Can wholesalers afford NOT to have a PIM System?  

Businesses across the wholesalers and distribution industries are constantly being squeezed by ever-increasing operating costs. Whether that’s a result of high fuel and energy prices, staff remuneration or cuts in public sector budgets. But, what about those indirect costs that are harder to measure?

Operational Inefficiencies

You may not realise it, but the cost of poor product information can be significant. In fact, it is estimated that businesses are spending between 10% and 30% of revenue handling data quality issues alone. That’s because the majority of your staff are having to spend time performing repetitive, time-consuming tasks such as data entry and document management.

Manual data entry such as this consumes massive amounts of time and crushes overall productivity. Often leading to disengaged employees, which is a key contributor to staff turnover and subsequently increasing recruitment and training costs.

Reputational Costs and Compliance Failures

However, the financial implication of poor information management is not the only cost wholesalers need to be aware of. Poor quality product information, or lack thereof, also poses a reputational risk, especially for food and drink wholesalers. That is because manual data entry and the use of spreadsheets increase errors, inaccuracies and inconsistencies.

Non-compliance with industry regulations, whereby businesses are legally required to publish particular product information, can also damage brand reputation. There have been some unfortunate incidents reported in the past about the lack of this information made to public, and the consequences thereof. It highlighted the communication issues many food and drink businesses face when it comes to gathering, storing and publishing product information and the need for more transparency.

Read More: Does your Product Information Match Your Promises?

Missed Opportunities for Growth

Furthermore, without the ability to effectively manage product information and adapt to market demands, wholesalers may miss opportunities for growth and expansion. They may struggle to introduce new products, enter new markets, or capitalise on emerging trends, limiting their potential for revenue generation.

Lost customers

As a result of all of this, customers become frustrated at not finding the information that they need. This creates mistrust towards your business, and ultimately, leads to valued customers moving to competitors with better-quality product information.

High-quality and comprehensive product information is crucial for managing customer expectations and ensuring active customer engagement. The first step is to ditch the spreadsheets and invest in a Product Information Management (PIM) system.

The Solution

Oporteo PIM is an essential platform for wholesalers, with it you can:

• Centralise product data: Eliminating the need for scattered spreadsheets and ensuring staff and customers have access to the latest information.

• Streamline workflows: Making adding, reviewing, and approving product data faster and more efficient

• Provide quality data insights: Enabling businesses to monitor data completeness and quality through analytics tools

• Provide consistency across all your sales channels: Making it faster and easier for customers to find what they’re looking for

Why wholesalers need a separate PIM System

You may wonder why you need to invest in an additional PIM platform if you already have an ERP system which holds basic product information. However, a specific PIM System not only holds more product information than an ERP, it is also better designed to distribute this information to all your online and offline sales channels. Ensuring consistency and bolstering brand integrity. High-quality data means fewer mistakes, happier customers, and a better bottom line for your business.

Oporteo PIM is more than just another platform; it’s a pivotal resource for wholesale operators seeking efficiency and accuracy in data management.

Find out more 

Are you seeing a proliferation of product information spreadsheets? Is updating your website, catalogues or other sales channels taking too long? Are you unsure if all the legally required information for your products is being displayed? Contact us to discuss our Product Information Management Solutions.