This blog series about a single source of truth for product content is based on the webinar, Let’s Get Digital, presented for the CHPA Academy in March 2024.
by Lisa Lopez, HRG data assets manager, part of the Single Source of Truth blog series
Product information management (PIM) and data assets management (DAM) platforms are both ways to store product information. Both tools centralize product-related data, streamlining the process of updating and managing the distribution of product content to all sales and marketing channels whenever there are changes. PIM/DAM software enables organizations to deliver accurate and compelling product descriptions and images in a scalable multi-channel environment. A key benefit of a PIM/DAM system is submitting information once to disperse it to many, easily setting up different publishing rules for each retailer/e-tailer or for other customer-specific needs.
Moreover, the software provides a single source of truth for product data. PIM/DAM solutions make it easy to enrich product descriptions and images to ensure they meet brand standards on any e-commerce platform, website, marketplaces, and more.
A challenge PIM/DAM vendors can face is accepting data in various formats causing time-consuming modifications to provide what is needed for all known use cases. Sometimes this isn’t discovered until the data is downloaded — if it doesn’t follow the retailer’s specific business rules for how the information needs to be displayed it gets stuck in the unpublished queue.
Another way data delivery can be delayed is because product information is often uploaded with one key (such as the UPC, item number, etc.) while images are uploaded with a different key. This makes it difficult and time consuming to match them back together, especially if there is no cross-reference of the keys for image data and content data. Sure, you can go into a specific item and get the information you need, but when looking to take advantage of mass downloading and processing, there is no easy way to do it consistently in this scenario. Unless, of course, those uploading the data understand the importance of mapping data correctly.
One common misperception is that the data stored in PIM/DAM systems is up-to-date, current, and accurate. The reality is even those manufacturers who have dedicated resources to do the due diligence of maintaining and managing updates to the many different platforms struggle to keep up with updates to these sites.
When data doesn’t align, it results in confusion, distrust, and frustration for those trying to work with the data. They are left to try to solve for disparities themselves or leave the content as it is when uploaded, knowing information is inaccurate. Or worse yet, users download data and store it outside the platform thinking that it will be easier, faster, and more efficient than tapping into the PIM/DAM each time data is required. It doesn’t take long before the data becomes out of sync causing havoc and disruption.
Many retailers have resorted to not allowing their customers to search by UPC for the very reason that consumers assume searching and ordering by a specific barcode should provide them exactly what they expect based on what was displayed online. This causes frustration for the customer when packaging changes because if they search by UPC to find the exact product they have in their possession, it can result in dissatisfaction. Customer complaints are most prevalent when customers see one thing and receive another.
Same goes for ingredients. If I’m concerned about a specific ingredient, I’m definitely going to view the ingredient information. If the manufacturer updated the item to no longer contain red dye #40 but the data and images I am seeing still says this item contains red dye #40, then the retailer and/or the manufacturer could both lose out on a sale because the information is outdated and incorrect.
What is in the warehouse and being shipped out? Is there a bonus that is still advertised on an old package? If the packaging indicating a bonus is still on a retailer site, but the consumer doesn’t get that bonus item, they’re going to be unhappy.
These are just a few scenarios of a disconnect between data and the actual item that can impact a consumer’s satisfaction with both the manufacturer and retailer. Protecting your source of truth helps avoid getting into these kinds of situations.