Q&A with Pimberly on how modern PIMs automate product data sheets
Automation of product data sheets is becoming increasingly vital for brands in the eCommerce and retail sectors. Pimberly, a SaaS-based PIM, is at the forefront of this innovation with built-in AI for revolutionary automation capabilities. Even still, many businesses still work with disparate data sources and wrestle with implementing an effective solution.
Why is full-scale automation in product data management still an elusive goal for many?
We recently had an insightful discussion with Martin Balaam, CEO of Pimberly, a leader in Product Information Management (PIM) solutions. This interview focused on the challenges and opportunities in automating product data sheets. Martin provided his perspective on the real business impact of automation in PIM and highlighted a critical aspect often missed by companies in their automation strategy. This dialogue emphasizes the importance of composability in harmonizing technology with business needs, suggesting that the key to successful automation lies in a well-integrated tech stack.
CEO of Pimberly
Let’s start simple: What is the ultimate business value of product information management?
From a high level, product information management systems like Pimberly offer immense value to brands who sell many products, often with many variations, sizes, fits, etc. Each of these variations of a product has its own SKU, or stock keeping unit, that a brand needs to properly manage in product data sheets. Many leading brands already practice this while others tend to have these ‘islands of information’ they can’t seem to shake. Some brands have their data siloed in say, a PDF, and are left scrambling to find the product data they’re looking for when a change takes place. By centralizing and harmonizing all of a brand’s product-related information, a PIM system ensures consistency and accuracy across whichever sales and marketing channels the brand uses. Centralization significantly enhances efficiency – reducing time and costs associated with managing product data.
So what can a brand do exactly once their data is centralized?
PIM systems empower brands with the flexibility to respond to changes rapidly, enabling quick product updates or launches. Oftentimes with new products, the focus is to get it in stores as soon as possible. When data is brought into a central hub, there’s now a single ‘source of truth’ for all product data. A brand’s data is of the highest quality when it is ready and organized for when/where it is needed. Brands who properly manage and automate their product data sheets are also driving stronger engagement and increased sales because each and every time, the data they’re providing the customer is reliable.
Why do many brands still work with these ‘disparate’ data sources you mentioned?
Many of the conversations I have with brands who are evaluating a PIM for the first time mention they’ve conducted business in the same way for many years and saw no need to change. We’ve seen different pieces of product data be stored on various PDF files, in hard-to-locate folders, and even on different hard drives across businesses. As one example, one brand had the product data for one set of seasonal offerings on one employee’s drive, and the sheets for the other set on another’s. Yet, methods like this ‘did the job’ for brands up until recently because it was what they were accustomed to. Let’s face it – big changes to a traditional workflow are intimidating. Now, these brands need to find a solution in order to keep up with the competition and optimize their online, multichannel selling.
And what about a PIM makes it a great solution?
When you have a PIM in place, you can sell across as many channels as you want without getting overwhelmed. For your online store, you can update or create new product pages instantly without having to worry about inaccuracies. The time-to-market for new products is largely reduced when you have a template to work with that’s used for all products across the board. However, in my mind, there are different PIMs that are effective to different degrees. You have your legacy PIM – one that’s operated the same way for years for businesses. Then, you have your modern PIM which goes much further than simply managing product data.
What exactly is different about a modern PIM from others?
A modern PIM is SaaS-based, API-first and composable, and enables loads of automation possibilities, especially across your different eCommerce platforms. And most importantly, a modern PIM is incredibly flexible by nature. Pimberly, for instance, also manages digital assets alongside product data as a PIM/DAM hybrid of sorts. The platform also stores images right alongside products. In essence, a modern PIM dares to be more than just a PIM.
What kind of automation is possible across a brand’s platforms with a modern PIM?
It mostly depends on the level of integration that exists within a brand’s tech stack. See, when many platforms automate processes, it can be just those isolated processes that a specific system handles. On the other hand, Pimberly’s automation of product data sheets within the platform opens the door for even further automation outside of it. True automation, in eCommerce, is ensuring your platforms can speak to each other and workflows are able to move across the various platforms. This is the beauty of Pimberly being composable and API-first. For example, a brand can start a workflow within Pimbery for a product and have it reflected in both the ERP and eCommerce platforms due to a templated, automated product data sheet the other platforms can recognize.
How does a modern PIM automate a brand’s product data sheets?
Since a brand is able to store their product data, as well as their digital assets, in one location with Pimberly’s modern solution, they can access all the data they need without having to look for relevant information across multiple systems.
A modern PIM will have templates available for brands to use or will work with the brand to create standardized ones. In Pimberly, these sheets can be easily populated through AI-based attribution, using recognition of images as well as text analytics to pull attributes from various sources and automatically add them to the product data sheet. Leveraging AI functionality is another key component for a modern PIM solution, as it allows for more than just management of product data. Rather, it optimizes the data to create superior shopping experiences for customers.
We touched on the business value earlier – what is the customer value of a modern PIM?
A modern PIM provides customers with the best possible shopping experience when visiting their favorite brands’ online stores. The information they receive is consistently accurate and up-to-date, building trust between them and the retailer. A PIM really brings about a win-win situation for all involved in the purchase.
Final words?
Pimberly is a SaaS-based PIM/DAM hybrid platform that optimizes the way in which brands manage and leverage product data to increase their sales. Breaking down the walls of siloed product data sources, the platform brings all your product information into one place. This single hub allows not just for automated product data sheets, but for consistent, standardized sheets – complete with images and text – to be used in workflows across your eCommerce tech stack. Pimberly is your product data Swiss Army Knife for anywhere a brand sells online.
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