What Is a PIM in Saas?
by Lumavate | Last Updated: Dec 17, 2023
by Lumavate | Last Updated: Dec 17, 2023
The PIM system meaning is “Product Information Management” solution. This software allows you to keep every piece of data people need to know about each of your products, all centralized and in one place. This ensures that everyone is using the most up-to-date version of your data and that no older versions are still in use to cause confusion and perpetuate incorrect or out-of-date information.
Most modern Product Information Management (PIM) solutions are offered as SaaS (Software as a Service), where the software is entirely cloud-based and managed by the service provider from their own data center. The service provider is responsible for managing the software, app data, and all necessary infrastructure, along with ensuring all data (yours and theirs) is fully secure. The advantage of Software as a Service is that it’s very quick to set up and highly cost-effective.
However, there are still some older PIM solutions that have been provided on-premise. What this means is that any related software and infrastructure hardware is hosted on-site, within the company’s control. Or you may operate a hybrid solution as many of the older PIM companies are on-site but also offer a newer SaaS version.
Lumavate offers professional, high-quality PIM software that is a solely cloud-based SaaS solution. Our customers benefit from quick implementation, a short learning curve, integrations to work with legacy software, and biweekly product releases, providing you with new functionality on a regular basis. We’re highly responsive and keen to keep adding useful functionality and integrations, giving you the very latest in PIM solutions.
PIM software is specifically designed to centrally store and manage all types of product data for every product your company produces. A PIM solution typically allows multiple users to log in to the software and update product data in real-time. It serves as a single source of truth for all product information.
This product data can include product descriptions, SKUs, pricing, features, benefits, dimensions, functionality, instructions, user manuals, onboarding information, details of related accessories or other products, and so much more.
On its own, your PIM solution allows you to ensure that everyone is using the latest version of your data and that every version of each piece of data is controlled, with a log showing what has been altered at each version update. This is excellent for quality control as it’s possible to look back at previous versions and see how much a product has changed from its initial release, and in what ways the product has changed.
It’s also vital for producing quality content that is always accurate and up to date. No company ever wants to disappoint a potential customer by quoting an earlier, cheaper price and then having to tell them that it actually costs more than that. This kind of document control also gives peace of mind to sales advisors as they know for certain they are giving every potential lead the latest specifications, features, functionality, uses, and any other information they might need to persuade a lead into becoming an enthusiastic purchaser. They can also upsell and downsell more easily as the PIM solution can easily link products, accessories, related products, and spare parts, increasing your average order size.
In addition, as with Lumavate’s PIM software, if your chosen PIM comes with built-in Digital Asset Management (DAM) functionality, you can also manage images, graphics, marketing assets, videos, and more. It’s then possible for you to easily share this information with other departments, channels, partners, and agencies. You can also bring together appropriate data assets, images, videos, and more to produce a digital product experience, such as a minisite, web pages, a searchable catalog, full product specifications, and more. This can be general product information to go on your website, for example, or it can be personalized quickly and tailored to provide the exact information needed at the right time to an important customer.
Product information management software houses every piece of relevant product data you can think of. You can store pricing, sizes and weight, features and benefits, product descriptions, safety data sheets, if required, spare part listings, related accessories, and any type of documentation, including user manuals, checklists, onboarding and setup instructions, wiring diagrams, engineering drawings, and more. It all depends on what’s actually needed by marketing and sales to be able to thoroughly understand every product you sell, persuade customers to buy, and ensure they can clearly, quickly, and accurately answer customer questions.
With Lumavate’s PIM system, you get unlimited products, unlimited product types, and unlimited custom data fields for unlimited users, allowing authorized users to categorize and manage every product thoroughly. With so much control over how you set up and manage your products and your data, it’s then far easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and be certain that you’re referring to the latest version.
Lumavate’s product information management software also has built-in Digital Asset Management (DAM) functionality. In addition to PIM functionality, the DAM also allows you to store product-related digital assets such as product images, owner’s manuals, technical specification sheets, troubleshooting videos, installation videos, and any other digital assets you might require. With quality DXP software, such as that already built-in with Lumavate’s solution, you can then manage and manipulate any data and bring it together to create any digital assets needed for marketing, sales, agency partners, channel partners, and others.
There are numerous PIM solutions available today, including Plytix PIM, Pimcore, Salsify PIM, Inriver, Acquia PIM, Catsy, Akeneo PIM, Lumavate, and more.
Every one of these PIM software companies provides a PIM solution that will allow you to centralize the management of your product data. We talked above about how much control that gives you and how you can easily manage different versions, ensure consistency, and provide certainty that everyone is using the correct version of each piece of data. All of these PIM tools in market give you that, but some solutions also offer additional functionality.
Lumavate is the top PIM from our point of view, and the preferred solution, given its exceptional and robust functionality as a PIM, Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution, and Digital Experience Platform (DXP). Each one of these parts gives you excellent functionality individually, but together, they provide a DXP solution that vies for best in class with quick implementation, easy learning for users, and a whole range of features, functions, and integrations designed to enable you to take control of your digital assets and make them work hard for you in providing a quality digital experience and personalization to your internal and external customers.
Lumavate is the best PIM software 2023 because of its robust offering. Get a demo of how the Lumavate PIM can help your business.