The quality of product information is decisive for appealing to shoppers as 85% of them1 consider it as an important element of their purchasing decision.
For a business this makes it necessary to overhaul their data to ensure that it is relevant, dependable, and up to date.
To handle this task efficiently, it is essential to use a PIM (Product Information Management) solution. 67% of businesses2 use PIM to boost their operational efficiency.
Check out the five tedious tasks that you can optimize with PIM.
#1. Standardize
A businesses' product data is often compartmentalized or spread among several information sources (ERP, CRM, Excel files…). Coming from varied information supplies, this data is mainly « raw » and requires standardization. 80% of data3 is « not structured ».
When Product and Marketing teams are managing hundreds or thousands of product references, this standardization task can be impossible.
PIM (Product Information Management) solutions simplify the entire data standardization process. They centralize all product data (marketing, logistics, technical…) and regulate it according to common standards: units of measurement, structure, naming guidelines… This transforms the PIM into the central product repository for the business and provides Product and Marketing teams with a global, precise, and unique picture of their product data.
#2. Update
To remain competitive, according to 54% of shoppers4, businesses must innovate and regularly come up with entirely new products.
For Product and Marketing teams, this requires manually modifying each product factsheet: adding new products, creating a specific category, integrating new images and/or media items… 35% of product teams2 spend a lot of their time inputting data.
A PIM solution simplifies product data updating procedures and can reduce the time spent on this task by 80%5. Through a unique database, Product and Marketing teams can make changes to their brand's product catalog. Specific multi-user management features also enable each contributor, according to their user rights, to check that changes are visible on all selling channels.
#3. Contextualize
To increase sales, it is essential to diversify selling channels as businesses that don't miss out on 30% of their selling opportunities6.
This means that it is important to systematically adapt data to the requirements of each selling channel (length of texts, video file formats, image sizes…). This contextualization effort is « essential7 » in an omnichannel strategy.
However, when data is managed on multiple distribution channels: eCommerce, mobile, print, point of sale… This contextualization tends to be extremely time-consuming.
PIM simplifies the entire phase of product information contextualization upstream of eCommerce platforms. Through a unique and intuitive interface, Product and Marketing teams can quickly adapt their product information to the constraints of each platform. Context management features also allow you to store this information for targeted distribution on each selling channel.
#4. Translate
Whatever selling channel you use, any non-English speaking consumers prefer to access content in their own language. 65% of shoppers8 prefer their own language even if they understand English.
This means that Product and Marketing teams must systematically translate content into the relevant language. This involves going through a complex process: gathering translation projects, transmitting documents for translation, interacting with translators and/or translation agencies, manually adjusting translated documents… To make this process more efficient, a solution is required which can increase translator productivity by 30%9.
PIM optimizes the content translation process and allows for product information to be translated 70% quicker5. With PIM, translation projects are centralized, secure, and managed through a unique database through which Product and Marketing teams can follow the progress of translations and check that all content is translated before distribution to the various selling channels.
#5. Validate
Product and Marketing teams often work without a clear process for checking product information before distribution. Working this way increases the risk of errors occurring in product information and requires the teams to correct any errors individually on each product datasheet: 30 to 35% of datasheets10 contain errors.
PIM allows you to implement an effective process for controlling the quality of product data. A validation workflow system lets you check the quality of data and correct it before sending to the various selling channels. This means that PIM greatly increases your efficiency in handling errors: businesses having adopted PIM correct errors 18 times5 faster than those that have not.
To summarize, if a company is working without a suitable solution, the tasks involved in managing data become impossible: standardization, updating, adapting to each selling channel, translation… To increase efficiency, it is essential to use a PIM solution which will greatly reduce the time spent on all tasks related to managing product information.
1
ThinkwithGoogle. Consumer Insights. Think with Google.
2
EBG, Stibo Systems. (2021, Septembre). PXM : L'expérience produit au service de l'expérience client.
3
Santis, M. de. (2019, November 8). Comment réussir son time to market ? Définition et conseils. appvizer.fr.
4
What Are Customer Expectations, and How Have They Changed ?. Salesforce.com.
5
How PIM Adopters Are Outperforming the Competition. plytix.com.
6
Brophy, M. (2022, June 23). 50 Omnichannel Statistics for Retailers : New for 2022. Fit Small Business.
7
Cohen, J. (2022, January 21). Commerçants, sortez du lot avec une information produit contextualisée et de qualité. Forbes France.
8
Henault, J. (2020, April 9). 50 faits incontournables pour une stratégie E-commerce en 2020. Semrush Blog.
9
Bennett, S. (2022, December 4). Translation Management Statistics. Webinar Care.
10
Hassani, J. E. (2022, February 3). Comment améliorer la fiabilité des fiches produits en ligne. www.lsa-conso.fr.