Success is driven by growth which is in turn determined by the digital progress in an organization and willingness to adapt to emerging technologies. Getting specific to e-Commerce industry, it would be unquestionable when I say technologies like AI, mobile & social shopping, augmented reality are all transforming the way in which consumers connect and engage with a brand.

A good customer experience is so closely linked with the time spent on the product page; more appealing, error-free and informative the product information gets, the better is the conversion.

How does product information management get in the way of an assuring shopping experience?

A rich and resourceful product page makes a visitor cling on
Well organized and centralized data is valued by the customer more than the organization itself
Customers will begin to trust your brand more based on the accuracy and authenticity of the information
Having said that, let’s see how PIM trends closely align with giving customers a delightful shopping experience:

1. Product information will always be on the spotlight

Customers feast on comprehensive product information. For an online shopper, the product information is everything they rely upon to make a buying decision. Consider an online shopper who has no sales rep around to answer all their queries. The more you empower a visitor with rich, complete and informative data the better is the conversion.

An online seller without a product information management software is definitely facing conversion issues because he has no software to aid with the management of large product information and automated enrichment that is directed towards informed shopping experiences.

As predicted by wavestone, over 50% of internet searches would be voice-activated by 2020. Not just that, about 60 million units of Amazon echo is to be sold by 2022.

This ideally means product data management has a crucial role to play in aiding a seller becoming more visible when the search culture transition takes place from being organized text phrases to fragmented and more conversational voice searches.

As voice searches become more popular among buyers, which in fact is a lot easier than tradition type search, retailers need to buck up for an adjusted product information management which would involve enriching the content to have a more targeted product description that covers perspectives of a voice search; as voice searches could be as casual as “Get me a microwave-safe tray to bake my lasagnas”

So you may have to cover details such as the tray is highly heat resistant and/or good to be used on microwaves.

2. Bridging of PIM and the internet

Having a product information hub and creating an incredible storage of rich product content does not suffice, another crucial piece to a good product information management software is its ability to push data in the right formats enabling ease of access to the recipients through strong APIs and serve through the internet and mobile apps.

To be able to meet the product content requirements of different stakeholders and to bridge the gap between product information management and internet it is important to have strong APIs built for a competitive edge. Creating a good product data network that makes product information easily accessible which is definitely one of the top trends in product information management throughout 2018 so far.

Cloud services are expected to grow exponentially by 2020. This definitely holds true for a cloud-based product information management software that needs to be accessible, strengthening collaboration, product commercialization, and speeding up omnichannel selling.

3. Product data quality will continue to lead

It’s a well-known fact that customers trust the product data to make a purchase decision. A complete and accurate product content drives sales. 2018 has been a year wherein organizations have realized how product data quality is critical to amp up customer experience and thereby sales.

You can also see a lot of businesses investing in product quality validation tools that can measure quality scores and enrich their information.

Forecast The product information management (PIM) market is estimated to grow to $15.78 billion by 2021 with an estimated CAGR of 25.3%.

Now, that’s the growth and significance for a platform like product information management that sellers will begin to slowly implement in the years to follow – all as a result of realizing the need for product data quality which the bottom line of successful online selling would preach.

4. Syndication and self-service

The users of product information management software are interested in more of a DIY kind of a product wherein the vendor’s assistance is not what they want to completely depend upon. The brands, retailers, and manufacturers see the need to have access to the software 24*7 to make instant updates and quick access without dependencies.

Taking full ownership of the product information management software to keep syndication and updates in control is one major trend you can expect to sustain throughout the year, which is likely to be the norm in the years to follow.

There’s an increasing trend for DIY apps in every industry. Take for instance how apps like uber have completely redefined traditional cab bookings through a DIY easy-to-use app. The reason behind such developments is to match to the evolving lifestyle and to make things easy.

Likewise, retail is an enormous market filled with worthwhile potential for the future. People using product information management increasingly would want to make it a complete DIY product instead of spending their time with support services. This will help them focus on their other objectives.

Let’s keenly observe this trend to find out how product information management service providers are tapping into the reality of the trend to reap benefits.

5. Channelizing scattered data into a central hub

Throughout 2018 there has been a better understanding of the need for a consolidation of scattered product content pouring from different stakeholders to a single hub of centralized data. Let’s face it, product information is of need to retailers, brands, manufacturers, and marketplaces that is the glue that holds their business together.

Now, when this is fragmented it becomes hard to channelize rich content. Data centralization will basically address such problems aiming at efficiency, accessibility, and elimination of manual data processing.

As online selling seems to expand rapidly, there’s going to be more sellers, more online stores, wider audience, and more products. This straight-up means product data management will get more challenging with expanding product numbers and stakeholders.

As the industry grows, product information management will be seen as indispensable for anyone selling online in a large-scale and thus a centralized hub would solve all challenges like product syndication, accessibility, and collaboration.

Wrapping up

Businesses are realizing the significance of customer-facing information and why it needs to be spot on and compelling. PIM is not just a software that helps in storage and channelizing rich content but it is what they need to keep the brand values and standards high – all through PDM.

This year there’s an increasing implementation of product information management software by businesses as they believe tapping on some trends like personalization, multichannel selling, offering mind-blowing shopping experiences can all interestingly enough be achieved with PIM.

You can continue to see efforts on implementation of PIM for consolidation, digitalization, omnichannel selling, centralized management, collaboration, and efficiency. Let’s see the changes all through the rest of 2018 and what’s upcoming in the following years.

But you don’t have to wait to try out a PIM software as you are now aware that these are a high-priority need for an online seller, get a PIM software if you haven’t already. This just got better with PIMworks free beta trial that is already up and running. Feel free to sign up for a free trial and let this be your first step in organizing your product information clutter and to stay set in order to keep up with future trends.

Author

I am a product marketing associate and I'm passionate about creating, managing, and marketing content. In my time off, I have my nose buried in growing my side hustles and binge-watching dinosaur documentaries.

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