When To Implement a PIM Solution

We’re often asked things like ‘when is the right time to implement a PIM solution?’ or ‘when should I consider PIM for my business?’, so we’re putting the answers out there to help you understand and decide if PIM is right for your eCommerce business needs.

Not every eCommerce business will need a PIM solution, but for the most part and especially for multi-channel retailers, implementing a quality PIM software will be the only way to stay competitive in years to come.

New to PIM? Check out out recent posts to learn what PIM software is and why it’s important for your business.

When should I implement a PIM solution?

There are 4 key things to consider when deciding if your business is in need of a PIM solution or whether you are at the right stage to implement one.

1. You have a large product inventory

If your eCommerce site has an inventory of fewer than 100 products, your business doesn’t need a PIM. Manually updating product descriptions, images and prices etc for this many products will, of course, take time but is certainly manageable. Having a dependable spreadsheet and good product description template should mean the product information is kept up to date and consistent.

However, if you have thousands of product SKU’s, relying on a spreadsheet to manage product information simply won’t work with the ongoing task becoming a burden on resources and growth. That’s where a PIM solution can help; efficiently managing and optimising product data and collaborating more effectively with suppliers to minimise time-to-market and keep products up to date.

In general, the more products a business has, the greater the value of a PIM solution.

The same goes for businesses with plans to rapidly expand their product range. If you know there are plans to increase the number of SKU’s offered, then a PIM solution will be of great value during this growth, helping to streamline operations and get the products to market quicker.

2. You sell across many digital channels

According to recent Harvard’s Business Review shopping behaviour research:

“Up to 73 per cent of customers use multiple channels during their shopping journey.” – Harvard Business Review

Therefore, to achieve eCommerce success, you need to give consumers options to interact with and purchase products through a medium that is most natural to them – whether that be your eCommerce website, online marketplaces like Amazon, social media or even printed catalogues.

We understand that updating and optimising data for an ever-growing number of products is extremely time-consuming, especially when these products are displayed across a variety of channels. Inevitably, mistakes will be made and data quality will be decreased.

Implementing a PIM solution when selling across multiple channels is a worthwhile investment for any business at this stage. The PIM software will centrally manage all your product information, sending out the most relevant product data to the right places, saving you the time and headache of doing it manually.

3. You want to enter new or growing markets

Expanding into new and growing international markets is becoming more and more important for eCommerce retailers. With 40% of the world’s eCommerce sales being made in China, expanding your businesses reach to the Chinese market along with other growing markets like India and Mexico is something e-tailers can’t afford to miss out on.

Among the challenges that selling into new markets presents are translating product information into local languages, currencies, units of measure and so on. Implementing a PIM solution makes managing these changes and additions much more efficient, lowering the barriers to achieving growth in new markets.

Investing in a quality PIM platform when expanding into new markets is key to attracting new international customers.

A PIM solution like Akeneo is the perfect tool to help deliver a seamless cross-border eCommerce experience. With multi-language support features, it is easy to manage the process of translations and localisation, speeding up the process of product introduction.

4. You want to improve customer experience

With so much competition in the world of eCommerce, providing a great experience for your customers is key to standing out in a crowded marketplace and compelling consumers to convert.

“96% said customer experience would influence whether they purchase from you again, and 83% would give a referral as a result of a positive experience.” – B2B Marketing

Creating the experience your customers want requires you to connect all phases of the customer journey to make them more original, more personal and more engaging.

Implementing a PIM solution will harmonise product information across all channels, devices and languages helping your business to tell a consistent product story. PIM software helps deliver higher quality product information, avoiding inconsistencies between channels.

A consistent product story across all channels will enrich your customer experience, resulting in fewer product returns or exchanges and reduced customer complaints.

Summary

Businesses should implement a PIM Solution at the right time to maximise the benefits of the software.

If you know that your business is planning expansion to sell across multiple channels, enter new markets or increase its product inventory, get ahead of the game and implement a PIM solution, like Akeneo, to streamline your operations and help your organisation achieve breakthrough growth.

As Akeneo PIM partners, iWeb can help you consolidate all of your data into one easy to use solution. Better product information means more purchases and fewer returns.