We implement, maintain, and develop PIM systems that will improve product data quality in your organization, automate their creation, and reduce the time needed for management.
PIM (product information management) is an application for managing product data such as photos, descriptions, and technical specifications. A PIM can easily integrate with an organization’s other systems (such as ERP, ecommerce engine, or WMS). Such an application accelerates work with automation (automatic translation and description generation). It organizes product data effectively while also increasing its security.
We have noticed that clients often return products due to errors in the description or technical specifications provided on the website. With the storage of product data in one place and an organized quality control process, product information is always up-to-date and accurate. As a result, the company experiences a lower number of returned orders, which improves its profitability.
Users often do not make purchases due to poor product information. A lack of sufficient images, incomplete technical data, missing technical files, and an inaccurate description are common causes. Additionally, when data increases, existing systems cease to function efficiently. Therefore, PIM is optimized for managing a large volume of product data. As a result, the company can provide users with comprehensive product information, leading to higher conversion rates.
Manually creating long and detailed descriptions is time-consuming and expensive. Hence, PIMs utilize artificial intelligence to generate product descriptions and translations automatically. As a result, companies can avoid incurring high costs to employ staff for this purpose. Moreover, preparing a new product for sale and entering foreign markets is faster.
Ecommerce companies often do not fully utilize their suppliers’ product offerings. Therefore, we integrate supplier systems with PIMs. As a result, ecommerce firms can quickly bring products they do not have in stock to market. This increases organic traffic and the number of transactions generated.
Contact us. We will discuss your business situation and determine together whether PIM is the right choice.
We organize and streamline the management of product data. You will gain a single place to store slow-changing product data and improve their quality through automation. As a result, users will have access to an entire product base with high-quality descriptions, technical parameters, and images. Work on product data will take less time, resulting in lower costs.
Do you want to enhance your PIM with additional integrations or automation? As part of our ongoing support, we improve how the tool works and implement emerging solutions. We take care of system updates, ensuring no errors in its operation.
We also have experience and offer:
Implementation of a B2B platform based on Magento
Implementation of an online store on Magento
Digital transformation projects
Audits and optimization of code quality, performance, and speed
Advanced integrations, including with ecommerce, ERP, CRM
Coding Magento frontends based on Hyva technology
We conduct workshops with your team to understand your business. We then develop a product data management process and a data model. We will create a detailed project scope and acceptance criteria at this stage. This ensures the implementation budget is secure and will not exceed preliminary estimates.
At this stage, PIM Akeneo will be installed and configured. Missing components and integrations will be added. Processes will be tested on a sample product database.
Cold data of all products are transferred to PIM Akeneo at this stage. We train the entire team that will be using Akeneo PIM. This allows product data to be supplemented and corrected.
At this stage, you finally check whether PIM is functioning correctly. This will go smoothly thanks to the Tester checking all functionalities during the implementation and delivering successive project parts every two weeks.
As soon as you signal that PIM is working following the original assumptions, it is possible to launch the production system.
After launching PIM, we develop new functionalities, install extensions and updates, and ensure security. We are a partner for the years to come, helping to develop your business.
Our focus on the automation of work with product data distinguishes us. We believe that PIM should accelerate the creation of product descriptions, technical details, and translations.
As a result, you’ll reduce the costs of introducing new products, and thanks to high-quality data, you’ll increase sales and minimize complaints.
Clients who have cooperated with IT companies often complain that they are not partners for business discussions. That’s why we assign a consultant with at least 10 years of industry experience to every project. With this approach, our clients receive support in making development decisions.
The tasks of correcting and completing data are becoming increasingly time-consuming. Therefore, we accelerate this process with automation. This way, we reduce the work necessary to create translations, descriptions, and technical specifications. Consequently, we reduce the labor costs involved with the product database.
PIM licensing fees can significantly increase implementation and maintenance costs, thereby reducing the profitability of the entire business. Therefore, we often use open-source software, which has no licensing fees. This reduces the implementation and maintenance costs.
A significant issue with PIM deployments is delays resulting from the time users need to learn the new system. Therefore, just two weeks after implementation, we grant access to test databases so that users can train and fill in the necessary data. This shortens the overall implementation time.
We have noticed that the most challenging phase of PIM implementation is integration. That is why we have formed a team experienced in integrating Akeneo with the most popular systems. We have done integrations with ERPs, ecommerce systems, and OMSs. As a result, your project’s total cost of integrations will be lower and completed on time.
We have noticed that a significant issue when collaborating with ecommerce agencies is that they only make PIM available at the very end of the implementation. Therefore, the Coordinator on your side has to abandon all other tasks and dedicate several weeks to checking the entire system. All parties pressure him to speed up the reviewing phase quickly. That is why we make the system available just two weeks after the beginning of the implementation. Every two weeks, it grows with coded functionalities. Your Coordinator can regularly check on the following elements. And you have control over the direction in which the project is heading.
A significant issue is that the implementation budget is often much higher than the initial estimates from the quoting stage. Therefore, we carry out a detailed business analysis coordinated by an Ecommerce Consultant. During this process, the acceptance criteria and system architecture are established. As a result, the scope is accurately described and can be precisely estimated by developers. This means that the budget estimation matches the actual costs and is predictable.
Clients with experience working with various agencies complain that the reports on the number of hours worked are unclear. Consequently, they could not compare the hour estimation, how many hours were worked, and what stage of task completion is at. Therefore, we provide access to our project management system and have developed a reporting scheme where it is clear how many hours a task has taken, what percentage of it is completed, and whether it is in line with the original estimate.
We’ve prepared simple and concrete answers to the most common questions about PIMs.
PIM, or Product Information Management, is an application (system) for managing slow-changing product data (cold data). This application can be integrated with an ERP, ecommerce engine, OMS, or WMS. In other words, it is a solution that organizes product data throughout the organization and facilitates their management.
PIM maintains product information such as product ID, descriptions, metadata, photos, and technical specifications.
These tools are available in Open Source and SaaS models; some even write custom solutions. Popular PIM solutions include Akeneo and PIMcore.
The cost of implementing Akeneo PIM in the open-source version (i.e., without a paid license) varies, depending on the scope of implementation, from 4 200 EUR to approximately 22 400 EUR.
If we have an available PIM integrator ready for our ecommerce engine, the whole implementation with configuration should fit within 60-90 hours. At an hourly rate of 70 EUR, the budget would range from 4 200 to 6 300 EUR.
Suppose Akeneo is connected only to the ecommerce engine, with no connector. In that case, the implementation cost will be higher, ranging from 9 800 to 13 300 EUR.
In the case of linking Akeneo with an ERP with an external supplier (to obtain product descriptions and images), and if we add automated English translations to the scope, the costs for implementing Akeneo and integration will range from 16 500 to 22 400 EUR.
The implementation of Akeneo PIM takes about 3 months, divided into two main parts:
a pre-implementation analysis lasting 3-4 weeks
the implementation stage (Akeneo configuration, filling in missing functionalities, integrations, data migration, training, production launch) lasting about 2 months
This is the time needed for the most standard scope. If the scope of the implementation is much larger, it can even be assumed to take 6-7 months.
Most often, open-source PIMs are implemented on a Time & Materials billing model. Suppose you choose an ecommerce agency or software house that will implement a given PIM in an open-source version in 95% of cases. In that case, it will settle on a Time & Materials model, meaning you will pay for the hours worked on such an application.
Even PIMs available in a SaaS model are often billed on a Time & Materials basis.
The cost of implementing a Product Information Management system depends on the hourly rate and the number of hours needed to implement. This results from agencies charging for implementing a PIM in the Time&Materials model. This means that the final budget is the product of the hourly rate and the number of hours. For example, if the PIM implementation takes 140 hours and the hourly rate is 70 EUR, the total cost is 9 800 EUR.
The number of hours is most affected by:
whether there is an available ready-made integrator of the given PIM with the application with which we want to connect it (for example, ERP system, Magento, or Presta),
how many integrations we want to connect the PIM with,
the number of data types and how complex the products we sell are,
whether we want to share product data with external companies
PIM is the ideal solution for companies that:
have multiple sources of product data,
have several language versions and require translations,
have a lot of product variants,
have several places where they gather product data and would like to standardize the entire system,
have many departments that use product data,
want to have control over the quality of product information.
What are the actual benefits of implementing a PIM in an organization? There are many, but let’s focus on 4 processes that see significant improvement:
Reducing the time from the arrival of a new product to its sale—for example, we are a trading company with our own ecommerce. The heat has started. So we order 3000 fans. The products have arrived at our warehouse. We want to quickly introduce a description and technical specifications, take photos, and make the fans available for sale on our ecommerce. PIM shortens this process, for instance, by automatically creating long and short descriptions based on product specifications.
Fewer errors and, therefore, fewer returns—thanks to PIM, we can develop a process for automatically verifying the accuracy of descriptions. This avoids mistakes that can cause returns (and these always generate significant costs).
No wasted time searching for product information—if product data is scattered across 4 different tools, questions always arise between employees (via email, phone, or instant messaging) about “where to find information on…”. Thanks to PIM, everyone knows where to look for information, and employees do not waste time on unnecessary communication.
Secure data—we’ve often heard stories about someone who deleted a folder with product photos or threw away a folder from the drive where long descriptions were stored. Such situations will no longer occur thanks to managing access levels to product editing in PIM.
There are numerous Product Information Management tools available on the market. The most popular ones, include Akeneo and Pimcore.
Other solutions that can be found on the market, although less popular, include, for instance, Inriver, PIMworks, and Plytix.
Contact us. We will discuss your business situation and determine together whether PIM is the right choice.
Czy przenieść Cię na polską
wersję tej podstrony?