Twitter, Facebook & Co are on everybody's lips.  Opinions are wide-ranging, from nonsense to mega-hype, on the significance of the micro-blogging services on e-commerce and multi-channel trading.
36% of online shops already have Twitter embedded, while 20%are planning to introduce it. This was the result reached by an investigation carried out by ibi research.

Many companies are already reporting that their turnovers could increase significantly through the implementation of social media channels.Interactive media increase dialog with the customer. Putting aside a purely sales-figure oriented mindset, they enable authentic and direct communication with the customer. New customers can also be made aware of product offers.

So is the phrase "the trend is your friend" particularly apt in this instance? Online social networks are growing and increasingly influencing communication, be that in the business world or the world of the consumer. E-commerce prescribers must analyze precisely and decide which of their target groups can be reached through this medium. At present the media is particularly applicable to a target group of technology enthusiasts who love to experiment.



The decision whether or not social media should play a role in your communication and business strategy, and indeed what that role should be, cannot be made by this report. This report does,however, outline the important factors.

This white paper takes a look at First Movers, who believe in social commerce and hope to discover what significance Product Information Management (PIM) has in this context.




Two thirds (67%) of customers who research a brand on Twitter are subsequently more prepared to buy that product. On Facebook this applies to 51% of users. There is hardly any distinction between the expectations of men and women. Females prove to be more prolific bargain hunters. The following figures from a study by Chadwick Martin Bailey support this notion:

Female target group: Why are you a fan of brands/companies on Facebook?
1.    In order to receive offers and discounts: 30%
2.    Because I am already a customer: 20%
3.    To show others that I like this brand: 15%
4.    For fun: 10%

Male target group: Why are you a fan of brands/companies on Facebook?
1.    In order to receive offers and discounts: 23%
2.    Because I am already a customer: 23%
3.    To show others that I like this brand: 18%
4.    For fun: 11%

With regard to B2B communication there has, to date, been a lack of clear evidence that a relationship between social networks and a decision to purchase really exists.

What is most clear is that customer feedback takes on an increasing significance in the world of web 2.0. A review posted online can be extremely exciting and effective, but only if I, as a retailer, am permitted to re-use this information. Staples, the office supplies discount store, has around 60,000 Facebook followers. On its fansite Staples publicizes its current promotions, as well as discount codes and discount deals. Customers comment on and review these deals. Here PIM supplies the appropriate product data.



Shoes allows customers to review their products on Facebook. Shoe customers can subsequently arrange the product list as desired. The Facebook user is sent to the linked store via a "Buy online"link.

Facebook is especially well suited for image galleries. Fashion store Mary & Paul demonstrate, albeit somewhat tentatively, what is possible. However, the fact is that, for fashion in particular, a Facebook shop window can be a way to reach potential customers. The appropriate images are provided by PIM using integrated Media Asset Management (MAM).

The Otto subsidiary Jungstil allows customers to select potential store products and displays them using (amateur) video content. This is more authentic in every way.

Jungstil goes even further: Customers have the opportunity to import "their" outfits onto Facebook. The photos are then commented on and reviewed by fashion journalists and bloggers. The winners receive prizes. Jungstil has thus created a direct channel to an unbelievably large community of fashion-loving customers. As far as some industry experts are concerned we could be looking at the "product managers of the future". There is a growing understanding that the female customer base in particular know which clothes they are going to be wearing in the coming summer.

Product data in social networks will thus be loaded with customer opinions and should be fed back into a Product Management System (PIM).This information then displays these allurements as soon as they can be used in other cross-medial sales and advertising materials. We are thinking along the lines of product fliers, mail outs or catalogs. These customer opinions also play an important role for product or category management in the selection of product lines.

This screen shows how customer reviews from Facebook are centrally stored in PIM.This top has an average rating of 5 stars, while the brand has 43,678 fans.




Direct customer opinions from the interactive web can be gathered and evaluated immediately. Which reviews and comments have been made by the target cluster-group, "German, 13-16 years old, female" can thus be precisely analyzed. In this way, product information management facilitates the segmentation of target groups in social commerce.

Today's customer is a hybrid. Evidence shows that he is using more channels to get information on products before a sale occurs. Multi-channel is therefore not just a fleeting trend but a compelling necessity. Experts also talk of so-called cross-channel marketing, which is used within a particular marketing channel to draw attention to further sales channels. For example, a mail order company will advertise its catalog via its website, and vice-verse. Or its store on Facebook.

With Youtube, Facebook, Buzz and Twitter, a further sales channel has arrived in the e-commerce world. With it the danger of data sharing, inefficient processing and inconsistent product communication is increasing. The call for a solution to put in place central product data management and central communication is being reinforced more strongly than ever. The Enterprise Product Information Management (PIM) system solves just this problem.

Undertake a 360-degree view mark on their product.

Not all businesses today create a passageway and transparent process in the Product Information Supply Chain. This starts with the data acquisition. In particular, the benefits of internal use in different areas is often underestimated. In sales, think and operate these companies and their product managers today often channel-specific. Both in the corporate organization as well as in daily activities.

The catalog department in marketing asks: How do I put my best articles in the print catalog? The e-commerce team, deals with how the display in the shop best conversion results? This, however, prevented successful multichannel commerce. For example, data is maintained for print catalogs, in an online search because of the lack of synonymous keywords but not found. This revenue potential will be wasted.
Successful Multi-channel trade and e-commerce need perfect product. Between data integration and the increasing number of different marketing and distribution channels, there is still much more. This is precisely where PIM 360° comes in.
PIM 360° begins with the integration of product information, including an organization's data management, and ends at the Multi Channel Trading - following the motto: Integrate - Manage - Sell.


What does PIM 360 exactly?

Data Integration: handler must also manage large amounts of data suppliers through professional workflow and through automated mechanisms can take in the assortment. Many suppliers provide product information in different formats. Whether CSV, Excel, Data Standards or BMEcat. Modern solutions can use these formats when importing in one step. PIM 360 but also ensured a deep ERP data integration. It is recommended to make product for master data leading from PIM system.


What is PIM 360 °?

Data Management: The topic Product Data Governance in the company is still often neglected. But therein lies a great business value. PIM 360 cares for absolute transparency and fast processes in the areas of purchasing, research & development, product management, logistics and finance. A distributed data storage multiplied with each new product results in data chaos. Be bad data quality to inefficient internal processes, but also to inaccurate analysis made on the inaccurate bases results in wrong decisions. PIM 360 makes sure that the correct information will end up with the right people and departments. Just for large, international companies who slumber here, there is enormous potential in terms of efficiency. Anyone who recognizes the resources in all departments, branches or subsidiaries by constant harmonization of different data silos or search effort can be bound to increase the productivity with 360 PIM in all areas.




Multi Channel Trading: In e-commerce PIM 360° means that Enterprise PIM systems can seamlessly operate the world's leading e-commerce solutions via standard interfaces: ATG, IBM and Intershop rank among the global players here. However, customized punchout catalogs or direct integration with e-procurement systems of large customers can also be served in this way.

Through the integration with a media asset management solution (MAM) is checked to the PIM, are placed in which advertising images. This helps to prevent the deletion of an image and video, is still used in other places. Are also various derivatives such as pictures in high or low resolution give the opportunity for print and online media automatically created, stored, and linked with the PIM.

In the sales, PIM 360 helps to sell more. In inside sales, field service or in the call center. As an internal information portal about all available products, it helps all sales staff make optimal use of up-and cross-selling potential. No more manual leafing through catalogs and price lists. The sales department always has the right offer at the hand at the right time. This increases customer loyalty, making retailers and manufacturers number one with their customers.


Consulting and Implementation: The panoramic view is also needed in the introduction of PIM solutions. A successful project methodology encompasses all facets of product data management: Not just sales, but data acquisition and data management too.

PIM stands for the complete 360° view of product information, from data migration and data management to multi-channel commerce.

Centralizes product information into one accurate system of record

Centralization of product information allows for multiple business units to access and maintain one true source of product data. This ensures consistency and accuracy across all channels and groups. Any changes that occur to this master product repository are instantly synchronized across the enterprise resulting in hassle-free communication between subsidiaries, groups, and customers. Businesses suffer from the pains of multiple databases due to both acquisitions and undefined ownership of data which often result in disaster when accommodating all consumers of product information. The PIM product master for global enterprises also offers strong internationalization and localization to support multiple languages, currencies, and unit-of-measures. PIM offers a seamless consolidation and cross-channel synchronization of product information while still maintaining ERP connectivity upholding other business processes and simplifying global operations. 

Improve quality of product information

In addition to a single repository, PIM enables the managing and maintenance of perfect data. Validation rules and logical quality checks allow data to be maintained at the highest level starting from the acquisition of supplier data. Mechanisms also allow vendors to get involved in enhancing data quality. Users are then provided with advanced tools to eliminate redundant, incomplete, and stale data with additional building tools for complex relationships. Understanding the market and the data necessary to capitalize on it is crucial in setting up the PIM environment to maintain perfect data for the diverse targets of use.

Repurpose data - Increase reuse of existing product information

Complex product information limits a company’s ability to reach out to individual markets through multiple channels. By defining structures, relationships, various-level attributes, classifications, and more, PIM enable the repurposing of centralized data. This is a growing critical factor that improves the ability for products to reach new markets nationally or globally, and allows data to be fine-tuned for additional revenue. Businesses are exploring new venues and incorporating very customer-specific campaigns. Rather than maintaining multiple databases and instances of each product, PIM drives the ability to repurpose and reuse data from the central repository to meet channel requirements for maximum sales with minimal effort.

Increase speed and success of new product introductions and promotions

With the ability to repurpose data, companies can instantly publish information and introduce new products. Using improved vendor connectivity, a single repository model, and cross-channel synchronization, PIM users will exercise more frequent updates. This means reduced invoicing errors and out-of-stock orders, increased revenues from more current pricing, and additional sales from quick promoting campaigns such as over-stocked deals or special event items.

Workflow and Access

Workflow is paramount to Enterprise PIM. The maintenance of data requires that various groups of IT teams, marketing teams, product development teams and sales teams, including project and product managers, buyers and management, are given necessary access for central repository data governance. PIM has the flexibility to provide individual access levels of viewing and modifying information, and processing data through systemized user-group approval workflow processes. It is important to note that advanced PIM allows for cross-group workflow and not restricted to only components within PIM (ex: notifications, process kits, escalations). These built-in mechanisms are necessary in cutting data management costs, ensuring top quality data, and providing optimal connectivity among all divisions.

Improve sharing and visibility of product information

Customers and partners demand higher quality information and more efficient communication. With the combination of workflow, access, a central repository, and market tailored data, sharing data is a click away. Internally, PIM solves connectivity issues when coordinating cross-departmental projects. Furthermore, customer care and sales teams have access to the most complete product information in order to easily enable up-selling and cross-selling and provide quotes and documentation instantly. Externally, PIM can be integrated through electronic catalogs online or directly with customers to provide direct access to customer-specific sets of data or entire master catalogs. Customers tend to navigate towards those who present the best visibility of information quickly to encourage better decisions.

Scalable

A PIM platform will maintain complex and unlimited masses of data. PIM enhances wider enterprise capabilities, and therefore, do not have limits to the level of complexity and volume of data that can be maintained. PIM is designed to withstand the most rigorous environments and does not limit growth potential. Businesses today spend budgets on the ‘band-aid’ or ‘keep-up’ approach to IT while PIM remedies growing pains, improve efficiencies, and even fuels growth. Today, there is ample room for even the largest enterprises to push the limits of performance of an Enterprise PIM platform. This differentiates PIM from standard product databases since typical ERP or home-grown solutions will attempt to accommodate expansion whereas PIM will deliver growth.

Ability to increase product offerings and support special orders

PIM drives new best practices to increase product offerings and assortment coverage. Potential suppliers and their entire assortments are incorporated into the central PIM management system where interfaces ensure that all information is kept up-to-date. Special on-boarding functions are provided for this purpose. Special orders are usually processed with dummy numbers in the ERP system. These include free-text orders, which only contain data referring to individual purchase orders (for example, item descriptions or purchase order texts). If another order is placed for the same product, the supplier item number therefore cannot identify it in the ERP system, so the search in the supplier catalogs has to begin again from scratch. Non-catalog items also prevent companies from systematically evaluating special orders and adapting their core assortments accordingly. If customers repeatedly request non-catalog items, it would make sense to incorporate these into the core assortment as standard products. PIM features such as automatic SKU creation, extended catalog search, and ERP integration allows organization to capitalize from large margins in niche product orders. Special orders intended to maintain and enforce customer loyalty now turn into significant revenue initiatives due to PIM tools.

Support for any type of data

Managing unlimited amounts of product data also means supporting any type of data. Data exchange is crucial and those who support the varieties will gain significant advantage. Enterprise PIM offers multiple formats through all 3 stages of importing, maintenance, and export. Media asset management of images, videos, sounds, MSDS and regulatory documents, and more is necessary and being able to maintain multiple relationships between structured and unstructured data. Also, no standards exist when supplier deliver data and PIM’s on-boarding and mapping functions allow for supplier catalogs to merge seamlessly into the master repository. This is coupled also with data quality control validations. Similarly, exporting individual formats to meet channel-partner requirements is imperative. These capabilities are revolutionary in transforming the way businesses gain an edge in managing and communicating product information.

Better leverage product information for marketing campaigns and advertising

A powerful database, PIM provides the combination of increased product quality in marketing campaigns and true automation of processes. Online shoppers attach great importance to product presentation and accurate product information when browsing. Therefore, professional media asset management is fundamental to ensuring effective product communication in both print and electronic channels. Built-in design systems within PIM allow businesses to automate the design and generation of print catalogs, price booklets, email and print flyers, and brochures. They have realized reductions in cost and time but up to 80%. Businesses can capitalize on this opportunity by increasing the frequency of campaigns without equally increasing the work.

Synchronize data with various data pools and partners

Organizations often face instructions to comply with global networks and standards (GDSN, GTIN, UNSPSC) or to comply directly with the multitude of manufacturers and partners. These instructions can be established within the PIM platform and accommodated as easily and quickly as all other export channels.  

Flexible Architecture

PIM tools compliment ERP systems. By integration, PIM will act as the master product catalog and communicate to ERP system to support other business functions such as reporting and transactions. Furthermore, PIM will be the powering agent in leveraging product information for e-commerce and will have dramatic effects on revenues and profitability.  A sophisticated database has the flexible architecture will support all integrations and data models with minimal customization. Most functions can be performed by basic administrators not limited to IT specialists.

 

Survey Suggests Merchants Need Broader Cross-channel Approach

 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - March 29, 2010 - ATG (Art Technology Group, Inc., NASDAQ: ARTG), the premier provider of commerce solutions, today announced the results of a consumer survey that was deployed to analyze how consumers use various channels as they research product and service options, and make purchases. The cross-channel shopping survey also asked consumers about their researching and purchasing experiences when using different channels.

The survey found that more than three-quarters of consumers use two or more channels and nearly one-third use three or more channels to browse, research and purchase products. The findings also identified an opportunity for merchants to increase online sales and improve contact center efficiency by offering more information on the Web. The survey results highlight an evolving role for the emerging mobile channel and more traditional catalog channels, and point to opportunities for e-mail marketing and the incorporation of social media into consumers' online commerce activities.

"Merchants have heard the call for a stronger cross-channel strategy for many years, but what has been lacking is a deeper explanation about why this is so important," said Nina McIntyre, ATG's senior vice president of marketing and chief marketing officer. "We are seeing a multi-channel revolution now, with a vast majority of consumers using multiple channels and now almost one-third actually relying on three or more channels to complete transactions. Retailers must direct their energy toward fulfilling the unique role and sales potential of each channel. This research illuminates the expectations consumers have for the Web, call centers, the store, catalogs, and e-mail."

The highlights of consumers' cross channel experiences include:

• 78% said they use two or more channels to browse, research and make purchases; 30% said they use three channels or more
• 43% said they start their research online or through a mobile device, but then need to call a customer service or call center representative to complete the transaction because the necessary product or service information cannot be found online
• 39% said they browse via the online or mobile channel and then make purchases in the store because they prefer to touch and feel the product; 36% said do this to compare several brands of the same product
• 78% of all consumers say they use catalogs to browse and research products or services at least four times a year

In addition to looking at consumers' use of computers and customer service representatives as a means to gain more information about or to complete the purchase of a product or service, the survey also uncovered interesting data about mobile commerce, with an emphasis on the 18-34 age bracket. Overall results found that:

• 27% of all consumers 18 and older use their mobile devices to browse or research products and services at least four times a year, and that number jumps to 41% for the 18-34 year-old age group
• When it comes to making purchases, 13% of all consumers 18 and older are doing this on their mobile devices at least four times a year; 23% of the 18-34 age group are doing this at least four times a year and 8% are doing it weekly

ATG's analysis of the survey showed that catalogs still play a significant role in the cross- channel browsing and researching experience for three-quarters of consumers. However, it discovered that merchants must effectively link the catalog experience with other channels because more than 40 percent of consumers who look at catalogs never purchase products or services through catalogs.

The survey results also uncovered a need for more awareness around the incorporation of commerce activities in social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

Atricle Reference

The Enterprise PIM Model
Enterprise PIM is not just a data repository. It is tools and processes that enable the management of product information spanning all portals and channels across the enterprise. It is an end-to-end process divided into 3 segments.

1. Data Acquisition
Supplier connectivity is important to ensure top quality data from the beginning. PIM reaches out to these partners and ensures collaborated efforts from both organization and supplier. All parties on both sides of the vendor channel will be motivated to participate as they enjoy the simplified and accelerated process of catalog exchange through tools and portals enabled by PIM.

2. Data Management
All data about products must be stored and maintained centrally and an enterprise team should be assigned to keep this repository in top shape. This repository will be flexible enough to support all types of data and meet the most complex data environments and rigorous requirements.  All other downstream consumers of product information will benefit as a result including customers. 

3. Data Re-purpose
Re-purpose is the appropriate term because regardless of the use it all originates from one location. Product data can be used internally for reporting, BI, customer care, or externally for e-commerce, print catalogs and flyers, e-catalogs, data pools, online malls, and more.  Each use case requires specific data linked to products and it is up to PIM to maintain all elements in order to coordinate and accurately express this data while maintaining only one up-to-date instance of record.

Each stage is equally critical to achieve complete data maturity.

As more internal departments and external customers are linked through a PIM platform, value realized will increase exponentially. Ultimately, all customers, partners, and staff will benefit from the PIM solution.

Whether your e-commerce site is being developed by contractors or your internal IT team, there are good reasons to care about how it's connected to your other business systems. All integrations are not alike. Some are sleek -- some are tangled messes. What does your system look like under the hood?

The year is 2025. You're at the Detroit Auto Show. The internal combustion engine is on the decline, and alternative energy vehicles are no longer alternatives.

Walking the show floor, you're captivated by two apparently identical vehicles, parked side by side. Both are ruby red. Both have classic lines that scream performance.

However, it's the engineering and extreme performance under the hood that real car aficionados desire -- and when you pop open both hoods, the differences are startling.

The first vehicle's engine compartment is a mess of exposed machinery. Traditional in its design, every component is clearly custom fitted. Pipes, wires, belts and rods are visible everywhere. To replace a component requires a mechanic certified for the vehicle make and model.

The second car couldn't be more different. Opening the hood reveals what appears to be a sealed black box. On closer inspection, you see each engine component is itself a sealed black box, but smaller. Each has a handle, a latch, and is labeled with a function: CPU, fuse block, motor controller, DC fan, tach and more.

A turn of the latch frees a component, which slides out easily for replacement or upgrade. Each component has a standardized connector that allows any compatibile device to be used. Components can be swapped in minutes by any mechanic, even trainees.

By Krish Khambadkone

Companies worldwide struggle with inconsistent, inaccurate, scattered, and unreliable product data and are often unaware of how to leverage product information as an asset. Without the ability to manage product information optimally, organizations lose margins, customers, and market share and increase time-to-market compared to the competition. Errors and manual tasks increase costs and revenue is lost due to failure to meet increasing sales channel requirements. The cost of bad data can be devastating as it multiplies across the enterprise and through the value chain.

With ERP systems maintaining transactional data, reporting data and product catalogs, often organizations consider themselves PIM enabled.  This causes a shortfall as the ERP base has gaps in managing product information to meet the most pressing business needs today.

Why?
Master product catalogs within ERP systems lack the ability manage the complexities of maintaining higher product data quality centrally. Typically, data is owned by various groups and thus applications are developed to view the data single-dimensionally. Also, mergers and acquisitions result in multiple databases that can take years to consolidate and frequently never fully merge into one central manageable repository. Often product data is created and maintained based on these individual groups and platforms resulting in disparate applications and views of product information within the ERP, none of which have a complete perspective and can be leveraged across the enterprise. These limited views of product data in turn lack the ability to maintain multi-dimensional data and the ability to repurpose the data for various use cases.  Furthermore, ERP systems support limited data types and export formats and are unable to meet the growing varieties and complexities of sales channels today. A true PIM solution can support any type of information from structured to unstructured and also export information in any fashion necessary to maximize opportunities in all channels.

ERP systems do not meet the pace of business today when handling product information.

Product Information Management (PIM) has entered the minds of business leaders and is considered a top initiative for strategic technology and best practices. Product information, a subset of master data management, has become the focus of many organizations. These organizations are enthusiastically looking to product information as a key to cut costs, meet customer demands, enhance marketing and sales performance, and find new revenue opportunities.

Enterprises face significant pains as they continuously push the limits of capabilities within available resources to meet the growing rigorous demands across the value chain ‘Doing more, with less’ is a common mindset among business leaders and is a necessary approach in today’s survival. Organizations must deal with the rising volume and complexity of product information relating to day-to-day operations.

PIM systems have evolved into a combination of technology and process which far exceed the capabilities of standard product repositories found in ERP and legacy platforms and is designed to support or supplement services for these systems. It has developed beyond a vertical application into a horizontal solution across the enterprise and extended enterprise. Companies can expect a fast return on investment (less than 12 months) in areas such as reduction in cost for gathering and processing the product data and an increase in revenue through reaching new markets with more products and better quality information, faster.

PIM delivers an incredible competitive advantage that is vital.

Definition – Enterprise Product Information Management
Enterprise Product Information Management or PIM refers to processes and technologies focused on centrally managing product information, with emphasis on the data required to market and sell the products. PIM provides the combination of processes and technology to manage product data in one central hub and then synchronize it across the organization and supply chain. The goal of PIM is to streamline the data acquisition process from supplier and internal organizations, centrally manage and enrich that data, and then communicate consistent, accurate, and up-to-date information to all required distribution and sales channels. These channels include web sites, print catalogs and flyers, ERP systems, and electronic data feeds to trading partners all of which enhance marketing products and generating sales.

Content is key.  Businesses today are struggling keeping up with their own content requirements with all the new demands for higher quality data emerging. PIM is a necessary tool in content development, but there is another side to the equation – supplier catalogues. And although PIM can help enhance data, the quality of data starts from the suppliers.  As I dig deeper into the process of supplier adoption, I am realizing that it is not a fun game. I am amazed at the challenges organizations face. Companies exert efforts to acquire data from suppliers and often manpower lacks in this area resulting in sub-standard product data.

 

Here are the fun facts:

 

 Supplier catalog creation and delivery

§  Suppliers are creating catalogs in excel and are using a combination of manual techniques and automated feeds from ERPs.

§  Classification and attribute data is not stored anywhere that it can be leveraged

§  Average supplier catalog contains 75 quality errors

§  Average supplier takes 6 weeks to provide a first catalog and 4 weeks for updates

§  Suppliers deliver the catalog via email (not secure and fails audits) or regular mail

§  Average catalog gets rejected on average 3 times

 

Buyer Review

§  Traditionally, companies have been approving catalogs in excel

§  Purchasing managers have made very few catalog quality checks, only price checks

§  Price checks have been sporadic (often approving only 3%-5% of the catalog)

§  Purchasing managers have complained that they don’t have time to review catalogs and take on average 3 weeks to approve a new catalog

§  Buyers transform catalog from excel into required catalog purchasing format

 

Estimated cost per catalog is $2000

§  Buyers time

§  Delays in getting price updates

§  IT support

§  Piece price (as suppliers charge more because of their cost to manage the catalog)

§  Etc…

 

Luckily, there are services out there that provide end-to-end adoption of supplier catalogues. This includes contacting supplier, receiving catalogue, validating data, and formatting it for company’s requirements. Some benefits seen are:

 

§  Access to the latest product information

§  Better Cost accounting

§  Flexible workflow configuration

§  Unlimited Users

§  Reduce Transaction Cost by 80%

§  Reduce Process time 70-80%

§  Purchasing Audit Trails

§  Budgets and Reporting

§  Access to the latest contract pricing

 

This is neat stuff. Consider whether it’s worth hiring more bodies or tapping into a professional supplier network service.

This week I had the pleasure of attending the 2009 IM conference in Toronto presented by Adastra. The day was filled with information sessions, buffet style dining, and networking sessions. Attendees ranged from executives to IT managers to IT practitioners including some of the main players in the financial, insurance, telecom, retail, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and government. Topics revolved around BI trends, DW, BAM, MDM, PIM and others.

However, with all acronyms flying around, a common message is delivered - technology is evolving fast and more and more data management is becoming the core differentiator between the good and the best. Today, data is being pushed to the front lines of the business (tellers, CSRs, call centre, etc.) but even as we speak, companies are driving initiatives to get information in the hands of the customer with the goals of helping the end user make better decisions. Those companies that not only provide data beyond the front lines of business but also provide up-to-date information are those that will continue to maintain a competitive advantage and market share.  Ultimately the majority of users using company data should be users that are not employed by the company. A great example of this today is Walmart - with more people accessing and using Walmart data and technologies who are non-employees then employees. From suppliers to consumers, in some form or another, are using Walmart data to make better decisions. 

When it comes to product information, PIM technology is doing exactly that. It provides for a system to easily communicate product information most efficiently and effectively to those who need it most – the customer.  Companies are keeping with this trend using PIM to produce print catalogues and flyers more frequently (with minimal cost), updating webshops instantly, communicating customer-specific e-catalogues, and taking advantage of new sales channels.  Furthermore, there is also a movement in ‘Supplier Adoption’ services that eliminates the task of acquiring data from suppliers with a main purpose – to improve data quality and maintain up-to-date information.  One of my favourite quotes below best describes this current information trend;

 
"We deal in MRO, but our customers primarily expect detailed product descriptions and technical details", explains Bruce Loken, Product Data Management Director at Fastenal. "As a result, we are increasingly developing into an information broker. This means that we deal in product information", says Mr. Loken.

Consider including tools such as PIM in your top 3 to-do list.

Visit www.adastracorp.com for information on other business information technologies.
Visit www.heiler.com for informaiton on PIM and product communication.