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Why Your ERP Isn’t a PIM—and It’s Holding Your Distribution Business Back

As a distributor, your ERP is probably the heartbeat of your operation. It tracks inventory, pricing, orders, and customer data. Tools like NetSuite, Linnworks, or MYOB help you run efficiently—on the operations side.

But when it comes to product content—what your customers actually see on your website or in your catalog—your ERP just isn’t enough.

And trying to force it to be is slowing you down, hurting your SEO, and making you less competitive online.

Table of Contents

ERP Systems Were Built for Transactions, Not Content

ERPs are fantastic at:

  • Order processing
  • Stock control
  • Invoicing and fulfillment
  • Pricing and tax rules

But when it comes to publishing rich, complete product listings across eCommerce platforms, marketplaces, or distributor networks, ERPs fall short.

They weren’t built to handle:

  • Long and short product descriptions
  • Channel-specific copy
  • High-volume asset management (images, datasheets, certifications)
  • Product relationships (variants, accessories, kits)
  • Syndication to multiple platforms and web stores

So what happens? You export what you can from the ERP, dump it into a spreadsheet, and then spend hours massaging the data before anything can go live.

What It Looks Like in Practice

Here’s what we see all the time with distributors:

  • SKUs missing key data like compliance documents or dimensions
  • Product content inconsistent across channels
  • Marketing and eCommerce teams redoing the same work for each upload
  • Distributors stuck with half-populated listings while competitors go live faster

And all of it starts with the wrong assumption:

That your ERP is also your product content engine.

What a PIM Can Do That Your ERP Can’t

A Product Information Management (PIM) system complements your ERP—not replaces it. While your ERP handles transactions, your PIM handles content.

With a PIM, you can:

  • Import messy supplier data and structure it consistently
  • Enrich products with images, PDFs, bullets, and search-friendly content
  • Maintain product relationships (parent-child SKUs, variants, bundles)
  • Validate required fields before publishing
  • Export clean, complete listings to eCommerce, ERP, or partner platforms
And most importantly? You stop repeating work.

Real-World Gains for Distributors

When you stop using your ERP as a product content tool and implement a proper PIM, here’s what happens:

  • Time-to-market improves dramatically
  • Your eCommerce team stops firefighting
  • SKUs go live with full content, not placeholders
  • Supplier data flows into your system faster and cleaner
  • Customers get a consistent experience wherever they shop
That’s not just operational efficiency—it’s a competitive advantage.

Ready to Untangle Your Stack?

If your product content process depends on exporting from your ERP, cleaning in Excel, and manually uploading to your site, you’re doing way too much work.

Let your ERP do what it does best.

Let a PIM handle the product content layer.

And free your team to focus on what actually moves the needle—getting complete, compelling listings in front of customers faster.

Want help figuring out how a PIM can work alongside your existing stack without disrupting your operations?

Let’s talk.

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