Manufacturers: Why Most Distributors Can’t or Won’t Use Your PIM Data Syndication
By Prashubh Batham
You’ve probably heard the term “product data syndication” and wondered whether this is the key to sharing digital product information with your distributors. Some vendors make it sound like it is, going so far as to claim that product data syndication can pull information directly from manufacturers’ Product Information Management(PIM)systems and eliminate the risk that their distribution channel will be using outdated product information.
They are trying to sell you on the idea that your PIM can distribute data to your customers flawlessly. In reality, not many distributors have the technical capability to leverage data syndication from manufacturers’ PIM.
PIM Data Syndication is for Big Budgets
PIM systems can be very expensive. Distributors who can use product data syndications have IT resources of their own to connect with manufacturers’ PIM. A large percentage of distributors either don’t have these resources,or if they do, they don’t have time to program their own PIMs with hundreds of manufacturers one by one.
Thus, distributors need a bridge between manufacturers’ PIM and their own PIM. That bridge is Grand Anar. Manufacturers who use the Grand Anar information exchange platform give all of their distributors an easy and affordable means of accessing the product information they need, not just the distributors with big IT budgets.
A Bridge to Better Online Product Visibility (for All Budget Sizes)
Since PIM data syndication doesn’t work with most distributors, your product information isn’t showing up in as many distributor product listings and eCommerce sites as it should be. One way to overcome that problem is to use Grand Anar from Anarus. It serves as a bridge to reach all your distributors’ eCommerce PIMs.
Grand Anar is a cloud-based information exchange network that creates private online communities where manufacturers can share product content and personalized pricing with little effort. That’s because Grand Anar standardizes all manufacturers’ data to a uniform and feature-rich eCommerce-friendly format and makes it available from a single centralized platform.
What does this mean for manufacturers who are still fulfilling distributor requests for custom-formatted content? It means those days are over.Karla Braun from Malco Products described it this way, “Not only is it a huge timesaver for us, but it’s a timesaver for our distributors and reps as well.Grand Anar allows our distributors to pull what they want, when they want it, in the format they need it in.”
Distributors can login to Grand Anar securely andaccess product information, from any number of manufacturers, without the cost and hassle of programming their PIM (if they even have PIM) to each manufacturer source. The information is instantly available to use on their eCommerce websites or anywhere else.
Like product data syndication, Grand Anar creates a uniform process of sharing product information for multiple B2B use cases, improving distributor engagement and eliminating manual processes that can hinder marketing and digital commerce.
Unlike data syndication, Grand Anar enables access to a broader swath of distributors because of its low subscription-based pricing and simple user interface.
Distributors can connect to Grand Anar and access all their manufacturer-providedspecifications, images, videos, PDFs, real-time availability and pricingwhether they have sophisticated PIM or not, no matter what format they need.That means your product information shows up on more distributor websites, gets seen on more digital marketing channels by more techs and purchasing groups, and ultimatelysells more product.
For more information and to schedule a demo of Grand Anar visit anarus.com.