Special report prepared by Ventana Research, a respected benchmark business technology research firm, conclusively proves that the best solution for managing tons of product-related content is using a dedicated Product Information Management (PIM) software. Here’s why.
Product data quality affects the revenue
Consistent product information is one of the most important assets to any smooth-running, successful e-commerce business. Ventana report shows that 62% of all companies say that quality of product information management is very important to their business.
However, despite the obvious evidence of a widespread need for rich, compelling and accurate product content, only half of all companies (50%) are confident in the quality of their product information.
More importantly, far fewer said they completely trust their product information processes – internally (16%), for B2B purposes (18%), and for B2C product information management processes (23%). Furthermore, 49% of companies are not satisfied with how they create a single product record.
Multiple systems vs PIM platform
This lack of enthusiasm arises for a variety of reasons. However, the most important one is having multiple systems and thus, having the product information scattered across many places.
Unfortunately, having multiple systems is a common problem for today’s e-commerce businesses. Ventana report finds that fewer than 3 in 10 companies are using a single Product Information Management platform. One-quarter (28%) have 11 or more systems containing product data. Most (56%) companies have more than 5 systems. Meanwhile using too many tools makes it difficult to support a consistent version of product information.
Acc. to Ventana Research, organizations that don’t have a single source of product information most often use Excel spreadsheets (46%) to manage product data. At the same time, 47% of companies that use Excel spreadsheets to manage product information sadmitted that they often find product-related mistakes. Sometimes (19%) those errors have a major impact on sales performance.
Many organisations still reply on manual efforts, spreadsheets, database-related software, ERP applications, or custom-code solutions to manage product information. As we have found numerous times in other research and in this benchmark, when organisations use an eclectic mix of software or spreadsheets to manage data, performance and reliability suffer.
– MARK SMITH –
CEO and Chief Research Officer at Ventana Research
PIM findings from Ventana Research
The benefits of using one dedicated PIM platform is confirmed by the Ventana Research observations:
- 74% companies claim that having a single PIM software solution allowed them to eliminate errors and mistakes in product information
- 61% companies said it also improved the customer experience
- 58% claimed that PIM allowed them to gain competitive advantage through faster time-to-market with products and
- 58% said that PIM made the product information available in a consistent manner across all sales channels
- 55% confirmed that PIM improved the cross-sell and up-sell potential of products
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Conclusion
A single Product Information Management system provides unified product content which leads to better shopping experiences, satisfied customers, increased traffic and better sales.
Schedule a guided tour with a Bluestone PIM expert to learn how PIM can help your business sell more products in the digital channels.
