Best PIM Software

Product information is a significant component of a company’s offerings and gives a massive advantage in terms of product effectiveness, quality, and capability. Poor quality information can damage the bottom line of the business. Companies should identify a strategic system that can establish product information management, and raise the visibility of the product information efficiently. To get a clear, consistent, and consolidated representation of your product information, organizations can invest in the best Product Information Management (PIM) software.

PIM software allows organizations to manage their product information and drive change across their sales and marketing channels. The top Product information management software provides business owners a centralized system for the seamless management of content. However, there are tons of product information software available in the market with different prices and features. It becomes difficult for business owners to select the best PIM software for their organization. 

This buyer’s guide on PIM software is designed to help business owners make the right decision on the selection of the PIM software that fits their business type and size. In this PIM software buyer guide, the users can learn about PIM software and discover software attributes such as pricing, benefits, latest trends, and tips to identify the best PIM software solutions.

• Enormous amount of data: Traditional approach could be efficient to streamline small amounts of data, but if the business is widespread across various geographic locations, it is challenging to accommodate all the data in one place and organize them.
• High error rate: Manual approach for information management is prone to human errors such as wrong data input or duplicate records. The business owners can end up presenting wrong information to the customers and damage the brand's reputation.
• Lack of transparency: In the traditional approach of product information management, the product information is scattered all over places. It is a tedious task to collect all the information from various sources and enter it manually into the centralized system.
• Inaccurate product catalog: Large enterprises have to manage a large set of products and list them on the catalog. With a complex product catalog on hand, the business owners could fail to capture product selling opportunities.    
• Difficult operating multiple sales channels:  A consistent communication about a brand on various channels is essential to win customers' trust.  Different communication channels have different requirements and format styles; it becomes somewhat tricky with a traditional approach to manage consistent product data on all the channels.
• Higher operation costs: Sales and marketing teams can increase business revenue when they have accurate data about the product, but with the traditional approach, the product details are vague and not reliable.  To assure data accuracy, they have to revisit the product catalog over and again and manually verify that all data are latest and accurate. It can take a huge amount of time and increases the business operation costs.

Product Information Management (PIM) software is a tool that allows users to organize and manage product content or information efficiently. It acts as a central repository that stores all the product information in one place.  PIM manages all the data related to the product, such as descriptions, sizes, weights, reviews, certifications, etc.  The main objective of PIM software is to keep product content centralized and in one place that is easy to share with buyers or retailers. PIM software solutions are used by marketers, retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, ecommerce managers, and other data experts.

PIM software holds product information such as,

• Product descriptions
• Product images and videos
• Weight, color, and dimensions
• Technical manuals
• Instructional information/videos
• Taxonomy
• Metadata
• Version information

In recent times, consumers have become more selective and conscious about their product quality. Instead of companies pushing products to the customers, the customers now prefer to pull information from various sources for buying products.  The digital revolution further made jobs easy and gave access to various platforms to compare and choose the best products for them. Businesses have to invest in technologies that enhance customer experience and engagement.  Rather than just selling products to the customers, they need to develop strategies that could create trust and increase customer loyalty for their product.  It is only possible if businesses develop and present product content that is easy to comprehend as well as readily available on various platforms.  PIM system is such technology that enables business owners to meet the customer’s expectations.  It helps them to develop highly targeted product content tailored for customers with different languages, locales, and channels.  PIM system generates high-quality product data that connects customers emotionally and converts customers at a higher rate. Alongside a higher conversion rate, PIM software also assists in reducing product returns.  Incorrect and incomplete product information is a primary reason for product return; with PIM software, these could be eliminated. PIM tools arm consumers with the right information and allow them to move independently throughout their buying journey.

• PIM Software: PIM provides a central solution for managing data, content, and other material that one needs to market and sell products. It manages product information in detail. PIM software has a non-relational database and assists in accessing product information quickly. It is more focused on merchandising and marketing.

• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning ) Software:  The purpose of ERP software is to streamline and integrate operations, processes, and information flows across various departments such as human resources, accounting, procurement, marketing, warehouse, etc.  ERP stores all business-related data into a single database enabling various departments to work with the same information.  An ERP software practices a relational database model. It has a predefined way of analyzing and presenting the data.  It is more focused on business transactions and less on product information.

Both these tools have different purposes, but businesses can endorse their product more strategically while using them together.  Most companies focus on marketing strategies to increase product sales and pay the least attention to product information, but if product information is managed correctly through the PIM system, it can deliver enormous benefits.

• Optimizing SEO:  PIM is not just product description but the medium to present the product to customers with fully optimized product pages.  An individual can streamline product-related keywords, meta description, product tags, images, etc., through ecommerce PIM software and increase the customer rate.
• Content validation:  Product content is crucial for businesses, and validation of content through PIM software before the product release into the market assures them about their marketing strategy effectiveness as well as saves time and efforts that can take in configuring the content after release.
• Enhance marketing:  Marketing can become quite easy with PIM software.  It can help marketers to change the images in the catalog or update the product data across various channels with just a single click. 
• Better customer reach: PIM software’s ability to link images, documents, and various media files allow users to present their content in the most comprehensive way to their potential customers and increase their reach.   
• Automate manual processes:  PIM supports automation of manual processes such as transferring data and distributing the data across various channels.  It helps to enhance the employee’s productivity and reduces management costs.  The elimination of the manual approach also reduces human error, such as duplication of the data record.  
• Improved data quality: The characteristic of quality data is that it is highly structured, clean, and suitable to use on any external platform. Ecommerce PIM software receives data from various sources in different formats, and it automatically standardizes these data into a single uniform format. 
• Regulatory compliance: It is necessary that data comply with laws to prevent data leakages or unauthorized access to the data. PIM software collects data from various sources and ensures that data-abide all the legal guidelines related to the industry.
• Easy to use: A user-friendly interface allows quick adoption of the product content management solution into the team and saves costs on complex training sessions. 
• Flexible deployment options: Best PIM software should not be rigid on the deployment options.  It should be flexible to deploy software on any platform- on-premise, SaaS, and PaaS.    

• Product content management
• Data integration
• Data enrichment
• Automation
• Customization
• Bulk editing
• Data analytics
• Advanced filtering options

Nowadays, product content is not just restricted to store websites, but it is spread all over the internet. Marketing managers have to ensure that product content reaches the right audience through any channels. They also have to see that they deliver the best product content during consumers' entire buying journey, whether it is product manual, product specification, product tutorial, or product FAQs. PIM software's centralized product management mechanism and ability to integrate with various online e-commerce stores such as Magento, WooCommerce, and Shopify makes this task for marketers simple.  Marketers can collect, manage, enrich, and distribute product data to various ecommerce or sales channels through a single interface. The users can classify product information way better, making it easy to search, edit and collect all product information.  It helps them to categorize the products t as per the interest of the audience and reaches them faster.  The software also validates the product content before publishing, making product content more accurate and customer-centric.   The other advantage marketers can leverage through ecommerce PIM software is enhancing the SEO strategies of the product.  With PIM tools, users produce quality product content and optimize it for search engines by inserting relevant keywords and titles.  Besides that, product content management solution assists in structuring the product content, image format, category organization, etc., which all sum up in fine-tuning the SEO strategy.

There is no doubt PIM software can boost marketing for an organization, but it is also crucial that business owners select the right PIM software solution to enhance marketing efforts. There are few ways an individual can filter out the best PIM software.

• Reports and analytics: Analytics is now everywhere, and it is equally crucial for product content management solutions to have reports and analytics features. Knowing the product's performance online makes it easy for marketers to design marketing strategies and bring more business.
• Bulk editing: With continuous updates on product details, it is pretty tough to visit all the platforms and implement the changes.  PIM software must support bulk editing so that users can make changes immediately and remain consistent with their product information.
• Pricing: Just like any other software, the users can see a lot of variations in PIM software price.  The factors that can affect the software pricing are the number of users, training, licensing costs, customization, business size, additional features, etc. Users should be able to get good pricing on their PIM software if they are aware of their software requirements and business scope.
• Regulatory compliance:  Make sure that the PIM software solution covers all necessary regulatory compliance. It can save business owners from unexpected penalties or stoppage of business operations.
• Filter and search options:  PIM software with intelligent search options and filters allow users to find the right product and the right information.     
• Customizable workflows: Product information can change frequently, and for a smooth transition of new changes, it is imperative that the best product information management software has a customizable workflow. A customizable workflow gives a better picture of who is responsible for what and how the entire change needs to be implemented.
• Support for other tools: PIM software can be of great advantage for entrepreneurs planning to launch their e-commerce store. But before finalizing the PIM software, individuals have to ensure that the software supports some well-known e-commerce platforms such as Shopify and Magento.

Product management software capacity is envisaged more than managing product information.  It can be used to link products for cross-sells, up-sells, kitting and bundling.  By listing relevant products in the product catalog, the PIM system can encourage customers to buy bundled products.  Kitting and bundling could boost product marketing strategy and stand out product from the rest.  By linking relevant products in the PIM tool, the businesses can display bundled products automatically on the ecommerce website and e-catalog.  It enables the sales team to increase sales and reduce their efforts in marketing the products separately.

Applications of PIM software are broad, especially for e-commerce businesses.  It helps them to maintain quality data information and seamless data integration with top-notch marketplaces such as Shopify and WooCommerce.  Business owners aiming to incorporate PIM software's power in their business should also tap on the latest PIM software trends to expand their customer base.

• Persuasive technology- AR: Customer experience is becoming an essential component for selling and winning customer loyalty. In emerging online trends, persuasive technology has a significant role in delivering customer experience and showcasing product capabilities. Persuasive technology such as augmented reality can provide a better customer experience by demonstrating how the product can be used.
• Powerful API capabilities: PIM software alone is not enough to optimize product selling, but their integration with the latest technologies and other software programs is equally important. PIM software with strong API capabilities can facilitate integration with other technologies to have a better competitive edge.
• Quality product content: Accurate content that drives consumer’s attention and gives the correct information about the product has great value. The business owners using PIM software should also have their focus on the quality of the product content. In this regard, AI could play a crucial role; it can help to generate better product descriptions.

The average cost of PIM software could be anywhere from $39/month to $350/month.  The PIM software has a vivid range of pricing models that are flexible and scalable.  The price may vary based on the number of users, data storage space, customer support, digital asset management, SKUs, etc.  An individual should also consider onboarding costs, migrating content, training staff, customization, and installation costs. Besides that, the organization's requirements can also influence PIM software's cost as each organization has different needs. By having a PIM software list in hand, it becomes easy for users to filter out the best PIM software that fits in their budget.

• PIM Software for startups: Startups and beginners can take advantage of PIM software without exceeding budget. There are PIM software vendors that provide a free version of the software or provide services at low prices. Apimio, with a basic price plan of $39/month, is one of the best PIM software solutions for startups. It offers all the PIM features for managing and maintaining product data quality.  It allows to curate rich product catalogs optimized for omnichannel selling.  The PIM tool also provides a free trial. There are other tools that can be helpful for startups and beginners, such as OpenPIM and Akeneo PIM. 

• PIM Software for mid-size and large scale businesses:  Mid and large-sized enterprises with exclusive requirements can opt for premium PIM software such as Crystallize that comes at a starting price of $299/month.  Unlimited users, unlimited languages, and full features set are some of the notifying features of this best PIM software for mid and large-scale businesses.  The PIM software also provides additional services such as extra order, extra bandwidth (transfer data), API calls, etc., for which users have to pay extra. The other medium-range PIM software tool includes Jasper at a starting price of $299/month.  Jasper is a SaaS-based PIM software that offers RESTful API access and maximum support for an ecommerce store.  A few more PIM software for mid and large-scale businesses include Plytix, Catsy, and Sales layer.

• Free and Open Source PIM Software: Free and open source PIM software stands as an excellent option for startups  and beginners because of its low-cost or zero-cost pricing model.  Also, through open source product information management users can customize software features according to their business requirements without incurring any development costs.

The best product information management software ensures clear, consolidated, and consistent product information across all channels. . It even facilitates the exchange of information between various enterprise software such as ERP and CRM. Organizations seeking to optimize their sales conversion rate can consider PIM software as a game-changer. However, selecting the best product information management software is equally essential to derive maximum benefits from it. It takes in-depth analysis and thorough research to find the right set of PIM tools for the organization. To make a correct choice on your PIM software, do not fail to check the list of best PIM software prepared by GoodFirms expert team.