Top 3 Reasons why PIM/DAM is Essential for Builders’ Merchants

Pimberly is your ‘Golden Source’ of Supplier Data

With PIM, supplier onboarding is easy. This is because Pimberly gives you a complete view of your supplier data. From onboarding your supplier’s products – to releasing them to your sales channels.

First, let’s look at how Pimberly ingests product data from a variety of sources, in multiple formats.

A PIM solution makes supplier onboarding and data validation a breeze with Pimberly’s configurable input feeds. You easily take information from upstream applications, including your ERP system (such as Kerridge, Sage or Intact IQ), supplier feed, and any spreadsheets. Your supplier feeds are configured and mapped on entry via file-based or API-based integrations.

Pimberly enables you to create and hold an unlimited number of attributes against a product. So, this means you don’t have to create custom attribute fields in your ERP or work from spreadsheets with more columns than St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Pimberly transforms product data to the match requirements of your sales channel. This includes marketplaces (Amazon/eBay/Mano Mano/OnBuy), your eCommerce platform (eg. Magento/BigCommerce), or print/PDF catalogs.

PIM Software Standardizes Complex Data

Let’s take a typical example of construction supply chain management. Imagine a building merchant, onboarding drillbits from their supplier for their eCommerce store.

Product attributes include point angle, shank type, flute type, size, and brand. Across hundreds to thousands of new products, that’s a lot of complex data. It doesn’t always add up, either.

Your building materials supplier might provide product data in spreadsheets or very basic specification sheets. This means product codes, specifications, and naming conventions might not be consistent with your existing catalog. For instance, the brand DeWalt might be listed as ‘DEWALT’, ‘dewalt’, or ‘Dewalt’, and so on.

This is where Pimberly’s workflows and automation step in, giving you control over your supplier data. Customizable workflows tailor your product data to fit the requirements of your business and your team. Pimberly standardizes product codes and naming conventions, making it easier for customers to search for products.

Powerful automation

In addition, your suppliers might provide imperial or metric units for products. Sometimes, even both. Pimberly’s workflows will convert the dimensions in a way to suit your business requirements. Similarly, your supplier might provide the colour ‘BLK’ to describe a product. To streamline this, Pimberly will change it to ‘Black’ with built-in automation.

Ultimately, Pimberly will improve the completeness of your product catalog. PIM transforms basic supplier product data into high-quality construction product information. By streamlining the process from top-to-bottom, PIM ensures your construction materials are eCommerce-ready.

It will make it easier for your own staff to find products, too. Think of the scenario when a customer comes in-store and asks for a certain product. Then, your retail assistant tries to look it up on the till but isn’t able to find the right product. PIM will make sure your product catalog is consistent, offline and online.

Alternatively, if your product isn’t in-stock, you can suggest similar products. With Pimberly, you’re able to easily set up intelligent product kits, so you’ll never miss out on a sale. You’ll be saving your staff from tricky customer interactions, too.

Onboard Products with Vendor Portal and Accelerate Time-to-Market

Vendor Portal is Pimberly’s latest innovation. It puts you in the driving seat, giving you total ownership of supplier data.

With Vendor Portal, you provide suppliers with a lightweight version of Pimberly via an email link, with a product data template. The downloadable product data template is an Excel file containing a pre-defined set of attributes, set up to suit your needs.

You set the attributes you want, so you don’t get attributes you don’t need. For instance, if you’re selling perforated engineering bricks, you’re able to make sure dimensions are supplied how you want them. This data is especially important to get correct, as you can only carry a certain amount of bricks in a lorry.

Any mandatory fields you set are highlighted in red. This allows you to create standards fit for your business. With PIM, supply chain consistency is assured.

You’re in control of supplier data

The supplier completes the template and uploads it to their lightweight version of Pimberly. Then, any failed uploads are recognized by Vendor Portal and sent back to the supplier to change. But, you don’t have to bring all of your suppliers’ catalog. You’re able to pick and choose the products you want, when you want.

In addition, you are also able to request product updates from building materials suppliers. So, your product catalog will always be current without waiting.

With Vendor Portal, suppliers are responsible for entering product information. Moreover, the ownership is on them to ensure product data conforms with The Code for Construction Product information (CCPI).

The bottom line: Vendor Portal saves you time handling suppliers’ data and accelerates your time to market.  So, with PIM, data validation guarantees product information is highly accurate and consistent, ensuring supply chain confidence.

Turn Supplier Data into Spec & Sell Sheets and Catalogs in Seconds

Using two additional modules, Pimberly transforms raw supplier data into technical data sheets and product catalogs.

Spec & Sell Sheets

Powered by Adobe InDesign, Pimberly’s Spec & Sell Sheets are made up of static data (your logo and branding) and dynamic product data (images, marketing descriptions, product attributes).

When you release a product from Pimberly, it will trigger the Spec & Sell API, taking a maximum of 60 seconds to produce a data sheet associated with your product.

This is done the same way as mapping out a sales channel. You’re able to map whatever product attributes you want to display next to a product.

Spec & Sell Sheets also come with version control. Pimberly will timestamp your data sheets, pushing the new version to your website so your customers have up-to-date information.

Reduce Business Risk

Your product data sheets also contain key health and safety instructions. For instance, if you’re selling safety boots, you need to contain key safety information.

Are the boots heat-resistant? To what temperature? Are the outsoles cushioned to absorb shock? With Pimberly, your product data sheets will always display this information. Accountability is guaranteed and business risk is reduced.

If you need to update product classification across multiple data sheets, Pimberly’s bulk update feature will do this for you. By removing manual, cumbersome tasks you dread, you’re able to concentrate on more profitable areas of your business.

Pimberly easily mirrors your existing templates, too. The process is supported by Pimberly’s in-house technical team.

Use these data sheets in your brick-and-mortar store against your products. Pimberly-generated product data sheets are tools to use on and offline, keeping your branding consistent. It’s a slick and powerful solution to transform previously messy supplier data into essential selling accessories.

Pimberly Catalog

We know your print catalog is a crucial sales channel for the construction industry. So, with the help of Adobe Indesign, Pimberly turns your product database into dynamic print-ready PDFs.

Using similar technology to Spec & Sell sheets, you’re able to develop and paginate complex product data into print, in line with your branding. High-resolution image assets will be taken from your Pimberly DAM, straight into your product catalog.

Last-minute jobs – such as creating a contents page and indexing – are automated and lightning-quick. Our in-house catalog staff will save your team hours of work.

Final Points

Pimberly’s powerful automation turns messy supplier data into something exceptional, getting products online without any headaches. Ecommerce for construction materials has never been more straightforward.

It’s a no-brainer. Give your business complete control when onboarding supplier data.

Book a demo to see Pimberly in action.