How to choose a PIM system.

Look at your own work first, then at the market. Answer four questions:

1. Where does your data come from? How many suppliers deliver data, and in what form: Excel, CSV, XML, API or data pools such as 2BA and GS1?
2. Where does most time go today? Mapping and rebuilding files, translating, or fixing errors in the webshop?
3. Which systems do you feed? Webshops, marketplaces, ERP, B2B portals or apps.
4. Who works with the data? Purchasing, product management, marketing, e-commerce or external partners.

Then count how many hours your team spends each week preparing data before it reaches a system. That number is your real starting point. At organisations such as Azerty, with more than 50 supplier feeds, or Wehkamp, with more than 2.5 million SKUs, manual work at that stage is not an option.

The PIM market has two extremes:

• Heavy enterprise solutions: powerful and configurable, but often complex to use and slow to set up.
• Light SaaS tools: quick to launch and pleasant to use, but they fall short with many supplier feeds, complex data models, ETIM or strict validation.

In between sits a third route: enterprise depth and scalability with the speed of modern SaaS. With automation at the front, at the supplier data. This is the route ConnectingTheDots takes. Decide up front which profile fits your assortment, growth plans and team.

Drop the long list of generic checkboxes. Assess candidates on five points:

1. Import & Onboarding on arrival: can the platform handle changing supplier feeds without a developer for every change? See Import & Onboarding.
2. Flexible data model: can you set up categories, attributes, variants and relations logically and extend them later? See Structure.
3. Governance and validation: does the system objectively decide when a product is ready to sell per channel, with roles and an audit trail?
4. Controlled AI and automation: deriving missing attributes, translating and suggesting copy, with human review where needed. See Automate.
5. Publishing per channel: can one central dataset be converted automatically to the fields and formats of each channel? See Publish.

Test your current setup with the free governance checklist →

The key rule: never judge a PIM on sample data alone.

Ask for a demo or proof of concept with a real supplier file. Pick a difficult one on purpose: different column names, missing EAN codes and mixed units. Have the vendor show live:

• how quickly the feed is imported;
• how mapping to your data model works;
• how errors and exceptions become visible to your team.

If this already feels slow or complicated in the demo, you know how it will go in practice.

A PIM project doesn't have to take years. For a first channel and your core assortment, expect 8 to 16 weeks, depending on the number of suppliers and integrations.

Also ask:

• Who does the implementation: the vendor or a partner?
• Are there proven integrations with your ERP and e-commerce platform? See the integrations.
• How does the platform handle new suppliers and channels after go-live?

Look beyond the licence price when comparing quotes:

• Time back: how many hours a week does your team win when supplier data is normalised automatically?
• Time to market: how much faster do new products, seasons or suppliers go live?
• Fewer errors: reliable specifications and attributes prevent returns and marketplace rejections.

That way you compare not just costs, but what each platform delivers for growth.

• Retail: many brands, seasonal changes and one product story in store and online. See PIM for retail.
• E-commerce: complete product pages, filters and marketplace requirements from Bol, Amazon and Kaufland. See PIM for e-commerce.
• Wholesale and B2B: large ranges from many suppliers and customer-specific exports. See PIM for wholesale.
• Brands and manufacturers: one reliable source and consistent data for distributors, dealers and retailers. See PIM for brands and manufacturers.
• Technical wholesale and installation: ETIM classification, 2BA, GS1 and hundreds of thousands of technical items. See item management for technical wholesale.

1. Choosing a PIM that assumes your data is already in order. Many PIM systems only start once data has been delivered cleanly. Preparing supplier files, ERP exports and spreadsheets then remains manual work for your team. Choose a PIM that handles this work itself, on arrival.
2. Involving the business too late. PIM is not a pure IT project. Purchasing, content and category management use it every day.
3. Doing everything at once. Start with one main channel and the most important supplier feeds, then scale up.
4. Forgetting how data leaves the system. Publishing to your channels must be as flexible as storage.

Still unsure which direction fits? Try the PIM selector or read more about the ConnectingTheDots PIM system.