Even in today’s highly developed business climate, enterprises often find themselves surrounded by countless vexing question regarding maintaining their product catalogs.
Absence of an efficient product catalog management strategy doesn’t just undermine the influence of your data, but in an era of ever expanding product information, it can leave your business far behind.
On the other hand, a centralized catalog having scalable run-time access to your workforce, can speed up your time-to-market, greatly help in managing SKU’s, offers on your products/services, and bring you the details in a single view.
While rich, consistent product information can turn new prospects into customers and continue attracting old ones, background operational efficiency will increase productivity and help in beating enterprise competition. Here are a few steps that’ll come in handy when you’re out to manage your product catalog.
Start with Arranging Your Data
Combating silos begin with organizing your data. Your product information might be living in disparate repositories and systems, like spreadsheets, documents, employees’ hard drives, emails, even personal systems of original information sources, e.g., photographers, outside vendors or producers. For starters, it’s imperative to ascertain what information is needed for every channel. The next logical step is to figure out how that information can be obtained and where it resides—within the company structure or outside. Product information managers must collaborate with internal departments and channel partners to unearth all the sources of product data to manage it effectively. This will also form the building blocks for an efficient product information management system needed to eliminate inconsistency, i.e., leaving no ambiguity for the customer about which version of the “truth” is really true.
Ascertaining Classification and Product Categorization
Now that all key stakeholders in your organization are involved with product information identification, and their sources have been discovered, it’s time to determine how these products must be presented.
As you sift through your data, you must also start thinking about how internal groups would like to look at the products and the projected classifications. Different assortments are needed to suit different purposes. For instance, a customer centric classification must be entirely separate from how product categorization for organization’s internal purposes would appear. In other words, one assortment may be governed through product category, and another by keeping manufacturer or product supplier in mind.
Over here, it’s sensible to bear in mind how your taxonomy and categorization would affect your website structure and hence navigation, which will be directly linked with your ability to be found via search engines. Information that extends too far down in hierarchies may mar your visibility and digital customer experience.
Enhance Your Product Data
Now that looking for data sources and deciding the taxonomy are out of the way, it’s time to enhance and enrich your product data, since useful product information is the one that doesn’t just appeal and prod your customers, but is relevant to their requirements. Appropriate imagery, desired multi-media files, accurate product descriptions, videos and other germane material must be added, so the product “speaks for itself”. Make sure all this further differentiation is aimed at making the product stand out. Product attributes must be determined so that SKUs can be defined; further, they must be described as category specific characteristic. If a product attribute is common among product kinds and groupings like size, weight, color or form, the attribute must be applied as a filter. Filters that are category-specific, helps users to whittle down their search.
Bunching Together Similar Collection and Products
Oftentimes websites offer “suggestions” showing similar or accompanying products. Displaying related products not only help buyers in their present purchase, but is a strategic move to entice customers to browse more, hence buy more. This is not only a tactical move to hook the consumer, but also reinforces customer loyalty.
For B2B buyers, bundling similar collections and products, and presenting them to enterprises can help them build a great rapport. Displaying relevant products in case of out-of-stock or discontinuation situations or suggesting customers a key component of what they’re seeking, shows your superior understanding of the customers’ needs. A high-quality PIM software will aid marketers in recognizing and strengthening their customer experience.
Wrapping Up
It’s always better to use product category titles, that are known and familiar, rather than using unknown titles. That’s because, to be found on the web your products must coincide with what customers are searching for. Since, search engines like regularly updated and distinct content, it is imperative for retailers and distributors to amend descriptions of products accordingly. Apart from this, an approval process and workflow for product content would help you with version controlling and information consistency. This also makes product data ready for the marketers who might like to present it in any context suitable to them.
How PIM Software Can Help
All these processes can also be automated by employing appropriate product information management (PIM) software that has inbuilt workflows.
A product information management (PIM) software can help you address product assortments and categorizations across multitudes of retailers and sales channels, by offering rich, organized, consistent product information.
One such trustworthy application is Pimcore. It’s a 100% open source digital platform for managing data and user experiences, offering content management, digital asset management, product information management and eCommerce solutions.
Click here to know more about how Pimcore can help you with Product Information Management
Shashin Shah has been an expert in the Information technology field for more than twenty years. His experience globally and in the US, spanning across several industries has greatly contributed to his unparalleled skill set. Currently, Shashin is working as Chief Business Officer at DTES division of Happiest Minds, where he is primarily handling Pimcore Global Services. Pimcore is 100% open source consolidated platform for PIM, MDM, DAM, WCM & Ecommerce.
