Getting set up with a Product Information Management (PIM) tool can be both a challenging and rewarding endeavor for any ecommerce business looking to take the next step in its journey toward data governance/enrichment–especially when it comes to determining what data to include in your PIM system and what should best be left out of it.
In this article, we’ll guide you through the kinds of data best suited for PIMs, such as marketing details, product specifications, and digital assets. It also outlines what data to exclude, ensuring your PIM remains a streamlined and effective tool for your ecommerce business. Whether you're a seasoned ecommerce professional or new to the field, this article will help you optimize your PIM structure and get set up for success.
What Data Belongs in a PIM
When selecting and setting up your product information management system, you’ll quickly be faced with an important question: What data should I keep in my PIM? PIMs are incredible tools that can handle a lot of complex information about your store’s products, but not everything needs to – or should be – kept in your company’s PIM system.
PIMs are best used for “cold” data, that is, data that doesn’t change often (if ever). Here are a few of the must-have pieces of information that should live in your company’s PIM.
Marketing Data
PIMs can easily be a central hub for your company’s marketing data. If your PIM features a robust set of user roles and permissions—like our PIM of choice, Akeneo does—you should be able to give your marketing team the right access level to head into the tool and input/manage things like product descriptions, names, branding information, and other marketing copy without needing to give them access to anything they don’t need.
Using rules, you can also set up your PIM to notify certain team members of tasks they need to complete in the tool as well, so they can quickly keep track of what needs to be done as soon as they log in.
Product Technical Specifications and Product MSRP/Base Price
PIMs are built to hold all specifications about every product – and its variations – you sell. From SKUs, measurements/dimensions, and any sizes and colors you might offer to t-shirts and washing machines, you can set up your PIM to hold all the information you need to keep your store’s product data quality high and easily accessible.
Data integrity when updating product information is essential, and PIMs make centralizing your product specs and product attributes a breeze.
Product Media
A PIM system also excels at digital asset management (DAM). Use it to store all your product catalog’s images, videos, etc. Essentially, anything that can be imported or uploaded as a file can and should be stored in your PIM.
Data accessibility across teams and departments is essential for any growing business, and using your PIM to hold onto both your technical specs and your related media files means that everything anyone on your team needs is likely available in one central location.
What Data Shouldn’t Be Kept in Your PIM
While PIMs are built to be a single source of truth for all of your product data, some things are best stored elsewhere. Any data that changes in real-time or from day to day doesn’t usually belong in your PIM.
Here are some examples of what to keep out of your PIM software:
- Complex calculations and one-off pricing changes (e.g., discounts, costs, vendor info, sale prices).
- Your transactional data.
- Real-time inventory counts.
- Product development information (e.g., bill of materials, (BoM)).
- Fulfillment data (e.g., warehousing, logistics).
One thing to note here, however, is that, in general, PIMs – such as Akeneo – are very flexible, and while these are general recommendations, it could make sense for you and your business to work outside these guidelines, depending on your unique circumstances.
For example, our team at Blue Badger can help you work through all of your data requirements and ensure you’re storing the correct information in your PIM and elsewhere so you’re making the most of your tech stack as a whole.
How to Structure Data in your PIM
When thinking about PIM data management and structure, a considerable amount of time should be set aside for you and your team/ecommerce agency partners to come together and ensure that everything will be structured in the most efficient and effective way possible for your unique business.
Before getting into the weeds, you’ll want to involve both your IT and business teams and put together a strategic plan that answers these two questions:
- What is the end goal for this project/PIM implementation?
- What exactly are we looking to accomplish, fix, or enhance with this project?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to these questions, but generally, your goals should revolve around some combination of improving data governance, enhancing your product information, future-proofing your data/systems, or speeding up your overall time to market.
Next, start thinking strategically about your project. Identify your key stakeholders and get them involved in the process. Look into your existing processes and start thinking about ways to improve them—don’t be afraid to challenge what is already in place. Finally, engage and involve your content creators/marketing team; they’ll need to understand and use the tool as well, after all!
Once you have all your general information laid out and a rough idea of your project outline, it’s time to start the hard part: thinking deeply about all the user workflows and mapping the order of operations, as these will have a major impact on how the system is ultimately set up.
Here are the key questions you will need to work with your agency and team to answer in order to determine your PIM’s data structure and overall setup:
It’s important to get this process right and work with a team that knows what they’re doing when setting up your PIM, as any missteps can deeply affect your system's usefulness and can cause many issues down the line. This includes everything from how you manage states, the automations you run through AI and the rules engine, how you group the attributes into attribute groups, and even how you set up your attributes to begin with.
Conclusion
Product information management tools and their structure are unique to every company depending on several factors, such as what they sell, what other tools they use daily, how their internal teams are structured, and more. Once you’ve made the decision to leverage a PIM for your business, consider working with an ecommerce agency like Blue Badger to do the heavy lifting and help you through every step of the process.
As a certified Akeneo Solutions Partner, Blue Badger offers everything you need to get started with implementing a PIM solution into your business. From mapping & configuration to making your upstream & downstream connections, we’d be happy to find and implement the right PIM configuration for you.
Additionally, we offer services like the design and development of custom themes and apps, strategy, conversion rate optimization, performance marketing, and more. Let us help you build an ecommerce ecosystem that you can rely on. Get in touch with us today to learn more.
