Services
Product Information Management
Squadra supports retail companies, wholesale organizations and manufacturers in their Digital Transformation and in improving their overall Customer Experience. We do that by sharing our best Product Information Management (PIM) practices with these organizations as to how to collect and manage all their product master data in one system for PIM. We help to create one single, trusted version of the truth and ensure the distribution of high quality, consistent product data across all omnichannel initiatives.
”Deliver a better overall customer experience by creating one single source of product information”
The importance of rich and accurate product data
In order to create a perfect overall experience that sets you apart from the competition, you need to be able to serve the customer with accurate product information across every channel. Rich and accurate Product information need to be available in every customer touchpoint, from the e-commerce site to the electronic price tag in the brick and mortar store, from the app to the mail-order catalog, and in the Point of Sale system. Being able to quickly populate these touchpoints with rich and accurate product data is essential. That’s where Squadra’s knowledge of Product Information Management (PIM) comes in. With PIM, you create one single version of the truth that provides reliable data for every system and business process.
Business drivers for a PIM solution
- Fulfil market needs for rich product data to stay competitive
- Higher customer satisfaction due to high quality product information
- Prerequisite for e-Commerce Business Model
- Increased conversion rates
- Faster time to market (product introductions, campaigns & promotions)
- Efficient business operations and processes (cost efficiency)
- Increased data quality and accuracy
- Regulatory compliance
”One of the largest retailer in The Netherlands requested from one of the manufactures to submit 300+ product data fields within a short timeframe. Data had to be gathered from different systems, sources and departments. This was only possible with a central maintained product data repository!”
Our PIM services
Squadra is market leader in the PIM domain. The combination of business process understanding, market knowledge, understanding of data architectures and PIM expertise helps us to bring your Product Information Management to a higher level.
Using Squadra’s SCOPE approach our experienced professionals help you to create a complete solution that is fit for purpose. SCOPE provides a clear transformation path. That being said, we don’t need to run the whole five-step program from beginning to end in order to be successful. We support our customers at any stage in their digital transformation. In each stage of this five-step approach, Squadra provides different service offerings that contribute to a successful implementation of PIM.
Strategy
Strategy contains the following services:
Change Readiness
Change Readiness contains the following services:
Outline Solution
Outline Solution contains the following services:
Project Definition
Project Definition contains the following services:
Execution & Evaluation
Execution & Evaluation contains the following services:
Systems
There is no single list that provides an overview of all MDM and PIM solutions. In general they can be classified as Top-tier, Mid-tier and Lower-tier solutions with related functionality, capabilities and pricing. There is a number of generic overviews, e.g. Gartner, Forrester or more specific ones like Ventana, that rank most often the top-tier solutions. One should however be aware that there is a lot of confusion as software vendors profile themselves with different names (e.g. PIM systems are rebranded as PCM or PxM, MDM functionality within ERP solutions is positioned as multi-domain MDM, etc.). When you select a solution, please be aware that there is not a single “best solution” as this is heavily dependent on your context and requirements. As such, a “fit for purpose” selection implies to take following topics into consideration:
- What are the specific functional needs (for Product, Supplier, Customer and/or other MDM (e.g. hierarchies, onboarding, golden record, DAM, Private label, D&B integration, API’s, etc.)
- Is there a need to support data and/or industry standards?
- What is the position of the customer in value chain, e.g. a retailer has different needs than a manufacturer
- Is the customer running a BtB, BtC business or both?
- For PIM/Product MDM: What is the type and size of assortment?
- For Supplier and Customer MDM: What is the role of the MDM in the overall landscape (hub or source for creation)?
- What is the available budget?
- What is the customer strategy with respect to infrastructure (SaaS, Cloud, on-premise)
Would you like to learn more about Product Information Management?
In collaboration with Thuiswinkel.org, Squadra has developed a free e-learning module where you learn what PIM is, what PIM can mean for your organisation, what you should pay attention to when introducing PIM, and whether PIM is a good choice for your company!
Start learning!