Do I need a PIM or is a spreadsheet enough?

A spreadsheet holds up while one person maintains one catalog for one or two channels. It stops working when several people edit it, when channels need different attribute sets, or when a retailer requires its own format. The signal is not SKU count — it is how many places the same fact is stored.

The cost of waiting is paid in rework. Every channel that gets its own export becomes a copy that drifts, and reconciling four drifted copies is harder than the migration would have been.

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