Product Information Management (PIM) gives high-quality product data to businesses and customers for better e-commerce growth of business and in making informed product purchase decisions respectively. In today’s advanced technology where B2B and B2C markets are growing rapidly, PIM is important for getting new e-commerce opportunities, growth, and better customer experience.
PIM can help businesses and customers- by giving better product experience, product categorization, optimization of product information, customer loyalty, building an everlasting partnership between customer-business, and giving a competitive edge over competitors. In many ways, PIM System plays an important role in B2B and B2C.
Before getting into the core, let’s discuss how B2B and B2C differ from each other.
Key Differences Between B2B and B2C Marketing
Business to business (B2B) marketing is usually based on process-driven decisions, whereas business to consumer (B2C) marketing is typically focused on emotional decisions.
These search marketing variations are essential for B2B and B2C. To understand these differences, digital marketing firms must develop a high-performance business marketing strategy. Whether trying to create healthy relationships or strengthen connectivity, marketers must maximize their effectiveness by using various approaches.
1. Relationships with the Customer
B2C marketing aims to drive customers to a brand’s website to buy regularly. To achieve this, the website must have a seamless user experience. In marketing, B2B businesses’ first goal is to generate leads.
Developing these personal and business relationships is of utmost importance because these significantly affect a business. B2C businesses put a high emphasis on efficiency, so they don’t waste much time attracting their customers.
2. Branding
Branding starts with a clear presentation and distribution of goods and services. In B2B search marketing, having a presence in the market through your personality can help drive brand awareness and lead generation.
Branding is critical in B2C marketing because it creates trust with the customer, confirms credibility, and motivates customers to purchase the product. It is one of the most effective B2B strategies.
3. The Decision-Making Process
In the B2B decision-making process, companies can consult with others to decide whether it is a good match for both parties. During this decision-making process, it is essential for B2B customers to assess the company’s needs or to decide on individual employees’ needs. They can be divided into emotional and logical needs.
In a B2C situation, you can boost your ROI by leveraging their technological skills in the conversion funnel. To secure a potential customer, a B2C marketer must produce powerful ads that offer the customer the need for a product. Buyers tend to be more versatile when deciding which product to purchase.
4. Targeting Audiences
B2B businesses focus on a specific niche market. It is essential to recognize the target audience’s demographics. You need to collect data on your target group to attract them. The primary aim of B2B Marketers is to achieve lead generation.
Unlike B2B companies, B2C businesses target a wider market and thus need a larger number of customers to reach. Acquiring new clients is an essential component of all marketing strategies.
5. The Conversion Time
B2C customers prefer to buy quickly after seeing an advertisement, although B2B customers are hesitant to buy. This represents the efficiency of the research method.
When making business decisions, people prefer to make impulsive purchases instead of strategic decisions. After all, changing business activities is more complicated—it can mean requiring the whole team to learn new technologies, and it may be much harder to modify once purchased.
Role of Product Information Management (PIM) in B2B and B2C Markets
Well, a good Product Information Management (PIM) platform must be capable of storing product data from both B2B and B2C types of businesses. Here we have discussed a few vital roles played by PIM in B2B and B2C markets.
Role of Product Information Management (PIM) in B2B
For B2B (Business to business) PIM plays a vital role in many ways, some of which are described below:
1. Precise Product Information
Product Information Management development is the central hub of information as it stores all the relevant information on its central platform. This precise information can facilitate the new product launching, helps in upgrading the product, and businesses (who are customers in B2B) can get relevant product information easily. Precise product information can benefit both.
Whenever businesses want to purchase products from other businesses through an e-commerce platform, precise product information is very important. Precise product information is securely stored- which is used when the product has to be launched, so the next purchase step would not be hindered.
2. Customer retention
For every customer (Direct customer or B2B) perfect and detailed information about the product is the first step for selling a product on the e-commerce platform. When a customer or business (in B2B) does not get the relevant information they would switch the platform and might choose your competitor who is in running competition with the same products.
But when necessary product information is available to make an informed decision of purchase, the customers are more likely to retain themselves. Retained customers are a success for any business. To retain and attract targeted customers/clients, precise information about the product is necessary and PIM plays an important role in it.
3. Technical Specifications
The B2B process does not end with Product information and many more things are related to one another. B2B can also be benefited from PIM in getting technical specifications and information on digital assets. Digital assets have features for visualization of the product, which will help B2B consumers in knowing the product before actually using it.
Precise technical information is readily available through PIM. This information is time-saving and requires minimal effort in storing only through PIM. When the technical solution is available digital assets and technical specifications for any digital problems do not create chaos.
4. Catalog Management
When a business is associated with more than one product, then it becomes a little tricky in handling all the product information without PIM. Multi-product information is one of the complex issues regarding B2B. To stand ahead of your competitors and solve complex issues, PIM is there to save your day. PIM can create personalized and standardized product catalogs.
Using data analysis, PIM can let its users use the product catalog and give information on customer reviews on specific products and suggest what other alternative option of that product is suitable for that customer. Thus this advanced system can help you in getting positive feedback from customers- which in the end will increase customer retention.
Role of Product Information Management (PIM) in B2C
For B2C (Business to customer), PIM is equally important and some of its main important roles are described below:
1. Choosing Targeted Customer easily
When PIM has a pool of data in it, it also has the review of customers – who are ecstatic about the product or are feeling miserable after using the product. This information helps in knowing your targeted customers; if a customer is happy with the product then it helps in customer retention and if not then product updating could be done.
Thus, the stored data in PIM can give you insights into customers’ minds- after knowing their feedback and updating the product is possible. Thus, PIM helps in reducing returns of products and also helps in satisfying customers with products of their needs.
2. Helps in increasing value and revenue
When customers are satisfied after purchasing a product- by getting an accurate product description that has boosted their product purchase process, they will be naturally inclined toward your e-commerce platform. Their inclination will add value to your brand, your value will increase, and eventually, you will generate more revenues.
This Increment in business value and generating more revenues is only possible because PIM provides accurate and on-time information to your customers. The old customer retention will attract new customers, for buying products through your platform. Excited buyers and positive feedback from customers help in creating more revenues.
3. Right product information
The precise product information helps both: businesses and customers. Customers can have access to information for busing decisions and businesses can have insight into the product’s current status information. PIM holds all the information about the product, so when the product is about to launch on a platform, one could have all the necessary information on the central platform of PIM.
PIM’s feature also shows the progress of the product and when it will be completed, when the product is under the project building. Right information saves up time, energy, and effort- so one can take necessary actions in no time. PIM’s feature also sacks unnecessary information about the product, so one can have only relevant filtered data of the product.
Summary
The Product Information Management (PIM) platform never forgets to play its role and helps businesses and customers in both B2B and B2C. It helps them by providing accurate information, giving a better customer experience, choosing targeted customers, creating catalog management, helps in generating more revenues, helping in customer retention, and giving technical specifications.
PIM plays an important role in B2B and B2C, in a way so that both would benefit from it. PIM might have some hidden benefits too for B2C and B2B, but above mentioned are evident benefits of PIM.
