[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/02\/13\/pids-product-information-distribution-services\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/02\/13\/pids-product-information-distribution-services\/","headline":"Product Information Distribution Services: “PIDS” is the next e-commerce buzzword","name":"Product Information Distribution Services: “PIDS” is the next e-commerce buzzword","description":"Product data distribution is about to become a hero among brands as businesses seek to manage the distribution of all their content from a single location.","datePublished":"2019-02-13","dateModified":"2022-02-17","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/marcel-hollerbach\/#Person","name":"Marcel Hollerbach","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/marcel-hollerbach\/","identifier":329,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3dd6cded649a5fa638e086e7bbd3e140c6119fdd2c86b31c4120a87294bb49e4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3dd6cded649a5fa638e086e7bbd3e140c6119fdd2c86b31c4120a87294bb49e4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/thumbnail-bce45783e0d006277ea83404f037eaf3.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/thumbnail-bce45783e0d006277ea83404f037eaf3.jpeg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/02\/13\/pids-product-information-distribution-services\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/","name":"Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Commerce","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q26643"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/e-commerce\/","name":"E-Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/E-commerce","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q484847"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/omnichannel-commerce\/","name":"Omnichannel Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Omnichannel"]},"Retail Trends, Data, News"],"wordCount":893,"keywords":["Content Management","PIM | Product Information Management"],"articleBody":"No business is on just one or two channels, even if they believe they are. (In fact, if you\u2019re only on a handful, you may already be behind.)What\u2019s more likely is you don\u2019t fully realize just how many channels your business requires to function. The customer journey can take your audience through a number of channels, including:Retailers and wholesalers, like Walmart and WalgreensTransactional sites and marketplaces, like Amazon, eBay, and Google ExpressSearch engines, social channels, and affiliate sitesEmail and other nurturing channelsPrint catalogsEach and every individual channel requires product information. Somehow, many of the biggest companies in the world are still using legacy technologies for this, which means that someone is opening up big, bloated Excel spreadsheets and manually editing product content for dozens to hundreds of channels. This is often an intern, someone in IT who has better things to do, or an agency. Regardless, whoever is in charge of these processes is not usually a \u201cmaster\u201d of product data distribution.If this situation is so inefficient, why does it continue to happen?It\u2019s simple: Upgrading dinosaur databases and methods in medium and large businesses can be incredibly difficult.Making real changes is not just about implementing a new tool or launching a campaign. Brands and retailers need to understand that the game has fundamentally changed. Manual product content management and distribution methods will not be a viable solution for any commerce business in the future.How many touchpoints and channels can one business handle?For those individuals not personally working with product content and feeds, it\u2019s easy to overlook just how complex and messy it can be. You have a clean, \u201cGolden Record\u201d of data somewhere (for example, your PIM), so can\u2019t you just distribute that to new channels around the globe? Not quite.In reality, it can take several weeks to understand exactly what a channel\u2019s requirements are and then tailor the data to those requirements. Of course, this is just the basics. To drive sales and performance marketing efforts, there will need to be additional data (attributes for mobile, channel-specific attributes, or those used to better define the product) and optimizations (more clickable titles, custom labels for marketing campaign management, etc).A few channels can be managed manually by one intern. A business with 50 products can definitely manage it reliably and successfully with manual spreadsheets. Now, consider the hundreds of touchpoints that a customer will reach along their journey. Preparing those, measuring their efficacy, and constantly optimizing for better performance\u2014that\u2019s not a manual job, nor is it one we that can be achieved with a cobbled-together, piecemeal syndication strategy.Product Information Distribution Services (PIDS): Centralizing the distribution of product contentThere\u2019s a reason Forrester just recently coined the term \u201cPIDS,\u201d or \u201cProduct Information Distribution Services.\u201d Despite the great capabilities of PXM, PDM, and PIM, there is still a huge gap in the brand and retailer toolkit. The idea behind PIDS is that businesses need to be able to manage the distribution of all their content from a single, central location. They need processes and methods that are automated, reliable, and\u2014importantly\u2014business user-friendly. In short, they need to turn piecemeal data distribution into a science.PIDS act as global channel connectors, ensuring that a business can easily manage each and every touchpoint from one place. PIDS also represent a shift in the way we do commerce and e-commerce. The future will, no doubt, be all about automation, data, and perfect optimization. PIDS brings all of this to product information. It may not have the same buzzword-ring as blockchain or experiential retail, but it\u2019s infinitely more practical and foundational to driving sales.Catching up: What you can do right nowThere are some ways to take stock of your current distribution methods. First, understand who is controlling the processes. Is it several members of IT, or is it completely outsourced to an agency? It\u2019s preferable to use either a good, qualified agency or bring it in-house and keep marketing teams involved.Product information should be on-brand and support the customer journey as well as performance marketing. IT alone cannot do this. Don\u2019t forget: Consistent, on-brand, and accessible product information is the basis of a positive customer experience.Second, understand how the data and distribution is managed. Is it being taken care of manually or is there a tool already in place? Does this tool make it easy for non-technical employees to manage the product data and save time? Now that PIDS is an increasingly popular buzzword, you can be sure there are a number of solutions out there to suit different business case. Shop around and make changes if necessary.Finally, ensure that all of this product data can be easily optimized for marketing purposes. You need to be carefully crafting titles for clickability, leveraging custom labels to group products intelligently, finding and optimizing top performing products, and always keeping data up-to-date.Shoppers continue to click through (often on paid clicks too!) to products that can\u2019t be bought, and that should be a thing of the past.  Relationship status: Complicated.AI in e-commerce is critical, but obstacles around data privacy, talent, and integration are slowing adoption. Our powerhouse panel has the stats + strategies you’re looking for. Register HERE."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2019","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"02","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/\/02\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"13","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/\/02\/\/13\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Product Information Distribution Services: “PIDS” is the next e-commerce buzzword","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/02\/13\/pids-product-information-distribution-services\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]