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Buyer's Guide: Product Information Management (PIM)
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Plytix Cloud PIM & DAM to be intuitive and user-friendly, simplifying complex product data management efficiently.
Users praise the exceptional customer support from Plytix, highlighting personalized assistance and effective training for their needs.
Users praise the intuitive interface of Plytix, making product data management effortless and efficient for teams.
Users find limited flexibility in Plytix Cloud PIM & DAM, particularly in processing and reporting features.
Users experience feature limitations in view blocking, attribute hiding, integrations, and reporting capabilities.
Users seek improved DAM features for better asset management, including bulk actions and automatic translations.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Pimberly to be incredibly easy to use, streamlining data management across various platforms effortlessly.
Users appreciate the excellent customer support of Pimberly, noting quick response times and effective issue resolution.
Users find Pimberly intuitive and easy to use, significantly streamlining product data management and integration workflows.
Users find the learning curve steep, as initial complexities and bugs can hinder effective use of Pimberly.
Users often face slow performance issues with Pimberly, hindering timely access to imagery and reports.
Users find the steep learning curve challenging, especially when initially setting up and utilizing the system's features.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users commend the ease of use of Sales Layer PIM, enhancing product information management across platforms seamlessly.
Users appreciate the stability and scalability of Sales Layer PIM, facilitating efficient data management and innovation.
Users value the efficient management of digital assets in Sales Layer PIM, centralizing product information seamlessly.
Users find the steep learning curve challenging, requiring significant training to navigate the extensive features of Sales Layer PIM.
Users note the lack of dynamic attribute fields and missing special features in Sales Layer, impacting overall usability.
Users find the difficult learning curve of Sales Layer PIM challenging, necessitating thorough training for effective use.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users value the exceptional customer support from 1WorldSync, appreciating the helpfulness and accessibility of their team.
Users value the ease of use of 1WorldSync, appreciating its intuitive design and helpful training resources.
Users commend the extremely helpful hotline of 1WorldSync, providing essential support throughout the integration process.
Users find the learning curve steep for 1WorldSync, making initial setup and navigation difficult for newcomers.
Users find data management issues in 1WorldSync frustrating due to manual entry and potential progress loss.
Users find 1WorldSync's interface difficult to learn, particularly newcomers struggling with error management and retailer-specific attributes.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users appreciate the intuitive interface and robust features of Akeneo PIM, enhancing efficiency in product information management.
Users appreciate the ease of use of Akeneo PIM, enjoying an intuitive interface that streamlines product management.
Users enjoy the flexible integrations of Akeneo PIM, enhancing data management across various systems and websites.
Users face data management issues with Akeneo PIM, including limited functionality and inconvenient asset handling.
Users experience missing features in Akeneo PIM, including limited reporting and basic workflow capabilities.
Users find the complexity of setup and asset management in Akeneo PIM can hinder efficient workflows.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Syndigo to have an intuitive interface, simplifying imagery and content syndication greatly compared to previous platforms.
Users praise Syndigo's exceptional customer support, highlighting helpful staff and intuitive tech that enhances their experience.
Users find the helpful support team of Syndigo invaluable, enhancing their overall experience and problem-solving.
Users find data management issues in Syndigo, leading to confusion and inefficiencies in handling product information.
Users find the learning curve steep, with confusion stemming from complex standards and a cluttered user interface.
Users find the poor usability of Syndigo frustrating, particularly due to a confusing interface and navigation challenges.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users appreciate the ease of use of Quable PIM, benefiting from its intuitive interface for efficient collaboration.
Users appreciate the intuitive navigation of Quable PIM, facilitating collaboration and accessibility for all departments.
Users value the collaboration features of Quable PIM, fostering teamwork across departments for efficient project management.
Users experience limited flexibility with Quable PIM due to strict export limitations and language switching issues.
Users find poor usability in Quable PIM due to an unclear interface and challenges on smaller screens.
Users experience slow performance with Quable PIM, facing latencies and limitations in data export and API integration.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users value the user-friendly interface of Inriver, allowing for easy content management and efficient operations.
Users value the extreme flexibility of Inriver, enabling tailored data models that meet diverse business needs.
Users value the centralized asset management in Inriver, enabling extensive customization and comprehensive reporting capabilities.
Users highlight poor usability, citing issues like narrow buttons and confusing prompts that hinder their experience.
Users find the learning curve steep for Inriver, requiring technical expertise and time to fully understand its features.
Users find Inriver to be expensive due to high license costs and additional fees for essential features.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users commend the intuitive interface of Ergonode PIM, facilitating seamless product data management and quick onboarding.
Users value the seamless digital asset management in Ergonode PIM, ensuring proper association of images with SKUs.
Users commend the responsive and knowledgeable customer support of Ergonode PIM, assisting effectively during integrations and troubleshooting.
Users face a steep learning curve with Ergonode PIM, requiring significant effort for effective implementation and configuration.
Users note the missing features in Ergonode PIM, particularly in customization and advanced reporting capabilities.
Users find the complex setup of Ergonode PIM challenging, requiring significant technical expertise and time investment.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users value the ease of use of Canto, enjoying streamlined access and efficient asset management in one location.
Users value the centralized asset management of Canto, streamlining access and enhancing organizational efficiency.
Users love the easy search functionality in Canto, making photo retrieval efficient and enjoyable for collaboration.
Users often face search difficulties in Canto, struggling to find specific files and needing to redo searches frequently.
Users highlight missing features in Canto, including clunky interfaces and a lack of intuitive functionalities.
Users find the folder management cumbersome, impeding their ability to efficiently locate and organize assets.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users value the ease of use of SCAYLE Commerce Engine, simplifying their workflows and enhancing productivity.
Users highlight the efficiency of SCAYLE Commerce Engine, enabling seamless operations and reduced maintenance efforts for growth.
Users appreciate the seamless omnichannel experience provided by SCAYLE, which enhances customer loyalty and growth opportunities.
Users feel SCAYLE lacks essential features for complex B2B needs, hindering flexibility for diverse setups.
Users find SCAYLE's limited flexibility a drawback, especially for businesses needing extensive B2B features and customization.
Users find SCAYLE has limited options for customization, lacking flexibility compared to other platforms.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users praise the integration with retailers and centralized product management that Salsify PXM offers for efficiency.
Users value the centralization of product data, enabling seamless integration with various retailers and marketplaces.
Users value the centralized content management of Salsify PXM, enhancing consistency and speeding up time-to-market.
Users find it difficult to locate old images in the DAM due to potential user error with tagging capabilities.
Users experience integration issues with certain retailers, leading to inconsistencies and the need for manual follow-ups.
Users report search functionality issues in locating old images, potentially due to unfamiliarity with tagging features.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users praise the excellent customer support at Catsy, highlighting responsiveness and helpfulness in resolving issues efficiently.
Users value the ease of use of Catsy DAM & PIM, streamlining updates and enhancing productivity effortlessly.
Users benefit from Catsy's efficient asset management, streamlining updates and ensuring brand consistency across all channels.
Users experience a learning curve with Catsy, but the support team effectively aids newcomers.
Users find integration issues challenging initially, but supportive customer service helps ease the process over time.
Users experience feature limitations with Catsy DAM & PIM, particularly in syncing and product catalog management functionalities.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users commend the ease of use of Pattern PXM, highlighting its intuitive interface and quick learning curve.
Users value the user-friendly organization structure of Pattern PXM, which enhances project management and collaboration.
Users appreciate the well-designed visual display of Pattern PXM, which enhances organization and simplifies project management.
Users find the price of Pattern PXM high compared to competitors with similar features, impacting overall value.
Users wish for adjustable templates in Pattern PXM, enhancing customization for specific internal needs.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Propel's ease of use exceptional, enhancing product management and team collaboration seamlessly.
Users value Propel's flexibility in managing product lifecycles, enhancing project tracking and facilitating effective team communication.
Users appreciate the effective collaboration features of Propel, enhancing teamwork and transparency in project management.
Users find the complex setup process cumbersome, requiring multiple steps for simple updates and configurations.
Users highlight a steep learning curve for Propel, noting the need for time and experimentation to master its features.
Users find the learning difficulty of Propel challenging, requiring time and effort to master its advanced features.
The importance of PIM software may not be so evident since other solutions can be used to manage products (such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), product lifecycle management (PLM), or inventory management solutions). Therefore, buyers must understand when they need PIM systems and why.
The main reasons why a company should use PIM systems are:
Buyers also need to understand where PIM fits into their software ecosystem and how it may overlap with other solutions. In a nutshell, product data is initially created using PLM or other design solutions. The data is then transferred to ERP to create bills of materials for production and determine each product's cost and price. When product information is imported into PIM solutions, most product details are already defined and will only change when the company decides to adapt its offering to changes in demand.
From a business perspective, it is essential to understand the role PIM plays in the lifecycle of a product and its stages: design, production, sales, after sales, and end of life. While this type of software can provide companies with valuable information at any stage of a product lifecycle, it is most beneficial after the product launch and during the sales and after-sales stages.
Finally, PIM systems should not be confused with:
Companies that sell a large number of products benefit most from using PIM software. PIM can also be handy for companies that sell many variations of the same products, such as multiple colors and sizes for the apparel industry
When companies need to manage hundreds or thousands of products, it is vital for them to have a central repository that contains all product details such as name, description, price, and physical characteristics such as volume, weight, or color.
Product managers use PIM to define and track products and categories of products. PIM also helps with managing the relationships between products. For instance, some products may be sold together as kits, while similar items may replace other products.
A company’s marketing department can use PIM systems to create printed or online catalogs. Marketing departments also need product information and images to create promotional campaigns or brochures.
E-commerce managers need PIM to ensure they make the right products, with the correct characteristics, available online. PIM also helps companies update their e-commerce stores with any changes they make to their products.
Manufacturing companies use PIM to sell their products on multiple channels, such as websites, e-commerce, or online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. Manufacturers may also use PIM to transfer product information to other systems such as ERP or PLM.
Depending on your or the company's specific needs, G2 offers a variety of options for Product Information Management (PIM) platforms for small retail businesses. Here are a few top options:
These mobile marketing tools have one of the best capabilities for retail businesses.
Based on G2 user reviews, these are some of the best customer-reviewed PIM software:
While most PIM providers offer proprietary software, some vendors choose to build their solutions on an open-source model. Open-source vendors usually provide a community edition that is free to use and can be a good starting point for companies that may not want to invest significantly in this type of software. The drawbacks of community editions of PIM are that buyers need to manage the implementation and maintenance on their own and the solution is sometimes delivered on-premises, which means that it needs to be downloaded and installed on a server managed by the customer.
From a functional perspective, some vendors focus on PIM only, while others offer related modules or solutions such as digital asset management. There are also business intelligence (BI) and data management vendors who adapt their solutions to compete with PIM providers.
The following features are must-haves for an effective PIM:
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For buyers with more complex needs, the following features may be hugely beneficial when used in conjunction with the features described above:
PIM software can be complicated and challenging to maintain, especially when the system is installed on-premises, and the buyer is responsible for the IT infrastructure needed to run the solution. Even cloud-hosted PIM software may be challenging when it is delivered as a mix of separate solutions that are not tightly integrated.
Integration with other solutions, such as ERP or e-commerce software, is critical for companies using PIM systems. How product information is transferred between PIM systems and other software can significantly impact sales and revenue. The ideal data migration should be completely automated; this is not always the case, which can cause errors. For instance, if pricing information is inaccurate, companies may lose money.