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07.10.2022 · 8 min read

Akeneo PIM

Gather your product information in one place now and use the AKENEO PIM system (Product Information Management) as a multi-channel management tool for thorough quality assurance. Wherever you are with your product – in manufacturing or in sales – all relevant data is managed and maintained centrally. Product information management systems manage and control all product-related data in one central place. When all data is stored in one place, the workflow can be monitored best. The time spent searching for product information and editing items can be cut significantly. This can include the following information:

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AKENEO PIM system

  • Usage information: (product descriptions, user manuals, etc.)
  • Technical data: (such as size, colour, weight, material, ingredients, etc.)
  • Marketing-related data: (such as SEO copy, images, graphics, etc.)
  • Logistics information: (places of manufacture, suppliers, etc.)

Product data management with PIM

One of the cornerstones of a successful digitalisation process is storing product data correctly. At the same time, data is the basic requirement for a well-maintained online shop. Many companies spent years finding out that this is a well-known downside of digitising business processes. To sell a product, manufacturers and retailers use an ERP system that supplies all the important data.

Companies still create marketing materials separately in their own systems, such as InDesign. There is usually no central store for product and attribute information, which leads to inconsistencies across sales channels and a huge demand for resources because so much data is handled by hand. Because the data is often not standardised, and certainly not held in uniform formats or systems, automated use for online shops is difficult.

Complete information about the product is one of the most important points in a buying decision today. Structured product data management and intelligent use in e-commerce for product data management requires a product information management (PIM) system – ideally with an integrated digital asset management (DAM) system for professional file and product-image management. This should sit between the ERP system and the sales channel (for example a Magento online shop or a printed catalogue).

Illustration digitaler Marketing-Werkzeuge

Maintaining product data with Akeneo PIM

Screenshot einer App-Navigationsleiste

There are many PIM systems on the market, and they differ widely in licensing models and focus. A licence often starts at €100,000. Implementation effort, maintenance and support fees come on top.

For many clients these amounts are often too high a hurdle. There are now alternatives on the market. Companies can start at a lower cost. They already provide a very good basis for preparing product data properly.

As a PIM that suits Magento, we would like to introduce Akeneo PIM from the company of the same name. Akeneo is available both as an open-source product and as a licensed product with extra functions (for example DAM, approval workflows and so on) and vendor support. The company was founded in 2012, among others by the former founders of Magento.

Akeneo is an open-source product information management system that standardises, centralises, enriches and distributes all sales-related and technical product information across online and offline channels.

Akeneo is multi-channel capable and can both import data and export it.

It is a central repository for all product information. When you edit items, leave the “popular” Excel sheets or CSV files behind and work with Akeneo instead.

On the one hand, Akeneo offers a tidy user interface and focuses purely on product data management. On the other, even the standard version already offers convincing functions for managing product content.

Catalogues and output channels structure and organise products in an intuitive, flexible way. The content can also be translated into several languages without trouble.

A practical progress tool shows how complete the content is for the different output channels, and where the administrator still has work to do.

The standard export function can be extended with extra modules from the Akeneo Marketplace, so that, for example, a direct export into catalogue or layout software such as InDesign and fully automatic synchronisation with online shops such as Magento, Shopware or WooCommerce are possible.

As its technology platform, Akeneo uses the PHP Symfony framework. That makes it a very good candidate for integration, because many modern online applications use Symfony as their foundation.

Illustration des Akeneo PIM-Systems

How Akeneo PIM connects to the online shop and the ERP system

Solutioo specialises in integrating ERP and branch systems. We use numerous e-shops (Magento, Shopware 6 or WooCommerce) integrated with common ERP systems (Navision, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Axapta or SAP). We have already built the necessary link – the interface – individually for the customer, and it proves itself in daily use. With Akeneo PIM we can automate and streamline the product data process further by placing Akeneo PIM in between, instead of importing straight from the ERP system into the shop.

The user then has a better system for enriching basic product data with marketing copy and extra attributes than the ERP system or the online shop itself. Once the data is stored, it can be passed on directly to other channels such as InDesign. You build a custom catalogue through standard Akeneo connectors and no longer have to maintain it twice.

With the right interface and the right branch system, further functions can be handled through PIM, which is especially interesting for buying groups and wholesalers. For example, PIM can not only take products from an internal ERP system, but also integrate catalogues from suppliers. Alongside your own range you can then offer products from different retailers through your own shop without having to transfer all the data.

Akeneo PIM and Magento integration

Using Akeneo PIM is about storing all product information in one central place.

By integrating with Magento, companies make sure that current sales-relevant data stays in sync with the online shop and that the database stays consistent.

Illustration zur Datenanalyse mit Person

Akeneo offers a ready-made interface for connecting Akeneo PIM to Magento – the “Akeneo Connector for Magento”. The interface offers many configuration options and is improved all the time. In most cases this connector is the best way to connect a PIM system to a Magento shop.

In certain integration scenarios it can still make sense to use alternative integration modules. Solutioo, for example, has developed a Magento module optimised for an efficient, fast import of all sales-relevant product data from the Akeneo PIM system. It is ideal for integration scenarios in which a delta comparison with a standard connector is not technically possible.

Akeneo PIM and Magento are a widely used open-source combination. Besides performance, a good connection also has to take the individual retailer processes around product updates into account.

Optimise product data for e-commerce sites with Akeneo

For e-commerce, product data is by nature one of the most valuable assets and, among many factors, the most important component of product communication, marketing and sales. Magento offers product management, but it reaches its limits when the focus is on improving the quality of product content. Akeneo PIM software can be an ideal platform for improving the quality of product data and raising the efficiency of data capture.

PIM software without an interface or a product export is clearly useless. There are various ways to synchronise Akeneo PIM with your online shop. One good connection method is the Akeneo connectors for Magento. The Akeneo Magento interface offers the following benefits, among others:

  • You import your product content into Magento automatically or by hand​
  • With the Akeneo Magento Connector you can define import rules for automatic and manual updates. That keeps the latest product information on display in your Magento online shop.
  • With the Akeneo Import Builder you can define requirements for product imports. Rules can be based on product completeness or control delta imports.
  • Manage several websites or several online shops with a single product feed. With the Akeneo connector on the Magento side you can decide, for a product export, which products, data and information are assigned to which Magento shop and which categories
  • Benefits of integrating Akeneo with Microsoft Azure Blob Storage
Integrate and connect your Akeneo PIM platform with Microsoft Azure Blob Storage to store catalogue data in the cloud. Azure Blob Storage is Microsoft’s solution for storing objects in the cloud. Blob Storage is optimised for storing large amounts of unstructured data. Integration with Akeneo Azure Blob Storage provides cloud storage that helps store catalogue data on the server and reduce system storage. When you run an online shop, system storage is very hard to manage. Integrating Akeneo Azure Blob Storage ensures the scalability, reliability and security of your storage system. With an open-source approach you can adapt and extend Akeneo at any time. Akeneo itself also relies on forward-looking innovation. They keep developing existing and new features. The Akeneo marketplace is available to you as well. It offers add-ons with which you can, for example, print a catalogue or transfer data to an online shop.
Takeaway

What now?

Once the subject is clear in theory, it may still not be clear how to bring it into day-to-day work. That is where we come in: we connect AKENEO to your Magento e-commerce system and optimise your processes with it. One central place for your product information. We are happy to advise you.

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