Product information management (PIM) is the process of managing all the information required to market and sell products through distribution channels. This product data is created by an internal organization to support a multichannel marketing strategy. A central hub of product data can be used to distribute information to sales channels such as e-commerce websites, print catalogues, marketplaces such as Amazon and Google Shopping, social media platforms like Instagram and electronic data feeds to trading partners. Moreover, the significant role that PIM plays is reducing the abandonment rate by giving better product information.[1]
PIM solutions are most relevant to business-to-consumer and business-to-business firms that sell products through a variety of sales channels in a range of industries.[2] The use of PIM is generally influenced by a company's:
PIM manages customer-facing product data required to support multiple geographic locations, multilingual data, maintenance and modification of product information within a centralized product catalogue. PIM can act as a centralized hub for storing product information and from every channel.[3] Product information kept by a business can be scattered throughout departments and held by employees or systems, instead of being available centrally; data may be saved in various formats, or only be available in hard copy form. It also helps businesses to improve their conversion rate optimization (CRO) by displaying consistent branding and reducing abandonment rate. Moreover, PIM allows the automation of most of the processes of product creation. All in all PIM provides a centralized solution for media independent product data maintenance, efficient data collection, data governance and output.[4]