PIM vs PXM: which solution is right for your eCommerce store?

Article topics

1. What is PIM?
2. What is PXM?
3. PIM or PXM: which one should I use?

When you’re running an eCommerce store, it’s crucial to ensure a consistent and high-quality online experience. Of course, when you have a lot of product information to manage, this is often easier said than done!

Many eCommerce businesses use Product Information Management (PIM) and Product Experience Management (PXM) to manage their stores. Let’s examine these two software solutions and see which one is the right choice for your business.

What is PIM?

A PIM system acts as a central repository for all your product information, from technical specifications, SKUs, and descriptions to photos and videos. This means you can manage and update your data in one place, rather than relying on multiple spreadsheets and databases.

Let’s say you sell thousands of technical components. These products are available not only on your website, but data sheets and catalogues too. If you need to update your prices, the PIM database automatically pushes the changes to all the marketing channels you use.

It’s estimated that PIM can automate up to 84% of manual tasks, saving time and eliminating the risk of human error.

What is PXM?

A PXM system focuses on the customer experience you offer your online visitors. It allows you to easily create, personalise, and optimise your product content, providing a high-quality omnichannel experience for shoppers.

For example, let’s say you have an online clothing store. You can use PXM to create a range of product descriptions for each piece of clothing you sell, and serve different content to a different customer segment. So a customer that prioritises fashion will see one product description, and a customer that prioritises comfort will see another.

According to McKinsey, companies that get personalisation right can generate 40% more revenue. This makes PXM an easy and efficient way to foster customer loyalty and increase conversion rates.

PIM or PXM: which one should I use?

The first thing to bear in mind is that PIM and PXM isn’t the right option for all eCommerce businesses. If you sell a few products across one or two marketing channels, PIM and PXM may not bring you the cost and time efficiencies you’re looking for.

However, if you have many products on offer and use a wide range of marketing channels, PIM or PXM can be a wise investment.

So, should you focus on PIM or PXM? It depends on your ultimate goal as a business.

If your main aim is to manage and organise your product information more efficiently, PIM is the right choice for your eCommerce store. If your main objective is to improve the customer experience and personalise your marketing channels to your customer’s needs, then you should go with PXM.

It might be that you want to take advantage of the benefits that both systems bring. The good news is that there are systems that integrate PIM and PXM functionality together, meaning you can have the best of both worlds.

Most PIM and PXM systems integrate flawlessly into a range of different eCommerce platforms.

If you’re looking to seamlessly integrate PIM or PXM on your website, we can help. We have experience in developing, integrating, and managing high-quality systems that make it easy to manage your products and customer requirements, including the powerful and easy-to-use Pimcore solution.

Contact our team of specialists today and take the first step towards an organised, consistent, and user-friendly website.