When running an ecommerce business, product information management is a competitive aspect that can make or break your store.
As stores scale, the number of products and product-related data grows exponentially.
Without a clear process to master it, product management becomes erratic and time-consuming, making it harder for a company to grow and negatively impacting the customer experience. That’s where the PIM solution for an ecommerce store comes in, streamlining product and data management. Why is it so essential? Let’s dig a little deeper to understand this.
The Role of Product Management in E-Commerce
Good product management is the foundation of any successful ecommerce store. Without the right solution in place, businesses face data silos, which means product information is spread across multiple systems and needs to be manually updated, creating a huge scope for errors.
The Problems of Not Having a PIM Solution
Without a PIM system in place, a business faces many critical issues, the first one being a data inconsistency problem. Picture a potential customer visiting your website and reading a description for one of your products. Then, they download your mobile app and see a different version of the description. It’s confusing and doesn’t help build a lot of trust. Moreover, it leads to operational inefficiencies.
If there isn’t a solution in place to optimize product information and make it available to various sales channels, employees might be spending a lot of their time manually updating each product in different systems. This not only leads to a lot of errors and missed updates, but also results in a fragmented customer experience. This manual approach does not allow businesses to scale quickly. A PIM solution for an ecommerce store enables a business to consolidate all product-related data and make sure the information is consistent.
SEO Challenges with Poor Product Data
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is perhaps one of the most noticeable areas that show where a company is suffering from a lack of PIM. For any ecommerce company, getting on the first page of the search results is crucial for driving the right leads to your digital store. However, it is not easy to rank high if a business isn’t able to use accurate data to its advantage. Often the titles, descriptions, images, and keywords of products aren’t consistent or in the correct format.
Not having a PIM solution can get in the way of complete search engine optimization. Having one can help businesses address this by optimizing product listings for SEO. You’ll get all your products in one place and can bulk-edit titles, descriptions, and metadata to make sure every page is fully optimized for search engines. It will ensure businesses capitalize on trending SEO terms for better visibility and increased organic traffic.
Enhancing Product Data Management
Great ecommerce runs on great data management. A complete PIM system is perhaps the most important tool in your arsenal. This remains true even as your business changes and grows. An effective PIM translates the whole spectrum of your product data, making it easier for your teams to source data.
Through the use of a PIM solution, product managers can ensure the information about your products is accurate and up-to-date across all necessary platforms. If the information about the items you review on the website needs to match what is featured in your social media posts, a centralized system can ensure continuity. In turn, there is a reduced risk of human error, which tends to be higher when teams manage ad-hoc content sharing and maintenance protocols or when the team is running on out-of-date software or procedures.
The Growth Benefits of a PIM Solution
Ecommerce builds a foundation for scalability and efficiency when they integrate a PIM system. This is largely due to the fact that the central data hub and automation features make it easier for teams to reduce time spent on manual upkeep. They can instead focus their efforts on other types of work that have more value, like building new relationships, coming up with new marketing strategies, and brainstorming product expansion options.
Businesses also tend to scale more efficiently when they don’t have to worry about dropping the ball on product content updates. How do you integrate a full PIM system for an ecommerce store? Over time and with experience, of course.
On a more granular level, you’ll also enjoy improved teamwork processes. Everyone, from product managers to marketing and tech teams, will base their decisions on the same version of available information. This makes decisions easier since they know they’re all working together to meet the same brand goals. Most importantly, it provides higher standards of data quality to all staff members. This directly translates into desired customer-oriented results.
