Product Information Management (PIM) Software Market 2022

Introduction 

Product information management (PIM) solutions are a set of processes and tools that unify and manage a business’ product information to secure a single, accurate view of product data. PIM offers a centralized platform to manage data on a business’s products and services cost-effectively. PIM promotes the maintenance of consistent and quality product data and information for all the customers.

Product information management (PIM) simply refers to a system or a collection of systems utilized for managing and centralizing product information. It comprises handling of data, content, and other materials required for the marketing and selling of products and ensuring that quality data is created for internal use. It is employed in e-commerce organizations to maintain product catalogs with consistent and accurate information. PIM can be combined with catalog management, business process management (BPM), and data quality to identify and sort complex data and forward it to the desired distribution channels. Consequently, it finds extensive applications across various industry verticals, such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, information technology (IT) and telecom, and banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI).

Market size & Growth rate

The global product information management (PIM) market reached a value of US$ 10.5 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, The market is expected to reach US$ 20.2 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 11.47% during 2022-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different end-use industries. 

Market Drivers

The PIM software gained robust traction due to its growing application in the retail and e-commerce industries. It is helping offline retail outlets grow in digital spaces and helping new concepts, like Amazon Go, that leverage customer data to build their product. With the expansion of the retail and e-commerce businesses and the growing amount of product data to be managed, the adoption of PIM systems is on the rise. Moreover, the demand for Software-as-a-service (SaaS) versions of business applications increased dramatically in recent times. Cloud-based PIM is becoming more popular among organizations that prefer the ease of deployment and collaboration, affordability, and the ability to scale.

With the massive growth in data generation, data and information have become the backbone of organizations and businesses. Recently, more professionals have begun to pay attention to product information management (PIM) systems due to the growing demand for providing a better customer experience. For instance, in 2018, Adobe found that companies with the strongest omnichannel customer engagement strategies witnessed a 10% Y-o-Y growth, a 10% increase in average order value, and a 25% increase in close rates.

Market Trends

Turning to SaaS solutions is an ongoing trend, but you can expect that it’s going to be stronger than ever in 2022. Especially in the realm of product information management. Here’s why:

On-premise products require the installation the information management software on a computer. But that usually means that only one person will be able to handle the catalog conveniently. There’s not much synchronicity between on-premise tools installed on several devices. Furthermore, the security of data and the size of the storage is totally on you and your hardware.

SaaS solutions, on the other hand, provide more flexibility:

Access information management tools from any device. And in some cases, you can have several user profiles, so the whole team can be involved in handling the data.

Scale the size of storage up and down depending on your current needs. And if your catalog is growing, you can upgrade your subscription plan.

Synchronize any changes while they’re happening, so all your team members can use up-to-date information.

Distribute the data from a SaaS PIM to multiple platforms automatically.

Furthermore, Omnichannel powered landscape syndication has gained immense importance, as various parts of the content are dispersed to different retailers, channels or search engines. High-value product information are being delivered to all kinds of data consumers in real time to deliver correct, targeted and perfectly consistent brand messaging.

Challenges & Risks

In this digitalization era, companies are offering more products online to their customers, increasing the need to provide accurate product descriptions in the form of technical specifications, images, videos, etc. Such product information is offered via different channels, such as web pages, mobile phones, tablets, stores, and printed catalogs. Different information technology (IT) systems are used to provide information for different sale channels, potentially leading to inconsistent information across these systems.

To strengthen brand presence, it is very essential to establish a uniform and strong presence on multiple customer touchpoints and sales channels. But it is challenging to meet the frequently changing demands of different market place websites. Every channel has different requirements for information format and types. They have their own standards and product list approval policies. They might ask you to set different prices for different regions.

Organizations that are selling a large number of products, find it difficult to manage a huge product catalog manually. It becomes more difficult to maintain and update the uniformity of data in your product catalog. Eventually, you develop a complex catalog that is difficult to keep organized. Especially where there is no automated process for consolidating the product information in a centralized location and collecting the data from different vendors

Opportunities

The lack of skilled IT staff and inaccuracies in data are anticipated to restrict the market growth. On the contrary, the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to enhance information management and customer experience and the rise in demand for cloud-based product information management solutions are anticipated to provide lucrative growth opportunities for the expansion of the global PIM market during the analysis period.

Analytics gives an opportunity to optimize product descriptions due to the customers’ needs for each platform. PIM integration with ERP or Warehouse Management shows how much stock is available when customers want to buy something. And on the other hand, brands always know when the time comes to supply retailers with needed products. All these PIM features enhance customers’ experience. Thus, it’s obvious that the more qualified customer experience you provide – the more sales you have.