A PIM to exploit e-commerce opportunities

It is now safe to say that in the last two years we have all done some shopping online. It has become a common practice for millions of people and the number is increasing all the time. This exponential growth has been made possible by companies that have been able to provide a good service to their customers.  In Italy, which until a few years ago was at the bottom of the statistics, the crisis caused by COVID-19 gave a boost to growth. While strict lockdown measures were imposed worldwide in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus, the number of online shoppers skyrocketed.

According to a recent Nielsen study, as of March 2020, 79.8% of Italians had purchased consumer goods online, while in the first five months of 2020, new online consumers tripled compared to the same period last year (AGI, 2020). 

A Juniper Research study published by Business Wire predicts that consumer spending via chat will reach $142 billion by 2024. 

The importance of the individual details of a product for sale is clear from the above.

If we look at any product on the market and compile a summary sheet, we realise how much information needs to be included in an e-commerce portal. Here is an example of data:

• Identifiers: brand, article number, barcode, article name, short description, long description, notes ...
• Dimensional: height, width, depth, net weight, volume ...
• Versions: types of color, finish, paint…
• Order details : order unit of measure, minimum purchase quantity ...
• Aggregatives: series, line, model, product category, class ...
• Packaging: type of packaging, height, width, depth, weight, volume, quantity of product contained ...
• Prices: currency, price, validity start date, validity end date, territory of competence, etc ...
• Associated products: type of correlation, article code, etc…
• Technical characteristics: depend on the type of product…
• Language: translations for different countries and markets

If the product is not characterized by these data, it will hardly be found by the searches that consumers do on the net. It will not be fully appreciated and the user will probably choose a competitor product, much more detailed and full of information.
But that's not all: the operators involved in the pre- and post-sales processes also need detailed knowledge of the product, because consumers are becoming increasingly demanding and informed.

How can we manage this amount of information, stored with personal criteria by different offices and departments, often far apart?
Do you think it is still possible to work with folders, sub-folders, files stored on individual computers, spreadsheets, exchange of emails or various messaging?
No, we must equip the company with a Product Information Management system for managing product information and a Digital Asset Management for managing the digital assets of a product (images, videos, attachments).
The PIM and DAM operate with the same logic: centralize the management of product information and assets in order to enrich and distribute them, in accordance with industry standards or agreed conventions.

The Product Information Management (PIM) enables:

• To have a single corporate repository for all product information. In fact, the PIM is able to connect to systems already present in the company to retrieve the various information and centralise it.
• To have a complete synchronization of data . By interfacing the PIM with the various systems already present in the company (ERP, management systems, file servers, etc.), it is guaranteed that every area of the company will have an up-to-date version of all the information (data , images, videos, etc.) relating to a given article.
• Secure access to data . IT can manage and guarantee adequate access to data. Permissions are granted to each workgroup or individual user for read-only access to the data, with the possibility of editing the data, creating new articles, etc.
• Security of data access.
• Ease of use: easier access to data allows better management of all commercial / marketing activities
• Intuitive interfaces: thanks to PIM, the various business users should be able to access the system completely independently without having to acquire new skills.

Our software for the Product Information Management allows marketing and sales to quickly and accurately disseminate information in the different distribution channels: printed catalogs, websites, e-commerce, ERP. Above all, it allows customization of information relating to product categories, prices, descriptions and translations.
The PIM of eTEAM is fully integrated with the other modules of the platform: DAM, DMS, CMS, CRM. This virtuous integration has enabled the development of solutions tailored to the customer's needs.

Online shopping is evolving rapidly and if companies want to survive in today's competitive landscape, investing in digital is a must. Multiply the commercial effectiveness of your products, adopt Product Information Management and your company becomes smarter!