Print isn’t dead, it just needs PIM
October 15, 2024Ensure you meet customers on every possible channel with a PIM-powered print strategy built on a single source of product data truth.
On average, US-based consumers spend eight hours a day consuming digital media. That’s the equivalent of an entire working day. Over in the UK, at least half of all media consumed by UK-based consumers is digital. But with digital media so prevalent and wide-reaching, does that mean print media is on a one-way road to extinction? Are physical items like product brochures and technical manuals a thing of the past? Not anytime soon.
Printed materials like product catalogs, flatpack instructions, and the essential information sheets in medication still play essential roles in our daily lives. And in some industries, print media still leads the way both in terms of expectations and necessity. However, while print media very much remains a physical product, the process of creating print media has undergone a digital transformation to keep pace with the expectations of a digital-first world.
Print media is still influential and effective
For some businesses and industries, print media simply isn’t an effective way to reach target audiences. For example, B2C e-commerce brands aimed at digital natives are more likely to find digital communications more worthwhile. However, printed materials are still trusted and sought after across many other industries and sectors. In fact, in this age of digital manipulation and deepfakes, print’s permanency has a new lease of life. Consumers report a higher level of trust in print media (51%) versus channels like social media (24%).
“We can make hot sheets on a dime.”
Hear how Yamaha maximizes the value of their inriver investment with Print functionality.
For many industries, including those focused on commercial or high-end customers, printed materials are still an essential and expected part of sales and marketing. The Harvard Business Review even reported that one luxury retailer experienced a 28% lift in sales and a 600% ROI after adding print catalogs to its marketing materials.
For B2B sales settings specifically, print can be an exciting addition to an omnichannel marketing strategy that helps you meet customers where they are. Culinary equipment manufacturer Hendi, which operates in 25 markets, has continued to experience strong demand for catalogs. With many of its customers ordering via email, phone, or even fax until relatively recently, print is a medium its global B2B customer base still finds valuable
A wealth of printed materials
Physical materials are used by many businesses across a range of sectors, such as:
- Manufacturing: From user manuals to machine catalogs to shipping labels, print is still essential to manufacturing. Clients purchasing heavy machinery to use in their own manufacturing operations may find brochures easier to share with decision-makers. Once an end product leaves a manufacturer’s facility, printed instructions ensure the end customer stays safe and gets maximum satisfaction from their purchase.
- Healthcare: Drug information leaflets; signs to protect patient and clinician safety; facility brochures for patients who aren’t digitally literate. Print materials are an essential part of the healthcare industry, ensuring there are no barriers preventing patients from being safe and informed.
- Retail: Brick-and-mortar stores rely on printed materials, from promotional banners to in-store offer brochures, to drive customers to priority products.
- Hospitality: Though more venues are introducing digital menus, lots of consumers prefer printed options. In settings like fine dining restaurants, or eateries with older clientele, a quality printed menu won’t be replaced any time soon.
The challenge with print
Print is seen as having three core weaknesses that are easier to avoid with digital materials.
- Unreliable information: Print isn’t as agile as digital platforms, so it can be vulnerable to mistakes that aren’t easy to correct. If you spot product errors halfway through the print run, there’s little you can do about it.
- Time-consuming process: With digital tools and AI automation on our side, it can take a matter of minutes to collate product information and update a digital listing. Print is inherently slower and more laborious.
- Rapidly-dated data: Printed product information can quickly become out of date. If products are recalled or changed for compliance reasons, your printed materials will be slower to reflect the shift.
But it’s not the paper that’s the problem. To print successfully, your physical assets need to be informed by accurate, up-to-date data. To help physical materials perform in fast-paced, competitive markets, the process of getting products to press needs to be managed with agile software.
How do you do that on a large scale? PIM (Product Information Management) software is the answer.

The benefits of PIM-powered print
PIM platforms can revolutionize how you approach print. It acts as a central data repository, where product data can be accessed by all but only changed by authorized data guardians. PIM helps businesses switch from siloed working and disconnected spreadsheets to an efficient platform that integrates seamlessly with print production platforms. Here’s how inriver PIM has changed the printing game for two of our customers.
Increasing Hendi’s catalog production by 233% in a quarter of the time
For Hendi, digitalizing the print process has changed the game. Catalogs are popular with commercial buyers, who browse them in places like wholesalers, but spreadsheets were leading to constant product information confusion.
Six years ago, after exploring labor-intensive, open-source solutions, Hendi found inriver – a platform offering everything Hendi needed in a ready-made package. Crucially, the PIM included a direct plugin for InDesign, allowing master product data to flow straight into print-ready designs.
With a single source of product truth, ready to be translated and published in one place, Hendi has significantly scaled up catalog production. Now, it produces 20 versions, up from six, in just 25% of the time printing previously took.
Bringing data cohesion and simple printing processes to Yamaha
Manufacturing giant Yamaha has seen similar improvements with PIM. It needed to replace chaotic spreadsheets with a limitless, scalable PIM that could centralize product information storage and distribution. After a successful implementation in Europe, the inriver PIM has brought cohesion to Yamaha’s North American business units.
Tonya Gooden, Product Information Manager, explained how PIM makes producing rapid printed materials much simpler. “We can create hot sheets for our customers on the drop of a dime using print 2.0 through PIM, helping us with dealers and with consumers.” She also revealed that PIM has increased consumer confidence.
inriver: A PIM-powered print solution
The fully flexible inriver PIM platform is the complete solution for brands and manufacturers looking to elevate the quality and impact of their printed literature. Having a single, scalable source of truth is foundational to the implementation of successful print practices, ensuring all the information you include in printed materials is clean, complete, and up-to-date. The inriver PIM provides a plug-in with Adobe InDesign, connecting your source of truth with your desktop publishing output. This streamlines product catalog production and accelerates the time it takes your product data to get from your database to your potential customers.
want to see the inriver PIM in action?
Schedule a personalized, guided demo with an inriver expert today to see how the inriver PIM can get more value from your product information.