End Product Data Chaos

Excel Ruins Your Revenue

Why Product Chaos is More Expensive Than Any Software

The same cordless screwdriver is listed as 18 volts in the online shop, 14.4 volts in the print catalog, and on Amazon, the specification is missing entirely. Such inconsistencies cost trust, provoke returns, and tie up employees who reconcile data between spreadsheets instead of further developing product assortments. A Product Information System, or PIM for short, promises order through centralized data. Whether the investment pays off depends on the assortment, channels, and processes.

Three Departments, Three Truths

Product information in mid-sized companies rarely grows according to plan. Purchasing maintains supplier lists, marketing writes product descriptions in Word, and sales adds prices in the ERP. Each silo contains data, none contains all of it. At the latest when connecting a new marketplace, the problem escalates: attributes are missing, images are stored on personal drives, and translations circulate in three versions.

What a PIM Delivers and Where Its Limits Lie

A PIM consolidates product information, enriches it, and distributes it automatically to the shop, catalog, marketplaces, and dealer portals. Instead of sending copies, all departments access centralized data. However, the ERP does not replace a Product Information System: inventory levels, purchase prices, and postings remain there. The PIM imports this data via an interface and supplements it with sales copy, images, and technical specifications.

Five Warning Signs That Spreadsheets Are Slowing You Down

A Product Information System becomes worthwhile as soon as several of these points apply:

• You manage several thousand articles with numerous variants.
• You operate three or more sales channels in parallel.
• You sell internationally and need data in multiple languages.
• New products take weeks to publish.
• Dealers require centralized data in standard formats like BMEcat or ETIM.

A typical scenario: A plumbing wholesaler with 40,000 articles manually copies data for new assortments into five channels and needs around three weeks for this. With a PIM, centralized data flows into all output channels at the push of a button, and the release time shrinks to a few days.

When Software Only Accelerates Chaos

Not every company needs a Product Information System. A farm shop with 200 articles and one online shop can get by with a cleanly structured spreadsheet. Licenses, implementation, and training quickly add up to five- or six-figure sums. More significant is the lack of responsibility: Without fixed responsibilities for attributes and approvals, a PIM merely transfers the chaos into a more expensive environment. Incomplete data remains incomplete; it just spreads faster.

Clean Up First, Then Invest

Before selecting a vendor, an honest assessment of the current state is required. Clarify which data comes from which sources, who maintains it, and which channels will be added in three years. Define mandatory attributes per product group and clean up duplicates. Only then is it worth comparing which Product Information System fits you. A pilot project with one product line reduces risk and provides reliable metrics. Implemented correctly, a Product Information System transforms centralized data into a competitive advantage: shorter time-to-market, fewer returns, consistent brand appearance. If clear processes are lacking, however, every PIM remains an expensive archive for old mistakes.