Best Product Information Management (PIM) Software & Tools

What are PIM Systems?

E-commerce solutions and (digital) product catalogs, information about the composition of offered goods, their dimensions and other technical data - all this and more is important for conducting efficient and effective business (online). But where should all this data be stored and how should it be organized effectively? A Product Information System, in German "Produktinformationssystem" and shortly "PIM", collects the corresponding data in a central location. This way, users have a comprehensive and bundled overview at their disposal. At the same time, there is the opportunity to direct the multitude of information precisely to the right channels. The collected information can be important for technical, logistical, and marketing-specific purposes. A PIM system allows them to be used - regardless of media, departments, companies and across different systems. Not all of these individual system components, for which the relevant data is important, must therefore operate with their own information storage or management tools - the relevant data is held exclusively in the PIM system. A PIM system can be described as a multichannel tool with which many areas of (e-) commerce can be controlled. For example, a PIM solution in marketing and management offers the opportunity to search all data related to the company's product range and to send this information in the most advantageous way to all channels that need this information.

Good PIM systems bring the following features or benefits among others:

• They collect and standardize product information from different sources.

• PIM software identifies and corrects problematic or inconsistent data.

• It allows data and e-commerce business processes to be partially automated.

• It has features for fast data finding and organization.

• It simplifies the process of forwarding information to retail, social media and other important marketing or sales channels through specific features.

These are popular PIM systems

• Kontainer

• 4ALLPORTAL

• e.bootis-ERPII

• Pimcore

• Salsify

• Syndigo Content Experience Hub

• eggheads Suite

• Akeneo

• Riversand

• Viamedici

Why Do You Need a PIM System?

Large amounts of data are a blessing and a curse at the same time. Especially in companies that offer a lot of goods, the corresponding information can quickly become a confusing mess that is difficult to control without further ado. It's not uncommon to have hundreds of spreadsheets with numerous rows and columns, with thousands of data that must be constantly updated and correctly forwarded. A particular challenge here can be specific events for which individual data is required: for example, during a discount campaign, at the start of the summer season, during the Christmas business or even when launching brand new products. A PIM system offers a powerful solution. It helps companies to capture, organize, process, and reuse all important information related to the product range. The approach of a central storage, management, and processing system is simple, but highly effective. It guarantees to keep an overview even with the largest floods of data. At the same time, team work is practically improved and silo structures are broken up. Thanks to the central data organization in the PIM system, all departments or branches of a company always have the same access to the most important product data. This allows closer cooperation and reduces the risk of errors.

What Does a PIM System Cost?

With increasing amounts of data, increasing e-commerce channels and, last but not least, more diverse marketing opportunities, management systems that make parts of corresponding processes more efficient are gaining in importance. PIM systems must meet particularly high requirements in this context. The proper consolidation, structuring, enrichment and further processing of product data from a wide range of systems can be enormously important for a company's competitiveness. Fully covering the many requirements of modern PIM in software means a great deal of effort for the developers. A free open source solution that takes over all the important to-dos can hardly be offered. Smaller companies do sometimes become happy with free software limited in its possibilities, but as soon as the product range grows stronger, the sales and marketing activities expand and generally more customers buy, the move to an enterprise PIM system is usually inevitable. Such PIM tools are often initially available for testing free of charge. Once the test period has expired, interested parties can often choose between different bundles. The costs per month range from around 100 euros to 10,000 euros. Some development companies exclusively offer individually or modularly compiled PIM systems. Their costs are therefore usually calculated on a case-by-case basis. Generally, the price of a PIM system depends on the following factors:

• Number of users.

• Integrated standard modules or features.

• Interfaces and channels to be served.

• Number of products.

• Size of the storage space.

• Additional functions.

• Complexity of the requirements.

In addition to very different monthly costs at the individual providers, the different minimum contract terms are also worth mentioning. Some solutions come without such a term, others, on the other hand, require up to 36 months. In addition to the costs for the PIM system itself and the potentially budgeted minimum contract term, there is also the effort for the implementation. Many providers of PIM software provide an implementation service. The costs vary greatly here too. The project scope or the system architecture into which the program needs to be integrated is often decisive for the actual costs of the connection. An implementation can easily cost 10,000 euros or more.

Who Typically Uses PIM Systems?

• Product Management: Product managers use PIM systems to define and track products and product categories. PIM software also helps manage the relationships between products. For example, some products may be sold together as kits, while similar items could replace other products.

• Marketing: A company's marketing department can use PIM software to create printed or online catalogs. Marketing teams also need product information to create online marketing, advertising campaigns, or brochures. They get this from the system.

• E-Commerce: E-commerce managers need PIM tools to ensure that they make the right products with the right properties available online. PIM also helps companies update their e-commerce stores when changes are made to their products.

• Manufacturing companies: Operations with direct sales use PIM systems to sell their products through multiple channels, such as the website, an online shop, online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, or even social networks. Manufacturers can also use PIM to transfer product information to other systems, like ERP or PLM, and reuse it there.

What Types of PIM Systems Are There Basically?

Most PIM systems are offered as proprietary software. Here, users have little opportunity to make individual adjustments outside of the standard options. Some developers provide their solutions on an open source basis. Open-source providers often have a community edition in their program, which is available free of charge and is a good starting point for companies that may not be able to make large investments in this type of software. The big drawbacks of PIM community software are, users have to take over the implementation and maintenance themselves and sometimes the solutions are delivered on-premise. The latter means that they have to be downloaded and installed on a server managed by the user. From a functional perspective, some developers focus on PIM only, while others offer additional related modules or solutions, such as digital asset management software. There are also providers of business intelligence tools and data management software who adapt their solutions to compete with PIM providers.

What Typical Functions Does a PIM Software Bring?

The following functions are often aboard PIM tools:

• They offer features to consolidate product information from different sources - including all types of databases, software, like ERP or e-commerce, and documents, like spreadsheets.

• They offer customizable workflows and processes that define which users can publish or update product information and which users are allowed to approve changes.

• PIM systems have filters and search options that allow users to quickly find products based on criteria, like physical properties (size, color or weight), price, name or description.

• They enable bulk updates to product information - for example, the description for all products in a category should be able to be changed in one go, instead of having to change each individual product.

• They allow the management of different types of content about products, like PDFs, images or videos.

For some requirements, the following functions can also be very useful:

• The possibility to give partners, like dealers and distributors, access to the PIM solution and use product information on their websites or online shops.

• The option of specific product information management to facilitate their publication on marketplace platforms, like Amazon or eBay.

• Data governance and master data management, which can help large companies better manage huge amounts of product information and content.