Most business owners understand what a PIM is and its capabilities are. However, the majority of these business owners fail to realize how their business could benefit from a great Product Information Management system.
Thankfully, like any other business requirement, there are certain signs that tell you if your business could use a Product Information Management system. Here are eight signs that may prompt you to take action.
1. Disorganized product information
Disorganized or scattered product information can majorly affect a business and its efficiency.
If you find that your product information is scattered between different systems and organizations like in an ERP, a spreadsheet on someone’s laptop, piece of paper, or even worse, on someone’s mind, it will be next to impossible to form a definite picture.
This eventually reduces the efficiency and hinders the whole process of creating product information, storing it, and sharing it between different channels.
It is one of the most common signs that can tell you that you need to employ a Product Information Management ASAP.
Utilizing a product Information Management system not only provides you a single platform to organize the product information, but also automatically allows you to publish to different platforms, channels, and locations.
2. You see a dip in your eCommerce customers
According to research, over 30% of the information in product catalog pages is incorrect or has errors. This eventually results in losing customers and sales.
A salesman often loses customers due to not being able to close a customer. However, in the world of eCommerce, you may lose a customer if he/she is unable to navigate through your website to reach the desired product or page, or if the product information contains errors.
For example, if a customer searches for a green scrub on your website, your site should be able to display all the scrubs that are green in color or direct the customer to a relevant page.
Remember that, a customer usually knows what they want, so your site must be able to direct them accordingly to the right location. In this case, a product information management system acts as a GPS to help your customer navigate through your site.
3. Your employees spend most of the time looking for product information
Your employees spend a lot of time searching for product information when they’re unsure where to find that particular piece of information or when it is scattered across different locations as opposed to being present on one central PIM system.
If your colleagues or employees spend a lot of their valuable time searching for particular product information instead of utilizing it for other profit-making tasks, it is probably an indicator that you could use a Product Information Management system.
4. Uncertainty in choosing the right product information
There are numerous ways in which conflicting information can be created. For example, let’s say you have emailed one of your colleagues a spreadsheet that contains the updated pricing of a list of uniforms and other apparel.
Your colleague then goes on to update that spreadsheet with new information while you continue to work on the spreadsheet that is available in your system. But, the problem is, now there are 2 repositories for the same product information. This issue only worsens as updated spreadsheets are emailed to each other, creating conflicting information.
If you find it laborious or are uncertain in figuring the right product information, it is a clear sign that you could use a PIM system. A Product Information Management system centrally holds all the information, to which your employees can make updates on the go and they don’t have to worry about creating conflicting or duplicate information.
5. You find information in different formats
More often than not, the product information presented across different locations will be presented in different formats.
For example, one person may store a product ID in the form of SKU (Stock Keeping Unit), whereas another person may store the same product in a spreadsheet as ISBN (International Standard Book Number) or as UPC (Universal Product Code) on the product tag.
This essentially is the same product; however, its information is registered in a different format. This results in redundant actions and inefficiency. A problem like this can be eliminated by storing all the information in a master location like a Product Information Management system.
6. Realizing issues after a sale
If you have realized that there are pricing issues with a certain product after a sale has been made, it sure is a sign that you require a Product Information Management system.
This issue can arise when your sales representative uses an old pricing chart. This eventually results in underselling the product if the new pricing information is not automatically updated on the website.
A PIM effectively solves information errors like these by storing updated information of all the products in a single location.
7. Incorrect information while placing orders
One of the simplest ways to earn a dissatisfied customer is to display a product for sale while not being able to fulfill it. This happens when the available products in inventory are not updated correctly.
This happens due to inaccurate or incomplete product information, which can be solved by utilizing a Product Information Management system.
8. Customers receive incorrect products
Have you ever received complaints from your customers that they have received an incorrect size or color? This usually happens when the SKU for a product is incorrectly registered between different product variations. This can be eliminated by using a Product Information Management system.
Have you observed more than 1 sign from the above list? What are you waiting for? Request a demo today to speak with one of our experts to know more about PIM and how to integrate one into your business.