The 10 Best PIM Software Tools for 2023

ChannelSight,

8th April ’22

Multichannel retailing has grown significantly in recent years. As a result, brands now require a reliable way to upload and manage products across multiple feeds. That’s where PIM software comes in.

As your product catalogue grows and your retailer network expands, PIM tools can help you manage your product data effectively. Here’s everything you need to know before choosing a solution.

What is PIM software?

PIM software – or Product Information Management software – helps eCommerce brands manage product content across all their digital platforms. From a single dashboard, they can upload, edit and apply SKU-level data to all their sales channels.

With PIM tools, brands simply upload core product details, such as descriptions, technical specifications, media files, metadata and marketing content to this central system. Then, it will automatically publish or update these details across all of their shopping channels.

The benefits of PIM software

Tons of benefits come from using centralised PIM software. Not only can it reduce costs and increase profits for your business, but it can also reduce your team’s workload, improve the customer experience and boost retailer relationships.

It saves time and increases productivity

By eliminating the need to manually add and update data across your retailer network, PIM tools save your team a ton of time. In fact, one study suggests it is 6 times faster to manage data with PIM software than traditional spreadsheets. Other research found that PIM software helps brands get their products to market twice as fast.

It reduces errors and increases consistency

By cutting the time it takes to upload product information to your retailer network, PIM tools give brands back the time they need to create high quality, on-brand content. This will reduce errors, drive consistency and improve conversions. However, if an inaccuracy does crop up, PIM software will allow you to correct it quickly. One statistic suggests that PIM tool users can address incorrect information 18 times faster than non-users.

It facilitates growth

By syncing product data across all platforms, PIM software helps you stay organised. As your sales channels increase and your product catalogue grows, this also makes it easier for your business to scale sustainably.

The 10 best PIM software tools for 2022

As the market grows, the number of PIM software options available are growing too. Below, we list ten reliable PIM tools for eCommerce brands, along with some of their standout features.

As the name suggests, Agility Multichannel is a great option for retailers who need a product information management tool for numerous sales channels. This solution is easy to use and integrates with lots of eCommerce platforms. Uniquely, it provides real-time analytics on your store’s financial data.

With a huge focus on project management, Akeneo is a great PIM software option for large teams. This tool makes it easy to track tasks and progress, so it’s ideal for brands with large catalogues or those that need to overhaul their product information management.

Plus, it offers a free, open source option for startups, as well as custom pricing for businesses that need access to more sophisticated features.

Pimcore is another open source PIM solution. While it doesn’t offer great project management features, it does focus on data modelling and omnichannel publishing.

It also offers developers a framework designed specifically for online stores, as well as other eCommerce tools and marketplace integrations. It also provides Digital Asset Management and Master Data Management solutions if you need to completely update your brand’s data management.

Syndigo offers users over 250,000 unique product attributes, which means it’s ideal for products that require extremely detailed consumer data. For example, brands in the automotive, food and pharma industries may benefit from this.

Syndigo is also notable for its in-depth content and store analytics. However, like some other PIM tools, Syndigo has a ‘per SKU’ pricing model, which can prove expensive for brands with large product catalogues.

inriver positions itself as the PIM software purpose-built for marketers. Its unique selling points include a campaign planning feature and insightful analytics. It even suggests actions to help you optimise listings and quickly improve conversions. It also provides supplier onboarding tools, which connect suppliers, vendors and other partners.

Catsy is a great option for kickstarting your store’s product information management. It offers a simple onboarding process, as well as audit capabilities and retailer requirements. This ensures that errors are quickly addressed.

Catsy is also a great option for brands operating throughout Europe as it supports lots of European languages, as well as Japanese and Chinese.

Plytix is another PIM solution with team collaboration at its heart. As well as bulk editing, unlimited product attributes and a user-friendly interface, it allows brands to easily create connections between different products to boost cross merchandising efforts.

Plytix offers a free subscription, which is great for businesses just getting started with product information management. But it also offers a paid plan for larger brands.

Informatica offers a wide range of AI-powered data management solutions for corporations. Its PIM software includes data mapping features, automated content checks and role-based dashboards.

It also offers a supplier onboarding feature, which it says cuts the time it takes to onboard new vendors from weeks to days.

Feedonomics provides you with unique insights for each eCommerce marketplace that you sell your products on. Notably, it also partners with the likes of Google, Amazon and Walmart Connect to provide users with remarketing opportunities. Advertisers can sync their product data with hundreds of search, social and affiliate advertising platforms.

Productsup is a great option for marketing teams as it features flexible drag-and-drop templates for popular sales channels. It also comes with over 2,000 integrations and welcomes custom integration requests, so you can rest reassured it will work alongside all your channels of choice – including advertising and social commerce platforms.

Other tools to use alongside your PIM software

PIM tools can really up your team’s productivity and transform your eCommerce marketing game – especially if you use them in conjunction with complementary tools. Here are some worth adding to your eCommerce tech stack.

Digital shelf software

A Digital Shelf solution will take your multichannel content compliance to the next level, but it will also help your brand gain real-time oversight of ratings and reviews, search placements, pricing and inventory across all channels too. This can help brands maximise their sales by ensuring products are always available, presented properly and priced optimally.

You can also implement a Where to Buy tool to integrate positive ratings into your website content, banner ads and other digital media.

Product lifecycle management software

PLM software helps brands track and control the introduction of new products to market. By using these tools to manage the entire lifecycle of a product – from development and design, through to manufacturing and marketing – brands can ensure each product stays relevant for as long as possible.

Inventory management software

End-to-end inventory management software allows brands to easily track orders, inventory levels, sales and fulfillment. By connecting the entire supply chain, it allows brands to see how much stock is on its way, in warehouses and going out.

This can help with many areas of business, such as preparing new products for market and prioritising data management tasks. Just be sure the solution you choose integrates with other core eCommerce tools.

Final thoughts

Taking an omnichannel approach is essential in today’s eCommerce environment. That’s why the Product Information Management market is growing 25% annually and the use of PIM tools is on the rise – especially in the retail sector. So, if your brand hasn’t implemented PIM software yet, now is the time to get started.