pirobase: PIM Vendor in Focus

In this series, we interview selected software providers about their product management solutions. Konstantin Stergiopoulos is Director Business Development & Sales at pirobase imperia. In the interview, he talks about the current trends and changes on the market and how pirobase PIM helps companies to master these challenges.

Which digital trends are relevant for you and your customers? What effect do they have and/or what developments can be expected for your product and/or company as a result?

The most important trend and the biggest challenge for manufacturers and retailers at the moment is to create product experiences across all contact points and channels. In times when products are interchangeable, customer approach and convenience in shopping make the difference: Different is better than better.

Innovation drivers here are the internet and e-commerce. Today, customers can find out about products on a variety of digital channels. In times of Corona, many new shoppers got a taste for it for the first time. Within weeks, acceptance of digital shopping jumped to levels that market researchers had only expected for the year 2030. Online shops and mobile shopping apps were the safest option for millions of customers during the pandemic. And the most convenient one.

Artificial intelligence, hyper-personalisation and omnichannel marketing are now talked about everywhere. But in practice, systems and processes at retailers and manufacturers are no longer keeping pace with customer expectations. Many providers report a huge need to catch up in digital product communication.

In reality, even large brand manufacturers are still struggling with Excel lists to get new products onto shelves and into online shops everywhere. Product data is spread across a hodgepodge of software systems (MDM, ERP, website, shop, agency, CRM, files) and processes.

What trade and industry need now: Tools and workflows that really mesh with each other

The keyword here is: Product Experience Management (PXM). The goal: to offer customers a consistent product and shopping experience across all contact points, in search engines, social networks, on shopping platforms such as Amazon, in the company’s own online shop as well as in the stationary shop.

pirobase: The Solution for Product Experience, Product Information & Content Management

Solutions for product experience management such as pirobase help providers to keep all the threads for product communication in their hands and to control their own brand appearance across channels.

For this purpose, pirobase maps the core processes and tools for product experience management in a program package. At its core, the cloud solution integrates tools for product information management (PIM), i.e. the administration of product data, as well as a content management system (CMS) for playing out emotional and personalized marketing content and product information.

Problem-solving orientation: name three distinctive features that stand out your solution from the competition?

Adaptable & flexible

pirobase is one of the most adaptable PIM and PXM solutions on the market. Thanks to a particularly flexible data model, customers can map any product range, no matter how complex. Multiple classification, versioning and data inheritance as well as sophisticated role and rights concepts enable product data scenarios up to enterprise level.

Ready for integration

pirobase offers central tools for product communication on a single platform. On request, pirobase includes solutions for Product Information Management (PIM) and Content Management (CMS) and enables the connection of a Digital Asset Management as well as a store (e.g. from Shopware). In addition, pirobase automates data exchange with the GDSN. Customers use interfaces to connect pirobase PIM with their entire business IT. A special feature of the pirobase platform is that it supports either a “headless approach” or product communication with a front end. This means that pirobase can deliver product data headless, i.e. design-neutral, to stores or content management systems. Or, with the help of its own CMS module, pirobase takes care of the output at the customer interface and uses, for example, shopping cart and payment functions of a store system in the background. This gives companies the freedom to choose which systems in their business IT are leading in product communication and which are operating more in the background.

Service and solution oriented, everything under one roof

We do not offer our customers software out of the box, but solutions. This means: pirobase already covers most requirements as standard. In addition, we always tailor our PXM/PIM system to the needs and processes of each customer, so that pirobase fits perfectly into their business IT.

From which company size is the use of your product management solution beneficial? Is your system optimised for a specific target group?

pirobase supports product data management up to enterprise level. Thanks to its flexibility and adaptability, our customers can use it to map even complex and very large product ranges. Our customers include B2B and B2C companies ranging from upscale SMEs to globally present corporations (e.g. R. Bosch GmbH, Melitta BSC GmbH & Co. KG, Siemens Healthineers GmbH).

Where do companies have the greatest need for action today? What do you advise your customers to do in addition to the introduction of a PIM in order to remain fit for the future?

As mentioned earlier, the integration of systems and processes is a prerequisite for modern product communication. When introducing a PIM, companies benefit particularly if they merge their PIM with a content management system (CMS) and a media asset management (MAM) solution. The same applies to integration with their online store.

Due to the complexity of modern product communication, there is no system that covers all tasks. This makes a best-of-breed approach that aims at the best possible combination of software solutions all the more important.

When selecting their PIM, companies should therefore ensure that the solution is as compatible as possible with other software systems in their business IT.

Another topic is the support of cloud technologies. Any future-proof software today must be able to run on modern cloud infrastructures and interact with other solutions on hyperscaler platforms.

What opportunities are there to get to know or test your product?

We are happy to present the performance of our software in a webinar, at our premises or in an on-site appointment. We also gladly provide interested parties with a test environment upon request.

pirobase

With pirobase, companies process product data and marketing content on one platform for integrated product experience management (PXM).

pirobase imperia

We are specialists for Product Experience, Product Information & Content Management. We offer custom-fit software solutions for your processes.

Our interview partner

Konstantin Stergiopoulos has been Head of Business Development & Sales since 2018 and, as part of the management team, sets the strategic course for the successful development of the company. With his many years of experience as an IT expert, he covers a wide range of topics including product information management, product experience management and content management, always keeping an eye on the market and the customer’s perspective.

Learn more: pirobase imperia