What is PIM? Advantages

PIM stands for Product Information Management. It is a category of software that business organizations use to store and update a crucial form of data i.e. product data. PIM software keeps a track record of any and every product right from the supplier to the end-users. It is a single interface for creating product catalogs, collecting product information, and keeps the updated data accessible to various marketing channels for unified marketing strategies. 

​PIM handles all the data related to the product which includes everything from essential product data, relationships & taxonomy, technical specifications, digital assets, and others. It is what keeps the cataloging on big retailers and ecommerce websites up-to-date reducing the chances of misinformation, inaccuracies, and incomplete information. It can also retail information on how to use a product and suggestions, samples, etc. There are many names for PIM such as Product Data Manager (PDM), Item Master, Product Content Manager (PCM), Product Resource Manager (PRM), etc.
 
How Much Does a PIM Cost?
The cost of PIM is not uniform across all organizations. It largely depends on the number of SKUs to be managed, design and implementation, location, functional requirements, number of supported languages, and other factors. Some companies would provide PIM for free while some could charge a licensing fee which isn’t the largest cost included in the cost for sure. It could range between $0 to $1,000 on a monthly basis while a hefty $50,000 could be charged on a yearly basis.
 
What Can You Do With a PIM Software?
Product Information Management (PIM) grabs a wide range of functionalities that businesses can use. It centralizes scattered data that could otherwise cause loss of sales and revenue. It ties products with descriptions and specifications and helps in tying them with media and categorizing it. PIM lets various sales and marketing channels access data on a central database that reduces inaccuracies, incompleteness, and other ill-effects of having too many products on-board without a central system governing them.
 
What Are the Advantages of Using PIM?
Technically, PIM software has some advantages as highlighted below that cannot be ignored.
 
Time Efficiency
A PIM Software increases productivity exponentially boosting time efficiency which is critical for businesses. It saves time on tasks that would otherwise take a lot of time and effort. It also automates repetitive tasks, consolidates duplication product entries, and allows adding new products without much hassle.
 
Better Product Data Management
As the business grows, the number of products offered grows too. Without a PIM software on-board, it will be a lot of work to update each product, convey it to various channels and retailers, and so on. PIM offers a central location for everything related to managing products. It can handle information with accuracy as well as share it with multiple channels and when required that ensures nothing has loose ends to it.
 
Easy Integration
A business or organization would have a lot of channels and accessing product data is crucial for most of the channels including sales and marketing. PIM can be easily integrated into these channels maintaining a higher level of consistency. Users can put up governing rolls and data requirements to streamline product data which is crucial for businesses as said.
 
What Are The Best PIM Software?
There is a tonne of PIM software including Pimcore, Salsify, Akeneo, Plytix, PIMworks, and Catsy that you can try. Of course, there are others to consider.
 
That’s what the Product Information Management (PIM) stands for. We have mentioned what is PIM, advantages, and what businesses can do with it among others.