Why can a PIM solution improve your ROI?
9 February 2023
The implementation of a PIM (Product Information Management) solution, or any other such solution, is often driven by ROI considerations. Although many companies are increasingly adopting PIM platforms, it is not easy to calculate the direct ROI following the implementation of such a tool. Many of our clients (Petit Bateau, Lalique, De Neuville, etc.) have seen direct benefits following the implementation of the Quable PIM platform: increased conversion rates, reduced time-to-market, the opening up of new sales channels, etc.
However, it can sometimes be tricky to calculate the ROI whilst taking into account the financial, human and technical investments dedicated to the PIM project.
What is the situation for a company without a PIM? What benefits can be expected from a PIM and from the Quable PIM? How can the ROI of such a project be calculated, and how can its benefits be guaranteed?
Without a PIM: a lack of growth
Not having a PIM solution can lead to numerous poor practices and habits that significantly slow down the growth of your business. The absence of a PIM platform prevents you from ensuring optimal, efficient and value-adding management of your product data. This has numerous consequences for your business and your teams in general. These include:
Time-consuming management of product data
Without a solution to manage product-related data, this information ends up scattered across various media and files (often Excel spreadsheets). The information may be contained in a single file, which is passed back and forth numerous times, changing hands repeatedly, and a great deal of time is wasted trying to access it. Sometimes, the information is completely decentralised and scattered across numerous disparate files. It is also often difficult to know whether the information in question is 100 per cent reliable, which employee modified it and when… and so on. The fact is that managing information stored in Excel or other files can only be done effectively at the very beginning of a company’s life, when it has only a small amount of data to manage. As the number of products sold increases, it becomes necessary to move on to the next stage and equip the organisation with the appropriate tools.
A lack of harmonisation and standardisation of processes across teams
Inevitably, the time-consuming management of product data forces your teams to focus on energy-sapping, tedious and time-consuming tasks. This leaves them with even less time to devote to more creative and/or higher value-added tasks. Often, teams lack clear, established workflows that specify who should do what and in what order, depending on their functional areas (Photo Studio, Product, Marketing, Merchandising, E-commerce, etc.). Each different department works in silos, on its own, with little collaboration, often via email and/or telephone. The teams are therefore interdependent and, in order to make progress themselves, require the prior work of other teams, which slows down operations and makes the departments far less efficient in their day-to-day tasks. The sheer number of different teams does not help matters, as was previously the case with our client AdVini.
Unreliable or even false product information
The points listed above undoubtedly have a detrimental effect on the product data itself. Versioning issues with information files, a lack of communication and collaboration between teams working on product-related data can lead to duplicates or even errors in product information. Sometimes, product information is ‘scattered’ across different files, which are themselves held by different departments and teams. Manual management of this data inevitably creates a greater risk of error. Manually verifying this information therefore takes much longer, which can delay the launch or market release of products.
Hindered product data enrichment
Enriching product-related information manually slows down the enrichment process itself. The lengthy and time-consuming processes mentioned above lead to a loss of product-related data. As a result, product descriptions are often incomplete or lacking in detail, which can lead to a high product return rate. These are situations frequently encountered in the fashion industry, for example, where product information must be as comprehensive as possible (size, colour, materials, photos, etc.) and the product brought to market in record time.
A loss of business
Whatever the sector, bringing your products to market requires great speed, particularly in the face of competition. In seasonal markets such as food, or highly cyclical and fast-paced markets such as clothing, accurate data must be found quickly. Otherwise, a delay in promoting products or updating shop windows can be a real hindrance to business if they are not updated in line with key periods of the year. Worse still: if products are listed online with incorrect information, this can lead to a great deal of dissatisfaction, which may then be directed at the customer service team, potentially overwhelming them. This was the case for our client Petit Bateau, whose customer service team recorded that 10 per cent of its calls were due to products being listed incorrectly on the brand’s website.
A lack of consistency in the customer experience
If your business operates across multiple sales channels, and the data is not consistent and uniform across all these channels, then the customer experience can also be compromised, and sentiment towards the brand diminished. Standardising information is key; the message you wish to convey to your prospects and customers must be consistent across the board, regardless of your sales channels (website, partners, retailers, marketplaces, etc.). A lack of consistency in messaging can also damage brand image, which is often a crucial issue for premium and luxury brands. Without a collaborative platform such as a PIM, data cannot be standardised across multiple channels and the message becomes inconsistent. The sales promise is then not fulfilled due to the inconsistency of product data. Consequently, both the customer experience and the shopping experience are compromised.
The ROI of the PIM platform
A return on investment is guaranteed following the implementation and use of the PIM platform. Whilst it is sometimes difficult to calculate the solution’s overall ROI, many key indicators that are significant to your business are nevertheless measurable and verifiable.
Firstly, from a directly assessable and quantitative perspective, the ROI of the PIM can be calculated through:
Time saved
“It’s been a real time-saver no longer having to chase after data,” says Maxime Piot, IT Manager at De Neuville. Indeed, with a single platform where your product data is centralised, there is no longer any doubt about where and how to search for and access the data. The days of back-and-forth communication between different departments, teams and units – via email, telephone and file sharing – are now a thing of the past.
The savings in time and effort are considerable; everyone knows where the data is and can access the platform whenever and wherever they wish. In practical terms, how does this time saving work? For our client Lalique, it means that an employee who used to spend eight hours – a full working day – entering product data now spends just two hours thanks to the PIM, reducing the time taken to list products by a factor of four. As for our client De Neuville, this equates to a full-time equivalent (FTE) staff member, who has been able to be redeployed to tasks with higher added value.
Thanks to the automation of certain tasks and the systematic updating of data, communication between your teams and with your partners is significantly reduced, and the time saved allows you to focus on other tasks that are more important to you.
Increased sales
With product information that is as comprehensive, transparent, detailed and exhaustive as possible, there are no longer any barriers preventing your potential customers from making a purchase. A lack of information, or information that is contradictory or inconsistent across different sales channels, often acts as a barrier to conversion, preventing customers from making a decision and completing a purchase.
With a significantly reduced time-to-market, your teams can launch products ahead of the competition, right on trend or during key periods of the year (sales, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Black Friday…), thereby generating higher turnover.
Reduce your return rate with the PIM platform
If consumers return a product, it is often due to a sense of disappointment caused by poor-quality product information. Thanks once again to 100 per cent reliable, accurate and detailed product information, our client Bonpoint has managed to significantly reduce its product return rate. As a result, its customer service team now receives far fewer enquiries regarding product information.
A significantly lower return rate also means reduced costs associated with the returns policy, an improved brand reputation, and customers who are more satisfied and loyal right from the start.
Increasing your conversion rate
With rich, accurate, comprehensive and consistent product information, the product is much more likely to be added to your prospective buyer’s basket. Relevant and reliable product data greatly simplifies the purchasing process and decision-making. Our client, Petit Bateau, has significantly improved the conversion rate on its website, where previously products were either not listed at all or featured missing or incorrect information, including images, product descriptions, etc.
Whilst quantitative data is the lifeblood of the business, qualitative information is also scrutinised closely and is often a key indicator of success for your brand.
An enhanced customer experience with the PIM solution
Unified and harmonised product information across your brand’s diverse and numerous sales channels guarantees an optimised customer experience. When you sell your products through different channels (your own website, retailers, marketplaces, etc.) product information and sales messaging can lose valuable details along the way. Ultimately, the message you wish to convey to your customers is no longer quite the same, and your brand image may suffer. This was one of the major challenges facing our client Devialet, which, since implementing the Quable PIM, has been able to deliver a clear, consistent and luxurious message that aligns with its brand image across all its sales channels.
The customer experience is not just the preserve of B2C brands. All B2B players know just how much their resellers and distributors also care about a seamless and consistent customer experience. This is also the case for our client Sun City, a specialist in B2B children’s clothing.
Better collaboration between your teams
With customised workflows tailored to your business teams and the very nature of your business, collaboration between different departments and staff is unified and harmonised. Each team no longer needs to wait for others to make progress; they can move forward independently and individually with their respective tasks. Everyone knows exactly what they need to do, when and how, thanks to workflows tailored to your business processes. The days of interdependence between teams are well and truly over.
Improved data quality
Thanks to comprehensive and robust preparatory work on the data model, product information is subsequently of the highest possible quality. Constantly and systematically updated across all sales channels, the data is now reliable, high-quality, consistent and coherent across all your channels, all your media and with your distributors. The data is completely secure and, thanks to certain restrictions and controls, you can choose who has access to your data within the PIM platform.
Better real-time data quality means you are always one step ahead of your competitors, whatever the key periods of the year for your business.
A guaranteed ROI thanks to the PIM platform
The benefits of the PIM platform are now well established. Both qualitative and quantitative ‘ROI-focused’ approaches undoubtedly make the difference when choosing a PIM solution. Furthermore, the time taken to deploy and go-live with the solution plays a major role in your company’s strategy – a promise delivered by the Quable platform, with record deployment times compared to other solutions on the market.
Whilst change management can seem daunting when integrating a new solution such as PIM, the new workflows, processes and ways of working will deliver immediate benefits as well as long-term advantages.