Product information and its management by seven C principles

Product information and its management is much more than just product related parameters. Product information is a very broad concept and can contain anything that makes it easier for the customer to buy and use the product. Product information includes videos as well as instructions for use. Product Information Management is not rocket science, but when managed well, it can produce significant results.

C for Canter. I have collected here seven C’s describing the seven important things that enable successful product information management.

Collect

To be able to manage the product information required by the customer, it must first be gathered in one central location. Generally, this centralized location is a so-called PIM, or Product Information Management system. Typically, product information can be found in a variety of Excel charts, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and other systems, supplier websites, web servers, printed catalogs, price lists, etc. With modern interfaces and integration tools, product data collection into a Product Information Management system can be highly automated.

Connect

An essential part of Product Information Management is the management of product information flow in the company’s IT infrastructure between different systems. Therefore, product information management should always start by looking at this entity. The first thing to look into is where the product information is and where it should be. Next, phase is to consider what is the optimal way to collect information, how to enrich it for customer needs, and how to publish it to all the channels where customers need it.

Collaborate

Many different people are involved in product information management. Collaboration between different people and making the collaboration more productive, are some of the key themes in Product Information Management. Product Information Management ensures that once a particular content provider has entered content into the correct system, that content is instantly available to all people and channels that need it. The roles and responsibilities are defined together at the beginning in the specification phase of Product Information Management implementation.

Content

Quality over quantity is certainly true in Product Information Management. Everything starts with the question of what product content does our customer need? Deepening the thinking to the next level and thinking about what content a customer needs at different stages of his purchasing journey is also wise. Customer’s attention is awakened with completely different content (eg, a research result that underlines the customer’s need) than when supporting the purchase decision (eg product’s technical performance) or product use (eg maintenance instructions).

Product information management should therefore take into account the customer’s purchasing journey as one dimension when classifying product information. In addition, you should definitely invest in the quality and quality management of your product content.

Commerce

Business is based on commerce and the ultimate goal of product Information Management is to sell more products. Removing the barriers to purchase will increase sales. An online store where products can be found easily with versatile filters and it is easy to compare them, provides a good platform for buying. This kind of online store needs well-managed product information, whose parameters have been thought to support the customer’s needs.

Another aspect of trading is speed – how quickly new products are ready for sale in sales channels. When the Product Information Management process is designed in such a way that updating data to one place makes it automatically visible in all the sales channels, it is easy for the customer to buy products as soon as they are in stock.

Channels

Product information is needed in surprisingly many channels. Over the years, product catalogues and price lists have been complemented with a huge number of other channels, such as various online services, newsletters, price tags, packaging labels, product cards, promotions, store displays and product advertisements.

Each channel has its own purpose, and this is reflected in the required product information. On the shelf edge label, the price of the product may be in the lead and the most viewed information. On the website the most important information may be the product picture gallery. Although different information are being published for different channels, they should still be centrally managed and just filtered per channel. This will save a huge amount of duplicate work and ensure a consistent product experience for the customer between different channels.

Customers

The seventh C, to which the list ends, is the Customer in its own right. Product information management is done for the customers. At the product development and manufacturing stage, the company may have PDM and PLM systems in place to manage products more from an internal process perspective. The PIM Product Information Management system is there for the SKUs of these ERP, PDM, and PLM systems to be transformed into content-rich, customer-friendly products that are easy to buy.

Conclusion

With Product Information Management, existing product information is gathered and enriched to serve the customer’s needs in all shopping channels. Product Information Management brings together all the related people, background systems and sales channels to ensure that the customer is always served with the right product content. Product Information Management increases sales and is above all good customer service.