What Does a Product Information Management System Do?

Increasingly, forward-thinking businesses are embracing Product Information Management (PIM) software, which enables their teams to store and manage all product information in one place. In an era of collaborative work environments where all workers may or may not be onsite together, the shareability of PIM solutions ensures that product records are kept up-to-date.

What Is the Objective of Product Information?

The goal of a good PIM solution is to centralize and organize product information. Product information will vary depending on the type of product, but it generally includes things like product descriptions and functionality, pricing, SKUs, dimensions and weight, manufacturing materials or ingredients, and product benefits. Today, product information may not be simply text, it could be product photos, videos, spec sheets, FAQ pages, and customer reviews. 

Historically, companies have used various systems to store product information, including spreadsheets, intranet systems, files stored on personal devices, and some homegrown databases, among others. This form of product information management is inefficient and results in various versions of product records. Teams are left confused as to what is the most up-to-date and accurate product information. This causes confusion and errors to occur.

When companies eliminate disparate sources of product information, in favor of a PIM solution, employees have a single source of truth. 

What Is the Main Goal of Product Information Management?

The primary objective of product information management is to centralize, organize, and optimize product-related data to ensure it is accurate, consistent, and readily available. 

Product information management software is designed to collect all types of product information and aggregate it in a single location for storage and management. Some solutions incorporate both a database for managing the product data as well as built-in digital asset management (DAM) functionality that allows users to easily manage images, documents, videos, and more. 

With product information centralized, employees have unfettered access to all the data they will ever need to sell, invoice, market, and demonstrate products and their benefits to potential buyers or partners. Eliminating disparate data sources for product information means more accurate results, less wasted time, fewer errors, and more creative collaboration.

What Does a Product Information Management System Do?

Product information management software centralizes product information and enables authorized employees to update the product records. A great PIM solution is cloud-based, which allows multiple users to access the program at once. As an added benefit, a cloud-based program protects your valuable information in the event of a natural disaster or IT equipment breakdown.

In addition to storing accurate and up-to-date product descriptions, SKU information, pricing, features, benefits, dimensions, functionality, and more, product information management software platforms with built-in digital asset management (DAM) functionality allow companies to get the most out of their product data. Multiple employees can use the assets simultaneously, ensuring that all information is updated and allowing them to work collaboratively even if they’re not located in the same building (or state, or country). 

Information updates happen in real-time and on a centralized basis, allowing the solution to serve as a single source of truth for all relevant product information, which eliminates error and reduces friction between employees, boosting productivity and job engagement.

Sales teams and marketers benefit from the use of a PIM solution because it allows them to craft more persuasive and customized campaigns to attract buyers and partners. As companies seek to build more personalized marketing programs, centralized knowledge becomes a critical tool in targeting information that is relevant for each prospect.

What Is an Example of a PIM?

There are numerous PIM software solutions on the market today including Plytix PIM, Pimcore, Salsify, Inriver, Catsy, Acquia PIM, Lumavate, and more. Each of these solutions by PIM software companies has a primary goal of offering users the ability to centralize the management of product data. Some companies with PIM tools in market offerings include additional functionality to make them more user-friendly, and this is where important differences between the products lie. Lumavate is a preferred solution due to its robust functionality not only as a product information management solution but also as a Digital Asset Management (DAM) tool and a Digital Experience Platform (DXP), a solution that allows companies to manage customer and employee experiences across a broad range of multichannel digital touch points.

Lumavate’s subscription-based Product Experience Management (PXM) platform provides marketers at manufacturing companies with all the functionality they require to centralize their product data, manage their digital assets, and create branded digital product experiences, resulting in one of the best PIM software 2023 experiences in the market. Manufacturing companies can gain the ability to create digital experiences that are tied to real-time product data, integrate their existing tech stack, and provide employees with messaging functionality.

The solution is available at different subscription levels and is fully customizable, allowing companies to implement the product information solution that works best for their operations.