Product Information Management Pain Points (Part 3)
It’s a simple concept to understand – the more places merchants are available, the broader their potential reach. If all retailers have is a website, they won’t be able to engage people who shop at Amazon and other marketplaces, in physical stores, through mail-in catalogs, on the phone or through any other means.
At the same time, managing inventory across all these different channels can be difficult, particularly when taking product information into account. When product information management (PIM) fails, merchants are left with an incongruent shopping experience that differs from channel to channel. Given the sheer number of different avenues people use to shop for their favorite products, this can result in some dissatisfied customers.
In the first two parts of this series, we addressed some of the major challenges merchants face with PIM, including complex catalog parsing, duplicate content, minimum order quantity and price rules. In the third and final entry, we’ll address the remaining two pain points: grouped products and product suppression.
1.Grouped products
Bundles are a quick and easy way for retailers to offload slow-moving and remnant inventory. Merchants can attach unpopular items to hot sellers to create an attractive bundle for customers that not only sells well but also helps free up space in the warehouse. However, managing these created bundles can be a tricky proposition without the right tools.
Product management software helps retailers group products together into a bundle. In many ways, this is similar to cross-selling and connecting products that are commonly bought together, as addressed in part two of the series. However, with the right product management software, the bundles are created as one purchase, which can help with merchandising and tracking efforts.
2. Product suppression
Drop shippers have gained a lot of popularity as of late because they are a low-cost means of offering even more inventory without actually acquiring more product. The merchant will simply pass orders straight to the drop shipper, and allow the drop shipper to take care of the rest.
This works well until drop shippers stop stocking a product, which can lead to some issues on retail websites if the merchant doesn’t notice it right away.When a retailer receives an inventory update, they need product management software to detect when existing SKUs in their system have an updated inventory of zero, so the software can automatically deactivate the product on the store. This avoids scenarios when customers end up purchasing inventory that’s discontinued and out of stock.
Do you experience the pains of product management? Give us a call at 410-276-4600 to learn how we can eliminate these pains and help grow your business.