PIMtalk: Stop the Profit Leak: How Product Data Can Help B2B Manufacturers Win the Aftermarket

For many manufacturers, the initial equipment sale is only the beginning of the customer relationship. Higher margins and the real Customer for Life opportunity live in the aftermarket. Yet many B2B and industrial manufacturers are leaving that value on the table. Fragmented product data, rising buyer expectations, and parts‑findability issues create friction at every step. Add in the growing DIY trend and customers are increasingly sourcing parts elsewhere.

Inriver’s Joakim Gavelin is back hosting a PIMtalk episode where you’ll learn how leading manufacturers are turning aftermarket complexity into a strategic revenue engine. Together with industry experts Julie Oehme (Aperture Labs) and Stephen Peckous (Inriver), we have unpacked how to control your digital product story, eliminate the friction that drives customers away, and build a scalable aftermarket ecosystem that captures revenue instead of leaking it.

If your organization faces challenges with parts identification, disconnected documentation, superseded SKUs, dealer confusion, or inconsistent data across channels, this session is built for you.

What we covered:

• Why the aftermarket represents your biggest untapped margin opportunity: understand the shift in buyer behavior, the rise of digital expectations, and how CLV grows when aftermarket becomes a core product offering.
• Where profit leaks happen — and how to plug them: learn some root causes of aftermarket friction, from tribal knowledge to SKU supersession drift to fragmented product stories.
• How to map a modern aftermarket customer journey: get a clear breakdown of the content and data required at every step — from identifying a need to evaluating compatibility to install & upkeep.
• The systems and data model required to win: hear how leading manufacturers centralize product information to ensure every channel (dealers, distributors, marketplaces) tells the same, accurate story.
• Your Monday‑morning playbook: five actionable steps you can start immediately to modernize your aftermarket, reduce returns, and capture more recurring revenue.