PIM costs – a sustainable investment
LEARN HOW SUSTAINABLE PIM IS AND THE COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS WITH OUR PIM CONSULTATION.
Every company has different requirements for a product information management system, because a PIM project is by definition unique to each company. The costs of a PIM can vary greatly, as the selection always depends on the desired scope of functionality and the respective complexity of the associated cost drivers.
To ensure that the implementation of an e-commerce PIM in your system landscape runs smoothly from the start, igniti supports you with professional PIM consulting. Benefit from our PIM selection expertise. We look forward to hearing from you.
How are the PIM costs incurred?
Igniti will outline the origin of your PIM costs (see infographic) using a five-pillar model to show the dimensions in which PIM projects differ and what the costs for conceptual design and implementation are. The individual cost drivers are arranged in ascending order from left to right according to their potential impact on the total expenses.
Even with the implementation of seemingly simple and standard installation processes, depending on your application requirements for the Product Information Management system, the effort for initial design, installation and implementation can vary and the cost of PIM can increase. For example, PIM software can be installed either on your own IT infrastructure or in the cloud. In addition, the amount of work will vary depending on the required security policies. Another factor influencing PIM costs is the complexity of the company’s established data storage and maintenance processes. The more users working on a product data set at the same time and relying on defined workflows, the higher the initial, one-time design and implementation effort.
PIM costs consist of three main components. Cost is either a one-time fee during initialization or an ongoing one:
- License costs for the PIM software (mostly ongoing)
- Costs for your employees who take part in consultations and workshops and do preparatory work (one-time)
- Costs incurred in the form of implementation through workshops and implementation efforts (one-time)
After commissioning the PIM system, the following value creation potentials are open to you:
- Central data storage (Single-Point-of-Truth)
- Ideal support for processes related to product information (best-of-breed approach)
- Simplified, streamlined data maintenance processes, resulting in shorter time-to-market
- Outsourcing of data maintenance efforts to suppliers
- Simplification of data maintenance, especially for international sales
- Improved customer satisfaction and lower return rates through detailed and consistent product information across all channels
The higher the requirements for the PIM system - the higher the initial setup cost.
A product information management system increases the quality of product information while saving time and resources. Increasing project complexity stems from complex system and data model requirements, as well as the desire to make the system as simple as possible for users or to fully automate individual processes. Of course, with increased usability and automation comes increased value. For the initial implementation of a PIM system project, this naturally means a certain amount of additional effort, but experience has shown that this is quickly offset by the time saved.
The same applies to the complexity of product information and the number and heterogeneity of data sources and distribution channels. If there are many products with complex inheritance logic, if all the information about the products is stored in many different systems, or if the product data is stored in Excel spreadsheets, the effort increases. If two systems have information organized differently, special mappings must be created to communicate.
The number and heterogeneity of sales channels has the greatest potential to influence overall PIM costs. A product information management system maintains the product information data as a single point of truth, independent of the medium. The goal is to output targeted information to the respective sales channels according to specific specifications and patterns. The initial effort increases with each additional data sink to be connected. The form and scope of the data can be controlled individually for each sales channel. This heterogeneity further increases the initial effort.
How much does a PIM cost?
A PIM system is the linchpin for product data in your company. The aim is to be able to supply all sales channels with correct and detailed product information. In order for the final solution of your PIM system to achieve added value in your company, certain minimum requirements must be met during the selection process.
Take advantage of the PIM advice of the igniti consultants – we will show you what the differences in the possible applications are using a simple and complex PIM system:
Cost definition workflow for an e-commerce PIM
As you begin to navigate your way through PIM and learn the basic concepts of the software, we can work with you in a consulting capacity to deepen the solutions to your product data requirements. In doing so, we gain good insight into your product structure, product maintenance processes, and system landscape, as well as your goals for implementing a product information management system.
After our PIM consultants have clarified the initial questions with you, we create a cost plan with our experts from the various departments. In this way, we can show you exactly what steps we plan to take together in the project and how much time and money we expect to spend on software implementation.
The simple PIM system
The simplest case, with the least complexity and low PIM costs, is when you install the PIM software on-premises. In this mode, product information should not be distributed across multiple systems or files, and the volume and complexity of product information data should not be large.
In addition, the product maintenance processes should only take place within your company and should not be spread across multiple departments (product creation, product testing, product certification, marketing department, photographer, translator, etcetera…). Finally, if your products are only distributed through a relatively manageable number of channels with low diversity, your PIM system can be designed and implemented with very low associated costs.
To help you select you best, sustainable PIM system solution, we offer PIM consulting services.
- Installation: On-premise on existing IT infrastructure
- Accessibility: Access only possible from the intranet
- Product information is currently distributed on only a few media
- Low number and complexity of products
- Only internal and poorly distributed processes for product information data maintenance
- A sales channel
- Abandonment of automation
The complex PIM system
The requirements for the Product Information Management System for your online shop, print catalog and all other sales channels can be much higher. Installation in a distributed cloud system with high security requirements and the ability to perform live deployments is just the beginning. If the product information collected so far is scattered across a large number of third-party software and file systems, migration costs are much higher. In addition to the PIM conception of which data is obtained from where, the respective mappings or interfaces must also be implemented in order to be able to carry out the initial import of the product information data.
In addition, compared to a simple PIM system, product maintenance processes can be very complex: If not only the internal departments mentioned above are involved in product maintenance, but suppliers are also offered the opportunity to enter product information into their PIM system independently, the PIM costs continue to increase due to the requirements.
- Installation: in the Cloud, Software-as-a-Service
- Access: high security requirements, because the system should also be accessible to third parties (suppliers, wholesalers)
- Live Deployments
- Product information distributed across a wide variety of systems, file systems, sheet collections, …
- In addition to many internal departments, external suppliers are also entrusted with product data maintenance
- There are a variety of sales channels (e-commerce, print, mobile apps, point-of-sale, …)
- High degree of automation of care processes
PIM consulting and PIM selection for your e-commerce business
igniti, as an experienced PIM agency in e-commerce, will be happy to help you with the installation, design and implementation of a PIM system for product data in your company. At the beginning of a PIM project, we work with you to carry out an analysis of the required requirements, in which we also advise you on PIM selection. Of course, we take into account all costs incurred, both for the license of the PIM software and for PIM consulting, conception and implementation.
During the PIM consultation, we provide you with a test instance of the Product Information Management System without any obligation, enter exemplary selected products into the PIM and support you with initial tricks and tricks in dealing with the PIM software. With these prerequisites, you will find your way around the system right from the start and get a first feeling for the Product Information Management System as well as the associated processes and advantages. The subsequent PIM selection will be more comprehensible and easier for you through our previous PIM consulting of our consultants.
Feel free to ask us for an initial non-binding PIM consultation of your system. Our consultants will show you solutions on how you can save costs and resources. We look forward to hearing from you.
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