This document provides an agenda and overview for a lunch and learn presentation on product information management (PIM). The presentation will be given by Andy Didyk from Ntara and Johan Boström from inRiver. The agenda includes introductions, a keynote presentation on PIM, and a Q&A session. The presentation will discuss how PIM can improve product data management, integrate with other systems, and support omnichannel strategies. It will also cover how to evaluate your current PIM capabilities and next steps to get started with a PIM solution.
Product Information Management: Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask
1. PIM DEMYSTIFIED:
Everything you ever wanted to
know but were afraid to ask
Presented by:
Andy Didyk | Ntara VP of Account Services and Strategy
Johan Boström | inRiver Co-Founder & Evangelist
5. WHO IS THIS GUY?
Johan Boström
Co-Founder & Evangelist
inRiver
Product Information & workflow SME
Enterprise software strategist
Senior international business leader
All organizations manage product information management. As a society when we say PIM, we say software. It's still a little muddy. Make the point that organizations are managing their product information, they're just doing it badly. PIM Software is answer to all these questions. But we don't want to say you need PIM software. When we talk about Product Information management as a function in an organization v. PIM as a tool to help you do it better, spell it out and make sure we're very clear. The rest of the lunch & learn isn’t about Ntara and inRiver; it’s about the manufacturing industry and how PIM can be transformative for your business. You’ll know when to call us and the reasons to work with us. Today is successful if you can take something back to your organization that you didn’t already know.
If you’re selling a syndicated product and everywhere you look, your product has different information, your brand and credibility as a manufacturer or retailer is damaged. A consumer or a buyer can have one bad experience when they purchase from you, discover your information is wrong, irritates them, they're dissatisfied, inconveniences them on the business or consumer side, can cause long standing and damaging ramifications.
People go to manufacturers first for product information. They trust them more than anyone else.
Update image
PIM system supports the entire flow of producing marketing and sales information on a product. There are four important stages in the PIM process:
1. Supply. In this initial stage, the extraction of basic product data and resources is made. The product data is extracted from systems like ERP, PLM, and CRM into the PIM system. In the case of a retailer, product data may also come from product suppliers.
2. Enrich. In this second stage, the product stories are created. Many different users will collaborate to produce the best possible product information by adding texts, stories, images, videos, documents, specifications or any type of resource needed for creating the optimal setup to make the product sellable.
3. Plan and Release. In this third stage, the release strategy and timing for publication of the information is planned. This is the stage where the product marketers combine different products into assortments, groups, looks, showrooms, campaigns or any other type of targeted offerings aimed at certain channels and customer segments or groups.
4. Publish. In this final stage, the product information is pushed to different channels like eCommerce, mCommerce, Print, POS, advertisements, email marketing, in-store displays etc in the best possible mix to drive interest to the attracting and converting channels for the marketed products.
*Alter for more of a reveal. Start in PLM/ERP. Point of origination. Take more time to explain what enrichment means. User Gartner report example. PIM then helps to syndicate great product data. Your website cannot do this alone. Enrich: content creation factory. Produce more content-responsibility of manufacturer. Unique text and image requirements are becoming more common. Pristine, perfect, unique product information. This is a challenge.
Customer buying journey is now bypassing physical shelf in favor of “digital shelf.” Customers look to detailed product information to help make buying decisions. Retailers turn to brands for detailed product information to populate diverse commerce channels, but brands are struggling to gather and disseminate the information both retailers and consumers need. Retailers control flow of information through digital commerce channels, and this limits a brand’s ability to directly gather customer insights. Retailers are turning to branded manufacturers for more product information to populate digitam marketing and commerce.
Product metadata isn’t enough. Product data needs to display useful information like quantity, reviews, answered questions, photos, and adjacent recommendations.
Amazon Elements product page has more reviews, more answered questions, richer imagery, more prominently featured videos and customer quotes that emphasize product features, in this case strength and durability.
Richer product data helps improve product ranking in on-site search results.
Reducing number of employees working with product data and reducing amount of time.
Crawl, walk, run
Getting processes set up is not as hard, but have to do it right with correct, quality product data.
Manufacturers are struggling with age of the consumer and it’s a difficult paradigm shift. Can no longer simply think of just building “widgets.”
Need to add a category to the left of the grey retailers that says “packaging” and another one that has a dotted line to “print catalog”