Many companies struggle with seeing a potential tangible return on investment when considering implementing a PIM solution. However, poor product information management practices, and consequently bad product data, can have a very real effect on the revenue of the business. In fact, it is estimated that bad data costs the U.S. economy around $3.1 trillion dollars each year. While not all of this cost is related to product information, inadequate product data is certainly recognised as a huge contributor to this statistic.
So, how can a PIM system help improve revenue and help the business comfortably make back the money spent on the software?
More sales
Simply put, better product information leads to more sales for the business and hence, more revenue.
- Better product descriptions entice customers to buy
- Time-savings for the marketing team allows them to concentrate on producing better content
- SEO-driven data can improve the number of potential customers visiting the site
- Rich media content can improve the chances of converting a sale
- Better categorisation and filtering make it easier for customers to find (and buy!) what they are looking for
- Faster time-to-market for new products means the business is more likely to beat out competitors and capture market share
- Easily scale the business by making it easier to add new products in bulk and lowering the barrier to entry on different sales channels because the data is held in one central location.
- Likewise, PIM makes it easier to sell internationally with channels allowing you to change the data for different purposes, i.e. languages or country-specific media and descriptions.
- Setting up an easily navigable category structure with strong relations between products for upselling and cross-selling means that customers are likely to spend more on average when they do purchase from your business.
Avoiding Indirect Costs
By providing customers with more accurate product data, they can make more informed decisions on the products they are purchasing. For example, exact sizing dimensions that are region-specific will have a big impact on customers choosing clothes that fit them, thus, reducing the number of returns. Other mistakes could be incredibly costly, like pricing errors or inconsistencies across different websites.
Inaccurate data can have other indirect costs. For example, if dimensions and packaging data are wrong or outdated, this could lead to costly shipping and logistics errors. Likewise, improper product safety information could cause customers to stay away from your products.
Satisfied customers = Return customers
Retaining customers will have a hugely positive effect on revenue and profit. After all, investing in new customers is between 5 and 25 times more expensive than retaining existing ones.
Ultimately, a PIM system will lead to more satisfied customers who receive a better overall customer experience. Every part of the customer experience is enhanced through the implementation of a PIM system. Navigating through your website will become easier, where they will find rich product descriptions and media to make informed purchasing decisions. Customer support will be easier able to respond to customer queries and/or complaints with a central source of product data to refer to. The increased transparency about your products will increase customer trust too, especially if you can highlight positive things like sustainable materials. Finally, your marketing team can produce better quality and more personalised content for potential customers and produce a consistent brand message across all platforms.
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