Want to realize more efficiency in your content supply chain by integrating PIM and DAM? Looking to make the case for PIM-DAM integration in your retail or CPG organization? We are behind you 100%!
The right PIM + DAM workflow integration can increase productivity and save costs. These are the key financial and operational benefits of integrating a Product Information Management platform with Digital Asset Management platform. So you can begin to build a business case and prepare the required management buy-in.
Operational benefits of PIM-DAM integration.
Operationally, a successful PIM DAM integration will streamline content creation and distribution workflows and save significant time each week.
This helps retail and CPG brands achieve greater efficiency in a highly competitive market.
Workflow automation
This is the biggest benefit of PIM-DAM integration. Integrated software drives automated processes that reduce the inefficiencies associated with manual repetitive processes.
An example we often see is the creation of a shop catalog. PIM-DAM integration enables InDesign automation possible, allowing retailers to dramatically reduce the amount of time required to create in-store marketing materials.
With the right configuration, you can create a template that pulls the latest product information from your PIM platform and digital assets from your DAM platform so you can easily and quickly create a catalog automatically. With this output, a designer need only refine the artwork before sending it to the printer. Something that now only has to take hours instead of days needed to completely reshape and edit everything.
When you work with an outside design firm, it can significantly reduce design costs. Or if you use an in-house designer, it means they can use the freed up time for other projects – creating more creative content without additional staff costs.
Discover five ways to make managing the content supply chain in retail easier.
More time for value-added tasks
Once you have eliminated unnecessary manual processes and increased productivity – without additional staff costs – you will have more time for value-added tasks. That means the kind of tasks that give your company a competitive advantage.
In the retail content supply chain, this can mean more time for creativity and strategy that is the foundation for your company’s success. Consider, for example, coming up with original creative concepts for campaigns that create brand awareness, engagement and loyalty.
Not only does this sharpen your competitive edge in the marketplace, it also motivates and challenges your staff more – which ultimately means your employees will be happier as a result, able to do their jobs better. Given the high cost of employee turnover – not to mention the disruption it causes – this is a significant benefit.
Read more about post-pandemic challenges facing NOW is the right time for reatail to prioritize PIM-DAM integration.
More scalable processes
Efficient cloud-based content workflows enable you to build your dream content team based on talents anywhere in the world. And they can be just as creative and productive at home, in the office or wherever inspiration strikes!
Consistent workflows – supported by technology accessible anywhere – make your content supply chain more scalable and you can respond to opportunities faster and better. You can also take advantage of more cost-effective suppliers around the world.
Seamless workflows also help with another threat to productivity: context switching. Working manually with unconnected systems disrupts the worker’s focus and undermines their concentration. By integrating platforms, people are “in the zone” longer and lose less time switching between systems.
Faster time to market
Ecommerce marketers know that whoever brings products or services to market first often gets the largest market share. An efficient PIM-DAM integration can reduce content creation, approval and publication from days to hours. This means getting to market faster and leveraging the competitive advantage.
Not only that, but you give your customers a better experience by meeting – and hopefully exceeding – their expectation of a seamless omnichannel experience – where they can switch between website, app and social media and have the exact same experience. PIM-DAM integration makes this easier than ever by giving your creatives access to in-sync product information, digital assets and the latest campaign illustrations and images.
Risk reduction
PIM-DAM integration also reduces the risk of human error from repeatedly re-entering information into multiple systems. This is a huge risk for retailers managing thousands – or hundreds of thousands – of products, where information can change quickly. With multiple data storage systems – such as an unlinked PIM and DAM – this can lead to not up to date information ending up in marketing materials.
This can lead to customer confusion and irritation and to cart abandonment if images or prices are incorrect. Or in the case of allergen information, it can have much more serious consequences.
With PIM-DAM integration, product data is entered – or manually entered – into the Product Information Management system only once. And that data is synchronized with the data in the Digital Asset Management system.
This means less manual data entry and associated risk. More consistency in your marketing materials and touch points, as all creatives have access to the same single source of up-to-date data.
Discouraged by the prospect of integrating PIM with DAM? Don’t let that happen!
Learn how to prepare for PIM + DAM integration
Financial benefits of PIM DAM integration.
The operational benefits described above will boost your bottom line. But there are more explicit and obvious cost-benefits of PIM-DAM integration worth mentioning….
Higher cost efficiency
PIM-DAM integration is more cost-effective because it creates more efficient and productive workflows. You eliminate low-value processes that can be easily automated and completed by robotic processes, machine learning and AI, saving on personnel costs previously associated with that work. As we saw in the catalog automation example above, those time savings can be significant. Companies such as Yamaha, Quantore and Monier have achieved savings of up to 75% on catalog and brochure layout in specific cases.
You also eradicate the waste associated with duplication of effort. This is caused when teams work in silos and do not pool their resources effectively. PIM-DAM integration helps teams collaborate by providing a centralized single source of truth for both product information and digital assets such as illustrations.
Lower personnel costs
By increasing staff productivity – through automation and more streamlined workflows – staff can get more done during work hours. This means you can do the same work with fewer resources, or use existing resources to produce more work.
Optimization of resources is an important aspect of cost-effective businesses. Another way PIM-DAM integration supports this is by eliminating silos and creating standardized workflows, meaning that when personnel are not fully utilized in one team, they can easily be moved to another.
But that’s not the only advantage. A survey by Cornell University for Qatalog found that 56% of respondents find it difficult to track information across multiple applications and – on a normal workday – a person wastes 59 minutes searching for information across different systems. If each team member just had an extra hour a day for projects that move the needle for your business – instead of searching for missing digital assets or cross-referencing product data – how much faster would you get to market, bring in those sales and your revenue?
We hope this article has helped identify the key operational and financial benefits of integrating PIM with DAM.
If you really want to take the next step and empower your management team, download our Executive Briefing on the financial benefits of PIM-DAM integration .If you want to learn more about the process, contact us for a free consultation with one of our tech experts.
