Overview
What product information management does, and where Great Minds fits
A product information management (PIM) system holds the descriptive data about your products: names, descriptions, attributes, specifications, variants, translations, compliance details and links to images and documents. It takes core item data from your ERP and suppliers, lets your teams enrich it, checks it is complete for each channel and locale, and sends it to your website, marketplaces, retail partners, apps and print.
It's for retailers, brands, manufacturers and distributors whose catalogue has outgrown spreadsheets and ERP fields. The signs are familiar: every channel has its own copy of a product description, launches wait on someone filling in a marketplace template, and nobody can say which version of a specification is current.
Great Minds is a Sydney-based systems integrator, and most PIM projects are integration projects. We help you decide whether you need a PIM, choose one, design the product data model and connect it to ERP, digital asset management, commerce platforms and marketplaces. Our platform-specific work, including implementation and migration, is on our Akeneo page.
Capabilities
What a PIM program covers
A PIM succeeds or fails on its data model, its owners and its integrations, not on its screens. These four pieces of work cover them, on their own or as one program.
01Data integration and enrichmentItem data from ERP and suppliers brought into one model, then enriched with descriptions, attributes, translations and media, with each field owned by one system so nothing is maintained twice.
02Governance and quality controlNamed owners for each attribute group, completeness rules per channel and locale, and approval workflows, so a product only goes live when the data each channel needs is there.
03Product information distributionProduct data sent to your online store, marketplaces, retail partners and print in the format each one needs, with channel-specific categories, attributes and copy.
04Data quality monitoringReports on completeness, missing attributes and time to market by category and channel, so your team can see where product data is holding up launches.Partnerships
PIM platforms we implement and connect
We implement Akeneo and connect PIM platforms to ERP, DAM platforms such as Bynder and AEM Assets, and commerce platforms such as Shopify Plus.
AkeneoA PIM platform for product data modelling, enrichment, supplier onboarding and syndication to channels, available as SaaS.Shopify PlusShopify PlusCommerce platform that commonly receives product data from a PIM, including variants, metafields and several storefronts.BynderBynderA DAM for brand and marketing teams. Product records in the PIM link to approved images and video held in Bynder.How we deliver
A PIM program, from data audit to go-live
We trace where product data comes from today, who maintains each attribute, which channels need what, and how complete and consistent the data is. You get a target data model, the list of integrations to build and a recommendation on whether a PIM is the right answer, or whether a better ERP or commerce setup would do.
Product families, attributes, variants, categories, channels and locales, plus every flow in and out: ERP, supplier feeds, DAM, commerce platforms and marketplaces. We agree which system owns each field before anything is built.
Platform configuration, integrations and trial migrations from spreadsheets, ERP records or an older PIM. AI agents do much of the repetitive mapping, transformation and data checking, and can draft enrichment such as channel copy for your team to approve; our consultants own the design and sign off every change. Our article on agentic AI in PIM integration covers where agents help.
A staged go-live by channel or category, training for product, merchandising and marketing teams, and hypercare. Then we add channels, markets and suppliers, or hand over with documented data standards and owners.
Australian considerations
What Australian businesses need to get right in product data
Product information is where Australian Consumer Law obligations meet your catalogue. Descriptions, specifications and claims must not mislead, and they're published on every channel the PIM feeds, so an error multiplies. Approval workflows and a single owner for claims-related attributes, such as materials, performance or sustainability claims, reduce that risk.
Pricing and food labelling have specific rules. The ACCC's guidance is that when you promote part of a price to consumers, you must also show a single total price, including GST and other compulsory charges, at least as prominently. Most food sold at retail in Australia must carry country of origin labelling under the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016. If your PIM feeds those labels or price displays, model the data so they can't be published incomplete.
Product data is rarely personal information, so the Privacy Act's cross-border rules seldom apply to the PIM itself, but supplier contacts and user accounts are covered. Check the hosting region for your plan: Akeneo's documentation lists Australia among its PIM deployment regions, and your contract should confirm where your instance runs.
FAQ
Product information management questions
What's the difference between a PIM and a DAM?
A PIM manages the descriptive data about products: attributes, descriptions, specifications and translations. A DAM manages the files, such as images, video and documents, with their versions and usage rights. Most retailers need both, linked so each product record points to the right approved assets.
Do we need a PIM if our ERP already holds product data?
Usually, once you sell through more than one channel. ERP systems hold operational data such as SKUs, costs, prices and stock, but they aren't built for rich descriptions, translations, channel-specific attributes or media. The common pattern is that the ERP stays the source of core item data and the PIM adds and governs everything customers see. See our ERP capability.
When is a PIM worth it?
When the cost of keeping product data right by hand is higher than the platform. Common tipping points are adding marketplaces or retail partners, selling in several languages or markets, onboarding supplier data at volume, or launch dates slipping because product content isn't ready.
Can our ecommerce platform do the job of a PIM?
For a single store with a modest catalogue, often yes. Once you have several storefronts, marketplaces, print catalogues or retail partners that each need different data, a PIM stops you maintaining the same product in several places.
How long does a PIM implementation take?
It depends on catalogue size, the number of integrations and how clean the source data is. A single-channel catalogue with one ERP feed is a much smaller project than a multi-market rollout with supplier onboarding. We give you a scoped plan and price after the data audit.
Can AI write our product descriptions?
AI can draft channel-specific copy, translations and alt text from your attributes, and check data for gaps. It works best when the attributes are complete and a person approves the output, because errors in product claims are your responsibility, not the tool's.
People
Product data consultants, architects and integration specialists
Our PIM consultants work with product, merchandising, ecommerce and IT teams to design the data model, agree ownership and build the integrations. They stay accountable for the result, with AI agents doing repetitive mapping, transformation and data checks under their review.
Case studies
Recent work from across the firm.
One asset library for APAC, EMEA and North AmericaModernising creative storage and operations for a global retailerEnabling global brand consistency through enterprise Digital Asset Management
4x faster campaign execution, 1M+ contacts migratedSalesforce Marketing Cloud to Klaviyo migration with 1M+ email marketing recipientsUnlocking personalised growth at scale through Klaviyo implementation and data migration
Servers virtualised for a resilient, scalable office networkCritical ICT infrastructure upgrades for Tzannes ArchitectsICT transformation allowing Tzannes to enjoy a flexible, resilient, and highly scalable IT infrastructure.Insights
Guides to product data
What is PIM (product information management)? How it works and when you need onePIM holds, enriches and publishes your product data. How it works, how it differs from MDM and DAM, what it costs, and when you need one.
From chaos to coherence: The role of Agentic AI in PIM integrationAgentic AI enables adaptive, self-healing PIM integrations that reduce complexity, improve product data quality, and accelerate time-to-market.