New Product Introductions Real-Time, Really…..

The Yankee Group has published specs on how better product information management benefits a retailer, manufacturer and or e-commerce business.

“Data Entry people, Product Managers, Merchandisers and Marketers can save 5,000 to 10,000 hours on new product work.”

This statement amazes me. Consider salaries/ wages paid to professionals managing product information 40 hours per week, over a year and compute the savings. This is savings just based on wages. New Product introductions speed to real-time. Invoice errors are slashed. Returns are slashed. Promotion errors down too.

I am a MDM for products professional and drink the Kool-Aid of benefits each day. Even with enthusiasm tempered, a PIM solution or product information management software solution is a must have in organizations that make, manage, sell, a high level of products.

The Product Data Dilemma

Product data; digital images and related product product content, originates in ERPs, PLMs, graphics programs and similar applications including spreadsheets, and databases. Product data is used by wide range of professionals; product engineers, product managers, graphic designers, marketers, merchandisers, customer support, e-commerce managers, and compliance professionals.

Product data is needed by a range of users inside and outside the enterprise. There is often no central authority to ensure product information completeness, or to ensure product information accuracy. Or no central authority which makes product information available to users, or to distribute or publish to applications where and when it is needed.

The lack of no central product information authority causes pain.

Print Publishing for Multichannel Sales Success

Success in Multichannel marketing takes lots of effort. Research, pricing strategies, competitive intelligence, product development, supplier partnerships, and even more behind the scenes work must be done.

Websites, catalogs, datasheets and other marketing materials must always shed the best light on your company. And your product catalog is more than a collection of product photos, descriptions and prices. It is the visible representation of your company.

This booklet offers 6 milestones for guiding your company through familiar minefields inherent to multichannel marketing. Intended for marketing and sales executives, eCommerce managers, catalog designers, IT personnel, and others responsible for building and working on building marketing assets for multichannel sales.

This information can kick start conversations in your company. Can aid you in building a sales pulling, profit generating multichannel sales process.

Please get your FREE booklet right here:

MDM for Products Request for Information Guidelines

Our Product Information Management Consultants compiled questions from over 100 Best Practice MDM for Product RFI documents. This document, loaded with PIM functionality details is perfect for a business starting out on a Product Information Management software evaluation journey. This template provides questions your company can use to begin evaluating PIM (product information management solutions.) All your PIM evaluation team needs to do is flag questions that fit your requirements and omit questions that do not. The guide covers a broad range of MDM for products functionality including:

General overview of Product Information Management.
Product Life Cycle Management
Digital Asset Management
Role Based Security
Partner and Customer Collaboration via a Portal Framework
Data Aggregation and Extraction
Data Quality and Data Governance
Classification/Hierarchies
Product Attributes
Merchandising and Promotions using Time Based Effectivity
Print Catalog Management and InDesign intergration
Electronic Catalog publication to Amazon, Google, Ebay and more….
ERP integration
Product Information Management Syndication to e commerce, sales partners, systems
Integration

The PIM guide also covers Search, Work flow, Portal Framework usage, Security and Auditing. Request your FREE guide today and get started on the MDM for Product path with a strong first step.

Product Information Management: Preparing for PIM eBook

“When it comes to managing your company’s product information you must possess the qualities of a maverick while maintaining the leadership and courage of a pioneer.”

This is an important eBook that all product information management professionals should have. Marketers and merchandising professionals should also get this Preparing for PIM eBook. It is free and loaded with guidelines to a successful PIM software evaluation, deployment and usage.

Get your Free Preparing for PIM eBook right here:

Supplier Management Using Supplier Portal

Prospects tell me that suppliers will not use a portal to upload, edit, manage their product catalogs. Often, after the supplier portal is deployed, results are surprising. Suppliers, when offered a fast simple way to exchange product data, jump on board.

Sure, utilization is not 100%. And just 80% or even 50% pays dividends. New products speed to web and to print. Product edits are outsourced back to the supplier. Data is transformed into clean usable information. And then enriched to persuasive product information.

A simple supplier portal. Easy to use, a simple interface, and supplier support, makes this project work.

Product Information Management Free e-Book

Getting PIM project buy-in is never easy. PIM leaders must possess a maverick attitude. Often, I see men and women running project management, marketing and merchandising departments, winning this battle based on eye opening business cases. PIM ROI is real and I have earnings reports from customers proving this. Now for the mavericks out there thinking about PIM a new ebook has arrived. This ebook called “Preparing for PIM,” was published by a leading MDM for Product Information Solution provider, Enterworks. This guide is for folks that need product information management tools; The business people that gather, manage and publish their company’s product information. This PIM e-book lights the path to MDM for Product success. Get yours here:

Product Information Management Software RFI Template

Get a Free Product Information Management RFI Guide Loaded with Best Practice PIM Functionality.

Enterprises that can quickly transform product data into rich, selling product information have competitive advantage over enterprises fighting product data each day.

Transforming product data to rich, selling product information is key to delighting customers and to keeping sales healthy.  Often, gathering product data from suppliers and internal systems to publish to e commerce sites and to print is a slow, painful process.

Retailers and etailers have many suppliers. And the market may change each day. Product attributes like price, color, size, availability, fit, capability, may change daily. And getting e commerce changes done, can eat time and cost sales.

If an Enterprise sells thousands of products into a fast moving marketing like apparel, electronics, and consumer goods, and if the product management process is slow and painful, a Product Information Management solution will offer high return on investment. 

Product information management smooths business processes like product edits, new product introductions, data governance and data enrichment Best of breed product information management solutions contain workflow engines that power and improve business processes like product lifecycle management.

Integrated workflow pushes work to designated users, using alerts and notifications, to speed business processes, to increase efficiency and to increase sales.

Now you can speed up the vendor selection process. Base lining your product data requirements is done for you.

PIM-Data.com is offering a FREE RFI/RFP guide to all enterprises seeking a product information management solution. This guide is full of rich functionality detail describing best of breed product information features. This guide is built to serve as a starting point. Project teams can use this road map to save time and kick start the PIM selection process.  

Much information is given to you. General Instructions, PIM and Multichannel Publishing overview and all these chapters:

Product Information Management

Search

Digital Asset Management (DAM)

Multichannel Publishing and Syndication

Product data system integration

Web-to-Print Portal

Work flow Management

Web Content Management

E-Commerce

Portal Framework for marketers, sales teams and more…

Support questions, training questions and technology questions are covered with intelligent questions all seeking a PIM solution can use. Important vendor questions are also supplied plus a reference section. All a Project Information team needs is to apply this template to their business. Please get your FREE copy right here:

Product Information Management Guide

Product Information Management or PIM solutions have been around for awhile. Yet still many companies spend way too much time and money getting, cleansing, and transforming data into rich product information. With a PIM solution, transforming data into rich information can be quick and easy. PIM speeds up new product introductions and product edits and makes the customer experience better leading to more sales.

If your company takes too long to introduce new products. Or if your company spends hours editing product data or making changes, then the Free PIM Guide is for you. This guide describes how a best practice pim solution can benefit your business by deliver real world functionally details. Here are some highlights:

  • How to get supplier data and transform to rich, selling product information quickly.
  • How to manage all digital assets like images, videos, spec sheets; And associate digital assets to products and product categories.
  • How to integrate a PIM solution to your ERP, your Web site and your creative solutions like Indeca or Quark.
  • Plus, how workflow can keep data clean, simplify new product information management and optimize your business processes.

This PIM guide, put together in a Request for Information format, will help you learn what benefits your company can gain. And can be used to start building business requirements for a PIM solution. The guide will get you on the path to world class product management and higher sales.

Request PIM Guide right here:

Swimming in an Ocean of Product Data

When learning about enterprise product information management, I think about fishing. A fisherman goes out, like Spencer Tracy in Old Man and the Sea, the Hemingway book, and searches for his catch. Minutes stretch into hours and hours into a full fishing day. Often, the fisherman is skunked, or comes up empty. And sometimes, a catch is made.

Take digital asset management in the Enterprise. A new product comes in and a product manager or marketer is tasked w/ enriching the product information. First task is to associate an image to the product, and the person tasked w/ this job, just knows there is an image that fits, somewhere.

Is the image hiding in the rocks, or on a colleagues desktop, or swimming in deeper water, in a fragmented enterprise system. Time is spent seeking this image and there is a cost involved. I have read about the ROI for DAM. Surprising numbers do appear to the plus side, when images, and other digital assets are managed in a single repository, or managed from a single repository, even if images do reside in other systems.

I have a ROI document which I will send to you if interested. Just request in the comment box. Best to you, JR

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