From Product Information to Product Experience: Why Your Customer Engagement Depends on It
In today's digital retail landscape, managing thousands of products through a custom system may seem sufficient—until you examine your web analytics. When customer engagement metrics begin to decline, the issue often isn't the quality of your products but how product information is presented and experienced across channels. For many retail organizations, the shift from traditional Product Information Management to Product Experience Management represents a critical turning point in reversing declining engagement and driving business growth.
The Hidden Cost of Product Data Chaos Custom systems built years ago were designed to solve yesterday's problems. They manage basic product data—SKUs, prices, descriptions—but struggle with the complexity of modern omnichannel retail. When product information originates from multiple vendors, each using different formats and attributes, the result is inconsistent data that confuses customers and undermines trust. Consider a common scenario: two vendors supply the same product, but one lists "color" while another uses "colour." One provides detailed specifications while another
offers minimal information. Your custom system accepts this data without standardization, creating a fragmented customer experience. Shoppers searching for products encounter incomplete information, inconsistent descriptions, and missing attributes—leading directly to the disengagement your analytics are revealing.
Understanding the PIM/PXM Evolution Traditional Product Information Management focuses on storing and managing product data. It answers the question: "What information do we have about this product?" While PIM/PXM systems include these foundational capabilities, Product Experience Management takes a broader view, asking: "How can we present this product information to create compelling customer experiences across every touchpoint?" This distinction matters because customer expectations have evolved. Today's shoppers demand rich, consistent product information whether they're browsing on mobile devices, desktop computers, or in physical stores. They expect detailed specifications, multiple images, customer reviews, and contextual information that helps them make confident purchasing decisions.
Real-World Impact: A Case Study A global retailer's loyalty platform subsidiary faced exactly these challenges with over 40,000 products from hundreds of vendors. Each vendor used different systems and provided inconsistent attributes. Analysts spent countless hours reconciling duplicate data and piecing together product information fragments. The manual processes consumed resources while time-to-market stretched to six weeks per product. The organization partnered with an experienced implementation firm to integrate Stibo Systems PIM, specifically the STEP (Stibo Systems Enterprise Platform). This platform provided centralized master data management with critical capabilities including attribute standardization, workflow management, multilingual translation, and real-time data delivery to downstream systems. The business impact was substantial. Time-to-market decreased by 50 percent, dropping from six weeks to three weeks. Administrators gained visibility into draft-stage products, enabling them to identify and resolve bottlenecks quickly. Most importantly, the unified attribute structure dramatically improved customer search experiences, directly addressing the engagement challenges that prompted the initiative.
Why Expert Implementation Matters
Implementing Stibo Systems PIM requires more than technical expertise—it demands deep understanding of retail operations, data governance, and change management. The platform offers powerful features including import managers for external data feeds, configurable attribute management, approval workflows, and flexible export capabilities. However, realizing value from these features requires careful planning and execution. Experienced consulting and IT services firms bring proven methodologies for data migration, attribute mapping, and system integration. They understand how to connect PIM platforms with existing e-commerce systems, ERP platforms, and content management systems. They can implement transformers that convert disparate vendor data formats into unified structures, and establish delivery connectors that provide real-time product information across channels.
Building Your Business Case When evaluating the shift from custom product management to a comprehensive PIM/PXM solution, focus on measurable business outcomes. Reduced time-to-market translates directly to competitive advantage and revenue opportunity. Improved customer engagement metrics—time on site, pages per session, conversion rates—indicate that better product experiences are resonating with shoppers. Resource efficiency represents another significant benefit. Manual data reconciliation, spreadsheet management, and vendor coordination consume staff time that could be redirected to strategic initiatives. Automated workflows and standardized processes reduce operational costs while improving data quality.
Taking the Next Step Declining customer engagement signals an urgent need for change. Your custom system served its purpose, but modern retail demands more sophisticated product experience management. Platforms like Stibo Systems PIM provide the foundation, but success depends on partnering with firms that understand both the technology and your business challenges. The question isn't whether to evolve from basic product information management to comprehensive product experience management—your analytics have already answered that. The question is how quickly you can implement a solution that revitalizes customer engagement and positions your retail business for sustained growth.
