Why CPG Brand Retailers Need Product Information Management: The Grocer’s Guide

by Innovit Corporate Affairs | October 1, 2018 | Blog

Consumer Packaged Goods, or CPG, yield a steady and reliable revenue. Whether the economy is thriving or is limping through hard times, the demand for these products rarely dwindles.

Because CPG’s make up everyday items such as food, beverages, or beauty and health products, they fall into the realm of necessity. In fact, the CPG industry is one of the largest in the United States, its value totaling a whopping $2 trillion.

However, with fast-moving consumer goods comes a need for well-organized product inventory monitoring and analysis. Read on to find out why strong management of your product information matters, as well as how you can optimize yours.

How Product Information Management (PIM) Can Improve Your CPG Business

PIM does more than make your job easier. It improves your customer relationships by optimizing their experience. In fact, Ventana Research reported 61% of businesses invest in PIM to improve customer satisfaction.

Here are 4 reasons why:

 

1. PIM Offers Rich Product Information Across All eCommerce Channels

When you’re selling products online, excellent imagery and rich product information are essential. If the consumers can’t find the information they need on your product, they can simply search for a competitor that does.

Unlike shopping in-store, buyers can’t pick up the product and analyze its features. They’re entirely dependent upon the data you provide. That makes it your responsibility to anticipate and answer any questions that may arise, such as:

  • What are this product’s exact measurements?
  • Does it have the plugin or attributes I need to use it?
  • What kind of batteries does it take, and does it come with them?
  • What kind of fabric is this garment made from?
  • Is this product water-resistant?

You get the point. Buyers want to know whether your product satisfies their needs or not. Nothing is worse than buying something online and waiting days for it to arrive only to find out it doesn’t suit your needs.

With the competition being thick in the CPG industry, you need to produce rich, up-to-date, and relevant data. Plus, when this information is consistent across all physical and digital channels, it strengthens your consumers’ brand experience.

 

2. PIM Minimizes Product Discrepancies

One of the common challenges of online sales is outdated product information leading to disappointed customers. Returns happen when the consumer receives a product that doesn’t match its listing images or description or is even the wrong product entirely.

CPG businesses that cover multiple sales channels know how difficult it can be to keep everything up-to-date. Yet inconsistencies create bad customer experiences that can lead to lost customers and lost sales.

PIM helps reduce this problem through its data synchronization. By synchronizing product information across all channels, it can push updates through the approval and publishing process quickly.

 

3. Accurate Internal Information Produces Better Customer Service

PIM doesn’t just distribute information to your sales channels. It also keeps your internal team on the same page through seamless, real-time data. No matter what department your employees are in, they can use PIM’s software to check:

  • Individual Product Stock
  • Upcoming Deliveries
  • At Which Storefronts Products are Available
  • Which Attributes/Versions are Available (IE: Color, Size, Etc.)
  • And More

This offers a multitude of advantages. Your sales team can determine which stores or channels are low on stock. Customer service representatives can better assist consumers in receiving the products they want.

Obstacles that used to exist thanks to lack of data are now hurdles cleared with ease. Your staff is never outdated or on the wrong page, which prevents misleading information or missed opportunities.

 

4. New Products Hit the Market Faster

PIM streamlines the onboarding process for new products.

When you’re managing product data across multiple platforms, it can feel a lot like chasing your tail. Every time you make an update to one product, you then have to push that change onto every channel that product is sold on.

However, PIM automates this process using a master record. This includes:

  • Product Hierarchy
  • Structure
  • Validations
  • Approvals
  • Versions and Attributes
  • Product Descriptions
  • Documentation
  • Other Relevant Data

This significantly reduces the time it takes to bring a new product to market. Customers who buy online can get the latest items and trends quickly thanks to this process. You also get an edge on your competition.

It’s a win-win.

 

Understanding PIM Software and What It Does

PIM isn’t just for eCommerce entities. It’s design is for both current and future sales strategies for CPG goods. Consider businesses like grocers and office supply chains.

These businesses all continue to maintain brick and mortar chains while offering eCommerce solutions and services to optimize their customers’ experiences. This is the way of today’s business model.

More and more CPG businesses are extending their product sales to online channels, even with existing brick and mortar locations because more consumers are turning to online purchasing. It offers a convenience consumer now demand, which is why PIM software is able to manage both.

But what is PIM, exactly? For businesses who don’t know, PIM is a piece of software that improves a CPG company’s:

  • Centralization
  • Organization
  • Categorization
  • Localization
  • Synchronization
  • Product Data

In layman’s terms, it’s simply a program that unifies your eCommerce product information in order to prevent discrepancies, identifies bottlenecks or other potential issues, and swiftly updates or introduces new product information.

You can control multiple marketplaces, vendors, and sources of data through a single application responsible for managing your digital assets. From product listings to catalogs, cross-sales, and up-sales, you can manage it all through a single application.

This improves efficiency while making internal processes like supply chain and regulatory compliance easier. Your customers and your staff both benefit.

 

Discover the Software that’s Solving Problems

As your CPG business expands into eCommerce channels, it creates new opportunities as well as challenges. Streamline your product information management with our Innovit’s software solutions.

We help various industries solve common problems that disrupt their product sales and customer satisfaction. Learn what we can do for your CPG business today.

If you’re ready, give Innovit a try and discover firsthand how we can help your healthcare, aftermarket, grocery, automotive, or retail company thrive.

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