If you're reading this text, you might have already recognized the need for a Product Information Management (PIM) system. You may be the person whose work time is filled with sifting through, writing, and versioning product information across numerous channels multiple times.

You're frustrated amidst the copy-cut-paste chaos and dream of being able to look beyond tomorrow and focus on executing your marketing strategy. But how do you present the PIM acquisition to all decision-makers in a way that benefits become visible in clear numbers?

Start by listing the challenges of product information enrichment

It's worth delving into the current situation. What does rich product information mean to us? Why do we need it? What stages are currently required for product information enrichment? Who is involved, and where is the information obtained from?

Investigate bottlenecks and duplicate work and make an estimate, for example, of the time and resources needed to collect and enrich the information for a single product. Set a price for product enrichment and multiply it by the number of products, perhaps on a quarterly basis or by seasons. Often, a complex product information enrichment process directly affects the quality of the product information - when the same data needs to be updated in multiple places, it may not be done due to lack of time. Additionally, correcting errors is laborious.

Also, calculate how long it takes to get a new product to market. At what stage have materials for sales been created, and when have the required product information for retailers been delivered?

Costs can, therefore, also be assessed through lost opportunities. Poor product descriptions in online stores affect search engine visibility and the attractiveness of the product. In consumer products, and increasingly in the industrial sector, competition is often so fierce that differentiation happens precisely at the content level.

The following is an imaginary, albeit truthful, example of product information enrichment at an electrical wholesaler:

An Excel file of new products arrives from the supplier. These are to be entered into the ERP system, from which marketing can download the basic product information as product managers update them. After that, enriching product information is gathered and edited. Required technical details have been provided in XML format, from which one person in the company builds Excel files.

From supplier materials, marketing resizes images appropriately for catalogs and online stores, loads the images onto the website product by product, and finally adds them to the image package sent to the advertising agency. Marketing texts are edited, and all texts are translated into multiple languages. Often, texts are easier to copy from one product to another, which results in a lack of personalization and potential errors in the information. Missing information is queried from product managers and suppliers. Products must also be entered into the product information bank before they can be marketed. One person manually enters the information into the system as technical details are received.

Retailers require product information well before the start of the season, and the information must be enriched in their own Excel format. The information is incomplete.

Once all the information is gathered, product managers provide possible product changes and updates marked with a red pen on the raw version of the catalog, from which they are collected, translated, and delivered again to the advertising agency, updated on websites, into the product information bank, and to retailers.

Euros Available – Rich Product Information Brings Customers

Since the toil of everyday work may not necessarily reach decision-makers, it's worth examining the matter from the perspective of sales growth.

Well-implemented product information management consolidates all the information on an individual product: technical details and prices, all descriptions, the details required by retailers, and images in all versions.

With a good PIM implementation, you can...

• speed up the enrichment of information

• bring more products to the market
  
  

• accelerate the time-to-market of products
  
  

• expand the language selection
  
  

• create better and more personalized product descriptions
  
  

• easily publish materials in all desired channels
  
  

• ensure the consistency of information and brand in all publications
  
  

• develop your staff's product knowledge with up-to-date information

• automate the layout of print materials and create various targeted catalogs and offers.
  
  
  

Based on the above, you can make a financial estimate of how much additional sales a good PIM solution can bring to your company. This way, the investment decision can rely on measurable information and concrete objectives.

If estimating sales potential is challenging, examining the flip side may provide valuable insights. Have product launches ever been delayed due to slow processes? Has opening a new market been daunting when resources barely suffice to maintain existing languages? Or is the current mode of operation preventing the addition of reseller channels?

Honour Marketing!

In Finnish companies, there are often very few marketing professionals. It would be wonderful for the work effort of skilled and educated people to focus on advancing core business and increasing sales instead of mechanical tasks. PIM can be the key to this. Download the coolest PIM guide on the market below.

{{cta('f9bc93d8-fe66-48b6-ac38-57ea84b79236')}}

If you want to delve deeper into the subject with research information, I recommend reading Jorij Abraham's work Product Information Management. Theory and Practice. Springer (2014). The book is available in several online bookstores.

Interested? Want to hear more about our PIM solutions? Read more here about product information management.

{{cta('5da54e68-0866-4977-badb-9170077e3238')}}