Product information management

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 catalogs, marketplaces such as Amazon and Google Shopping, social media platforms like Instagram and electronic data feeds to trading partners.[1][2][3]

PIM solutions are most relevant to business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) firms that sell products through a variety of sales channels in a range of industries.[4] The use of PIM is generally influenced by a company's:

  • wide array of products and/or complex product data set
  • frequently changing product characteristics
  • increasing number of sales channels
  • non-uniform IT infrastructure (plethora of data sources and formats)
  • online business and electronic ordering
  • various locales and localization requirements

PIM systems manage customer-facing product data needed to support multiple geographic locations, multi-lingual data, and maintenance and modification of product information within a centralized catalog. 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. Information may be needed for detailed product descriptions with prices, or calculating freight costs. PIM represents a solution for centralized, media-independent product data maintenance, as well as efficient data collection, enrichment, data governance and output.[5]

  • Product data management (PDM) is the use of software or other tools to track and control information related to a particular product. The managed data usually involves the descriptions and technical specifications of a product.
  • Product resource management (PRM) is used by some software providers as a synonym for PIM, as well as Product Content Management (PCM), mainly popular as a term in England and France.
  • Product life-cycle management (PLM) refers more to a management strategy than to a specific IT technology, the goal of which is to optimize the entire life cycle of a product from inception, through engineering design and manufacturing over time.
  • Media asset management (MAM) or digital asset management (DAM) refers to the management of unstructured multimedia objects such as images, graphics and presentations as well as ‘meta-information’ (data about data). The term is used primarily in the media business.
  • Cross media publishing (CMP) comes from the print and advertising industries, referring to the coordinated use of multiple media in complementary fashion. It also denotes the repeat usage of individual structural elements such as text, images or graphics within different media.
  • Product Information Management & Syndication (PIMS), which stresses the need for capabilities to seamlessly disseminate product content through (online) sales channels.[6]
  • Product experience management (PXM) is a practice for a company to deliver customers an experience around its products or services throughout the customer lifecycle.[7]

Electronic catalogs

Procurement systems and online shopping platforms such as online marketplaces are based upon electronic catalogs. PIM systems can load descriptive product information as content into a catalog management solution, where products are grouped and managed for specific target markets. Data exchange interface standards such as Open ICEcat allow seamless interchange of electronic catalogs between vendors on the one hand and purchasing firms and marketplace operators on the other. Procurement solutions are closely related, which automate the procurement process for purchasing goods and services. These create transparency for the product data of multiple vendors to support the centralized management of multi-supplier catalogs and facilitate price and quality research.

Leading PIM vendors

According to the latest report published by independent technology research company Gartner, the Magic Quadrant for Master Data Management Solutions (a merger of MDM Customer and PIM solutions covering now Multidomain MDM) published January 19, 2017, contains two companies in the visionaries leader quadrant, Informatica and Orchestra Networks. Both provide a solid Multidomain MDM solution, where Product is one of the domains. Compared to the Magic Quadrant report for Master Data Management of Product Data Solutions in 2016[8] we see them, then leading vendors in the market Oracle, IBM, Stibo Systems, Riversand and Tibco Software are reshuffled due to the fact other criteria are used to make up the qualification. Informatica was already present with both their MDM solutions for products in the 2016 report and the combination made them leader in 2017.

A general criticism regarding Gartner and Forrester is that their research is not independent, but that it's pay to play.[9]

Capgemini, the independent system integrator, mentions the leading PIM sources GDSN, Icecat, Syndy, Brandbank (Nielsen Holdings), Salsify, and Shotfarm in their 2017 report.[10]

PS Market Research, another technology research company, identified and ranked leading Product Information Management players CNET, Icecat, IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, Inc., Software AG, Pegasystems Inc., Open Text Corp., and BP Logix.[11].

RnR Market, another technology research company, identified in their 2016 "Product Information Management Market" report[12] the key vendors being Adam Systems, Agility Multichannel, IBM, Informatica, inRiver, Oracle, Pimcore, Riversand, SAP AG, Stibo Systems.

Ventana Research, another technology research company, identified and ranked leading Product Information Management vendors Stibo Systems, Informatica, Akeneo, Agility Multichannel, Catsy, Riversand, Sales Layer,Quable,eTEAM PIM, Enterworks, SAP, Bluestone PIM, Oracle, ADAM software and IBM in their 2015 Value Index.[13] The evaluation was based on usability, capability, validation, and ROI.

Link with enterprise content management

Enterprise content management is a term encompassing technologies, methods and tools used for gathering, imaging, storing, archiving and providing electronic content. Distinction can be made between four separate sub-areas. Document management systems (DMS) are deployed for archiving, and PDM involves the management of structured, technical data for such applications as parts diagrams and lists. Content management systems (CMS) are more commercially oriented and provide a framework for knowledge management or informational service offerings through the management of unstructured, document-type content. PIM systems are used to manage structured data in a business context for feeding into any kind of distribution channel, from electronic catalogs to online shops to print catalogs.

See also

References
  1. Latt, Aung; 2019 (2019-03-11). "Why PIM is crucial to every distributor's ecommerce strategy". Digital Commerce 360. Retrieved 2020-05-10.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. "What is a PIM?". Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  3. "What is a PIM or Product Information Management?". Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  4. Demery, Paul; 2020 (2020-01-20). "Building a roadmap for growth in B2B digital commerce". Digital Commerce 360. Retrieved 2020-05-10.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. "The Importance of the Product Information Management (PIM)". TechBullion. 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  6. "What is Product Information Management (PIM) in a Syndicated, Multimedia world?". Icecat.
  7. "Product experience management: A critical component of the CMO arsenal". adage.com. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  8. "Market Guide for Master Data Management of Product Data Solutions". www.gartner.com. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
  9. "Is the influence of Gartner, IDC and Forrester waning?". www.cio.com. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  10. "The Devil is in the (Product Data) Details. How to Overcome Poor Product Information to Boost Omnichannel Strategies" (PDF). www.capgemini.com.
  11. "Global Product Information Management Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2024". Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  12. Research, RnR Market. "Product Information Management Market - 25.3% CAGR Forecast to 2021". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  13. "Product Information Management Value Index". www.ventanaresearch.com. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
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