segments, product families, or categories and classified according to their type. This way, they receive the correct product information or attributes specific to that product. Such standards include ETIM (international classification standard for technical products), UNSPC (United Nations Standard Products and Services Code), eClass (ISO/IEC compatible standard for products and services), and GPC (GS1's commodity grouping standard).

Product information follows the product throughout its entire lifecycle

The amount of product information is increasing and diversifying. For many buyers, the information available about a product or service plays a bigger role than the product or service itself. Moreover, transparency and the importance of responsibility are constantly growing.

Product information is needed from the selection phase of a product through its use, maintenance, and repair, to ensuring proper recycling. Recycling of packaging materials becomes easier when the types of materials used in the packaging are known. Product information can also be used to find a replacement product. Standardised information enables product comparison.

With high-quality product information, you ensure that your customers find the products and information they need, for example, online.

PIM simplifies both the adoption and maintenance of standards

With standardised product information, you categorise products and build product families conveniently in PIM. Classification can be automated based on product features, making information maintenance easier. When information is in the form required by the standard in the PIM system, it's easy to integrate into other systems. You can retrieve and transfer product information to a system adhering to the corresponding standard. This ensures consistency of product information in both.

In the PIM and Product Information Standards Webinar, we explore product information standards management and integration in PIM, and explain how Akeneo PIM supports product information standards and automates data transfer. Watch the webinar recording

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Test here how the 2D barcode works.