--- title: "What Is PIM (Product Information Management)?" url: https://www.uncap.com/glossary/pim author: "Denis Dyli" published: 2026-10-11 updated: 2026-10-11 summary: "PIM (product information management) is the process and software a business uses to centralize product data so teams can collect, clean, enrich, approve and distribute it. In commerce, a PIM system holds titles, descriptions, SKUs, specifications, images and channel requirements, then sends approved product content to the storefront, marketplaces, B2B portals and print catalogs." --- # What Is PIM (Product Information Management)? > PIM (product information management) is the process and software a business uses to centralize product data so teams can collect, clean, enrich, approve and distribute it. In commerce, a PIM system holds titles, descriptions, SKUs, specifications, images and channel requirements, then sends approved product content to the storefront, marketplaces, B2B portals and print catalogs. **PIM (product information management)**: PIM (product information management) is the process and software a business uses to centralize product data so teams can collect, clean, enrich, approve and distribute it. In commerce, a PIM system holds titles, descriptions, SKUs, specifications, images and channel requirements, then sends approved product content to the storefront, marketplaces, B2B portals and print catalogs. ## How it works Without a PIM, product data is often scattered across spreadsheets, the ERP, supplier files, a media library, marketplaces and the storefront, so a change to one SKU means a manual update in every channel. A PIM pulls that data into one source of truth and runs it through four steps: **How product data moves through a PIM** ### 1. Sources, Collect The PIM gathers raw data from supplier spreadsheets, manufacturer feeds, ERP systems and digital asset management software. ### 2. Product team, Normalize and enrich Teams standardize names, attributes, categories and units, and add missing details such as dimensions or materials. ### 3. Data owners, Review and approve Approval workflows, validation rules and completeness scores catch data quality issues before content goes out. ### 4. Channels, Syndicate Approved data goes to the online store, point of sale, marketplaces, retail partners, B2B portals and print catalogs. A PIM is not an ERP. The ERP manages operational and financial records such as inventory, purchasing, fulfillment, accounting and orders. The PIM manages the enriched product content and attributes that buyers, sales teams and channels need. ## What a PIM manages Product data in a PIM usually falls into four groups: - Core identifiers. SKUs, GTINs, UPCs, variant IDs, barcodes, manufacturer part numbers and supplier IDs. - Attributes and specifications. Size, color, materials, dimensions, weight, compatibility, fitment, certifications and technical specs. - Content and media. Product descriptions, SEO titles, images, videos and manuals. - Commercial, channel and localization data. For B2B sellers this can include wholesale price lists and minimum order quantities for each SKU, plus translated copy and market-specific attributes such as units of measure. ## Example A distributor carries 4,000 SKUs with 20 attributes each, which is 4,000 x 20 = 80,000 attribute values to keep accurate. It sells through its Shopify B2B store, a marketplace and a printed catalog. A supplier revises the specs on 150 SKUs. Without a PIM, someone edits 150 x 3 = 450 records by hand, one channel at a time. With a PIM, the team updates the 150 records once, an owner approves them, and the PIM sends the change to all three channels. ## On Shopify Shopify describes itself as an ecommerce platform with product and catalog management tools, not a dedicated PIM, and says many merchants can manage product data directly in Shopify. Its native catalog model includes products, variants, metafields for custom fields, metaobjects for reusable structured content, files, collections and catalogs. A product can have up to 2,048 variants and up to three options. Assigning each product a category from Shopify's Standard Product Taxonomy unlocks category metafields and makes it easier to sell on channels that require a standardized product type. Shopify names the signals that point to adding a PIM upstream: thousands of SKUs or variants, frequent launches, multiple suppliers, multiple languages or markets, large media libraries, compatibility or fitment attributes, and approval workflows across teams. In that setup, Shopify is where approved product data from the PIM becomes shoppable. ## How Uncap helps Uncap's [guide to PIM platforms for Shopify B2B](/post/top-5-pim-platforms-for-shopify-a-comprehensive-guide) maps the architecture in three layers: the ERP holds operational truth, the PIM holds product content truth, and Shopify executes commerce. Uncap Connect handles the Shopify-to-ERP layer natively, and the PIM connects above that layer to manage how product content is enriched and published. ## Related terms - SKU (stock keeping unit) - GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) - UPC (Universal Product Code) - System of record - ERP integration - List price ## Sources - Shopify: What Is PIM in Ecommerce? - Shopify Help Center: Adding variants - Shopify Help Center: Shopify's Standard Product Taxonomy ## Frequently asked questions ### What does PIM stand for in software? In commerce software, PIM stands for product information management: the process and software used to centralize, enrich, approve and distribute product data. Outside commerce the letters have other meanings: NIST's computer security glossary, for example, expands PIM as personal information management. ### How to set up PIM? Start by mapping every attribute your catalog needs, including variants, media, B2B fields and localization data. Decide which system owns which data, name one owner who approves changes, and launch with one high-impact category, market or channel before moving the whole catalog. ### What are the challenges of implementing a PIM system? A PIM does not guarantee accurate data on its own. Someone has to own approvals and keep the data current, and every attribute has to map cleanly to each channel the PIM feeds.