How can you create an effective product catalog at PIM ?

Every year, or even every season, it's a bit like the same ritual: completing the railroad, gathering information, writing texts, checking prices, obtaining satisfactory photos, managing the layout, going back and forth with the creative department... Creating a catalog that brings together all the products is a moment of high tension. You have to be able to get it out quickly, while ensuring that the information is as accurate as possible and leaves no room for errors or typos. All this while satisfying the various stakeholders, who are sometimes difficult to get to agree with.

We guide you, thanks to our advice, through this obstacle course.

Why create an e-commerce product catalog?

But in a hyper-digitized world, is there still any point in creating a paper product catalog? The answer is yes! While the product catalog may suffer from a dusty image in the eyes of some, it remains an important channel and communication element for many brands in a variety of sectors and activities: tourism, furniture, ready-to-wear, DIY... in B2B above all, but also in B2C.

In addition to its ability to create a physical relationship between company and customer, it immerses the customer in the brand's universe, stimulating many of the senses that digital cannot. What's more, creating an effective product catalog makes it easier to visualize different products by bringing them together in one place, while offering the possibility of associating them within distinct universes.

For example, it is possible to present furniture by type of product or by room, proposing ideas for the design of different rooms in the house that will inspire the customer. The catalog is then used as a reference and the customer can come back to it as many times as he wants. It is not uncommon to see customers arriving at the store with the product catalog under their arm to buy the piece they have spotted.

It can also be used by sales teams, particularly in the BtoB world, to present their products at a customer meeting. If the pricing strategy is likely to evolve or change according to the customer concerned, then it will suffice to offer a catalog without prices, accompanied by a separate pricing brochure.

Finally, print is not the enemy of digital: the creation of a product catalog can be digitized and/or showcased differently on digital channels. Interactive catalog, print at home, integration of QR codes or augmented reality, personalization...

The possibilities are numerous. For example, an e-commerce site has created, thanks to data, a catalog entirely personalized according to the preferences of its most loyal customers. Impact guaranteed!

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Prepare the creation of the product catalog with the PIM

The first step in creating an effective product catalog is to think in advance about who you're sending it to, and how it's going to be used not only by the recipients, but also by your teams. The preparation will vary according to your intended use. It's not uncommon, for example, to see catalogs without prices in B2B, whereas this is hardly possible in B2C. This element is therefore a crucial and priority stage in the management of your sales catalog(s).

Once you have established your strategy, the next step is to choose the theme - if any - and the products to be included in the catalogue. Once the railway has been completed, it's time to create! At the same time, you need to centralise the necessary information (descriptions, prices, dimensions, technical information, etc.) and write the texts.

This is where PIM (Product Information Management) software will be a great help in your sales processes, since you will already have all this information gathered in a single database.

It will also facilitate collaboration and processes between the different teams since PIM is directly accessible online and updates the data in real time. Your high definition photos can be integrated by the creative or graphic designer while the product team works on the texts, pages and the content team corrects them.

Finally, you can categorize and classify your products by typology, universe, season and other predefined criteria as required. This allows you to create catalog entries directly on the PIM platform.

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Is your catalog ready? All that's left to do is link PIM to your catalog template. Texts are placed, the cover appears, pages take shape, images are automatically resized, and the magic happens! Anything you need to change? Simply change any information in PIM , and it will be corrected for the next printing and publication of your catalog. So your product catalog is always up to date. 

You don't have a predefined catalog template? Quable PIM can propose you to elaborate customized models generated directly from the software PIM. 

Conclusion

The creation of the product catalog must nowadays be thought in such a way as to be fully integrated into an omnichannel path, whether in store or online. This delicate moment in the life of marketing and product teams must be anticipated and facilitated in order to reduce time-to-market and improve data reliability and harmony. The PIM platform is the only solution that allows you to generate a catalog in a few clicks while improving the quality of your data, their graphic visualization and the operational efficiency of your teams. Then, the creation of the product catalog becomes a child's play.

Do you want to facilitate the creation of your product catalog? Ask for a free demo.