By Joris Polhaar, Sales Consultant
Product Information Management in retail and wholesale.
Retailers and wholesalers often manage vast supplier networks, each providing price lists and product sheets in unique formats. Delivery frequencies vary: some suppliers use gross prices, others apply specific discounts.
Furthermore, while some suppliers indicate product status (such as new or end of life), others provide no such detail. It often falls to the retailer or wholesaler to reconcile this data, which consumes significant time and energy. This inefficiency hampers time to market for new products and limits the capacity to enrich and improve product information. Good product data starts before your PIM.
1. A standard product sheet for supplying product information?
We frequently meet organisations planning to send all their suppliers a standard Excel product sheet for all data deliveries.
At first glance, this seems like a solid plan: it implies every supplier will provide information in a uniform way. However, reality is often more stubborn: not all suppliers will comply with such a request.
Nevertheless, it is worth investigating whether key partners are willing to cooperate. Particularly in scenarios with many smaller suppliers, you may find they are happy to work with a standard sheet that can be ingested directly into the PIM solution.
2. Align with an industry standard.
In sectors where industry standards (such as GS1 or TecDoc) are prevalent, you have the advantage of starting with a structured foundation. Always research whether your specific branch uses a standard for product data registration and exchange before building custom formats.
3. Let suppliers do the work.
When suppliers can provide more than just a price list, it is wise to leverage that data by importing it directly into your PIM system. This is repetitive work that you and your colleagues no longer have to perform manually. It is essential, however, that your Product Information Management software allows you to create attributes for import on the fly, or automatically add new attribute values to existing properties during the ingestion process.
4. Requirements for the PIM solution.
Choosing the right platform is critical. A PIM solution suitable for complex retail and wholesale environments must meet specific technical requirements to handle diverse data sources effectively.
5. Avoid manual work where possible.
The key to success is preventing the manual entry of product content. This saves time, reduces costs, and eliminates human error. When you need to onboard data from many suppliers, you need a PIM system where content from suppliers or third-party sources (like CNET or GS1) can be imported automatically. This allows you to achieve Less manual work.
How does ConnectingTheDots support wholesalers?
ConnectingTheDots helps wholesalers by providing a central hub for product data from multiple suppliers. This streamlines distribution to B2B customers, simplifies the management of specifications and pricing, and integrates with industry standards like GS1 for efficient collaboration.
6. Add new suppliers easily.
If you manage a large supplier base, adding a new partner must be simple. The product sheets they provide should be easily mapped and imported into the Product Information Management platform.
Some PIM systems are built for onboarding diverse product sheets, while others struggle with the variety. It is vital that your system features a flexible mapping mechanism, allowing you to link different sheets easily and adjust them as needed: for example, if a supplier adds a new column. Import & Onboarding is the ideal solution for efficiently importing large volumes of unstructured product data.
When you use a system that makes adding new suppliers easy, you quickly gain Control over product data across your entire supply chain.
What is Product Information Management (PIM)?
Product Information Management (PIM) is a system that centralises, manages, and distributes all product-related information to various sales and marketing channels. It ensures the consistency, accuracy, and completeness of product data across the entire organisation.
7. Automate.
Choose Product Information Management software capable of automatically optimising new content. Look for features that classify products, convert field values based on reference tables, or validate attributes for completeness and correct notation. This significantly reduces the burden of manual checks and data entry.
8. Process updates.
The PIM platform must be able to automatically process updates for existing products. This ensures your managed portfolio remains current without requiring manual intervention for every price change or specification adjustment, saving hours of correction work.
9. Report.
Utilise PIM software that provides Reporting & Analytics on which content from which supplier was successfully uploaded or updated. This provides real-time visibility into new and updated products. This data can be integrated with Workflows & AI to ensure new items are enriched by the right departments and approved before being distributed to sales channels.
10. De-duplicate product data.
In many cases, multiple suppliers provide the same product. It is essential that your PIM software recognises this, linking two suppliers to a single product record rather than creating duplicates. You should also be able to configure which supplier acts as the source of truth for specific descriptions or attributes.
11. Collaborate.
Many hands make light work. Collaborate with teams across your organisation to Launch products faster by optimising content for new products as efficiently as possible. For more advice, see our guide on organising product content creation for larger assortments.
Want to learn more about how our PIM platform can add value to your business? Get in touch or request a demo today.
More on PIM for retail and wholesale
In practice, PIM for retail and wholesale ensures product data becomes available faster and more consistently. By centralising your data strategy, you reduce the risk of errors and accelerate your time to market. A well-thought-out approach makes your organisation more scalable and future-proof. At ConnectingTheDots, we help you navigate the journey from strategy to implementation.
To get the most out of your data, start small and scale your approach. A structured workflow pays off by making your product data management truly scalable. Let your product data flow.
Why is PIM important for retailers?
For retailers, PIM is crucial for delivering a consistent and rich customer experience across all channels. It improves data quality, speeds up the launch of new products, and reduces manual errors, leading to higher conversion rates and improved customer satisfaction.