PIM
Product information management
A PIM is software that holds a catalogue’s product data in one place, checks it against set rules and prepares it for each place you sell.
- PIM system
- Product information management system
What it means
PIM stands for product information management. Akeneo’s documentation says a PIM “is aimed to centralize all the marketing data, to enrich, translate and prepare it for exports to multiple channels”.1
A spreadsheet lets any column hold anything. A PIM fixes the fields for each type of product and checks values against them. In Akeneo, a GTIN field can check that a value “has 8, 12, 13, or 14 digits and passes the checksum”. It can also hold a different value of one field for each channel, such as a web description and a marketplace one.2
It checks that a value fits, not that it is true. A weight in the wrong unit is still a number, and a barcode with a valid check digit can belong to another product.
Think of it like this
A PIM works like an office filing system with a strict clerk at the door. Every file uses the same form, and forms with blank or wrongly filled boxes are sent back. The clerk never checks whether what is written is true.
For example
In a spreadsheet, the Colour column for a range of hoodies can hold Navy, navy blue and NVY side by side. In a PIM where Colour is a list, an editor picks Navy and cannot type a fourth spelling.2 Pick Black for a navy hoodie, though, and the PIM accepts it, because the value fits the rule even though it is untrue.
Why it matters
A PIM earns its set-up cost when two channels need different values for the same field, when several people edit the same products, or when supplier refreshes keep undoing corrections. Size alone is not the reason. The work starts before any software: Akeneo’s documentation says that when a PIM project starts, “the first task to do is to build the structure of the data”.1
Not to be confused with
A PIM is not an ecommerce platform. The PIM holds and prepares the product data; the platform, such as Shopify or WooCommerce, runs the shop and takes the orders. A PIM feeds a platform rather than replacing it.
Sources
- Akeneo PIM documentation. Akeneo PIM in a nutshell.
- Akeneo Help Center. Manage your attributes.