What is a PIM? 

PIM stands for Product Information Management: a middleware software solution that centralizes your organization’s unique product data and provides advanced features and functionality for simple management and distribution across all sales channels. A strong Product Information Management (PIM) solution will serve as a central source of truth for all product information across every business application within an eCommerce technology suite. This includes SKU data, product photography, merchandising, SEO meta-data, pricing information, and much more. Something else to know when asking “what is PIM?” is that a solid PIM unifies workflows between back-office operations and front-end shopping experiences. All existing workflows will function seamlessly, including product data sourcing, merchandising, and product syndication and fulfillment. This speeds time-to-market improves internal collaboration, reduces errors and cost, boosts customer experience, improves branding and merchandising, and more. Perhaps most importantly, it provides the ability to scale (e.g., internationally, multiple stores, additional product launches, staffing, etc.) So, what is PIM? In short, a PIM program is used to provide your overall modern eCommerce infrastructure with the flexibility and accuracy required to improve. EXAMPLE: Products for your online store(s) are often mastered directly by hand inside a Content Management System (or another similar web-based management tool). While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, it presents challenges for multi-channel publication which has become essential for retailers who want to sell products in their physical brick-and-mortar stores and through various online channels. What PIM can do is streamline this process exponentially. Online PIM software can be used to publish products to Amazon or eBay and through a variety of alternative online stores that may be branded differently or contain products that are meant for different consumption audiences (such as B2C versus B2B customers).

Manage Your Product Data Once and Customize Publication Everywhere

Imagine mastering your products easily in one centrally hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution and then publishing it to many places at once, automatically. If you’re wondering “what is PIM?” this is what it accomplishes in the modern omnichannel sphere. It is critical for mid to large-sized enterprises to streamline workflows and create more sophisticated information management stacks so they can easily expand into new markets. EXAMPLE: A product is designated to be pushed to your USA store with geo-specific assignments, including English description, US currency, local photography, specific PDFs, and so on. However, this same product must show up on your Brazilian store with a Portuguese description, price displayed in Real, with customized creative assets, and any other supporting information that may best resonate with that target audience. A PIM is what you need to accomplish this goal thoroughly and effectively. Having a geo-specific strategy is essential to success throughout the entire year. This means you must have the ability to easily tailor web pages, banners, ads, product information, pricing, etc.) across every custom storefront and each sales channel. This can prove exceptionally challenging, especially for mid-market and enterprise businesses with large product catalogs, multiple stores, and numerous, targeted promotions. To answer the question “what is PIM?” in a nutshell, it enables teams to be able to accomplish these types of initiatives. It is especially imperative for brands who wish to successfully internationalize and manage translations, localizations, currencies, and languages. If you’re ready to experience the best in online PIM software, get in touch with Jasper now and see what puts us at the front of the pack.