As a product or marketing manager you undoubtedly recognise time-to-market as being a key competitive factor. However, you might well find the manual management of product information to be a time-consuming process.
This will become more of an issue as you have to manage increasing amounts of product information, with promotions having to be created for multiple markets and languages. However, it needn’t be this way, as you can save significant amounts of time by using a Product Information Management (PIM) system for the streamlined management of your product data.
Preventing Product Information Management Issues
As your product portfolio continues to grow, you will come to see the value of automated data management. This will likely be the case if your product data is saved in an unstructured form and spread across a range of systems. Time will then have to be spent searching for key product data, which will need to be converted into suitable formats for your preferred channels. Mistakes are likely to be made, with confusion over file versions and much else besides.
There will be a high risk of errors and little chance of consistency whenever product information is stored across a range of separate platforms and systems. However, the integration of a PIM will give you the assurance of being able to publish accurate and up-to-date information on all of your chosen sales and marketing channels.
With approvals being automated, you’ll have confidence that the most accurate and up-to-date information is being shared with your potential customers.
Print and digital catalog publication can also be optimised, with the PIM system feeding current product data directly into your InDesign catalog files. So you can say goodbye to the tedious and time-consuming copy-paste work. It’s even possible to create datasheets, pricelists and catalogs within the PIM system using the built-in design tool. You’ll also find it simple to apply single or multiple values to your product listings, with the optional inclusion of metadata and visual elements for informed customer choices.
Built for ease-of-use, the PIM system has proven to free up as much as 90% and more of a companies’ time to invest in other crucial business activities:
Case study: We experienced time savings of 90% with Perfion PIM
Case study: Data sheet updating time went from 2-3 hrs. to 5 min.
Achieving Manual Time Reduction Using a PIM System
The management of product data inevitably becomes a greater challenge as more product variants are added. This will be the case, even if you don’t have thousands of products. There will be a particularly high risk of mistakes if such product data has to be added and updated manually. However, a PIM can be counted on for efficient and time-saving product data enrichment.
There may also be issues when it comes to the management of supplier data, which is likely to be presented in incomplete and messy formats. Without a PIM you might have to synchronise data formats and import processes manually. Alternatively, you may rely on the PIM for the automatic processing of data, with notifications being issued of the need to approve changes to specific products.
Improving Collaboration and Communication
Following the implementation of a PIM system, staff members from various departments may assume responsibility for product data management. This will mean that the marketing team are able to focus on catalog production and other promotional activities without having to wait for every product detail.
Responsibilities will be easier to delegate following PIM implementation, with individual departments able to focus on their core tasks. The PIM will also allow for the automation of collaboration with translation agencies, as information can be automatically shared about the allocation and writing of product texts in different languages.
Minimising the Time-to-market
The updating of product information and introduction of new products can prove challenging. This is commonly the case where product data is stored across various files and folders. A great deal of time must then be taken over product updates, with no assurance that the new data will be complete or accurate. Questions may be raised and product launches delayed due to the lack of a centralised product data system.
The ROI for time that can be saved with a PIM shouldn’t be underestimated. With all of your product data being easily updated via one central location, everyone in your company will have access to all available product data 24/7. And so the launch process will be optimised.
Making the most of the PIM’s powerful workflow options, you can minimise the time to market for your products. All tasks can be monitored via the PIM dashboard, with individual teams working on the same products simultaneously. Data management tasks can also be sequenced as required, with the dashboard highlighting the assigned responsibilities of different departments and readiness for publishing across various channels.
Calculating your ROI for Time Saved with a PIM
If you’re keen to find out more about the time savings that you could make as a result of PIM implementation then go ahead and take the Perfion test.
We will analyse your results and give specific advice on how best to optimise your product information management for reduced risk and greater chance of sales.
