What are the Essential PIM Features to Look for in 2025

Picking the best PIM software isn’t about choosing the tool with the most features; it’s about finding one that works for your business.

From handling product relationships and variants to managing international catalogs and improving data quality, your PIM should support the way your team actually works.

Let’s explore 20 must-have product information management features, so you’ll know exactly what to look for when choosing a PIM system.

“A PIM software or PIM solution is a platform centralized to empower retailers and vendors to gather, organize, enrich, and distribute their product data to multiple eCommerce and sales channels”. ¹

20 Essential PIM Features You Need in 2025

Each PIM feature plays a critical role in making your product data organized, accurate, and ready for every sales channel.

Let’s break them down:

• Easy Product Data Import
• Bulk Editing for Faster Updates
• Supplier Product Data Onboarding
• Robust Attribute Management
• Centralized Multi-Store Management
• Category & Taxonomy Customization
• Product Variants & Relationships
• Advanced Filtering & Search
• Digital Asset Management (DAM)
• Product Data Quality Management
• Workflow Automation & Notifications
• Bulk & Inline Editing
• Customizable Views
• Multilingual & Internationalization Support
• Pricing & Promotion Management
• Data Validation & Completeness Checks
• Change History & Version Tracking
• Sales Channel Syndication
• Campaign & Product Launch Management
• Shopify PIM Integration

1. Easy Product Data Import 

One of the core PIM capabilities you can’t compromise on is data import flexibility.

If your product data lives in multiple spreadsheets, systems, or supplier files, you need a way to bring everything together easily.

How it helps you:

Instead of spending hours fixing formats and re-uploading, a good PIM system supports imports from CSV, Excel, or even automated feeds via APIs.

For businesses managing large catalogs or frequent supplier updates, this feature will save you from the spreadsheet nightmare.

What to Look For:

• Support for multiple file formats (CSV, Excel, JSON, XML).
• Field mapping tools for error-free imports.
• Scheduled imports for regular supplier updates.
• Error reports for quick fixes.

Pro tip: 

With PIM, you can schedule recurring imports from your suppliers or use API integrations to sync your data automatically, which means no more manual file uploads every week.

2. Bulk Editing for Faster Updates

When you manage thousands of products, changing a single attribute (like price or description) for each SKU manually is impossible.

How It Helps You:

PIM with bulk editing allows you to update multiple products at once, whether it’s adding a new attribute, fixing prices, or updating stock levels. This saves time and reduces errors.

What to Look For:

• Edit multiple attributes in one go.
• Apply bulk rules like “Increase all prices by 5%.”
• Inline editing for quick, in-table changes.

Pro Tip:

Pick a PIM that combines bulk editing with scheduling, so that you can plan updates ahead of time for campaigns or price changes.

3. Supplier Product Data Onboarding

If you work with multiple suppliers, getting accurate, complete product data from them can be difficult.

Inconsistent formats and missing fields delay your go-to-market time.

How It Helps You:

This streamlines product onboarding by giving suppliers an easy way to upload their data directly into your PIM in the right format.

What to Look For:

• Supplier-specific portals for direct uploads.
• Predefined templates to ensure correct formatting.
• Automatic validation checks for missing or incorrect data.

Pro Tip: 

Look for a PIM that scores supplier product data quality to hold them accountable for accuracy.

4. Robust Attribute Management

Every product comes with details: size, color, weight, and material. If you don’t organize attributes properly, your catalog becomes a mess, and your customers get inconsistent information.

How It Helps You:

PIM with attribute management capabilities lets you create structured, searchable product data so your teams and customers always find the right details.

What to Look For:

• Multiple attribute types: text, number, date, dropdown, etc.
• Attribute grouping for organization (e.g., Shipping Info).
• Attribute completeness tracking.

Pro Tip:

Set up required attributes for every category so no product gets published with missing key details.

5. Centralized Multi-Store Management

Running multiple stores on Shopify or other platforms? Managing separate catalogs for each store without a PIM is inefficient and prone to errors.

How It Helps You:

A centralized system lets you manage all your stores from one dashboard, products, pricing, and attributes, so updates sync everywhere.

What to Look For:

• Ability to connect multiple stores or regions.
• Channel-specific customization (e.g., pricing differences by region).
• Inventory synchronization across all stores.

Pro Tip:

If you run regional stores, pick a PIM that supports currency and tax variations per store.

6. Category & Taxonomy Customization

If your product catalog is unorganized, finding items becomes time-consuming. Poor categorization also affects your store navigation and SEO.

How It Helps You:

A PIM with category and taxonomy customization lets you create structured hierarchies that make sense for your business, so products are easy to locate internally and for customers.

What to Look For:

• Unlimited categories and subcategories.
• Ability to create hierarchical trees (e.g., Electronics > Mobile Phones > Accessories).
• Support for dynamic category mapping across channels.

Pro Tip:

Create categories based on search intent and buyer behavior, not just internal naming conventions, to improve navigation and conversions.

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7. Product Variants & Relationships

If you sell products with variations (sizes, colors) or bundles, managing them individually wastes time and causes inconsistency.

How It Helps You:

PIM with product relationship management links variants to parent products, so one update to the parent automatically updates the variants. It also helps manage cross-selling and upselling relationships.

What to Look For:

• Parent-child structure for variants.
• Automatic inheritance of attributes like material or brand.
• Ability to create cross-sell and upsell links.

Pro Tip: 

Look for multi-level variants if you sell complex products like furniture with size, color, and material options.

8. Advanced Filtering & Search

Large catalogs make it hard to find products or media quickly, leading to delays in updates and marketing tasks.

How It Helps You:

PIM system with advanced filters lets you sort products by attributes, categories, or status. Search functionality helps you find SKUs or media instantly.

What to Look For:

• Attribute-based filters (color, size, brand).
• Date filters for seasonal or new products.
• Keyword search for SKUs, product names, or media files.

Pro Tip:

Use saved filters for tasks you do often, like seasonal collections or discontinued products.

9. Digital Asset Management (DAM)

Images, videos, and PDFs are critical for selling products online. If your assets are scattered across folders, you risk using outdated or incorrect files.

How It Helps You:

PIMs with built-in DAM features keep media linked to the right product, so every channel always uses updated and approved assets.

What to Look For:

• Support for multiple media types (images, videos, PDFs).
• Bulk upload and asset linking.
• Categorization and version control.

Pro Tip:

Choose a PIM that resizes and renames images for each channel to avoid rejections on platforms like Shopify.

10. Product Data Quality Management

Incomplete or inconsistent product data reduces trust, lowers SEO performance, and hurts conversions.

How It Helps You:

PIM’s data quality tools check for missing information, validate attributes, and ensure your products meet the standards of each channel before publishing.

What to Look For:

• Data completeness scoring.
• Custom validation rules (e.g., price cannot be empty).
• Alerts for missing or incorrect data.

Pro Tip:

Set different validation rules per category; electronics need technical specs, while apparel needs size charts.

11. Workflow Automation & Notifications

Manual workflows waste time, especially when teams rely on emails or spreadsheets to track approvals and updates. Missed steps can delay product launches.

How It Helps You:

Workflow automation in a PIM streamlines repetitive tasks. It triggers notifications for approvals, status changes, and missing data so your team stays aligned without constant check-ins.

What to Look For:

• Automated task assignment when a product status changes.
• Trigger-based notifications for missing attributes or pending approvals.
• Integration with communication tools like Slack or email for instant alerts.

Pro Tip:

Choose a PIM that lets you customize workflows for each department, so designers, marketers, and product teams only get alerts that matter to them.

12. Bulk & Inline Editing

Updating a large catalog manually is stressful and risky. One wrong copy-paste and you could mess up hundreds of products.

How It Helps You:

Bulk editing lets you update hundreds of products at once, while inline editing allows quick changes without opening separate product pages.

What to Look For:

• In-table editing for quick fixes.
• Bulk attribute updates for large catalogs.
• File imports for massive updates (e.g., CSV or Excel uploads).

Pro Tip:

Look for a PIM that supports conditional bulk edits, for example, update the price only for products in a specific category or brand.

13. Customizable Views

Every team works differently. A marketer needs descriptions and images, while a pricing team cares about costs and discounts.

How It Helps You:

PIM with custom views lets users personalize their dashboard, so they see only the attributes relevant to their job without scrolling through unnecessary details.

What to Look For:

• Save custom views for future use.
• Support for table and grid layouts.
• Role-based display options.

Pro Tip:

Create role-specific default views so new team members instantly see what they need without setup.

14. Multilingual & Internationalization Support

If you sell in multiple regions, you need product content in different languages. Managing translations in spreadsheets is messy and error-prone.

How It Helps You:

A PIM with multilingual support stores all language versions in one place and ensures consistency across markets.

What to Look For:

• Support for multiple languages per product attribute.
• Easy side-by-side translation views.
• Region-specific content handling (e.g., measurements in cm vs. inches).

Pro Tip:

Combine multilingual support with currency localization if your PIM allows it, so pricing adapts to each region automatically.

15. Pricing & Promotion Management

Pricing errors can cost revenue, damage trust, and even get your products delisted from marketplaces.

How It Helps You:

PIM systems with pricing and campaign tools allow you to manage regular prices, discounts, and scheduled promotions centrally for all channels.

What to Look For:

• Price scheduling for upcoming sales.
• Multi-currency support.
• Integration with marketplaces and ecommerce platforms for real-time updates.

Pro Tip:

Set approval workflows for pricing changes to avoid accidental markdowns or errors before they go live.

16. Data Validation & Completeness Checks

Incomplete or wrong product data leads to poor customer experience, lower search visibility, and more product returns.

How It Helps You:

This ensures that every product has the required details, like name, description, price, and images, before it goes live on your store or marketplace. It also checks for errors, so you can fix them early.

What to Look For:

• Ability to set custom completeness rules.
• Automatic error detection for missing or incorrect data.
• Visual indicators (like checklists or progress bars) to track product readiness.

Pro Tip:

Pick a PIM that alerts you when a product fails validation, so you never publish incomplete or incorrect information.

17. Change History & Version Tracking

Ever wondered who updated the price or changed the product image last week? Without a history log, it’s nearly impossible to track changes, which can lead to confusion or errors.

How It Helps You:

This feature logs every change, what was changed, when, and by whom. You can also roll back to previous versions if something goes wrong.

What to Look For:

• Attribute-level change tracking (e.g., price, description, images).
• Timestamp and user details for every change.
• Option to restore older versions of product data.

Pro Tip:

If you work with large teams, enable restricted editing rights for sensitive fields like pricing to prevent unnecessary mistakes.

18. Sales Channel Syndication

Selling on multiple platforms like Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, and Google Shopping? Updating each channel manually takes forever and creates inconsistencies.

How It Helps You:

Channel syndication pushes your product data from the PIM to all connected channels automatically. It ensures your listings stay consistent everywhere without repeated work.

What to Look For:

• Direct integrations with ecommerce platforms and marketplaces.
• Ability to customize data per channel.
• Scheduling options for automatic updates.

Pro Tip:

Choose a PIM that lets you set channel-specific templates so you can format product data for each marketplace’s rules without extra effort.

19. Campaign & Product Launch Management

Running promotions or launching new collections requires coordination, especially if you sell on multiple channels. Without a structured system, things can fall apart fast.

How It Helps You:

Campaign management in PIM allows you to plan and organize promotional content, prices, and media for events like seasonal sales, new launches, or marketing campaigns.

What to Look For:

• Grouping products into campaigns.
• Start and end dates for promotions.
• Real-time updates across channels when campaigns go live.

Pro Tip:

Choose PIM with campaign management capabilities, so you can plan everything weeks in advance and avoid the last-minute rush.

20. Shopify PIM Integration

If you run your business on Shopify (or multiple Shopify stores), keeping your product data updated manually can be time-consuming and error-prone. 

How It Helps You:

With direct Shopify PIM integration, you can sync product information, like titles, descriptions, pricing, and media, directly from your PIM without logging into each store individually. This saves hours of work and reduces the risk of errors.

What to Look For:

• Two-way synchronization for updates (from PIM to Shopify and vice versa).
• Support for metafields, variant-level updates, and SEO data.
• Real-time sync to prevent delays in updates across multiple storefronts.

Pro Tip:

Pick a PIM that allows channel-specific customizations for Shopify, like adjusting titles or descriptions for SEO without affecting your master product data.

Conclusion: Why Choose a Feature-Rich PIM in 2025?

The right PIM isn’t about having the longest feature list; it’s about the features that solve real problems.

From bulk updates and automation to Shopify integration and multi-store management, Apimio PIM helps you keep product data accurate, consistent, and ready for every channel.

If you’re tired of manual updates and scattered spreadsheets, now’s the time to switch.

Apimio PIM makes product management for you faster, easier, and future-ready.

What to do next?

• See how PIM for brands can help you enhance your brand operations. 
• See how PIM for retailers can help you double your sales and grow your business. 
• Try Apimio PIM for free today and transform your ecommerce business!
• Read our blog posts to stay informed about the latest features and industry news.
• Book a demo to see how our PIM software can help your business operations.

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