Who Needs a PIM Solution?

There is no single stack that makes every company productive. PIM (product information management) is one tool in that stack. The signal that you need it is complexity: in the products, in the way the company works, or in both. Looking at PIM at all is already evidence that the current way of holding product data is straining.

The more the products and their characteristics vary, and the more the structure and the processes vary, the more work it takes to keep a coherent record. When both are complex, a management system stops being optional.

Organizations with complex product information

A PIM centralizes what the organization knows about its products, so people can decide and publish from one record. That pays off when the product information itself is hard to hold in a spreadsheet.

Complexity is not the number of SKUs alone. Look at how varied the offer is, and how wide. Many characteristics, such as size or color, add work. So do the other details hung on a product or a category, especially a large set of digital assets. The more often the offer changes, the more a PIM earns its place. The number of suppliers between the start of a product and the finished record does the same: each extra source is another place the data can disagree.

Complex organizations

Set the catalog aside and look at the company. Extra complexity here is its own reason for a PIM. A small company that customizes heavily for customers can be as hard to run as a larger company with a standard range. Count regulatory compliance, geographic spread, the departments, brands, and channels you manage, and the IT support the business needs. Each of those multiplies the places a product record has to stay correct.

Is PIM the right solution?

Start with hours. Estimate what a PIM project would take, and compare that with the hours you already spend keeping product data in order. The PIM Project Estimator gives an estimate based on hundreds of implementations.

Any PIM question that was not covered by our articles, or a specific question of your own? Reach us at info@pimvendors.com.