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5 reasons PIM + DSA is key to the product content lifecycle 

February 6, 2024

Is your product content lifecycle optimized for success? See how PIM + DSA can take it to the next level.

When it comes to selling products in today’s world, product content is key. This content, such as written descriptions, visual assets, technical documentation, and more, is a powerful way to convey your products to the world. Product content connects with potential customers, shows them the value of your products in their lives, and, ultimately, converts passive attention into that all-important sale.  

When talking about product content, it’s essential to consider the entire lifecycle of this content. The product content lifecycle is the continual process of gathering, creating, and disseminating critical product information. This includes gathering data points from suppliers and manufacturers, crafting product descriptions and ingredient lists, and ensuring that information reaches end users via packaging and onsite product listings.  

Facing the complexity of managing this product content lifecycle process, brands and manufacturers have several software options. These include content management systems (CMS), digital asset management systems (DAM), and other web development and e-commerce platforms. However, to achieve a winning lifecycle strategy for every SKU and build profitability across the value chain, leading brands are turning to two technologies: Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital Shelf Analytics (DSA). Here are 6 benefits of PIM + DSA in an effective product content life cycle. 

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Access the Gartner Market Guide for Digital Shelf Analytics now.

1. Establish a single, scalable source of product data truth 

PIM is essential to capture, store, and manage a complete and accurate set of product data, which can then be enriched into compelling product content. An advanced PIM solution built on a fully scalable data model is essential to provide you with ongoing flexibility and configurability to manage your product data. For example, allowing for unlimited storage limits and catalog numbers, as well as configuration in product parts, and adaptability to changes in configurations or regulations. This source of truth also removes internal data siloes, minimizing the risk of versioning errors and ensuring all internal teams are working from the same centralized database. 

Making sure all content is accurate and up-to-date can remove frustration across internal teams and external end users, facilitating a stronger product content lifecycle. With accurate information at their fingertips, marketing, and e-commerce teams can deliver the complete product experiences potential customers expect. Once they buy a product, customers are less likely to return the item if they have complete and correct information ahead of time. This can ensure you avoid the heavy costs associated with product returns, as well as maintain higher levels of customer satisfaction. 

online shopping using smartphone app

2. Automate content creation and workflow processes 

PIM is more than simply a data management tool. PIM also plays a key role in the creation of product content. Marketers and content creators frequently have many different asset types and formats to produce. The variations and sheer volume can create bottlenecks in the content production phase, particularly if content is being created in different languages. However, with an advanced PIM that has integrated generative AI capabilities, users can enrich raw product data into compelling product content with the click of a button. 

Automating large parts of small, time-consuming tasks can free up your teams to work on more meaningful projects within the product content lifecycle, such as writing ad copy or reviewing new creative imagery. Automation can streamline many internal workflows and processes that support the product content lifecycle, across both PIM and DSA solutions. For example, DSA uses AI-powered automation to crawl relevant online channels and funnel intelligence on everything from channel competition to product listing display back to the user.

3. Optimize a truly omnichannel product content lifecycle 

Once product content is created, it’s time to deliver it to all your online touchpoints on the digital shelf. However, the digital shelf is an increasingly complex sales environment, and the ability for digital shelf monitoring and digital shelf optimization is a key part of securing e-commerce success. This is especially true for brands and manufacturers pursuing omnichannel strategies that include owned channels, third-party resellers and marketplaces, and social media platforms. That’s why the right DSA technology is such an important part of any successful omnichannel presence. 

DSA shows you just how effective your product content lifecycle is. It allows you to see how products are performing and understand why they’re appealing or missing the mark with your target audience. For example, you may notice that a product without a descriptor has a far lower sales conversion rate than one with an engaging blurb. DSA makes it far easier to spot content errors, such as corrupted, missing, inaccurate or outdated information. You can also identify quick wins, such as search engine terms that improve your content’s reach, and continually level up across all platforms. 

4. Support your sales and advertising activities 

Digital shelf analytics technology isn’t just a reactive solution that helps you fight fires on your digital shelf. It is also a proactive solution that allows you to identify opportunities you’re missing or underutilizing and backed up by PIM technology, you can use automation to reduce the administrative burden of capitalizing on them. One key area where this proactive benefit of DSA is overlooked is sales and advertising activities.  

In their 2023 Market Guide for DSA, analyst firm Gartner explains that the software can help you inform and even automate product advertisement purchases. You can use DSA to monitor your inventory or see what’s selling well for competitors and adjust your promotional content accordingly. Additionally, you can set minimum price alerts (MAPs) to prevent retailers from selling your products at inappropriate price points. This adds significant value to your DSA investment and can better align your product catalog and inventory with your advertising strategy. 

woman shopping in fashion retail outlet scanning barcode on label

5. Simplify compliance across all markets 

With legislation surrounding initiatives like sustainability and supply chain transparency continually evolving, compliance is becoming a key driver for the uptake of complete software solutions that integrate PIM + DSA. With the robust data governance provided by an advanced PIM system, users can trace every SKU through the entire value chain, collating and packaging key compliance information for relevant reporting and auditing.  

New regulations such as the EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) mean many brands and manufacturers are facing a data explosion that will require a more methodical, transparent approach to their product information management. For example, the DPP will require reporting on everything from material provenance to how products should be recycled or reused after their usable lives. Only a robust PIM built on a fully elastic data model and with DSA technology integrated can provide the depth of data governance needed to meet these new regulatory requirements. 

inriver: The complete solution built on PIM + DSA 

The inriver platform is the answer for brands, manufacturers, and retailers seeking one complete solution for their product content lifecycle needs. The platform is built on a fully elastic data model that ingests unlimited raw product data from across the supply chain and then transforms this data into complete, compelling, and compliant product information that informs better decision-making across all internal and external channels. 

With PIM + DSA and other market-leading capabilities like syndication integrated into a single platform, inriver users have the complete “closed-loop” solution they need to ensure their products perform on every digital touchpoint. Don’t compromise your product content lifecycle and risk losing sales to your competitors. Explore the most complete PIM solution in the market and discover how inriver could take your product content lifecycle to the next level and beyond. 

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Schedule a personalized, guided demo with an inriver expert today to see how the inriver PIM can get more value from your product information.

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  • Joakim Gavelin

    Senior Principal Advisor

    Joakim has over 25 years experience in people, sales and business management, helping brands and business increase their presence, sales and profit. With deep knowledge in retail sales and intelligence to consumer behavior to global sales, he is familiar with both B2C and B2B - no matter the size, industry or location of company.

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