Why PIM is Critical to Omnichannel Success

Recent technology advances have redefined how consumers shop, and it's not surprising that they're demanding more digital commerce options such as e-commerce and mobile. This movement has intensified the competitive retail landscape, forcing both retailers and manufacturers to take control of their brands and add new sales channels to meet the expectations of today's empowered customers.

To appeal to the growing demands of the hyperconnected consumer, retailers are rushing to establish additional sales and marketing channels to support their growing omnichannel initiatives. However, successful omnichannel strategies require more than simply adding additional channels or relying on well-written product descriptions.

In order to remain competitive, retailers now understand that informative and complete product information is instrumental in delivering a superior shopping experience. Savvy retailers are now complementing well-written content with photography, video and even consumer-generated content such as reviews and visual content that's shared on third-party sites to optimize the customer experience.

Driving Sales by Controlling Product Content
Moving from simple product descriptions to a rich content product strategy is no simple task. In omnichannel environments, it becomes even more complex since information needs to be distributed to multiple channels, and time-to-market is critical. In addition, product information requirements in brick-and-mortar retail are vastly different than what's required for digital channels.

Perhaps the biggest challenge in e-commerce as well as the mobile and social channels is that products are presented out of context. Consumers can't touch or feel products online, which means retailers must present products in the most authentic way possible. Bridging the gap between offline and online retail can be done by enhancing product details and providing enriched content that brings context to the product and helps to guide the buyer through the decision-making process.

However, retailers are overwhelmed with managing product information because they're collecting information from multiple sources, optimizing content and facilitating the timely distribution of content across multiple channels. Worse, they're often forced to manage information using disparate database systems built on top of legacy platforms or they rely on spreadsheets alone. Managing product information from multiple sources, systems and formats often results in incomplete, inconsistent and inaccurate product information.

As retailers move from single or multiple-siloed channels to omnichannel, they need to take inventory of the product information they currently use and evaluate what's required to meet the expectations of the consumer. Product information comes from external and internal sources and, in most cases, needs to be adjusted by different departments and tailored for different channels. Therefore, efficient processes and integrated systems need to be in place to ensure that all relevant departments have access to the information and that it's distributed to the right channels in a timely manner.

Ensuring Channel Consistency Creates Customer Loyalty
Retailers are constantly fighting to capture the attention of fleeting consumers and convert them into loyal ones. Recognizing that thorough and accurate content is key to driving customer loyalty, many merchants are turning to solutions such as product information management (PIM) to automate processes and create consistency among channels. These solutions help retailers to collect, manage and share product information across all internal departments as well as with external partners and suppliers. This creates a single, trusted source of product information across all relevant touchpoints.

Leveraging a PIM solution, retailers have a centralized hub for sourcing, editing and managing data across the enterprise while ensuring that accurate and consistent information is distributed across all relevant touchpoints. With this centralized repository in place, retailers are one step closer to providing the superior shopping experience required to attract customers and encourage loyalty.

Today's consumers don't make distinctions between channels. They research products online and then make their purchase in-store, or vice versa. They interact with retailers at different touchpoints, and expect a constant and highly relevant shopping experience that's customized and easy to navigate across all channels. Therefore, it's critical to have real-time information updates between systems, workflow support and content publishing tools. After all, if a consumer finds differing or conflicting product information between a retailer's website and an in-store location, they'll likely disengage resulting in a lost sale and decreased loyalty.

Improving Profitability by Understanding the Role of PIM
Product information carries a lot of weight in omnichannel retailing, and merchants can no longer afford to ignore its importance. In a world where consumers travel interchangeably between channels, consistent, accurate and timely product information instills the trust that's critical to achieving long-term customer loyalty. By helping online retailers present product information in a way that's complete, accurate, consistent and easy to digest, a strong PIM solution implementation can increase loyalty, customer satisfaction and profits in today's intensified retail landscape.

Jennifer Krizanek is director of global product marketing at Stibo Systems, a provider of multidomain master data management solutions.