Biggest risk for your product information: shadow repositories
As this product information continuously gets created and enriched, is it stored and updated in a central location? We often see companies trying to solve product information issues in different ways across departments. This creates shadow repositories that are not in sync. This is a long term nightmare and prevents you from linking products that, for example, might be sold together but come from two different suppliers.
Second risk: working in silos. 50,000 SKUS becomes 200,000!
Your data may be getting inputted 3, 4, 5 times. This theoretically transforms 50,000 SKUs into 200,000 SKUs as your people are touching the same product information multiple times in multiple places, increasing the likelihood that it gets out of sync.
Can you handle all of this product information without a modern infrastructure designed for just this purpose? Maybe. Should you? Maybe not.
How do you know if you need a Product Information Management (PIM) solution?
Well, if you have:
- a large # of SKUs,
- lots of product types,
- many product attribute categories,
- various channels,
- multiple languages,
- product dependencies (fit, compatibility),
- a complex product lifecycle workflow and product lifetime,
- sales in multiple divisions, locations and marketplaces,
- multiple brands serving the same or different geographies.
Our suggestion:
Consider a comprehensive strategy that encompasses modern technology and human resources. If you don’t have the capacity to handle product enrichment, partner with an outside company.
Without modern toolsets and a disciplined governance approach, your product information issues will not fix themselves.
