Turn the flow of product information into revenue

An e-commerce business’s ability to grow revenue doesn’t just depend on its sales and ability to expand into new markets.

Data silos are, in fact, one of the biggest challenges an e-commerce business can face when trying to grow revenue.

In this article, we’ll look at what a product data silo is, the problems it can cause for your business, and how using a Product Information Management (PIM) platform can not only break those silos down, but unlock access to significant operational efficiencies and commercial benefits.

What is a product data silo?

Product data silos happen when different departments use methods like spreadsheets and legacy systems to store and manage data. These systems are used in an unconnected fashion, so there’s no single source of truth for the product data, and each team works with data in isolation from other departments..

The issues product data silos create for businesses

Several team-specific problems can arise within e-commerce businesses that have data silos:

• Your marketing team may be accidentally using outdated or inaccurate data in promotional materials.
• Your sales team are unsure about the latest specs, benefits, and features associated with your products. They don’t know which internal data source they can rely on, and often receive conflicting information about the same product.
• Your e-commerce team may be stuck manually updating listings, which takes considerably more time as they need to check and reference multiple sources to decipher which product data to use.

All of the above can contribute to a disjointed, unsatisfactory shopping experience for your customers, causing higher levels of complaints, bad reviews, and customer returns — not to mention fewer sales.

How a PIM solution can break down data silos

Here are just a small handful of the benefits for businesses when they introduce a PIM platform to their organization.

1. All product data can now be kept in one place: A modern PIM solution allows businesses to centralize all of their data and store it in one location. This creates a ‘single source of truth’ for all product information, with easy secure access provided for different teams, wherever they’re based in the world.
2. Levels of collaboration increase: The use of a PIM system provides a natural boost to team collaboration. This is because your employees are now able to access, enrich, update, and share product information without any delays or confusion.
3. Products can reach the marketplace faster: With the PIM system now drastically reducing the time and effort needed for new product campaigns, products can get to market far more quickly — no matter the number of markets or sales channels involved.
4. The overall customer experience improves: Because your product data is now consistent and accurate across every customer touchpoint, customers’ expectations are being met more frequently, leading to higher conversion rates and an increased level of customer trust in your brand.

Let’s take a quick look at an Inriver customer success story now. 

Like so many other e-commerce businesses, SAIL, a Canadian retailer of outdoor goods, needed to eliminate data silos as they were causing endless issues with internal workflows, product content bottlenecks, and wasting resources.

After SAIL implemented Inriver PIM:

• A secure and reliable single source of truth could be put in place for all product data. Workflow processes like updating and enriching product data could now be optimized.
• Organizational data silos were broken down, leading to more efficient internal workflows and greater collaboration levels across teams.
• Online product visibility increased from 70% to nearly 98%.

SAIL’s digital transformation ultimately enabled it to provide a superior digital shopping experience to customers and boost sales revenue — all as a result of improving its data operations with Inriver PIM.

“Now we are more efficient than ever, achieving better results with a leaner team.”

— Francis Laroche, SAIL
Read the full SAIL customer story

How using a PIM system helps revenue growth

Investing in a PIM solution for your organization isn’t just about creating an environment for smoother internal workflows and better collaboration; it’s a strategic step that can deliver far more in terms of ROI, as well as providing a boost to revenue growth.

• If your brand’s products are listed with more complete, accurate, engaging information, they’re more likely to sell. 
• Your products also become more discoverable across your various sales channels for the same reasons. 
• With better product information attached to each product listing, customer expectations are more likely to be met. This can lead to a reduction in customer returns and a lower financial cost when it comes to refunding and processing those returns.

With less time spent on ‘data wrangling’, your teams have more time to focus on important activities that help drive revenue.

Inriver eliminates data silos and powers scalable, future-proof business growth

Siloed product data slows down your teams, hinders product go-to-market times, and generally holds your business back from growing its revenue. Introducing Inriver’s powerful PIM solution breaks down these silos and quickly empowers teams to work in a smarter, more efficient, collaborative way. 

It’s therefore no overstatement to say that Inriver PIM is a critical component of your e-commerce business’s martech stack. With leading-edge technology and the ability to scale and adapt in a complex digital economy, Inriver PIM is a powerful enabler for your business; helping it to meet the ever-shifting needs and expectations of your customers while also acting as the driver for revenue growth.