In today’s age of multiple sales channels, mountains of data and rapid service expectations, eCommerce businesses need a centralised solution to deliver quality customer experiences. 

Without one, employees waste roughly 3 weeks a year sourcing product imagery, pricing, logos and specifications from various platforms.  

The worst part is, all this needless searching is entirely avoidable.  

With a DAM or PIM system in place, delivering consistent, quality content across all platforms is fast and simple.  

In this article, we’ll look at what DAM and PIM are, their benefits and why integrating them together is the key to long term business success. 

What’s the Difference Between PIM & DAM?

DAM and PIM systems share many benefits. They both create a single source of truth, streamlining the storage, management and distribution of large volumes of product data and digital assets.  

The difference between the two is the type of content they store and its purpose.  

DAM systems focus on storing and managing digital assets of all sizes and formats, like photos, videos, logos and marketing materials.  

PIM systems on the other hand, handle all the text-based product data like SKUs, dimensions, descriptions and stock levels. 

Let’s take a closer look into each: 

What Is PIM?

Product Information Management (or PIM) systems exist to simplify the management, editing and distribution of product data.  

The software houses all the information you need to market and sell products in one central, secure and easily accessible location. For example, retailers utilise PIM software to collate all their product sales data, technical specifications, stock levels and delivery information.  

Providing easy access to vital product data, PIM software helps businesses deliver accurate, consistent and high-quality information to their customers. They’re ideal for organisations with a large, constantly evolving product offering like eCommerce, manufacturing, science and technology businesses.  

Examples of popular PIM systems include Akeneo, Agility Multichannel, Pimcore and Catsy. 

What Are The Benefits Of PIM?

PIM software gives businesses the support they need to effectively market and sell their products. 

Key benefits of PIM software include: 

• Update product information instantly: It’s not unusual for businesses to have products listed on their website, third party marketplaces and in stores. PIM software makes updating product specifications, pricing and dimensions across these sales channels instant and effortless.  
• Boost time to market: Sifting through emails and storage platforms to find vital product information drastically slows down your time to market. With PIM, say goodbye to endlessly searching for and requesting product specifications before publishing live.  
• Maintain brand consistency: Don’t let incorrect product information on various platforms taint your brand’s reputation. PIM ensures your content is always accurate and on-brand across all sales channels.  
• Improve customer experience: When purchasing online, customers don’t have the opportunity to touch, hold and measure your product. PIM helps you provide rich, accurate and insightful information to help guide customer purchase decisions.  

What Is DAM?

Digital Asset Management (or DAM) systems are a comprehensive solution for storing, managing and distributing an organisations’ digital assets.  

DAM acts as a single source of truth for images, logos and other creative assets, ensuring they’re always secure, on-brand and market ready. For example, marketing teams utilise DAM software to easily find, edit, collaborate on and publish assets like campaign shoots, new season collections and social media posts.  

By storing all company content in one central, easily accessible location, DAM eliminates bottleneck time delays, clunky workflows and the need to recreate lost or forgotten assets.  

What Are The Benefits Of DAM? 

Key benefits of DAM software include: 

• Centralises all company content: DAM eliminates the need to switch between different platforms to get the job done. Your entire digital asset collection is accessible from one central, secure platform.  
• Find any asset, instantly: Say goodbye to endlessly searching through folders and shared drives to find the asset you’re after. With DAM, advanced metadata and AI technology allow you to locate any file instantly using custom search functions like colour, subject matter and collection. 
• Better asset security: With features like permission level access, passwords, custom share links and expiry dates, DAM ensures your assets are only accessible to approved users.  
• More flexibility: Instead of limiting use to one file type, DAM software hosts a range of file types and sizes, like images, videos, PDFs and certificates. This makes it a viable storage solution for all teams – from marketing and sales to accounting and HR.  

So, Which Is Best For My Business?

PIM 

PIM systems make sourcing, updating and rapidly distributing product data across multiple sources effortless. They’re best suited to:  

• Businesses with a product portfolio spread across multiple eCommerce and sales channels. 
• Retailers, manufacturers and other businesses dealing with complex product data and information. 

DAM 

DAM systems create a central, easily accessible location for company assets of all sizes and formats. They’re ideal for: 

• Teams who regularly share assets back and forth between internal and external stakeholders 
• Teams who need access to company assets from within creative platforms like Photoshop or iMovie. 
• Teams who work remotely and need access to all company assets from any device, anywhere. 
• Teams who work with a variety of file types and formats like raw images, long-form video, contracts and PDFS.  
• Agencies, universities and other businesses that require different levels of access for different users. 

Are DAM & PIM Better Together?

Absolutely. 

Connecting DAM and PIM systems together strengthens your business’s ability to deliver rich, personalised content to the right audience at the right time.  

For example, say you want to post about your sitewide sale on social media. With a DAM and PIM integration, you can update product pricing, source images and create and post your marketing material within the one system. No need to transfer information from one platform to the other – all product data and assets are always available when and where you need them.  

By seamlessly syncing accurate product data with rich digital assets, DAM and PIM integration enhances automation, eliminates content silos and ultimately improves customer experience. For eCommerce businesses, that’s invaluable. 

After all, accurate product information and high-quality digital content is vital for driving business success. That’s why integrating DAM and PIM systems together is foundational for many organisations.