- PIM stands for Product Information Management in digital
- PIM Software is a central repository for companies to store information about their products and give different users and systems access to it, for example:
- Product Marketing Team updates product fact sheets and Sales team can access these
- A manufacturer can give Distributor access to feed-in different formats to products they are allowed to sell
There are a variety of PIM software programs available that can be selected. Once a PIM system is selected, they need to be implemented and this requires syncing between the PIM, your ERP systems, and the website. However, a PIM software program is not the only option available to manufacturers and distributors wanting to exchange data.
Our solution to PIM: APIs
API stands for Application Programming Interface and is a set of functions that allows applications to access data and interact with external software components, operating systems, or microservices.
How would a PIM API work?
We would create an API endpoint to connect a manufacturer’s product catalog so a distributor can access using their own unique API key. The manufacturer can control which information is shared and have it mapped to match the corresponding fields in the distributor’s system.
- Anyone wanting to access a Manufacturer's product catalog will simply need to get their developers to query the API endpoint.
- An API endpoint for “recently updated SKUs” can be used to identify products that need to be updated by the distributor and this process can be automated.
- Each manufacturer can also provide a self-service portal that provides users with the option to structure a format of a spreadsheet download and then download it. -Manufacturers that create API endpoints will save time as Distributors can self-serve
- Distributors who invest in scripts to poll API endpoints will save time as new products and updates will happen automatically
If you are interested in learning more about our capabilities and how this could work for your organization, reach out to us to learn more!
