PIM system – an important building block for the digitization process in your company
Efficient product data management and data maintenance are an elementary prerequisite of successful multichannel marketing. A product information management system (PIM system) that is sensibly integrated into your IT architecture guarantees smooth processes for ensuring consistent data quality. We offer a convenient and efficient solution for your product data – from your ERP system through to the output to the sales channels.
First and foremost, the PIM system must fit your company and your business goals. Retail companies with a large product range are dependent on a correspondingly extensive and central software solution.
However, in order to be able to use a PIM system also as a central system, according to the principle of the single source of truth, the data quality must be kept correspondingly high. This high data quality is achieved through experienced project management and sensible processes. During implementation, we work with you to streamline your processes and then prepare you with extensive training for working with the central system LAGO.
With LAGO you centralize your product information including all article and price data as well as images, texts, videos and other data in one software system. Your existing systems can be connected, creating a sustainable process that avoids any inconsistencies. Once stored in the PIM system, all product data is available to you media-neutrally for all marketing channels. The individual combination of our LAGO modules and apps and the possible automations in LAGO bring you measurable success and a fast return on investment.
What LAGO offers you as software:
Integrated Adobe InDesign workflow
Gives the design team creative autonomy and enables efficient internal workflows, especially for complex, SKU-based layouts.
Powerful PIM integration
Complex product information is automatically routed out to the individual channels.
Complex versioning
Creating countless linguistic and regional variants of your brochures and digital materials is a breeze for LAGO.
Integration of sales and inventory
With LAGO, your staff can prioritize items with high margins, excess inventory or high marketing priority.
LAGO solves problems in the PIM system
Do as our customers do and:
- Say goodbye to inconsistent product information across your different sales channels
- Drastically reduce the effort required for product data processing
- Gain more flexibility in your product information thanks to updating at the touch of a button – even shortly before printing
- Eliminate the typical sources of error in your data
- Avoid redundant work steps in the future due to information islands
- Benefit from clearly defined product responsibilities
- Save your company from rising costs in advertising material production due to uncontrollable workflows
How does a PIM system work?
A product information management system (PIM) is a centralised tool for companies to manage product information. It collects data from various sources, such as manufacturers and suppliers, integrates it and standardises the information. The data is then edited and enriched to correct errors and add missing details.
The PIM system also organises media such as images and videos and enables the structured categorisation of products. This clean and comprehensive information is then distributed across different sales channels to enable a consistent and personalised product presentation. The ability to analyse and monitor performance completes the functionality of a PIM system, as companies can identify trends and optimise their product information. Overall, a PIM system facilitates the efficient management and provision of product information, which is crucial in today’s business world.
Data in the PIM system
A product information management (PIM) system brings together a variety of raw data from different sources to enable efficient management and enrichment of all product data. This enriched product data makes it possible to place products consistently in all channels in a way that is effective for advertising.
Raw data
Raw data refers to the pure information provided by suppliers and manufacturers of the products or from connected systems such as an ERP system.
Product data
Product data includes a wide range of information about the products offered that is relevant for marketing. This can include product descriptions, prices, technical specifications and much more. The enrichment and maintenance of this data is essential for the completeness and accuracy of product information, which can have a decisive impact on sales.
Asset data
In addition to textual information, images, videos and other media are an important component of product information. This asset data is managed by a connected DAM system.
Metadata
Metadata is additional information that contextualises product data. It helps to categorise and attribute products. Metadata often includes things like product categories, brands, materials and more. Wise use of metadata helps improve the findability of products.
Data integration
In order to create a comprehensive picture of a product, data from different sources must be integrated.
Data sources
PIM systems pull information from different data sources. These can be manufacturer data, which provides first-hand product data, or information from suppliers and partners. Consolidating these data sources is a crucial step to ensure consistent product information.
Data consolidation
In many cases, data is not always coherent or consistent. PIM systems need to identify and clean up duplicates to improve data quality and avoid inconsistencies.
Data processing
Product data processing is another critical aspect of a PIM system.
Data cleansing
Data quality is critical. This includes fixing errors, standardising formats and ensuring that data is error-free and consistent.
Data enrichment
Enriching product data with additional information is an important step. This could be product ratings, sales figures or customer reviews, for example.
Taxonomy and classification
Structuring product data through categories and attributes is crucial to facilitate navigation for customers and to ensure a consistent product presentation.
Product output
The output of product data is the point at which the information is actually delivered to customers or other systems.
Multichannel distribution
PIM systems enable seamless connection to different sales channels, be it e-commerce websites, marketplaces or brick-and-mortar shops.
Personalisation
The ability to customise product information to the needs and preferences of customers is an important advantage. PIM systems can help create personalised product recommendations.
Reporting and analysis
The performance of product data can be monitored and analysed to gain insights and make optimisations.
Are you interested in our white paper about the LAGO PIM system?
We are pleased to be able to offer you valuable insights into this key component of our multichannel software. Please fill out the contact form below to receive the whitepaper by e-mail. Your enquiry is important to us and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
- Central product data repository
- How the unique and fully flexible LAGO variant model works
- Intelligent output through distributed data pools
- Direct integration of data into Adobe InDesign
Contact us for a live demo!
Interested in how to reduce the effort and time spent on marketing production? See how we can help!
Frequently asked questions about PIM system
The acronym PIM stands for Product Information Management. The goal of a PIM system is the central media-neutral storage and enrichment, as well as management and distribution of product information to various output channels.
PIM data is information about a product. This product information includes prices, article numbers and multilingual product texts, but also product photos or assets and information for logistics.
A PIM system helps to avoid incorrect product awards, shortens the time-to-market and automates the output to the sales and advertising channels.
Product experience management (PXM) is a product-focused variant of customer experience that has become a popular marketing term in retail. But how does a retailer make its products tangible for customers in advertising?
In today’s retail and advertising landscape, there is an increasing variety of touchpoints for advertising activities that are no longer even limited by space and time. With this increasing availability of customer attention, the quality and relevance of advertising is also becoming more critical to the success of product sales. Customers have always preferred to buy products with which they feel connected in some way. Connectedness with a product is the big goal that modern retail marketers are trying to achieve through fine-tuned and, above all, relevant advertising.
Read more about Product Experience Management (PXM) in our glossary
Our consultants help you find the right solution
Whether you are looking for automated processes or a multichannel derivation of your advertising material production, our experts are available to answer all your questions. Despite standard software, we give our customers the necessary flexibility to adapt LAGO optimally and individually to their respective processes and organization.
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