The 6 Most Common Mistakes When Implementing a PIM

Summarize this article

Implementing a PIM is a great initiative! There is no doubt that such a project brings many benefits to the merchants who invest in it: better and faster sales, lower return rates, higher average order value, more productive teams… Still, embarking on this journey is no easy task.

A PIM project involves many parameters and requires genuine change management and rigorous preparation, without which many mistakes are likely to be made. Here are some of the most common ones we come across as a certified PIM integrator:

1. Neglecting product structuring and modeling

What does it involve?

When implementing a PIM, structuring the data is a crucial step. At the very start of a project, teams put significant work into formatting and modeling products. In practice, this first means selecting the information, characteristics and specifics to fill in for each product… Then importing them, checking that they are complete and correct, choosing how the product will be presented, formatting the product page and making sure that products of the same type are structured in the same way.

What are the risks if you neglect it?

This phase is absolutely crucial, because it is where the structure and quality of product data are determined. If your PIM provider does not complete this phase properly or fully, the rest of the project is seriously compromised. This data is the foundation of any PIM project, the base teams will rely on every day. If it is not solidly built, the PIM will not be used to its full potential and will not deliver all the expected added value. Worse still, without a solid foundation, errors can occur and undermine all the work on product information. This structuring and modeling step must therefore not be neglected, even though it is often the most complex and tedious one.

A step too often skipped

Today, most online retailers understand the importance of this step and are willing to invest time and resources in it at the start of a project. Yet many end up dropping it or cutting it short to speed up their PIM implementation. In this context, they prefer to make sacrifices to move faster. By refusing to take the time needed to complete this step, these companies deprive themselves of the benefits of a PIM. They also compromise their product experience, which in the end is not improved as much as they had hoped at the outset.

Time saved in the long run

You absolutely need to be patient during this phase of the project to ensure its success. All the more so because, even though it takes time at the start, it saves a huge amount of time later on. With structured, complete, high-quality product information, teams will then spend less time checking and distributing it. They will be more productive in future integrations.

2. Lowering the bar on data completeness

Incomplete products, a poor experience

In the same vein as the previous mistake, the completeness of product information is often, and wrongly, neglected. Before implementing a PIM, teams define a set of vital product information without which product pages are considered incomplete. Some products need little information to be complete, while others, often technical ones, require a large amount of data for customers to understand them. If this data is missing, target audiences will not properly grasp the product or how to use it. A major shortfall in terms of customer experience!

Invest today to manage better tomorrow

At the start of a project, some online retailers are tempted to move on quickly and skip this step. That is a bad idea! It is better to spend more time on it at the start of the project than to deal with the consequences of such a choice later. Teams would spend more time downstream correcting course. Setting a relatively high completeness requirement from the start of the project, and maintaining it throughout, is essential to ensure the PIM is used effectively and to keep it from turning into a mere storage tool!

3. Giving every user access to every feature

Good on paper, bad in practice

When implementing a PIM, it is tempting to give every employee who works on product information access to all of the tool’s features. That way, companies feel they are making their teams’ work easier. Teams can then take advantage of everything the PIM has to offer. It is also simpler than spending time managing rights and access. However, this idea is misleading.

To each their role, to each their features

Because in the end, users have access to too many options and end up getting lost. No single user handles all product information management alone. Each employee has their own mission and expertise. They therefore only need access to what concerns them, without being distracted and overloaded by features they will never use.

By fine-tuning access in the PIM from the outset, a company gives each team access to its own scope only. This saves them from wasting time wandering through parts of the catalog or features that do not concern them. The result is a more relevant, more comfortable user experience!

4. Implementing your PIM at the wrong time

It’s not just about the PIM!

A PIM, yes, but not at just any time! Implementing such a tool often stems from a broader technical and business strategy involving other applications. It is also part of a drive to modernize the information system. So, most of the time, when a new PIM is implemented, other projects get under way in parallel. The question then is in what order to organize this multitude of projects, especially when several tools are being implemented.

Get everything in the right order

For example, logic dictates that the ERP is implemented first, then the PIM because it will be connected to it, and finally the CMS to close the product lifecycle loop. Of course, the setup around the PIM can vary. But it is extremely important to pay attention to where its integration fits within the rest of the ecosystem. Otherwise, the project will not be optimal and may take longer than planned.

Digital assets, a new challenge

Digital assets have become a real challenge when implementing a PIM project, from the perspective of both contributors and end consumers.

Even today, many people underestimate the impact of digital assets and neglect this aspect of a PIM project. The finding is often the same: assets are scattered across the company in different folders or servers, sometimes undated or without version control… This can be a problem when it comes to documents such as warranties or user manuals, for example.

Managing digital assets within a company is a project in its own right and should be studied and challenged when the PIM project is launched. Running a PIM project and a DAM project side by side therefore makes a lot of sense.

Choose the right timing

Also, if the PIM is rolled out at the same time as other tools, a company must choose the right timing so that it is not implemented too early. Otherwise, it may end up surrounded by obsolete applications it struggles to communicate with. And until the other tools are integrated, you will need to build temporary custom developments to make the components of the ecosystem work together, or else the PIM will not be used to its full potential. Time that could be saved if the PIM is properly positioned in the roadmap from the start.

5. Giving the PIM a role that isn’t its own

One single mission

A PIM has a very specific role: to centralize, structure, enrich and distribute product information. Beyond this mission, it should not be expected to serve any other purpose. Yet too many companies still rely on it for tasks that are not its own. For example, some companies expect it to go further and store data other than so-called marketing product information. Or to provide services outside its scope, such as inventory management or photo retouching. At the other extreme, some companies do not use the PIM to its full value… And reduce it to a storage tool, nothing more, nothing less. The PIM then becomes a mere database.

Structure your PIM implementation

Either way, this use of the PIM is not optimal and leads either to team frustration or to lost revenue. That is why, before implementing such a tool, a company must define objectives. Objectives that are precise and aligned with the PIM’s core mission. Finally, a PIM must be implemented within an ecosystem and connected to other applications. It cannot exist on its own, since its main purpose is to distribute information to other tools (CMS, logistics, print studio, catalog, sales tablet…).

6. Underestimating the importance of the teams involved in the PIM

Aligned teams

No PIM project without committed teams! As with many projects, involving the employees who will use the tool, work on product data or use it for distribution is essential. They must be involved from the very start of the project, from functional design to solution adoption. Everyone must be aligned on the objectives, strategic choices, features and every element of the project. That way, they will adopt and use the PIM much more easily.

Available teams

For a PIM project to succeed, you also need to take team availability into account. Wanting to involve them is a great thing! But if they do not have the time required, the project may drag on or even be compromised. And because of the seasonality of e-commerce or print, some times of the year are not suitable for implementing a PIM. So think carefully before you get started!

New project or migration, the same guiding principle

Many merchants already have a PIM today. As a result, our PIM consultants are handling more and more migration projects.

All the mistakes listed above apply equally to a migration project. A PIM migration should not be seen as a simple technical version upgrade. Rather, it should be seen as a chance to challenge all the foundations put in place (catalog structure, teams, the PIM’s role in the information system…). Foundations that have probably changed significantly since the project was first implemented a few years earlier.

Stop making these mistakes!

A PIM project is a truly exciting, if complex, adventure. And it becomes even more difficult if the project is not properly scoped and if the teams handling product data are not involved. With this non-exhaustive list of frequent mistakes, it is easier for companies to plan ahead before they get started. Even so, such a project will inevitably bring surprises and potentially a few difficulties. But everything will be resolved quickly if the merchant has the right support… And if they have fully considered all the ins and outs of implementing a PIM!

Discover how Lise Charmel centralizes and optimizes its product management with Akeneo and Synolia, its PIM provider:

Read the case study