PIM into

Your new PIM/PCM/PXM/DAM software for

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Product information and digital asset management.





Single Source of Truth

Discover the future of Product Information Management and data governance with our next-generation PIM and DAM! Say goodbye to cumbersome spreadsheets and disorganization. Our intuitive, user-friendly interface is engineered for speed, offering you faster load times and an enhanced user experience while effortlessly maintaining the single source of truth for your product data and digital assets. Easily manage all your product information for your sales channels and streamline your operations, allowing you to increase data quality while focusing on what truly matters—your business.

Exceptionally Easy to Use

Eliminate 'knowledge silos' and stop working in isolation with PIMinto. Designed for seamless teamwork, PIMinto reduces time to market, making it easy and effortless to share, define, collect and edit all forms of product information and digital assets. With everything organized and centralized, updating, optimizing, managing, and distributing high quality, accurate product data becomes a breeze. From product details and specifications to images, videos, documentation, and even translation and localization data, PIMinto is your one-stop solution for efficient master data and digital asset management.

Scale with Zero Risk

PIMinto is not just fast and scalable, it's also incredibly budget-friendly—starting at the unbeatable price of FREE. Designed to grow with your small, large or medium-sized business, our comprehensive product information management platform offers a robust set of features that evolve with your needs. Providing all the essential tools to accurately manage your product data and digital assets efficiently, without breaking the bank. With PIMinto, you get exclusive features that lower your operational costs, speed up your time-to-market, without the financial risk.

Data Sharing Simplified

PIMinto simplifies sharing product data across multiple platforms and channels. Choose what, how, and where to share, with API connectivity, easy export options and customizable rules. Whether it's for an eCommerce platform, a single channel or multiple channels (omni-channel), enjoy the flexibility of selecting specific products and information to distribute, and choose the format that suits each channel, feed, or export. You're in control—decide whether to push data out or let users pull it on-demand. Set custom rules for each process to ensure seamless data sharing. It's the ultimate solution for streamlined, efficient product information management, tailored to your unique business needs.

Artificial Intelligence

AI significantly enhances the capabilities and efficiency of managing product information. Your new PIM can now leverage the power of AI to perform a variety of complex tasks with AI assistants from OpenAI. Create an assistant to make managing PIM data easier and perform tasks such as checking for errors, and automating updating product information based on external information. Create an assistant to simply improve data accuracy and richness, or even for translating product descriptions between languages and performing transformations on product data.

attribute grid editing interface

Really Fast

PIMinto's user interface and API is faster than other PIM systems. Access your data faster. Discover how our PIM speed saves you time.

Easy to Learn

PIMinto user interface is intuitive and easy to learn.

Full Control

PIMinto offers you full control over your data and who can manage it.

Digital Asset Management

Manage all your products digital assets. This includes images, videos, user guides, instruction manuals, product sheets, and more.

Single Source of Truth

Effortlessly ensure that everyone in the organization is working with the same, most up-to-date product information.

Higher RIO

With PIMinto you can try it for free. Evaluate the features, performance and time savings to make sure it is right for you.

Blogs & Views

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PIM vs MDM What is the Difference

PIM vs MDM What is the Difference Since the amount of information in the digital world has expanded, there is always a need to search for effective methods of managing information. At the same time, the quality of the customer experience should remain high. Balancing these two points, companies and brands are in search of an effective information management method. All discussions and comparisons bring us to two basic methods: product information management (PIM) and master data management. They are fundamental in data management as more and more companies select one of them to control product data. Dozens of companies hesitate and don’t know exactly what to choose. Everyone has a different experience, cases, and pitfalls, so it’s difficult to make a choice. Still, we can help you by providing a detailed explanation of both managing methods. You will see how they work, how effective they are for data management, and decide how they can be used for data management. What is Product Information Management (PIM)? Let’s start with product information management (PIM). PIM is a complex software system created to manage data about products. This practice is popular among marketing companies and businesses that sell products. The idea of using PIM is to organize data among distribution channels so the delivery will be accurate and complete. You share the specifications of the product, its lifecycle, sales statement, metadata, and technical requirements, and then accurately deliver it to the customer touchpoint. By doing that, the organization becomes more effective, compliant, and consistent because of simple product information delivery. The following groups are those who need product information management the most: Marketing and sales teams to manage, produce, and actually sell products. Procurement departments to store collected information about the products. Customer care departments to gather complaints and frequently ask questions, product-related requests, and important documents. Research & development divisions as they store technical drawings, essential specifications, and documentation. Suppliers provide additional information about the products, including price, inventory volume, etc. In companies, product information management can be organized via stock-keeping units, technical specifications, product names, and other attributes. When the product information is categorized within the system, a business receives a unified source of truth. Once they have it, it can be automatically distributed through the system via multiple channels. Product information management allows you to share information without delays, maintaining data quality and ensuring there are no issues to ruin the process. How does PIM software work? The purpose of PIM software is to centralize all information about the product and distribute it via multiple channels later. With product information management, you can pull information from various sources and add it directly to the platform. This is extremely important for marketers because they often switch to omnichannel marketing instead of multichannel to stay on top of their niche. Still, even if your company still works with the multichannel marketing strategy, using PIM may be very effective for you. You don’t need to create a marketing package for every channel, implement product information management, and gather all the information. When you need a data update, just change the main records. Later, when you establish new information campaigns and create content, the updated information will be accurately included there.   What Are the Primary Functions of PIMS? When we uncovered the main working principles of product information management, it was time to highlight its core capabilities. Data collection. With PIM, you can collect and store information from multiple sources, including databases, EPRs, supplier portals, media systems, and flat files. Prioritize sources and clean the information to integrate it into catalogs properly. Data enrichment. When all information is gathered, marketers and eCommerce team members can enrich it by adding specifications, product descriptions, classification tags, usage data, media files, etc. Specialists also double-check the information, ensuring it’s ready for publication. Publishing data. After the enrichment, you are free to share your data using all the available channels. It means users will see the product information in mobile apps, AI-powered tools (chatbots), social networks, marketplaces, and eCommerce platforms (you may need a PIM e-commerce solution here). If your company successfully implements PIM, you will easily create brand-new catalogs within a few moments. With product information management, it’s also much easier to expand new markets and locales. Since you know where you want to expand and who will be the recipients of your information, you can collect data and then enrich it by adding the needed details. How Do Brands Use Pim? Product information management was successfully integrated by several brands. With this approach, they are able to Update e-commerce listings when the product receives updates. Localize product information for different regions, languages, and communities. Assign projects to content creators (copywriters). Create content plans based on product information. Moreover, we must admit that different organizations and specialists use product information management for different purposes. Role in the company Purpose of using PIM E-commerce managers to send product listings from a PIM system to publishers and syndication platforms. Brand managers Helps them check the accuracy and consistency of the data across multiple channels. Localization and regionalization PIM is needed for effective localization to help prepare data for the market of specific Marketing managers Reduces time to search, find, and collect product information. Sales managers Helps increase cross- and up-selling to make the overall income bigger. Product marketers Requesting and assigning tasks for copywriters, photographers, videographers, etc. Sometimes, they combine PIM and DAM solutions. Category managers Effectively spread data across categories Data governance managers Implementing data governance initiatives inside the organization. Product managers Delivering accurate product data to the marketing team and updating the information if necessary What Types of Product Information Management Are Available Today? Today, we outline six core types of PIM. Each of them can be used to improve the data management in your company, but you have to understand the difference between them. Cloud-based PIM. This approach establishes connections with teams regardless of their location. With that, you can respond to changes and updates faster than usual. Moreover, you will get started extremely fast. When you implement cloud-based product information management into your business, you get better access to the needed data and better control of all processes. On-premise PIM becomes a part of the office infrastructure and is operated through the company’s servers. With this option, you have better control over the stored data, and security is also high. If you have issues with your Internet connection, you can switch to local PIM. Still, this approach has two drawbacks: higher cost and higher engagement of the IT department. Open Source PIM. It’s considered the most cost-effective option, which also has several customization options. This type of software requires better expertise than other solutions. Since it’s the on-premise software, you are the one to control the security, while the cloud-based software focuses on maintaining the security of your data. Industry-specific product information management is created for the specific needs of a company that relates to a specific industry. It’s not a typical case with PIM used for a broad e-commerce business where the main goal is to sell more. A standalone version of PIM can basically function by itself instead of others that remain integrated with comprehensive systems. Integrated PIM software literally works paired with other software solutions like Pimcore, Perfion, and SAP Integration combined with SAP ERP and/or SAP S/4HANA. With this approach, you can combine existing solutions with new ones to achieve better performance and be more effective. With this great amount of options, anyone can choose an appropriate product information management solution and use it to maximize the outcome. Benefits of PIM Now, about the core advantages of PIM for your business. The first plus is that PIM is optimized for centralized product management and catalog generation. With PIM, you access mechanisms of data quality improvement. One of the main advantages is the ability to reduce time-to-market, meaning you have to do less to make your product information appear on the global market. It also means making fewer mistakes when gathering, enhancing, and delivering data via channels. With PIM, you achieve better product information management, which leads to a better customer experience. Customers will trust the information you provide and engage with your products more often. This chain is not over because better customer experience leads to increased productivity. Your business becomes more efficient, fasting up all communication and collaboration processes. When you automatize multiple processes, you can reorganize the working processes, making your team more effective. Everyone will do what they need to do, and the machines will focus on performing regular information management operations. Finally, product information management is good for companies with limited budgets. If you can’t invest a lot in data management, get PIM. You will get your information delivered to the endpoint, but it won’t cost you all the money in the world. What Else Can You Do with PIM? In addition to the advantages of product information management we already described, there are some additional steps you can take to improve your data control. With PIM, data distribution becomes standardized and simplified. You also can integrate data from multiple sources and/or departments to have a wider view of the problem. Another advantage of PIM is the ability to establish workflow management. Control the processes to increase productivity and do more at the same time. Last but not least quality control. Analyze the information you work with and make the best decisions. To ensure the PIM method is effectively integrated into the company’s workflow, consider having training. When users will get used to product information management and understand team goals and tasks, everything will work much better. What is Master Data Management (MDM)? MDM, or master data management, is basically a bridge between systems inside the organizations and the information they need. With MDM, any data-driven digital transformation becomes simpler and more accurate because it now has a single source of data. Master data management is a set of tools and processes that have one purpose: to deliver organized data to keep business operations active. How does MDM software work? Like PIM, MDM’s main purpose is to centralize data. With this approach, people who are responsible for data dissemination will spread it across the organization very fast. However, if PIM’s focus is on product information, master data management operates more information, including data about employees, vendors, and customers, and product information as well. Also, MDM has a higher price tag, and this is where clients may think whether to choose this approach or not. If companies are thinking of investing in this initiative, they should think of organizing their back-end data. If you are not confident about what exactly you should choose, analyze your needs. PIM may cover your needs but cost less. Key Features of an MDM Solution When master data management is implemented, you can easily support end-to-end requirements, ensuring that data quality, data integration, and other requirements are OK. Another feature of the MDM is that it gives your product data visibility and patterns. This is important because later, you can implement necessary corrections relying on the received data. With MDM, you will have a wider perspective on product data, which means you can overview and prepare data for analytical and operational usage. Benefits of MDM The main advantages of MDM are: Providing more clear data for users to analyze. An ability to implement changes in a single area to ensure these changes will remain for other areas. Reducing issues that may later impact business. Identify mistakes in source systems. Checking all data to ensure it is up-to-date and meets the specific requirements. Helps you eliminate data that negatively impacts the operations or slows them down. With MDM, you can control all aspects of business operations. Even if you deal with large amounts of data and need to find solutions quickly, master data management is what you need. PIM or MDM: Choosing the Best Fit for Your Business The decision to use PIM or MDM is usually made by the IT department because they receive tasks to collect, process, and send data according to the company’s needs. People related to business usually select master data management because their work depends on the quality of the received data. Whether the information they get has mistakes (for example, wrong terms used), becomes a big problem. So, to manage a single product view and avoid repeatable misunderstandings, and other issues, the choice is on the MDM. Sill, if you understand that you want to have a complete data overview, you should select PIM. If you need only product data to cover, you should select PIM. MDM has a multi-vector and multi-domain system. In some cases, we can meet single-domain MDM platforms that emphasize product or customer data, and they are programmed to gather information from only one domain. Still, most MDM solutions require a multi-domain system. The PIM solution is needed when it comes to data accuracy. If you need short time-to-market enablement, multiple customer touchpoints, and quick introduction of new products, you should select product information management. PIM Solution for Your Business PIM solutions will suit you if you work with products that have hundreds of product attributes and if your purpose is to deliver data using sales channels and external systems. Also, if your primary goal is to increase sales, product information management is your #1 choice. MDM Solution for Your Business MDM will be a better choice once you have to manage secondary data domains like finances, client data, location data, etc. Master data management allows users to manage data in all forms, from products to customers, enabling you to centralize data across the whole company. Sometimes, people even combine MDM and PIM to achieve better data control since they cover each other gaps and provide better performance. For example, if you need to master data strategy to support user cases, you may need to combine product information management and master data management. It may be quite expensive but at the same time, you won’t care about possible issues in how data is delivered. Conclusion It’s complicated to say exactly what’s best for you: MDM or PIM. To make the right choice, you have to analyze your needs and problems and only then decide what approach is best for you. Also, when implementing the selected approach, ensure you are assisted by experienced specialists who understand your needs and know how to help you realize your ideas. The approach of managing the information inside the business is getting complicated, especially when the market is rapidly growing. Everyone wants to find the most effective tool, but not everyone understands where to search for it. Analyze your case, review each data management solution's pros and cons, and decide. Who knows, maybe you’ll need them both.

Maksym Bilokon

April 2, 2024

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Top 10 Best Online Fashion Marketplaces to Sell On

Top 10 Best Online Fashion Marketplaces to Sell On The E-commerce fashion industry is changing, and everyone is excited about how it will look in 2024. Brands want to discover the upcoming trends first and take advantage to maximize sales. Why are marketplaces so popular? Well, they bring colossal income and bring more customers compared to default online stores. For example, in 2022, top marketplaces blew up the industry of online sales by selling goods for over $3 trillion. Can you imagine how much can you earn by selecting the marketplace? Even if you have a small business and your catalog is small, you will still have a serious boost. Keep reading as we will reveal the biggest fashion marketplaces of 2024. You will understand how they work and decide which one to choose. Top 10 Online Clothing Stores Online shopping has the upper hand over default shopping. When we go through online stores, we see some options to choose from. Still, when we open the marketplace, it’s a completely different story. You have hundreds or even thousands of options to choose from. You can use more filters, have more sale options, and make the best choice among all available goods. Whether you are looking for new jeans or a workout jacket, you will have things to choose from. You can take advantage of online clothing stores as a manager. By selling your goods through fashion markets, you attract more users and increase the number of your regular clients. Moreover, if the promotion of your platform won’t succeed, a marketplace will always be your plan B. It’s much easier to access the online fashion market and get the needed clothes than to search for a specific store. If you struggle with sales, consider cooperating with the local fashion markets. Overview of the Best Online Clothing Stores We will have a look at online clothing stores that dominate the industry today, revealing their biggest advantages for both customers and sellers. We will discover the biggest advantages of marketplaces compared to offline stores. Also, we will compare three types of marketplaces and explain the difference between them. Why are Online Fashion Marketplaces Popular? Online fashion marketplaces are so attractive for several reasons. First, they are simple in use for those who buy and for those who sell. Clients have access to a giant catalog where they select between multiple types of clothes presented in different sizes and colors. Giants like ASOS or Zalando work worldwide while smaller companies are available for users in specific regions. Sellers consider the fashion marketplace as a chance to increase brand awareness and reach a bigger client base. If the marketplace covers several regions, it’s good for you. Moreover, fashion marketplaces don’t require huge investments. You can start your business with a small budget (compared to industry giants) and succeed. Of course, you need funds for promotion and product information management. Services like PIMinto will help you organize information management with zero risks. Your data sharing will be quite simple and effective. Last but not least, online stores grant access to new technologies. AI-powered algorithms help people get personalized recommendations to enhance their shopping experience. Also, it’s an opportunity for sellers to find new connections and cooperate with individuals in the future. Types of Marketplaces There are three main types of marketplaces: B2B, B2C, and C2C. Let’s have a look at all three of them. B2B (Business-to-business) These types of marketplaces are based on selling products on each other on useful terms. For example, eBay is identified as a B2B marketplace. Generally, there are 2 types of B2B marketplaces: vertical and horizontal. Vertical marketplaces give vertical paths to businesses, in every segment of a specific sector. Horizontal marketplaces differ as they offer services in different segments uniting sellers and customers. With this model of the marketplace, people can sell goods across countries and regions. B2C (business-to-customer) In this model of the marketplace, consumers are connected with vendors directly. It’s like a retail store where dozens of providers offer different products, so clients can find everything they need. The main difference between B2B and B2C marketplaces is that B2C aims to attract as many customers as possible. To better understand this difference, it will be better to look at real examples of marketplaces. C2C (Consumer-to-consumer) We can say that C2C marketplaces are like huge online garage sales. People who offer products and services meet other people who offer products and services. They can make a profitable exchange or just sell the needed product and get the money. Such practice is quite popular among users. Services like Carsales.au or Poshmark are great examples of C2C websites. Advantages of Online Fashion Marketplaces Online fashion marketplaces like Amazon and eBay are some of the most common websites where you can buy almost everything. They are not only about fashion, they are also about gadgets, books, accessories, etc. Now, when we talk about fashion stores, we define the most important advantages of online fashion marketplaces for users. Convenient services You are not attached to location or time zone when shopping in online fashion marketplaces. You don’t wait in the queue or skip the day because the store is closed. Variety of products No limits for you! Select from thousands or even millions of products. You can not just scroll down page after page but compare the preferred goods and select the best one. The interface allows you to see the difference in price range, available sizes, materials, and other parameters. Worldwide reach Marketplaces are advantageous not only for clients but for sellers as well. As a seller, you can expand your reach and go far beyond the global audience. Marketplaces like eBay allow you to sell products to almost every place on planet Earth. Saving your funds Some people may ignore it, but operating an online store is cheaper than holding an offline store. Moreover, when you enter the online fashion marketplace, you have more chances to compensate for the money you spend on promotion. Top 10 Best Online Fashion Marketplaces Now, let’s overview the 10 best fashion marketplaces in the world right now. Amazon Let’s start with the largest and the most popular online fashion marketplace. From the most expensive jewelry to tiny accessories, Amazon offers users to find everything they need. According to the stats, there are more than 5,6 billion visits on this platform per month. This fashion marketplace operates in 17 countries, including the UK, the US, France, Germany, and others. People can order delivery to their address and get the purchased goods in short. Sellers who want to work with Amazon have access to various features, including Amazon Prime, Amazon Brand Registry, etc. Etsy This website focuses on selling hand-crafted, creative, and vintage goods. It often becomes the #1 choice for freelancers who start selling their hand-crafted products and want to attract more customers. Considered one of the largest marketplaces in the United States, Etsy has grown and now has sellers worldwide. People who decide to sell here can customize their store, make direct checkouts to secure payments, and perform international selling operations. They also can access a tool called Selled Dashboard which allows them to manage inventory and monitor analytics. Etsy has a simple user-friendly interface that allows you to quickly find and use the needed option. The only visible disadvantage of this fashion marketplace is a high level of competition. More and more individuals come to the platform, so you have to impress your clients to make them stay. ASOS A fashion marketplace ASOS was considered the best place to sell clothes online. It has more than 23 million active users worldwide and over 68 million monthly traffic. This fashion marketplace stands out due to the diverse range of products it offers. For example, in ASOS you can find things from labels and independent designers that are not shared in any other stores or marketplaces. Sellers who cooperate with ASOS get access to a huge customer base and multiple marketing tools. It allows them to launch effective promotions and improve their visibility. JOOR A leading B2B fashion marketplace provides comfortable communication between customers and sellers. Everyone who enters this platform can find and purchase what’s needed. Sellers get access to various tools that allow them to manage their inventory, customize profiles, communicate with clients, etc. They can enter new markets, find partners, and build communication with influencers. Farfetch Farfetch gathered together hundreds of fashion designers from medium to high price rates. People can find clothes for men, women, and kids. From T-shirts and jackets to shoes, bags, and accessories, you can find whatever you need to meet your preferences. Right now, there are more than 2 million users who use this fashion marketplace regularly, and everyone will Clients will easily operate the website due to its user-friendly interface. Sellers will have fully customizable profiles where they can add new goods, create informative descriptions, contact buyers, and do everything to make their brand grow. Next Established in 2006, Next is considered one of the most popular platforms to sell clothing. The fashion marketplace has more than 8 million visits per month and gives both clients and sellers dozens of opportunities. Those who want to buy can find everything, and those who want to sell can create fancy pages for their products and attract customers. Moreover, with extensive infrastructure and advanced logistics, retailers have extended capabilities when it comes to selling products. Zalando Originally, this platform started as a local German marketplace and now stands as one of the most popular websites in Europe. Marketplace gives access to 23 different markets and boasts nearly 50 million customers. Nearly 5,800 brands are available on Zalando, which is more than enough to make a choice. Moreover, sellers who enter the platform have full control over assortment and price. They also can change the price the way they want. SilkFred This e-commerce platform is based in London and hosts more than 800 fashion brands. This marketplace is focused on offering affordable clothing in different styles. Moreover, SilkFred has a personalized application with a user-friendly interface. Buyers can easily access any preferred category and select what they need. Depop In 2022, Depop has 1,8 million active sellers and over 30 million registered users. It offers a unique experience for both sellers and customers, allowing them to perform operations quick and simple. For example, if you are selling goods, you go through the straightforward setup process, quickly uploading products and creating pages for them. The interface is pretty simple as you don’t need to spend time searching for the needed option. Moreover, you can communicate with clients via DMs. Depop is not perfect as some issues happen occasionally due to high traffic, but this is rather a minor problem. Vinted Who said that second-hand stores couldn’t belong to fashion marketplaces? You can call Vinted a “luxury” second-hand. Over 75 million individuals visit this place to find used clothes, and over 6,5 million users do it monthly. A huge advantage of the platform is a hassle-free experience. You have access to various features that allow you to control listings, add new products, chat with clients, and manage your page the way you want. Another plus for users is the availability of applications for both iOS and Android. You have easy access to all options, being able to communicate with your clients and make changes in your profile. Which of These Operates in Truly Global Fashion, and the Entire World Is Their Marketplace? It’s hard to decide which of these marketplaces is an absolute #1. Each company presents its unique features for both clients and sellers. Moreover, the number of capabilities differs, allowing users to have better customization, promotion, and presentation. Depending on your capabilities, decide how much you can invest and what reach you will have.

Maksym Bilokon

March 15, 2024

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Top 8 Best Practices Product Information Management

Top 8 Best Practices Product Information Management The effectiveness of product information management significantly affects the company’s work capacity. The more effectively the company manages information between the teams, the more effectively these teams work. Such practice becomes necessary due to a demand for high-quality and personalized experiences. Once you implement PIM practices into your company’s working principles, you will see how your capabilities grow and understand why these practices are so effective. Keep reading to discover 8 best practices and examine PIM use cases. How Do You Define Product Information Management? Product information management is a data-handling method brands, businesses, manufacturers, and wholesalers use to sell products. PIM becomes effective when collecting, optimizing, and distributing the information among the platforms. Such an approach is used to improve product data quality and speed up time-to-market. Advantages of Using PIM in Business Product information management was designed for effective data storage and usage. By using this practice, you can effectively work with the following types of data: Specs and technical data of the product. Product usage data. Description, a detailed explanation of how and where to use it, and the samples. Product-related digital assets (videos, images, catalogs, files, etc.). An essential part of PIM for distributors. Languages. Multi-country and multi-region companies need to create effective marketing strategies and expand their reach. You can also unlock the automotive translation so the clients will always see the information in their preferred language. Value-added asset. Presenting all the product details to customers is crucial to helping them visualize what they are buying. Point of sale. Storing information about store points is essential for businesses with such points, so it gets much more accessible to centralize the data and evaluate the performance of the products in specific places. The number of cases where you can use product information management is enormous. Below, we reveal the most essential arguments for using PIM for your business. Quick launch. Every business that pretends to be effective should be launched soon. Using PIM is the best method to shorten the time to market. As soon as you prepare all the information, you can start selling. Strong brand presence. The fact that clients can quickly identify the needed items and buy them by using different channels increases brand awareness so that more people will recognize them. Fast catalog preparation. Product information management allows you to minimize time searching for needed data and focus on improving product descriptions. You will provide more valuable information about the product, so the clients will be more confident when choosing. Another advantage of implementing PIM is optimizing your product data management. The more your business grows, the better product range you have. Overall, there are 15 reasons why implementing product information management is advantageous. Product information management helps to control the data inside your company effectively Disadvantages of PIM Implementation First, product information management may look perfect because it boosts the company and increases efficiency. You launch the campaign quickly, give your brand a significant presence on the market, represent your products better than your competitors, and increase your sales. Still, the PIM method could be better, but it has several drawbacks. Whether you want to implement PIM and effectively control your business, you should know these drawbacks well. Let's take a look at them below. You will work with enormous amounts of data after implementing product information management into your business model. It's a common problem for large corporations because they need to collect, evaluate, and classify all the information. You have to deal with massive product selection, service choice, and other data. Moreover, if you have to deal with ever-changing product information, you have to put more effort into that, and that's where the first disadvantage of PIM shows up. You can't quickly adapt to new rules. A concept of data processing you use with product information management won't be effective because of its strict limitations. If it's your case, using product experience management will be better. Another disadvantage of PIM is its inability to work with media files and digital assets. When you need to consistently drive products on e-commerce sites, having high-quality media is the most important thing. Since the primary purpose of product information management is to collect and store information, it won't be practical for high-resolution images, videos, and other similar content. To manage rich media effectively, you need a digital asset management (DAM) tool, and PIM does not belong to this category. Last but not least is the lack of e-commerce insights. This method will require more tools to gather analytics, monitor changes, and offer suggestions for better performance. You need three major components to increase sales and achieve better efficiency: insights, content, and an ecosystem. You won't achieve it with PIM, so you better look for PXM instead. How to Implement Product Information Management? The way you implement product information management differs, as several factors may change the approach and strategy. Business vertical, the company’s background, history, and other factors matter. Still, there is a general implementation plan. It includes the most critical steps and explains how to work with data during the implementation. Let’s review the product information management requirements and see how they’ll help you increase efficiency. Design and discovery. During the initial stage, you will have several workshops and meetings with stakeholders to understand how data flows through the system. System orientation and data modeling. A general overview of PIM’s features and functionality. You must also define the product data and understand its structure and format. This information is essential when building the PIM architecture. Configuration and migration. You import data on the platform once you create the structure and set up the database. This process could be manual or automated. Product information management integration. Information synchronizes between different systems when integrating other business systems and tools. To ensure the integration goes well, you can test it with a small group of people. Ask your co-workers to use PIM. This will be good training for admins and a data workflow test opportunity. Product Information Management Best Practices When we know about the pros and cons and how to implement it, it's time to talk about PIM's best practices. These practices will significantly boost your workflow and eliminate common issues that slow down the process. With the described practices, you can collect and store data, directly impacting your efficiency. Select Roles and Define Responsibilities The business works as a mechanism to strive for set goals and achieve better results. You may need several roles, depending on the model of your business. It could be a marketing department, specialists responsible for brand collaboration, or e-commerce managers. Create a multi-role system where everyone has a needed access level so people will know the processes and tasks they are responsible for. To make it work, consider implementing Bluestone product information management when specialists only access areas they need to complete their assignments. Also, you can keep a history of all pim use cases in your team so you can analyze it and increase efficiency. Choose the most effective PIM Software It may sound scary, primarily if you work with product information management for the first time, but there’s nothing to worry about. When choosing, ensure the selected product has all the points from the checklist below. High productivity and the ability to process vast amounts of data. Cloud-based with high security and simple access. Ability to coordinate with other data-management software. An option to manage digital assets. Get Rid of Unnecessary Product Information Cleaning the database, eliminating unnecessary information, and updating it are essential if you want to succeed with your product. How does it work? For example, you have images that don’t match or represent your products correctly. In this case, you remove old photos and find new ones to replace them. Another example of this practice is when you need to refresh information. Suppose the product is replaced with a similar one that has different requirements. In that case, you need to create a new description to give customers a detailed description of the product, its composition, its characteristics, etc. The purpose of removing unnecessary information from the product description is to ensure you run your business using only reliable data. Moreover, constantly refreshing the database ensures your customers receive only verified data about goods and services. It’s not a one-time task. It should be done regularly, and that’s where product information management helps you keep the database updated. Store Data in a Single System It’s not a secret that most companies use several systems to store data. Someone may think it’s a good signal, but it’s not. When people use too many incompatible systems, they don’t have the desired effect. Transporting the data between the systems gets complicated, creating delays and preventing teams from accomplishing their tasks. With a single system, your data will be centralized and easily accessible, so you won’t have trouble finding something. When we look at PIM examples like Plytrix or Sales Layer, we understand they are easy to use, effective, and reliable. They include a single data processing system, making them so effective. Set Product Information Enrichment as One of the Main Goals You must surpass your competitors in order to have more sales, increase your income, and stay on top of your niche. To achieve this, you need to boost your product information. How to achieve that? Update and optimize your product descriptions, find better images, and add videos to the product cards. When people have more information about something they want to buy, making the right choice is much easier. Moreover, you can specify your descriptions to reach a broader market and increase your income. Invest in Creating Engaging Catalog The catalog is a core component of effective information management. When it’s completed and organized, clients see the detailed description of each product, so the selection process becomes much more manageable. To ensure you create an informative catalog, ensure it has the following: Alternative products suggestions. Product attributes and product categories. Solid product descriptions with images and videos. Specific attributes related to different channels. Clarify your Requirements and Plans for Implementation Whether you will change how you perform your product management, ensure you build a strong business case and know where to find resources for it. Consider calculating a budget to switch between the methods and create a plan to understand how your funds will be spent. To ensure you didn’t miss anything, follow these requirements: Offer bulk editing. Enable true collaboration. Launch powerful Digital Asset Management. Launch everything in the cloud. Use machine learning and artificial intelligence. Enhance the Product Performance Having clients occasionally is OK, but what about regular customers? These people repeatedly come to you to purchase your products and enjoy high-quality products. To make it happen, you should have proper product information management as it will bring you more traffic and increase sales. To ensure it will happen, do the following: Focus on improving search engine optimization (SEO). Monitor product performance on multiple platforms to know when to implement changes. Analyze the market before planning the information about the product. Customize the product information depending on the target sales channel. How To Choose The Best PIM Software for Business Selecting the Product Information Management that will fit your needs and requirements may be challenging. The main issue is that you have to consider multiple factors when making a choice. First, it’s about people who will work with this system. You should know their skills, knowledge, and understanding of the basic requirements. Second, your data management needs. Factors like flexibility and reconfigurability are essential if you decide to use data from different sources. The next factor is your challenges identification. For example, some systems are equipped with a multi-language support system, which is extremely important when customers come from different cultures and nationalities. Last but not least - maintenance. You should get a scalable product information management system. This decision may seem questionable because of the cost, but if you launch a long-term project, it will be advantageous. You won’t need to pay extra to add new users. Consider your integration capabilities when choosing PIM software. It should easily integrate into your e-commerce platform or EPR system (depending on what you use). The better integration capabilities you’ll have, the fewer disruptions you’ll have during work time. Also, pay attention to data security. Choose a trustworthy company that’ll help you integrate product information management. Since you’ll work with sensitive product data it’s up to you to select the system with multi-level security protocols to avoid data leakage. With such approach, you will effectively organize all the processes and keep your product data protected.

Maksym Bilokon

March 5, 2024

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What is Digital Asset Management (DAM)? Full Guide.

Initially, digital asset management software, which quickly became known as DAM, focused on basic file storage functions. However, as the digital economy has exploded very fast, while the pace of digital content creation and distribution has increased rapidly. This has led to increased complexity and rapid evolution of DAM. Now their general functionality, even in basic versions, is expanding by such functionality as saving and editing metadata and integrating software for team and remote work. Cutting-edge developments of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) also play an important role, making DAM one of the primary tools for optimizing content-related business issues. DAM enables companies to effectively manage growing volumes of digital data, certify brand coherence, increase collaboration within and between teams, and accelerate sales and marketing efforts. The following article explores the role of DAM products in modern business, revealing the features, utility and usage scenarios of such systems, as well as their value and true need in today's digital economy. What is a DAM System? DAM is а fundamentally high tech panacea for efficiently accumulating, managing, and arranging digital files. It ensures administration of all types of modern digital asset in brief, including: images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, RAW, etc.), video (MP4, AVI, MoV, WMV, etc.), audio (MP3, WAV, AIFF, etc.), 3D models and animation (STL, oBJ, FBX, etc.), documents (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). Basic types of digital assets can adittionally contain more specialized files such as CAD drawings, scientific data, website content, and code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.), as well as several others. The key function of DAM is to facilitate the acquisition, sharing, and distribution of these digital assets. Unlike traditional digital file storage solutions, DAMs offer business users several additional advanced features, including advanced asset classification and metadata stamping for easier retrieval. What Does DAM Do? DAM can be defined as a set of versatile tools for various aspects of digitated text administration. The key functionality of these tools can be divided into several areas. Simplifying the storage and management of files from a single central location remains the key DAM goal still. Such a centralized approach eliminates data fragmentation and simplifies access to fills in. Another important DAM feature is the ability to tag assets. What are examples of different types of metadata? file type creation date author name rights of use keywords comments DAM products also provide strong access control, allowing to assign administrators, access levels, and permissions to specific users. It ensures that sensitive content is only accessible to authorized personnel. Finally, DAMs track changes and updates to digitals at the file system and keep a wide range of file variations. Context and Development The invention and early development of DAM solutions are intertwined with the general digital innovation sequence. In the digital economy dawn, companies use basic file storage solutions, often cluttered and inconvenient, often with no ability to efficiently handle large data volumes. Technology for DAM has changed due to the web2 to web3 evolution, and the widespread adoption of cloud technologies. Global access and remote connection for cloud-based collaboration have become a core feature of modern DAMs. It has transformed the software from simple document archivers into full-fledged, extensive ecosystems for supporting digital assets throughout their entire lifecycle - from creation to distribution and archiving. Such ecosystems definitely obtain the ability to integrate with various business tools, including business automation process features. The advancement of modern DAMs is marked by the introduction of a wide range of features including automatic tagging, facial recognition, and analytics, reflecting the growing complexity and vitality of digital assets. A few researches show a steadily growing interest in DAM in various areas, primarily related to marketing and sales - DAM is currently used in 33.3% of companies. Why Use A Dam System? As far as firms fasten production of increasing volumes of graphic content (marketing stuff, product images, corporate documents, multimedia files, etc.), its effective management becomes a major challenge. DAMs provide a scalable way for efficient keeping, updating, and accessing astonishing big volumes of digital assets. Modern work formats often involve the interaction of remote teams. DAMs ease sharing and accessing music, video or texts from any place in the world, eliminating geographic barriers and creating a conducive teamwork environment. What Does Dam Stand For In Marketing? Why its Important? From a marketing perspective, DAM appears to be a truly strategic instrument. As saving brand uniformat throughout all channels and point of reference becomes a key marketing challenge for all businesses, DAM evolves into extremely vital instrument of enhancing brand identity and communications, and also to ensure consistency across all marketing materials, including digital advertising, printed brochures, brand books, and more. DAMs allow groups of marketing indoor experts to correctly assess and quickly attract the necessary resources and significantly reduce the time to launch digital and offline campaigns. Such a flexibility is critical in a highly competitive environment where time is the same important as the content itself. Many DAM systems also offer sets of analytical tools providing insight into how assets are being utilized and realized. DAMs also seamlessly integrate with CMS, CRM, and marketing automation software, as well as wide possibility of API integration. It provides a unified approach to asset management across the entire marketing technology stack. How does Digital Asset Management Work? User Interface and Interaction DAMs allow users to customize interface blocks and settings due to their team roles and private preferences to enhance the personalization and efficiency of business operations. Modern DAMs are designed for remote collaboration. They include shared folders, comment sections, and version tracking allowing teams to seamlessly share digital assets in collaborative projects, regardless of their physical location. The growing use of mobile device professional interaction has led to expanding requirements for professional DAMs, their functionality has been expanded by the ability to integrate various mobile devices, primarily smartphones and tablets. Technical foundation Digital asset storage functionality can be implemented using local servers, cloud computing, or a sophisticated hybrid model. A DAM must efficiently process large volumes of data, store digital assets, and quickly retrieve them on demand. Metadata is the core of DAM asset management. Creation date, author name, usage rights, and descriptive keywords are indexed to provide powerful search and information retrieval capabilities. In addition, DAMs often include resource processing functions - format conversion, image resizing, video compression, and some other tips. Why Do You Need Digital Asset Management The role of DAM is growing in today's digital world. The need for an effective DAM solution is basically driven by the rapid increase in digital content in terms of initiation and allocation rank, which requires a robust management system. The rise in popularity of digital nomads and distributed teams has highlighted the importance of accessible digital asset storage. DAM systems enable seamless collaboration by allowing team members to access and spread texts and other important information from any point all around the globe. Perks of DAMs Using DAM can improve the overall productivity and efficiency of business operations by reducing the time for searching and managing digital assets. In addition to secure storage and free, controlled access to confidential assets, the implementation of ones provides users with full control over the distribution of corporate resources. Reaching such a high degree of asset management efficiency leads to a significant reduction of unnecessary work, avoiding legal drawbacks due to asset misuse, and improving the utilization of existing content. In that very way, DAMs directly contribute to business scalability and, thanks to analytical tools, help to adapt to the changing needs of markets in different jurisdictions. Top DAM Corporate Use Cases Entrepreneurs' and investors' pursuit of the productive operations on their own digital content reserves determines the importance of DAM for business. Here are just a few examples of how DAM is being used in various industries. Marketing and Sales Enablement DAM system is an substantial instrument for both marketing and sales departments. The software provides creative ones with quick access to product and service data, sales promotion information, and marketing research outputs. Quick access to all designated materials drives marketing campaigns, improves sales results, and keeps team members on high. Archiving and Storage DAMs provide archiving capabilities for long-term storage of important digital assets. It ensures that digital artifacts of material, cultural, or historical value are securely protected from intentional or accidental damage or destruction and are available when needed. It's important, first of all, for media, education, culture industries, and related digital initiatives. Analytics and Reporting Advanced DAM capabilities necessarily include analytics and reporting tools allowing organizations to track asset usage, and user interactions, and analyze performance. This data helps businesses make strategic decisions on content creation and distribution. Content Storage And Organization DAM acts as a innermore repository for all kinds of electronic files including images, videos, documents, audio files, and more. That kind of a high centralization degree make possible to save high volume of resources for the productive management of wide range of internet content. Brand Management It's worth adding that DAMs play an essential role in maintaining brand consistency across multiple communication channels and numerous marketing campaigns. All parties are expected to use only the latest approved versions of logos, images, and marketing materials. Branding consistency is only achieved through widespread DAM adoption. Collaboration and Workflow Management Additionally, as far as both remote work and distributed teams become more common, DAMs facilitate and encourage remote collaboration for marketing and e-commerce teams, giving their members quick and convenient access to large amounts of digital assets from anywhere on the planet. Workflow management features allow easy tracking of changes, approvals, and overall project progress. Rights Management and Compliance Finally, DAMs contribute significantly to solving a large number of legal issues related to digital assets operation, such as copyright, licensing information, and usage rights. It's incredibly important for complying with legal regulations in various industries and preventing copyright infringement, regardless of the business location and the jurisdiction of key activities. How to Create a Digital Asset Management System Creating an effective DAM is a cardinal sequence demanding proper planning and nuanced execution. Here's a rough step-by-step guide to getting DAM software ready, including best practices and important considerations for specific steps in your DAM work. Start by identifying your company's specific needs. At the same time, you should consider the types and volumes of assets you own, as well as the number and expected competencies of those who will use the system. Understanding your priority needs will help you choose the right DAM system. You should study and evaluate the different DAM solutions that are currently available in the market. Their functionality must meet business needs. At the same time, it is worth considering factors such as expandability, comfort of apply, wide capabilities of integration with other business software, as well as security issues. Determine how the DAM will integrate with other tools and systems in your organization. Full DAM integration with existing workflows and systems is required to maximize efficiency. Define an appropriate metadata schema for assets, including metadata fields for tagging, asset classification, and quick search. Install DAM security protocols, including user access controls, and providing adherence with basic data protection rules. You can then begin migrating existing digital assets to DAM. The next step is to train the team on how to use DAM competently. Training should cover issues of loading, locating, and managing assets. After completing the installation of the digital solution and basic team training sequence, it's time to launch the DAM. Be prepared to monitor the system operation and make adjustments if necessary. How Much Does a Digital Asset Management System Cost A thorough cost analysis is important to evaluate the DAM implementation expense. It should include an assessment of all costs and return on investment (RoI) associated with DAM. The cost of a DAM platform depends on whether virtual native software or a cloud service (SaaS) is used. Additional costs may arise due to DAM customization based on the specific business needs or services (CRM, CMS, etc.) already in use. If a company hasn't previously used such software or plans to work with certain volumes of digital assets, another cost may be associated with data migration. The cost of DAM may also increase significantly due to staff training spending, service fee level changes, and ongoing support costs. over time, additional costs may arise to update the system, purchase additional modules to expand functionality, and purchase new capabilities to ensure business growth. Which of the Following is True About Data Asset Management Can DAMs handle with varying types of copyrighted property? Yes, DAM systems are created to maintain a broad array of digital information, primarily images, video, and audio files. Do DAMs provide metadata tags for assets? DAMs offer comprehensive meta information tag capabilities improving search and optimizing asset storage. Can DAMs integrate with other business tools? Yes, modern DAM systems can easily integrate with tools like CRM, CMS, as well as marketing automation platforms. Final Thoughts The future of DAM and it inherently depends on the ways and speed of digital industry development, of which software is essentially a part. The role of DAM is growing as the creation and circulation of digital assets expands. The integration of advanced technologies such as AI and ML further expands the DAM capabilities, turning them into efficient and intuitive tools that are mandatory for managing media content in various industries. Fortune Business Insights experts anticipate explosive growth in the global DAM market from 2023 to 2030. Its size is expected to expand dramatically in a matter of years and reach $12.29 billion at a 17.5% CAGR. The impact on business and importance DAM for marketing is significant and undeniable. Software streamlines operations, enhances marketing efforts, enhances collaboration, and ultimately contributes to company growth and success. Analysts from the Indian PIM provider Syncrasy highlight several areas where LAM will actively develop in 2024. These include, but are not limited to, fashion and apparel, manufacturing, media and entertainment, and healthcare. Start For Free Try technology for DAM in person to truly understand its value and potential. Start with the free versions or trials offered by many DAM providers. It's a great opportunity for businesses and individuals to test the functionality, interface, and overall suitability of different DAMs without any upfront investment.

Anton Koroid

February 9, 2024