How Pos and PIM integration enhances omnichannel retail

All the retailers we've worked with have faced the same challenge: maintaining accurate, up-to-date product information across all their sales channels, while ensuring smooth inventory and transaction management.

The solution? The answer lies in strategically integrating the Point of Sale (POS) system with the Product Information Management (PIM) system. This guide will dive deeper into how PIM POS integration transforms retail operations. It will apprise you of these systems, how they work together, and the tangible benefits they bring to your omnichannel strategy.

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Understanding PIM and POS

PIM vs POS are two drastically different things. PIM is all about maintaining product information consistency across various channels. POS is focused on sales transaction management and real-time inventory.

Together, these two make an incredible team that boosts operational efficiency in online and offline retailing. Let's take a closer look at what they are and how they can benefit your retail store.

What is a PIM system?

A Product Information Management (PIM) system is the organization's central database for product information. The most significant advantage of this approach is that instead of changing product information at several locations, one updates it in the PIM and reflects everywhere else. Hence, mistakes are minimized, and time is saved.

Consider it as an adaptive central hub that:

• Collects all product details in one place (specifications, pricing, images, COGS, etc.)
• Manages updates across your entire catalog
• Distributes consistent information to all sales channels (website, apps, print catalogs)

You likely need a PIM system if your business:

• Sells hundreds or thousands of products
• Operates across multiple channels (online, retail, wholesale)
• Frequently updates product specifications
• Needs to maintain accurate data in numerous languages or markets

What is a POS system?

A Point of Sale (POS) system is where your customer checkout happens - but modern systems are much more than simple payment processors. You can think of it as your business's command center that:

• Processes transactions
• Tracks inventory in real-time
• Provides business insights
• Generates daily/monthly sales reports
• Manages customer relationships

Typical examples are Magestore POS in retail shops, Square POS in coffee houses, or Toast systems in restaurants. 

A good POS system records the checkout counter as a proactive tool for managing business operations.

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How PIM and POS work together in the retail process

A PIM and POS system complement retail by ensuring product information is accurately tied to sales transactions. This is how they work together:

1. Centralized product data management (PIM → POS)

• PIM role: The PIM system functions as the only source of truth in all types of product data, be it descriptions, images, pricing, or inventory information.
  
• POS role: The POS system accesses this data to ensure that accurate and consistent product information is available at the point of sale, in-store, or online.

Example: when a retailer updates product pricing or descriptions using PIM, this data automatically migrates into the POS system. They help you guarantee consistency between sales channels.

2. Inventory management (POS → PIM)

• POS role: Monitors sales transactions in real-time and updates the inventory levels subsequently after each purchase.
• PIM role: Updates the status of available products based on inventory changes received from the POS system. Therefore, it ensures that all sales channels and marketing platforms reflect the correct stock levels.

Example: A customer purchases a T-shirt in-store. After that, POS immediately updates the inventory in PIM to reflect reduced stock in both physical and online outlets.

You might like: How do you get started on the marketing platforms with PIM in 2024?

3. Omnichannel consistency (PIM → POS)

• PIM role: Delivers standardized product information across all sales channels to maintain consistency in product details.
• POS role: Provides this consolidated information to customers during the in-store transaction. This fosters confidence and enhances the customer experience.

Example: A customer sees a product online and confirms its availability and specifications in-store via the POS system.

Here's how PIM, POS and ERP systems can work together to support an e-commerce system.

The Magestore Magento native POS system connects to the Magento online shopping platform to track in-store sales and collect data on products, barcodes and promotions. This real-time data is integrated into the PIM system, which acts as the central repository for managing all product information.

The Quable-powered PIM system provides one single source of truth for product information that can be disseminated across multiple channels.

Finally, the ERP system combines with POS and PIM to control inventory levels, orders, and other vital functions in business. This refined data flow connects all operations to improve customers' shopping experience across all channels.

4. Enhanced customer experience

• PIM role: Provides enriched product details, such as attributes, images, and descriptions, to enable sales associates or self-checkout kiosks to offer better support.
• POS role: It uses this information to enhance customer interactions. For instance, the POS offers recommendations for related products or personalized promotions at the checkout.

5. Sales data insights (POS → PIM)

• POS role: Records sales data and customer behavior at the checkout.
• PIM role: Helps capture this information to fine-tune product offerings, improve product descriptions, or spot trends that will guide future marketing efforts.

Example: Retail PIM can prioritize enriched content if a specific product category sells well.

6. Support for promotions and discounts

• PIM role: Holds and conveys promotional information, including sales and discounts.
• POS role: The promotions are implemented at the POS. Doing this makes it easy to have the correct pricing and track how well the promotion is performing.

Example: A retailer sets a 30% discount on select items in the PIM, and the POS system automatically applies the discount at checkout.

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6 Best practices for PIM POS integration

1. Clearly define data ownership and responsibilities

When setting up PIM and POS systems, it's imperative to carefully think about who should have access to and control over what types of data. Clear role assignment helps keep the data accurate and the systems functional. Collaborating closely on product content within the eCommerce PIM enables teams to harmonize their workflows better and minimize product and transaction information mistakes.

To keep any POS system secure and functional, it is mandatory to configure access levels for various roles. For instance, cashiers should be allowed only to process transactions, while store managers need higher access to manage operations effectively. 

Granting the correct access levels for each role helps secure your business and ensure everything runs efficiently. These include:

• administration
• read-only
• product manager
• publisher access levels

PIM software lets you go even further by allowing users to perform only particular actions. PIM granular permissions primarily allow users to:

• Create product attributes
• Read product attributes
• Update product attributes
• Delete product attributes

Other PIM permissions are:

• Update products
• Sync products
• Publish products
• Request approval for products

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2. Implement real-time sync 

Automating data synchronization between the PIM and POS is needed to ensure accurate information throughout all sales channels. The real-time approach immediately updates vital information, such as price changes and inventory levels. Due to this, you can avoid discrepancies that could frustrate customers or impede sales.

The POS can process high transaction volumes while still maintaining data accuracy. It demonstrates how current POS solutions effectively fill the gaps in physical and digital retail operations. Whenever stock levels change, the system updates the inventory across all channels within seconds. Therefore, retailers maintain proper stock levels and avoid overselling.

3. Standardize data formats and structures

Merchants should launch this integration only after standard data formats are set for both systems to process efficiently, like:

• Unified product naming conventions and SKU structures
• Consistent attribute formats and category hierarchies
• Standardized price formats and inventory metrics

4. Optimize performance and scalability

A stable and robust integration between PIM and POS requires consideration of both immediate demands and future scalability. The system should support peak sales periods seamlessly. At the same time, it should maintain fast response times. Keep in mind these essential performance factors for your POS and PIM data:

• Expected transaction volumes during busy seasons
• Storage needs for product data and historical records
• Processing power for instant updates across channels
• Potential business expansion and new sales channels

5. Support multi-channel operations

A well-integrated PIM-POS system supports unified and synchronized operations across all sales channels. Such integration guarantees customers the same quality experience regardless of how they engage with your brand. 

You should focus on PIM and POS that can offer a seamless shopping experience on your online and offline store through:

• Customer experience: 
  • Consistent product information everywhere
  • Unified shopping experience across platforms
  • Coordinated promotional campaigns
    
• Operations management: 
  • Flexible order fulfillment options
  • Centralized reporting and analytics
  • Integrated inventory management across channels

Read more: Without PIM, no omnichannel performance - 6 reasons to adopt PIM in your sales strategy

6. Prioritize security and access control

Protecting sensitive information is very important. It requires an all-encompassing security approach that balances heavy-duty protection with operational effectiveness. You should build your security framework around these fundamental elements:

• End-to-end encryption for all data transmission between systems
• Granular, role-based access controls across both PIM and POS platforms
• Secure API endpoints with proper authentication mechanisms
• Regular security audits and system updates

Additionally, you must ensure your integration complies with applicable data protection laws and document compliance efforts. Continuously reviews security measures to counter new threats.