Do You Need PIM? If You Have These 5 Symptoms, the Answer Is Probably Yes.

I’ve done it, you’ve done it, we’ve all done it. You wake up feeling a little under the weather, and next thing you know, you’re on Google searching for the answers to your mysterious symptoms. Most of the time, the answers are right there, and you can get back to your day with confidence. 

Unfortunately, finding answers for your business symptoms can sometimes be a lot harder than a simple Google search, especially when it comes to technology. For example, how do you know if your business needs product information management? Is it when you reach a dozen products, or a hundred? The moment you start selling on Amazon? Do you only need PIM if you’re a retailer, or does your manufacturing business need it too? The list of questions goes on and on. 

To understand what your business needs, you need to start with your pain points—the metaphorical stomachache, and the sometimes-literal headache. If you have more than one of the symptoms below, chances are a PIM solution is the perfect treatment. 

#1: You Are Drowning in Spreadsheets

It started with one, and when you had a handful of products and a couple of resellers, that was okay. But as your business grew, so did the number of files and folders. Maybe you expanded your product lines, or maybe you need to broadcast products across more channels since you launched your incredibly amazing eCommerce site and started selling on Amazon. Now it seems like you spend all day typing in Excel, which is more of a nightmare than a dream. 

#2: You’re Not Sure Which Information is “Right”

Some days, you can’t remember what you had for breakfast—so how are you supposed to remember every update to every product you manage? Between emails, Slack messages, and Zoom meetings, you have new product information being thrown at you all the time. When it comes time to post a product to your sales channels, are you SURE that what you have in that spreadsheet is the most up-to-date information, or that your spreadsheet is the latest version? Or are you about to spend an hour hunting down the answers? 

#3: You’re Spending All Your Time Updating Resellers

It’s not just your eCommerce site or your marketplace listings that need updating. Every time you add a new item, create a new video feature, or change your product to make it even better, you have to send updated content to all your resellers. That means every distributor, every wholesaler, and every retailer. Doing all that by hand is giving you some serious copy-paste fatigue and leaving you with zero time for more creative projects that could take your business to the next level. 

#4: You Can’t Seem to Win the Buy Box

Your product is amazing. It’s way better than the “other guys.” You’re listed on all the same sites, so why are they selling more? One possibility: they have more details, rich romance copy that’s SEO-optimized, and digital assets like images, 360-degree views, and videos. It’s not that you can’t have those things, too (and you’re sure you could do them better), but you’re already buried with symptoms 1-3, so how are you supposed to have time to add all that? 

#5: You Are Losing Money to Returns

You finally get an online sale, and then celebration turns into dismay when the customer requests a return—and that’s been happening a lot lately. You know it’s not your product’s fault, because your in-store sales are doing great. But incomplete or inaccurate content on your digital channels isn’t giving customers the right information, leaving them disappointed when the product doesn’t meet their expectations. Not only are you losing out on that revenue; you’re probably eating the costs of return shipping. 

How PIM Helps

So, how’d you score on the symptoms? Well, if you’re still reading, chances are we’ve struck a nerve. Luckily for you, we’ve also got the solution—the PIM solution, that is! 

Here’s why PIM is the perfect treatment for all your product information woes. Product information management works by collecting all your product information in one place, whether that information is coming from your spreadsheets, your ERP, or files sent by your suppliers. In addition, the data can be automated to pull information updates, meaning that if Josh makes changes to pricing and cost in your ERP, and Emma uses Excel to manage product attributes, you’ll see it all in one place. You can also update products right in the PIM platform. One source of truth, and a lot less time second-guessing yourself. 

TrueCommerce’s PIM solution then checks all your product content for readiness. Is that toy missing an image? Does that aftermarket auto part have compatibility information? Did you forget to add the romance copy that will make the sales for your new makeup line? Are you missing required attributes to sell on Amazon? Clear alerts make sure you have the most complete information to offer your customers, which can drastically reduce returns. 

Okay, here’s the best part. You know all that time you spent altering product data to meet Amazon/eBay/Wayfair/etc. requirements and even typing content in manually for different channels? With PIM, you can have all that time back. The TrueCommerce PIM system syndicates your content to ALL your sales channels, from your eCommerce store, to your marketplace listings, to your e-tail and retail partners. And when you make improvements to your products? Any updates in your PIM system get automatically pushed out to make sure your sales channels always have the most up-to-date content. 

Managing your product content can be frustrating, overwhelming, and time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. Instead of living with these painful symptoms, give your business the health boost it—and you—need with an integrated, automated PIM solution. Once you're done, it’s time to go create, innovate, and keep making your business better. You’ve got this, and with PIM at your back, you have the tools to leave the competition in the dust. 

Contributor
Lindsey McGee is a Marketing Content Writer specialising in supply chain strategy, thought leadership, and education. As part of the Marketing team at TrueCommerce, Lindsey strives to provide thoughtful, accessible information to help business owners grow and manage their operations. Lindsey lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, Cody, and rescue pets, Delta, Bahn, and Izzie.