PIM & MDM Is Your Master Product Really Ready for the Future?

Product data has evolved from a supporting asset into one of the most critical strategic resources a company owns. Customers, partners, and the market are demanding more than ever: speed, accuracy, and real-time availability. At the same time, the number of channels is surging, while technologies such as AI and automation are fundamentally reshaping the rules of the game. It’s clear that without full control of your Master Product, you risk falling behind and missing both revenue and opportunity.

So how do you take control and turn product information into a competitive advantage for your company? We’ve listed seven key points that separate leaders from followers.

1. Centralize your data and keep it up to date

Stop letting your product information live on sticky notes scattered across the office. It’s classic that we see companies’ product data scribbled down on paper, in Excel sheets, or, worst of all, in someone’s head. When teams responsible for enriching or using data have to search for information that already exists elsewhere digitally, the result is often duplication, errors, and delays.

Setting up a central hub where all your product data lives is the heart of your product strategy. From there, you ensure that everyone works from the same, correct version – one that is easy to find, update, and distribute.

2. Don’t become a slave to new channels

Digital channels are growing at an explosive pace, and every new channel comes with its own requirements for formats and protocols. Historically, data exchange standards moved slowly. Today, the pace is relentless. Google has recently launched new protocols, OpenAI continuously expands theirs, and the entire ecosystem is evolving faster than ever.

Trying to adapt manually to every new requirement is a losing battle. By centralizing and structuring your Master Product, you enable automated distribution of data to new channels and formats as they emerge. The goal is not to chase channels after the fact – but to always be ready to open them.

As demands on format, speed, and availability increase, it becomes clear that this cannot be solved in isolated initiatives or reactive fixes. It requires clear ownership – and shared responsibility.

3. Take control (together)

Owning your Master Product is not just about technology, systems, or clearly defined roles. It’s a mindset.

This mindset becomes far easier to turn into action when there is a central repository where the Master Product is continuously refined. When everyone knows where product information lives – and sees how it improves and grows over time – it becomes clear how individual contributions matter.

This is not something “someone else” should handle. True ownership of the Master Product requires the entire organization to be involved: product development, procurement, marketing, sales, support, and IT.

Every person and every process influences the quality of what you sell. The question everyone should ask is:

How can I contribute to better control, higher quality, and greater accessibility of what we sell – whether products or services?

When enrichment and improvement become part of everyday work, and when all contributions feed into the same Master Product, real control emerges. That’s when the Master Product stops being “something in a system” and becomes a shared truth that the entire company stands behind.

4. Set clear requirements for suppliers

A Master Product is only as strong as the weakest link in the supply chain. By setting clear requirements and standards across the entire chain, you ensure that incoming data is accurate, consistent, and usable – from producer to end customer.

This is where Digital Product Passports (DPP) become critical. DPPs enable true transparency across the product lifecycle and are a key component of the EU Green Deal 2050. By integrating DPP into your Master Product, you don’t just ensure compliance – you build a data chain that is resilient over time.

5. Administer and enrich intelligently

It’s perfectly fine to administer, collect, and enrich product data across different tools and silos. Every system has its strengths. But the quality of your Master Product is often determined by how well you specify and collect data from the very beginning.

Be a demanding requester. When you order product images, ask for more than just visuals:

• Extended image metadata – images can carry far more data than what meets the eye

• Alt text describing the image (a legal requirement for accessibility)

• Exact article or SKU numbers represented in the image

• Model information: height, size, fit, and context

Clear requirements toward internal or external partners – photographers, studios, agencies – can dramatically improve data quality. Much of this pays off “for free” later in SEO, AI interpretation, personalization, and future channels.

And once again: there must always be a published version – the official truth that everyone consumes.

6. Build a data architecture that makes your Master Product accessible and future-proof

Once your data reaches high quality, the next critical question arises:

What is the natural source for distributing product information?

Is it really the e-commerce platform?
Or should it be a more central data source?

E-commerce systems are typically built for presentation and transactions – not to serve as a complete, scalable, long-term source of all product information. They have limitations in volume, breadth, and depth.

A modern data architecture starts instead with a central, fully extensible Master Product – one that continuously grows, evolves, and is always ready to be consumed.

This is where true data readiness is achieved:

• The right data

• To the right consumer

• At the right time

• In the right format

7. Stop waiting – start acting

The market is not waiting. Standards evolve, regulations tighten, and new channels emerge faster than ever. Waiting for the “perfect moment” often means falling behind.

Start where you are. Build incrementally. But build with a clear vision: a Master Product that is living, scalable, and ready for the future.

Conclusion

The Master Product is no longer just product information. It is the heart of your digital strategy – the hub that enables AI, automation, Digital Product Passports, new protocols, and the channels of tomorrow.

Companies that invest in data readiness today will be able to act faster, smarter, and more sustainably tomorrow.

The question is not whether you need to modernize your Master Product.
The question is: how long can you afford to wait?

Because Master Product is not an IT initiative. It’s a business decision.