5 signs it’s time to upgrade your PIM software

1. Sluggish response to market opportunities 

At a time when market opportunities can vanish as quickly as they appear, the ability to react swiftly can make or break a business’s success. Traditional on-premises PIM solutions can be cumbersome to update, leading to delays in responding to new demands or opportunities from retailers or customers. If, for example, given the option to expand the details for production descriptions on a retailer’s site, your competitors can provide more product data promptly, it’s a clear sign that your PIM system is holding you back. 

A cloud-native multi-tenant SaaS PIM solution allows brands to adapt quickly to market changes. With the scalable infrastructure of a future-ready PIM, businesses can easily adjust in real-time, ensuring they stay competitive and seize new opportunities as they arise. Adding new product attributes to bolster exposure on the digital shelf should be a self-service task that business users can execute without relying on IT. 

2. Cost and complexity of upgrades hindering growth 

Maintaining and upgrading on-premises PIM solutions often comes with significant time and cost burdens. These expenses can put a strain on an organization’s resources, making it challenging to invest in essential business growth initiatives. 

Moving to a cloud-native multi-tenant SaaS PIM solution shifts the burden of system maintenance and upgrades to the service provider. This not only reduces IT costs but also frees up IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine maintenance tasks. It ensures that the PIM system remains up-to-date, secure, and aligned with growth goals, without causing bottlenecks. 

3. Inflexible model for future needs 

The business landscape is constantly evolving. New regulations, market expansions, and emerging technologies can significantly impact how you manage your product information. Sticking with a rigid, on-premises PIM system could leave you ill-prepared for these future challenges. 

A future-ready solution is designed to adapt and scale with your business. It can easily incorporate updates to comply with new regulations or support your expansion into new markets. Whether an organization is acquiring a new company, or line of business, or launching into new product categories, PIM solutions with flexible data models will be better equipped to evolve and meet new data needs. 

4. Limited collaborative capabilities 

In today’s interconnected world, collaboration is key. On-premises PIM solutions often lack the collaborative features and real-time data access that are critical for efficient cross-functional teamwork. This limitation can hinder your ability to create and distribute accurate product information across your organization and with external partners. 

The PIM solution of the future fosters collaboration by providing a centralized platform accessible from anywhere. It enables teams to work together seamlessly, ensuring that product information is consistently accurate and up-to-date. 

5. Missing out on the benefits of modern AI 

Reflecting on the original reasons why PIM was born, the battle to maintain data quality and accuracy remains a challenge for businesses relying on outdated PIM systems. Relying on human oversight to quality check that product data is correctly syndicated to the digital shelf is not scalable or effective in the long run. 

Modern PIM solutions are at the forefront of leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to alleviate the burden on users. These advanced systems incorporate cutting-edge features for data quality and validation. Through automation and the use of intelligent data validation tools, they have the power to significantly reduce errors and elevate the overall quality of your product data. inriver’s new breed of PIM solution has AI-powered data validation for product syndication and AI-driven product description writing capabilities designed to improve the performance of our customers’ businesses. 

inriver: The time is now

Enterprise businesses that still rely on on-premises PIM solutions may find themselves at a disadvantage in today’s dynamic business environment. Upgrading to a cloud-native multi-tenant SaaS PIM solution equips organizations with the flexibility, scalability, and agility needed to thrive in the digital era. inriver’s new breed of PIM solution brings a uniquely comprehensive approach to product information management, powering the entire product journey.

We are the only cloud-native, composable PIM system that fully empowers businesses from product origin to end-of-life. The inriver platform is also the only PIM on the market to offer both built-in API-based syndication and digital shelf analytics capabilities, giving you complete control of your e-commerce operations. To learn more about how to position your business for long-term resilience with the inriver PIM solution, reach out to inriver today for a custom demo with one of our experts.