Best Product Information Management Tools for Ecommerce Shop Owners
Global eCommerce sales are continuously rising and it has been reported to hit an extravagant $6.3 trillion in 2024. Therefore, maintaining consistent product information that is also accurate and updated becomes crucial for eCommerce businesses and cannot be brushed away. Further, according to other reports, 87% of the product content supports an online shopper's buying decision with the way it works in its description. This statistic explains how significant the requirement for managed product data is with the proper expertise and at the desired level to cater to consumer needs.
In this scenario, PIM, or Product Information Management, becomes the essential and most required tool for any eCommerce business today in this digital marketplace. It is particularly concerned with businesses obliged to deal with huge and varied product catalogs that extend to multiple sales channels with different needs. PIM tools collect and centralize important information so that errors can actually be reduced by over 30%, thus enabling efficient workflows across several online stores, marketplaces, and social networks. In this guide, we will look at the great number of benefits that PIM systems have, how to select the exact PIM tool for your business, and many more.
Benefits of Product Information Management for Ecommerce Shop Owners
eCommerce businesses can have a lot of advantages from using a PIM tool. Some of the top benefits are mentioned below:
- Centralized Product Data: All the product data is found at one place that helps in the central management, updating, and distribution of product data across the channels.
- Enhanced Data Accuracy and Consistency: Businesses ensure their product data is the same and accurate while recording it across all their selling channels with the help of a centralized PIM tool, thus avoiding possible errors and creating trust in the eyes of customers.
- Faster Time-to-Market: It helps with fast product launches, as teams can easily create and update listings across multiple channels without the need to go around updating each site manually.
- Improved Multichannel Management: PIM lets businesses that sell products on multiple channels like Amazon, eBay, Shopify, etc., synchronize the product information across those channels more easily.
- Improved SEO for Products: The PIM tool can optimize product descriptions, attributes, and metadata that enhance product ranking on search engines and other e-commerce sites.
How to Choose the Right Product Information Management Tool Software
While deciding on the best Product Information Management tool for your eCommerce business, you need to consider the following factors:
- Integration with eCommerce Platforms: The PIM tool has to be compatible with the existing e-commerce platform, such as Magento, Shopify, or BigCommerce, as well as with third-party marketplaces, including Amazon, eBay, and social commerce platforms.
- Scalability: The selected PIM tool shall be one that can expand along with the business. It should ideally sustain the existing number of SKUs and easily scale up as per the product catalog growth.
- Ease of Use: Do not go for PIM tools that require too much user training and adjustment. Preferably, these tools should be short on the learning curve, simple, and use drag-and-drop interfaces to stand out.
- Automation and Bulk Editing: PIM tool must allow automation to support bulk editing of product details, product updates, and synchronization of various channels in near real-time to drastically reduce the time for human error.
- SEO-Friendly Features: Choose a PIM tool that helps you optimize the metadata, product description, and attributes of the products for better ranking on search engines and marketplaces.
Best Practices for Using Product Information Management Tool
Following these best practices will make your PIM system work at an optimum level:
- Keep Product Information Updated: You need to constantly update product data within the PIM system to ensure that all information is equally current, cohesive, and complete across all channels.
- Standardize Data Entry: Set out data entry standards that are non-negotiable for your team, thereby maintaining consistency within product descriptions, attributes, and formats.
- Use Bulk Edits: The PIM tool allows you to carry out bulk edits on product data to update prices, add new attributes, or even change product categories. Make sure to use this feature for better results.
- Collaborate Across Teams: Get your marketing, sales, and product management teams to work together through the PIM tool, enabling different teams to update product information as required.
- Track Product Performance: Use the analytics feature of your PIM tool to track how products are performing on each channel. Use this information to optimize product listing and marketing strategies.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Product Information Management Tool
Here are some common pitfalls when using the PIM tool that ought to be avoided:
- Not Keeping Data Hygiene: If you do not regularly tidy up and standardize data on products, there will be inconsistencies and errors on those products when uploading to various platforms. Therefore, always audit your product data from time to time.
- Failing to Use Custom Attributes: Each and every business has some unique attribute for their products. Thus, the incomplete product information would either fail to provide differentiation or lose such an opportunity by not utilizing custom fields on PIM systems.
- Overlooking Localization Needs: Unable to provide localized product content for the regions would cause lost opportunities for international markets. Use the PIM tool to manage translations, currency conversion, and localized descriptions.
- Neglecting Collaboration Among Teams: If you do not include all necessary departments like sales, marketing, and logistics, you will most likely get incomplete or even outdated product info.
- Missing SEO on the Product Listings: By not optimizing product descriptions and metadata for SEO in your PIM tool, you are preventing yourself from receiving organic traffic.
Final Thoughts
In short, if you're one of those owners of eCommerce shops who want to manage and distribute product data efficiently for multiple channels, then it's time to give regard to a central product information management tool. The centralized product information, consistency of data, and efficient workflow effectively contribute to enhanced sales and the overall shopping experience.