It usually starts with the highest of hopes. You work off one spreadsheet, a few SKUs. Listed prices, descriptions, even a column for images.
Then fulfilling your dreams, the business thrives and grows.
So, you add a second sales channel. Then a third. Suppliers proliferate, and they’re sending data in their own formats – a bit complicated. Your marketing team rewrites descriptions directly in the eCommerce platform. Operations people update specs in the ERP. Suddenly, you realise that product data is all over the place, and you no longer trust the multiple versions which pop up like mushrooms. The curse of success!
A Product Information Management (PIM) solution often isn’t something businesses plan to need. However, they come to the point where they realise they can no longer operate without one.
If you’re searching high and low across departmental silos for definitive product data versions, you may start pondering whether you’ve reached the PIM point. That’s why we’ve developed seven answers to the following seven questions. They will give you a clear answer to the question “Do I need a PIM…now?”
1. Do we have more than one “version of the truth” for product data?
If product descriptions live in countless spreadsheets, technical specs live in the ERP, images live in shared drives, and nobody is entirely sure which source is the definitive one, you’re already making problems for yourself.
All your activities slow down when you’ve got multiple versions of product truth lying around:
- Teams double-check data instead of using it
- Errors creep up during updates done manually
- No-one has accountability when things go wrong
A PIM is designed to solve precisely this problem. It creates a single, governed source of truth where attributes, assets, translations, and compliance data are managed together rather than being scattered across tools, inboxes, and siloed departments.
If people repeatedly ask, “which file is the most up to date?” you’ve already reached the tipping point.
2. Is launching or updating products slower than we need it to be?
One of the clearest KPIs for product data maturity is time-to-market. If launching a product involves the following:
- Hunting down missing attributes
- Manually reformatting content for each channel
- Waiting for approvals via email or spreadsheets
- Redoing the same enrichment work multiple times
…well, in a nutshell, your process isn’t scalable.
A PIM doesn’t just store data; it structures workflows – everything happens in one controlled flow:
- Enrichment
- Validation
- Approval
- Publication
Products go live when they’re ready, not when someone finally discovers the right spreadsheet.
If updates take weeks when they should take days or even hours, implementing a PIM solution shouldn’t be a vague aspiration – it becomes a commercial necessity.
3. Are data errors costing us revenue and customer trust?
“Inaccurate product information” sounds rather abstract until you drill down to the consequences:
- Returns due to incorrect dimensions, materials, or compatibility
- Customer service tickets caused by missing or contradictory specs
- Marketplace penalties or suppressed listings
- Lost conversions because vital information is missing
Poor data quality isn’t just operationally inefficient for merchants – it costs their businesses in many ways.
PIM systems enforce standards like:
- Mandatory fields
- Validation rules
- Controlled vocabularies
- Completeness thresholds
- Role-based access permissions
All these and more make sure that your products don’t get published unless they meet defined quality criteria regarding customer-facing information.
If your returns include “product not as described” or your teams are condemned to spending valuable time fixing live listings, value is draining out of your current setup.
4. Is our product complexity increasing faster than our processes can handle?
It’s not only a question of how many SKUs you have. It’s about how complex they are collectively.
How does complexity rear its head?
- Multiple variants (size, colour, configuration)
- Bundles and kits
- Regional differences in compliance or content
- Seasonal or promotional versions
- Accessories, spare parts, and compatibility rules
Complex spreadsheets don’t scale with grace. They remorselessly multiply rows, duplicate data, and introduce errors every time something changes.
A PIM, on the other hand, handles complexity with a highly-structured approach:
- Parent–child relationships
- Attribute inheritance
- Variant modelling
- Rule-based enrichment
Very graceful! Ultimately, if adding products feels exponentially harder the more SKUs you manage, you’ll reach the conclusion that doing it manually never ends well.
5. Are we selling (or planning to sell) on more than two channels?
That tipping point when you go beyond a single eCommerce site is the moment product data complexity starts multiplying.
Why? Because each channel has its own:
- Attribute requirements
- Character limits
- Image formats
- Category structures
- Compliance rules
Without a PIM, every new channel becomes a bespoke data project in itself. With a PIM, it’s one-time enrichment and multiple times syndication, because PIM adapts content automatically to each destination.
When launching on a new marketplace becomes a major operational event rather than a simple exercise in configuration, a PIM squares that equation with consummate ease.
6. Do we need to manage multiple languages, regions, or regulations?
International growth introduces challenges that spreadsheets were never built for:
- Translations and localisation (not just language style, but tone and legal nuances)
- Region-specific attributes and units
- Market-specific compliance requirements
- Version control across regions and countries
PIM systems are designed to deal with this reality. They manage translations, regional variants, approval workflows, and regulatory attributes without duplicating entire product records.
If global expansion is on your strategic radar (or maybe you’ve already started), one of you’re running one of the biggest risks by attempting to manage product data manually.
How to interpret your answers
If you answered “yes” to two or three questions, you’re most likely feeling early friction.
If you answered “yes” to four or more, a PIM system is no longer just an option – it should be a foundational element of your tech stack.
At that point, the question isn’t so much notional: “Do we need a PIM?” as it is reality-based: “How much more is it going to cost us if we continue without one?”
- Missed revenue opportunities
- Sluggish launches
- Persistently high returns rates
- Frustrated and burnt-out teams·
- Increasing all-round risk as product information complexity grows
Final thought: PIM is not an IT tool. It’s a growth platform
A PIM system isn’t about replacing spreadsheets for the sake of it. It’s about putting structure, governance, and scalability in place to underpin a very valuable asset: product data.
So, those businesses which succeed with PIM aren’t just buying software, but investing in:
- Clear data models
- Strong governance
- Realistic workflows
- Training and change management
That’s where the real value is unlocked. If your ambition outgrows your current processes, a PIM gives you the foundation to scale without losing control.If you’re not entirely sure whether a PIM is the right move, or where your biggest data risks really lie, then get in touch with us today at Start with Data. We can talk in more depth about how we can help you to diagnose product data challenges, identify gaps, and build a clear, evidence-based roadmap. From PIM assessment to adoption, our mission is to turn uncertainty into confident decision-making.