PIM Return on Investment

Return on investment (ROI) is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments.

A PIM system can offer a great return on investment (ROI) if it is used effectively.

The goal of this guide is to help you calculate the ROI of your PIM system so that you can be sure it is providing value for your business. We’ll discuss how to determine the cost of a PIM system and how to measure its impact on your business. By following these tips, you can be confident that your PIM system is benefiting your bottom line.

PIM system is the best answer for dealing with the product range. However, what precisely does it bring? Below is a guideline for determining ROI (Return Of Investment) of a PIM system.

 For a maker or distributor, the “product information pressure” increments pointedly. All things considered, broad and right product information is getting progressively significant. Clients need a ton of point-by-point data. What’s more, for global deals, product information should likewise be accessible in various languages.

 A straightforward calculation shows that keeping up 10,000 items with 10 attributes in 1 language can rapidly increase if the number of qualities and languages is extended. Those 10,000 items x 10 characteristics x 1 language = 100,000 things with 3 languages and 30 characteristics for every product suddenly become 900,000 items. Nine times as much!

 So as to keep up with this data, a decent PIM system is imperative – if just to have the option to work proficiently and to keep a diagram. In any case, what if we look at the cost-benefit? So as to compute the advantages of a PIM, the revenues must be compared with the costs. The revenues consist of savings in time and costs and the extra turnover that can be generated.

2 Factors

Time/cost savings and higher turnover thanks to improved product information.

ROI is best calculated with 2 different factors in mind. The first factor is the extra turnover that the PIM will generate when the quality and quantity of product information has improved, and the second factor is the time and cost savings. 

 Factor 1: More turnover through PIM

 Research shows that more sales are generated through the use of PIM and improved product information. This can be included in the payback calculation.

• A PIM delivers more sales through better product information (better conversion rate) that is also available more quickly.
• More new customers are joining because of the better findability.
• More upselling / cross-selling.
• Product information can easily be supplied to other sales channels (resellers, data pools), which also generates additional sales.
• Fewer products are returned because of better product information.
• Sales (back office) can spend more time on actual sales.

 Calculation example: the conversion rate could increase by around 15% with the above improvements. By submitting for sale on other channels, additional turnover (depending on the number of channels and products) is also generated that can be included. You calculate the yield of the bottom two points as follows: time saved (in hours) x hourly wages.

 Factor 2: 

Time and cost savings through the use of PIM

In order to determine the cost savings, we list a number of performance indicators (KPIs) that can be included in a calculation of the current costs and what can be saved by using a PIM system.

Time

• How much time (per month or week) is spent adding new products?
• How much time (per month or week) does it take to keep the existing product information up to date? Think of activities such as mutations of product characteristics, expired items, indicating multiple languages, ​​and relationships between products.

 The number of items to be maintained decreases sharply (for example due to characteristics that are the same in different languages ​​and do not have to be entered separately for each language). Keeping the above points up-to-date can then be reduced by up to 50%.

 Savings

• How much information is already present in other systems such as ERP systems and could it be reused? What does this save in time?
• Can product information with accompanying images be delivered digitally by suppliers? What time savings does that yield?

 Since product features can be adopted without manual work, a lot of input and verification time is saved. Suppose that 1/3 of the characteristics are automatically filled, then the maintenance of those 900,000 items (3 languages ​​and 30 characteristics per product) decreases to 600,000!

Extras

• How much time does it take to enter customer-specific information?
• How much time and cost are involved in translating the product information?
• How much time do sales (back office) spend answering product information questions?

 With a PIM, the processing of product information is considerably faster and time can be saved. The time saved can be converted into an amount: time saved (in hours) x hourly wages.

Media

• How much time do you now (without PIM) spend on keeping your online range up-to-date?
• What are the production costs for the catalog (data maintenance, layout, control time, corrections), and what is the lead time to create the catalog?
• How much time does it take to correctly deliver information to customers and/or data pools?
• How much time do you save on the above points by using a PIM?

 The same calculation can also be used for the latter components: time saved (in hours) x hourly wages.

Other Factors

Investment is also required in calculating costs/investment implementation PIM. This item will generally be amortized over several years (3 years).

• Purchasing the PIM software or subscription.
• The design of the PIM by the supplier.
• Any modifications or renewals of the hardware/infrastructure.
• Input / import / conversion of the product information (one-off).
• Training for the users.
• Associated support and a maintenance contract (not with a subscription).
• Financing costs (interest).

Calculate ROI

As you may have already noticed, actually gaining insight into the payback period (Return of Investment) when purchasing a PIM is not always easy. In particular, because the measurable indicators are not always clear, or because too little has been measured with regard to the time and costs of the current method.

 ROI = (Yield investment – Cost investment) x 100%

 Cost investment

 Where to begin? To decide whether a PIM system is interesting for your company, you can begin by examining the current working method. The optimal PIM system must be selected based on the points for improvement, new wishes, and the available budget. After that, an ROI calculation can be worked out.