eCommerce Platform integration with Product Information Management (PIM)
Anna Gruszczynska-Radecka
Wed Jul 24 2024
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BOOK A CALLToday’s eCommerce business is all about data. Product information is scattered in different systems and can be difficult to manage and synchronize. That’s where a good PIM system comes in – it helps you gather, manage and sync product data from all your different sources, so you have a single view of your product inventory.
All this is about making better decisions about what to sell when to sell it, and how much to charge.
eCommerce data management
All information crucial for your business is spread across different systems, spreadsheets and catalogues. Gathering all in one place and managing it in real-time to satisfy all stakeholders delivering consistent data is a challenge.
Especially when this data is the lifeblood of your eCommerce business.
Product Information Management (PIM) systems are created to solve just that – efficiently manage all your product information in one place.
Basic eCommerce technology stack
Running an e-commerce business involves using complex information technology and service. The e-commerce platform is only one element. There are some other solutions supporting enterprise actions from the manufacturing, accounting, inventory management or marketing point of view. All together they build a technology stack.
A technology stack is a collection of software that together make up a complete eCommerce business platform. It includes everything from the operating system to the web server, database, and application code that makes up your website or app.
E-commerce software relations
When you design and manufacture products you need to manage the product life cycle with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). All your accounting and inventory operations are supported by ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) usually consisting of an Inventory and Order Management System. All this information is used on the e-commerce platform and other selling channels with a multichannel approach.
Master data management across various eCommerce platforms
The above-mentioned systems use for their purposes only basic data to operate products like SKUs, quantities etc. There is a lot more required by the market operators. Customers expect much more information about your products.
They want to experience the product like in real life and this needs to be done with profound and detailed product descriptions as well as digital assets like photos, videos, VR and AR, and mood boards. Moodboard implementation in Magento e-commerce store
The product data is covered by Digital Asset Management allowing them to store, catalogue, and use it whenever it’s needed.
Product data management
In order to make sure that your product data is accurate and up-to-date you will need a constant flow of information. You can display this on an eCommerce platform or other channels like Amazon, but it’s also important for marketing purposes so they’re able to catch any errors in their system before too many customers have bought something based on bad info!
Product data delivered via different channels to the market are much more complex and differentiated and require constant real-time actualisation.
Different products have different sizes, and colour variants and some are composable. The key details of each product need to be spread across channels so that customers can persuade themselves into buying it instead!
What does PIM software be?
A Product Information Management (PIM) system is software which is a central source of truth about the product. It combines information from all the systems and enriches them with descriptions, titles, and digital assets.
PIM usually consists of DAM (Digital Asset Management) enabling to catalogue, find and use files, photos, and videos.
Enriched product data are used on the e-commerce platform, multiple channels like Amazon, eBay or Social Media and for online and offline marketing purposes.
How does the PIM software solution work?
It has APIs to connect with other software solutions as well as connectors to the Magento 2 e-commerce platform. PIM system collects the information from ERP (Enterprise Resources Planning), DAM (Digital Assets Management), suppliers’ spreadsheets, and Excel files.
It not only gathers but also unifies and standardizes them for better use in the Magento 2 store to support its multichannel solution.
“PIM =Source of Truth About the Product”
PIM solution stores the following product information for the marketing and sale purpose:
- product descriptions – size, weight, colour, material,
- ways of product usage – stories, reviews, vivid social proofs,
- product instructions – how to technically handle the product.
PIM solutions have an interface for easy, user-friendly management by online store marketers of all the product information in one place no matter how many sales channels they serve.
All changes made by store merchants in one place will affect other places and sales channels with one click. With no need to change a detail in all necessary spots which can lead to mistakes.
PIM software benefits
PIM software is beneficial for businesses of all sizes. It’s helpful in managing and enriching product data to ensure your products are consistent across all channels, whether it’s an eCommerce website, Amazon, eBay or other marketplaces.
Product Information Management software provides a central repository for product information that can be easily accessed and updated by authorized users. This allows businesses to efficiently manage their product catalogue and ensure that accurate and up-to-date product information is available to customers across all channels.
“With PIM there is less manual data entry, no errors.”
PIM software can also help businesses save time and money by reducing the need for manual data entry and updates, and by automating the process of publishing product information to different channels.
PIM benefits
consistent product information
process automation
fluent data flow
improved UX
time and money savings
Product Information Management systems offer a wide variety of advantages and benefits:
- Rich content attracts more visitors to the website through accurate product data;
- Seamless customer experience on eCommerce platforms based on customer data gathering and processing;
- Content uniformity on all channels thanks to a robust content management system;
- Brand image protection by enriched product descriptions and videos for product catalogue and various displays;
- Time and money are saved thanks to automatic data synchronization eliminating filling data manually.
How the PIM system supports Magento
Magento 2 is an e-commerce platform that helps businesses rapidly create and deploy online stores. It offers a flexible architecture, scalability, and extensive functionality to support businesses of all sizes.
Magento 2 Open Source flexibility
It is also easily adaptable to evolving technical stacks. Magento 2 provides an open-source eCommerce platform which makes it highly flexible. The constantly changing e-commerce environment requires a very agile attitude and approach that allows us to create new technology adaptable to future solutions.
Magento’s out-of-the-box functionality can be extended with many plugins and themes.
Magento 2 and business applications
In order to extend the platform’s capabilities even further, Magento 2 has partnered with a number of software providers to offer integrations with popular business applications.
One of the key advantages of Magento 2 is its ability to support multiple channels and marketplaces. With Magento, businesses can easily sell their products on different channels, including their own website, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, eBay, and other marketplaces.
Magento 2 multiple storefronts supported with PIM solution
Multiple storefronts are hard work, whether you use Magento or not. But product management software like PIM makes it easier to handle multiple online stores by storing all your products in one place and giving more possibilities for creating content with relevant information.
PIM software for Magento also means that if anything changes in your product data, it will be changed across all channels at the same time.
This is a big advantage over managing products manually or using a separate platform for each channel.
Product information management is a must for scalability
When the enterprise scale up the PIM software will inevitably be necessary to support the product number, suppliers and multiple languages markets. The system can automatize processes which in turn optimizes your business growth rate!
A growing company without a centralised product data centre will cause problems, mistakes and slower information flow. PIM software supports large-scale businesses with data management for marketing purposes making the sale actions more profitable.
PIM’s content management supports SEO
Product information is crucial in e-commerce content. Titles, descriptions and keywords together with pictures and videos need to be stored in one place and used in a structured form to support search engine optimisation of the store. PIM systems offer great features for managing not only the product data but also digital assets like videos and photos in multiple languages.
PIM solution for marketing
All marketing actions online and offline are based on product data. Merchants decide what actions and when need to be done by analysing real-time information from different channels. PIM systems offer unified product data for all marketing activities as well as for analytics and reporting.
PIM systems help to make the best decisions about products, sales, promotions and strategies in general.
Product information system facilitates merchants’ communication and offers creation appropriate not only for certain B2B or B2C markets but also for individual clients.
PIM software for Inventory Management
Stock tracking and updating logistics data in real-time makes your business profitable, ready for the market expectations and reliable for clients and suppliers.
PIM can collect data, store and process all information from other systems like ERP systems and POS solutions to use them in the Magento store.
This is why PIM is a must-have tool for any business that wants to be successful in the long term.
Best PIM software for Magento store
If you’re looking for a Product Information Management system for your Magento store, there are a few options to choose from. Be sure to check out our list of the best PIM software for Magento.
To support the omnichannel attitude Magento has partnered with the following PIM providers.
Magento PIM integration providers
One of these partners is Akeneo, a leading provider of Product Information Management (PIM) software. Akeneo offers Open Source Community edition as well as Enterprise and Growth version based on the native cloud for midmarket business.
Community is free of charge, Growth annually costs around 25K USD, and Enterprise is individually calculated, and also requires an annual subscription. Growth and Enterprise editions are SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions.
InRiver PIM software is dedicated to omnichannel business with a lot of products to cover all brand touchpoints and is based on an elastic data model for better responding to e-commerce needs. As a part of the Microsoft Azure ecosystem, it takes advantage of the advanced IT infrastructure.
Pimcore PIM system is a robust enterprise open source solution enabling the management of huge amounts of product data as well as workflow.
With digital files repository and multilanguage translation, it supports an e-commerce platform with consistent product data and allows marketing activities across all channels and devices.
Salsify is another leading provider of Product Information Management (PIM) software. It also offers an easy Magento integration and is cloud-based software supporting product data management aligned together with inventory and content marketing.
How to integrate PIM solution with Magento
Magento has partnered with a number of Product Information Management (PIM) providers in order to offer a multichannel solution.
All Magento PIM integration software enables businesses to efficiently manage their product catalogues and ensure that accurate and up-to-date product information is available to customers across all channels.
It helps them manage the catalogue and ensure that information can be found quickly on all channels, not just online stores but also point of sales and print.
Magento PIM integration can help businesses save time and money by reducing the need for manual data entry and updates, and by automating the process of publishing product information to multiple channels.
The above-mentioned Magento PIM integration systems all have similar features and using one of them depends on the individual situation and your e-commerce needs. Feel free to contact us and discuss this issue.
Conclusion on PIM solution
PIM software is a must-have tool for any business that wants to be successful in the long term.
If you’re looking for a Product Information Management system for your Magento store, be sure to analyze your individual situation and choose the best technical solution customized to your needs.
We hope you found this article helpful. If you have any questions on the best PIM software or any other Magento issue, please contact us.
Thank you for reading!
