Best Product Information Management (PIM) Systems
Product information management (PIM) systems centralize and manage an e-commerce business’ product information to ensure a single, accurate view of product data. PIM tools facilitate the maintenance of consistent and quality product data and information. This type of software is used by product managers and data teams to collect data from multiple data sources and to identify and fix problematic data. Marketing teams use PIM system to push product data out to all desired distribution channels.
Product experience management (PXM) is an advanced version of PIM that focuses on improving the buyer experience by using product data and digital assets. While PXM usually includes features for digital asset management (DAM), PIM solutions integrate with DAM tools to enhance product data. PIM software also integrates with e-commerce platforms to make product data available on online stores and with ERP systems or product data management (PDM) software to capture product technical specifications.
To qualify for inclusion in the Product Information Management (PIM) category, a product must:
Featured Product Information Management (PIM) Systems At A Glance
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- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Plytix PIM is the world’s favorite Product Information Management (PIM) software for small and medium businesses due to its user-friendly interface, affordable pricing, easy and quick implementation,
- Marketing Manager
- Product Manager
- Retail
- Consumer Goods
- 63% Small-Business
- 33% Mid-Market
602 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Pimberly is a cloud-based Product Information Management (PIM) solution designed to streamline and enhance the management of product data across various channels. This platform is specifically tailore
- Retail
- Apparel & Fashion
- 54% Mid-Market
- 25% Small-Business
470 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Sales Layer is a global-leading PIM (Product Information Management) platform that helps companies to automate complex B2B processes and connect their products to any enterprise sales platform or tool
- Marketing
- Marketing Manager
- Retail
- Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing
- 58% Mid-Market
- 35% Small-Business
813 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
1WorldSync® is the leader in Product Content Orchestration, enabling more than 14,000 companies in over 60 countries to simplify the creation and distribution of impactful content that’s accurate, con
- Food & Beverages
- Consumer Goods
- 44% Mid-Market
- 34% Small-Business
282 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Akeneo is the product experience (PX) company and global leader in Product Information Management (PIM); creating a world where every product interaction is an experience that guides consumers and pro
- Retail
- Information Technology and Services
- 47% Mid-Market
- 31% Enterprise
3,640 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Syndigo is a leader in AI-first PXM, MDM, and PIM, empowering brands, retailers, and distributors to create winning product experiences. Syndigo offers the most extensive brand-retail network, the lea
- Consumer Goods
- Retail
- 39% Mid-Market
- 31% Small-Business
282 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Quable PIM is a cutting-edge SaaS software for brands, manufacturers and distributors seeking growth. Our PIM platform propels and harmonizes your products everywhere in record time. Quable PIM ena
- Graphiste
- Apparel & Fashion
- Cosmetics
- 54% Mid-Market
- 34% Small-Business
2,121 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Ergonode is a Product Information Management (PIM) solution designed to assist digital commerce leaders in effectively managing their product information across various communication channels. This pl
- Apparel & Fashion
- Retail
- 69% Mid-Market
- 25% Small-Business
127 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Inriver is the Product Information Management (PIM) solution that empowers brands, manufacturers, and retailers to take control of the product data current and turn complexity into a competitive advan
- Retail
- Consumer Goods
- 53% Mid-Market
- 40% Enterprise
1,434 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
SCAYLE is an enterprise commerce platform empowering B2C brands and retailers to easily create outstanding customer experiences. It provides an extensive feature set with an intuitive UI to configure
- Retail
- 85% Enterprise
- 8% Mid-Market
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Catalog Syndication for Shopify, BigCommerce, Amazon, and major distributors. Welcome to Catsy’s Syndication Trifecta. We focus on three key components to keep your content on course: Content Acc
- Marketing Manager
- Consumer Goods
- Wholesale
- 56% Mid-Market
- 33% Small-Business
8,325 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Canto — the #1 DAM on G2 — helps more than 4,000 brands manage content from creation through delivery. With unified digital asset management (DAM) and product information management (PIM), Canto gives
- Graphic Designer
- Marketing Manager
- Marketing and Advertising
- Non-Profit Organization Management
- 49% Mid-Market
- 32% Small-Business
3,811 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Salsify helps thousands of brand manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in over 140 countries collaborate to win on the digital shelf. The company’s Product Experience Management (PXM) platform en
- Consumer Goods
- Retail
- 57% Mid-Market
- 29% Enterprise
2,009 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Pattern PXM is the only all-in-one, AI-powered Product Experience Management solution designed by sellers, for sellers. It combines Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital Asset Management (D
- Consumer Electronics
- Consumer Goods
- 56% Mid-Market
- 34% Small-Business
553 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Boost.space is the #1 AI-Ready Data Sync platform on G2—recognized with over 100 customer-voted badges. ⭐️ Today's enterprises are investing heavily in AI, but most initiatives fail. Why? Because A
- CEO
- Founder
- Marketing and Advertising
- Consulting
- 99% Small-Business
- 1% Mid-Market
75 Twitter followers
Learn More About Product Information Management (PIM) Systems
What are Product Information Management Systems?
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:
- The number of products or combinations of items is so high that it cannot be managed efficiently using other systems (such as an ERP)
- The business model of the company focuses on regularly launching new products or iterations of existing products
- The company distributes products from many providers in different markets
- The industry of the company experiences significant fluctuations in demand based on seasonality
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:
- Product data management, which is usually part of PLM solutions and helps designers and engineers manage product metadata
- Inventory management, which is never part of PIM; buyers need separate solutions to manage their stock
- Master data management (MDM), which can be used to manage product information, but this type of software is not specifically designed for this need and does not offer all the features included in a typical PIM solution
Why Use PIM Systems?
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.
Who Uses PIM Systems?
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.
What is the best PIM software for small retail businesses?
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:
- Plytix: Known by G2 users for its affordability and user-friendly interface ideal for SMBs and medium businesses.
- Pimcore: Free, open-source PIM software that offers scalability and flexibility across small to large inventories.
- PIMworks: Great for multichannel optimization and integrations, helping you streamline product information across a variety of sales channels.
These mobile marketing tools have one of the best capabilities for retail businesses.
What PIM software has the best customer reviews?
Based on G2 user reviews, these are some of the best customer-reviewed PIM software:
- Quable PIM: With 100+ reviews, Quable PIM is ideal for brands and distributors. This SaaS platform centers around product experiences and offers multichannel distribution.
- Akeneo PIM: Highly rated PIM software with 200+ reviews, this app offers built-in task management, open-source flexibility, and customization.
- Salsify PXM: Ideal for enterprise-level companies seeking intensive product experience management and deep e-commerce integrations. With 100+ reviews, this software offers tons of features.
- Syndigo: With 150+ reviews, this enterprise-focused platform offers strong integration with major retailers, advanced analytics, and robust data management.
Kinds of PIM Systems
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.
PIM Systems Features
The following features are must-haves for an effective PIM:
- The ability to consolidate product information from multiple sources, including all types of databases, software such as ERP or e-commerce, and files such as spreadsheets
- Customizable workflows and processes that define which users can publish or update product information and users who can approve changes
- Filters and search options that allow users to quickly find products using criteria such as the physical characteristics of the product (size, color, or weight), price, name, or description
- The ability to make mass updates to product information, which can be beneficial when users need to make changes to large numbers of products. For instance, changing the description for all products in a category should be performed in one operation, instead of having to modify each individual product
- The management of different types of content about products such as PDFs, images, or videos
Additional Product Information Management Features
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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:
- The ability to allow partners such as dealers and distributors to access the PIM solution and use the product information on their websites or e-commerce stores
- Provide syndication of product information to make it easier to publish on platforms such as Amazon or eBay
- Data governance and master data management (MDM), which can help large companies better manage large volumes of product information and content
Potential Issues with PIM Systems
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.
