PIM Software and Akeneo Implementation for Large Catalogs Sold in Many Channels and Languages
One place where your team creates, completes, translates and approves every product, and from where your store, your marketplaces and your Google feeds are published, each in the format it needs. Your ERP stays in charge of prices and stock. We model the catalog, load it clean and connect the PIM to everything else.
- 70,000+ Products in the catalog we run for Loviux
- 18 Languages of that catalog, published in 24 countries
- 27.8% Of product pages with schema Product across 300 Spanish stores
- 01 · Sources ERP, CRM, web and files
- 02 · Ingestion Versioned pipelines
- 03 · Transformation One common data model
- 04 · Quality Rules and alerts
- 05 · Consumption Dashboards and models
- 06 · Governance An owner per dataset
- Every incident improves a rule
Definition
What Is a PIM System?
A PIM (Product Information Management) system is where a company centralizes, completes and publishes its product data: attributes, descriptions, variants, translations, images and documents. From there the data goes to the online store, the marketplaces and the shopping feeds, each in its own format. The ERP stays in charge of prices, stock and orders.
Summary
Executive Summary
When a PIM pays off and what changes in day-to-day catalog work.
While you sell in one store and one language, the catalog fits in the store itself or in the ERP. The trouble starts with the second channel: the same product lives in the store, on Amazon, in the Google feed and in the spreadsheet a distributor asks for, each with its own version. Translations are made on copies, technical data sheets sit in a shared folder and nobody knows which of the five descriptions is the right one.
A PIM puts a single version of each product at the center. That is where you define which attributes each product family carries, what is needed to publish it in each channel and language, and who completes and approves it. From there it is published to Shopify, Magento or PrestaShop, to marketplaces and to Google Merchant Center. Prices and stock do not go through the PIM: they keep coming from the ERP, as in any well-built ERP integration.
We do the implementation end to end: data model, choice of tool and edition, catalog load and cleanup, workflow, translations and integrations with the ERP, the store and the channels. Akeneo is our main option, and we tell you when another tool, or none at all, is a better fit.
- 27 Stores run from a single Magento backend, at Loviux
- 15 min From SAP stock to the store, at Silicium
- 216 Product pages analyzed in our study of 300 stores
What's included
What a PIM Implementation Includes
What a typical project covers. The exact scope comes out of the review of your catalog.
- Data model: families, attributes, attribute groups, categories and variants, designed for your products and your channels
- Initial load and cleanup from the ERP, the store and spreadsheets: duplicates, units, formats and SKUs
- Enrichment and approval: who creates, who completes, who translates and who signs off before publishing
- Translations by language and channel, done by your team, an agency or AI with human review
- Assets: images, technical data sheets, manuals and certificates linked to each product, in the format each channel needs
- Data quality: completeness rules by channel and language, format checks and alerts for what is missing
- Publishing to the store: Shopify, Magento or PrestaShop, with attributes, variants, images and copy in every language
- Marketplaces and feeds: Amazon and other marketplaces, Google Merchant Center and the formats your distributors ask for
- The ERP as the source of SKUs, prices and stock, without duplicating in the PIM what the ERP already owns
Why
The Data Model Decides Whether the PIM Works
Families, attributes and variants: the part nobody sees and the hardest one to change later.
Before loading a single product, we define the model. Each family (say, “T-shirts” or “Water pumps”) sets which attributes it carries: text, number with unit, option list, date, image or file, and which ones are translated and which change by channel. Product models group the variants: in Akeneo, up to two levels, such as color and then size. And completeness tells you, per channel and per language, what is missing before a product can be published. A good model means the Google feed, the store page and the Amazon listing all come from the same data. A bad one means redoing the load.
- 1 Versions of each product
- 2 levels Variants
- Per channel Completeness
Key points
From the PIM to Every Channel
The same product, published wherever you sell and in the format each place requires.
- 01
Your Store: Shopify, Magento or PrestaShop
Each platform stores products its own way: Shopify with variants and metafields, Magento with attribute sets and configurable products, PrestaShop with features and combinations. We map the PIM model to each one, with an off-the-shelf connector if it covers your rules or through the API if it does not. More on the store side in Magento development and Shopify development.
- 02
Marketplaces
Amazon and other marketplaces have their own taxonomy and required attributes per category. The PIM stores the data once and translates it into each format, so a listing is not rejected for an empty field. The commercial side is covered by our Amazon and marketplace agency.
- 03
Google Merchant Center and Other Feeds
The Google feed asks for ID, title, description, link, image, price, availability, brand and GTIN or manufacturer part number. Descriptive data comes from the PIM; price and availability come from the ERP or the store. The same goes for comparison sites and the files your distributors request.
- 04
The ERP as the Source of Prices and Stock
The ERP creates the SKU and owns prices, price lists and stock; the PIM owns everything that describes the product. Price and stock travel from the ERP to the store at the frequency each needs, as at Silicium: stock every 15 minutes, prices and price lists every hour. More in ecommerce ERP integration.
- 05
Search Engines and AI Assistants
A tidy PIM is the basis for structured data on the product page: schema Product with brand, GTIN, image and offer, matching the feed. In our study of 300 Spanish online stores, only 27.8% of the 216 product pages we found exposed it. We work on this in ecommerce SEO and GEO.
- 06
Akeneo and the Alternatives
Akeneo has an open-source Community Edition, installed on your own server, and paid editions with finer permissions, change proposals someone approves and asset management, also available as a cloud service. Pimcore is another open-source option that adds asset and master data management; Plytix and Salsify are cloud services. We choose with you based on your catalog, your team and your channels.
How we work
How We Implement a PIM
Model first, then the load, then the integrations, working with your real catalog from day one.
- 01
Catalog Review
We look at where each piece of data lives today (ERP, store, spreadsheets, image folders), how many products, families, languages and channels there are, and who touches what. We tell you whether a PIM pays off and which one, and you get a fixed quote.
- 02
Data Model
Families, attributes, categories, variants, channels, languages and completeness rules, worked out with your team on real products from each family.
- 03
Installation and Setup
Community Edition on your server or one we choose together, or the paid or cloud edition you license. Users, roles and permissions based on who works on the catalog.
- 04
Load and Cleanup
We import from the ERP, the store and the spreadsheets, normalize formats and units, remove duplicates and link images and documents to each product. Whatever is missing shows up in completeness.
- 05
Integrations
ERP to PIM for SKUs and source data; PIM to the store, the marketplaces and the feeds. Every transfer is logged and retried when a system does not respond.
- 06
Workflow and Go-Live
We train the team on the daily routine: create, complete, translate and approve. We publish channel by channel, checking each one, and keep the integration under our maintenance.
Who it is for
Does a PIM Pay Off for You?
It fits when the catalog is large, sold in more than one place and handled by several people.
Who it's for
- Manufacturers and distributors with thousands of SKUs and many technical attributes per product.
- Brands selling through their own store, marketplaces and distributors, each with its own format.
- Stores in several countries and languages that translate on copies and no longer know which version is right.
- B2B companies whose data sheets, certificates and manuals live in shared folders today.
- Teams switching store platforms or opening a new channel who want the catalog in order first.
Who it's not for
- Catalogs of a few hundred products, in one language and one channel: the store or the ERP is enough, and we will tell you.
- Anyone looking for a place to manage prices, stock and orders: that is the ERP’s job.
- Anyone without someone to maintain the catalog: a PIM organizes the work, it does not do it for you.
Deliverables
What’s In and What’s Not
So the scope is clear before we start.
Included
- Catalog review and recommendation of tool and edition
- Documented data model: families, attributes, variants, channels and languages
- PIM installation and setup, with users, roles and completeness rules
- Initial load with data cleanup, and images and documents linked to each product
- Integrations with the ERP, the store, marketplaces and Google Merchant Center
- Team training and workflow documentation
Not included
- PIM and third-party connector licenses (purchased separately)
- Writing and translating content for the whole catalog (quoted separately if you need it)
The proof
Large Catalogs We Already Run
We have not yet published a PIM implementation case study. What is in production is the work a PIM organizes. At Loviux we run a catalog of more than 70,000 products across 27 stores in 24 countries and 18 languages from a single Magento backend: stock from several suppliers arrives as XML, CSV and JSON and is normalized into a single format, product pages are written and maintained in all 18 languages and pass an automated check before publishing, and the product feeds were enriched for Google’s AI-powered search. At Silicium, SAP Business One is the source of stock, prices and price lists, and the Shopify store receives them automatically. At EquiMercado we built the product attributes and product pages of their Magento store and maintain their structured data for Google Shopping.
- 70,000+ Products in the Loviux catalog
- 18 Languages of the Loviux catalog
- 27.8% Product pages with schema Product in our study of 300 stores
- 5.0 Clutch rating
For the CTO
CTO Summary
How the PIM fits into your architecture.
Each piece of data has one system that owns it: the ERP owns the SKU, price, price lists and stock; the PIM owns attributes, copy, translations, variants and assets; the store owns orders. The PIM is not a pass-through for price or stock: those go from the ERP to the store at their own frequency, so a PIM delay never sells something that is not there.
Akeneo Community Edition is a PHP application built on Symfony with its own REST API; integrations read only what changed since the last sync and write to each channel through its official API. We add an integration layer with logging of every transfer, retries and alerts when something fails, the same way we build our ERP integrations. The code, the documented data model and the access credentials are yours.
Technologies
- Akeneo
- Pimcore
- PHP
- Symfony
- REST
- Node.js
- TypeScript
- Shopify
- Magento 2
- PrestaShop
- Google Merchant Center
- schema.org
- One owner system per data point: ERP, PIM or store
- Price and stock from ERP to store, bypassing the PIM
- Change-based sync, not full loads every time
- Logging of every transfer, retries and alerts
- Documented data model and code you own
Risks and how we cover them
Risks We Avoid
What turns a PIM into just another spreadsheet.
- 01
A data model that cannot handle the real catalog
MitigationWe design it with real products from each family and test it against every channel before the full load.
- 02
Loading the PIM with the same errors the spreadsheets had
MitigationThe initial load includes cleanup: duplicates, units, formats and SKUs, with completeness showing what is missing.
- 03
Outdated prices or stock because they pass through too many systems
MitigationPrice and stock go straight from the ERP to the store, at the frequency each one needs.
- 04
A PIM nobody uses after go-live
MitigationA workflow designed with the team that maintains the catalog, training and clear roles from day one.
Technologies
Tools and Channels
The PIMs, stores, marketplaces and feeds we work with.
- Akeneo
- Pimcore
- Plytix
- Salsify
- Shopify
- Magento / Adobe Commerce
- PrestaShop
- Amazon
- Google Merchant Center
- SAP Business One
- Odoo
- schema.org
- PHP
- Symfony
- Node.js
FAQ
PIM Software and Akeneo FAQs
What we are asked most before implementing a PIM.
What is a PIM system?
A PIM (Product Information Management) system is where product data is centralized, completed and published: attributes, descriptions, variants, translations, images and documents. The store, the marketplaces and the feeds are fed from it, each in its own format.
What is the difference between a PIM and an ERP?
The ERP runs the business side: SKUs, prices, stock, orders, purchasing and invoices. The PIM holds what describes the product so it can be sold: copy, attributes, translations, variants and images, plus each channel’s format. They work together: the ERP creates the SKU and the PIM completes it.
When is PIM software worth it compared with managing the catalog in the store?
When the catalog is large, sold in more than one channel or language and handled by several people. With a few hundred products, one language and one store, the store or the ERP is enough. We check this in the catalog review.
What is Akeneo and which editions does it have?
Akeneo is a widely used PIM. It has an open-source Community Edition, installed on your own server, and paid editions, also offered as a cloud service, that add finer permissions, change proposals with approval and asset management. Licenses are purchased from Akeneo.
Akeneo, Pimcore, Plytix or Salsify?
It depends on the catalog, the team and where you want it hosted. Akeneo and Pimcore have open-source versions; Pimcore adds asset and master data management. Plytix and Salsify are cloud services. We recommend one after the catalog review, not before.
How does a PIM connect to Shopify, Magento or PrestaShop?
With an off-the-shelf connector when it covers your rules, or through the API when it does not. We map PIM families, attributes and variants to each store’s model: variants and metafields in Shopify, attribute sets and configurable products in Magento, features and combinations in PrestaShop.
Does the PIM manage prices and stock?
Usually not. Price, price lists and stock are owned by the ERP and go straight to the store at the frequency they need. At Silicium, stock goes from SAP to the store every 15 minutes and prices every hour. The PIM only holds the SKU that links both worlds.
How are translations handled in a PIM?
Each translatable attribute has one value per language, and completeness shows what is missing in each. Translation can be done by your team, an agency or AI with human review, as we do with the Loviux product pages in 18 languages, which pass an automated check before publishing.
Does a PIM help with SEO and with showing up in AI assistants?
Yes, because it organizes the data search engines read: brand, GTIN, attributes and images, consistent across the product page, the schema Product and the Google feed. In our study of 300 Spanish online stores, only 27.8% of product pages exposed schema Product. We work on this in ecommerce SEO and GEO.
How much does a PIM implementation cost?
It depends on the number of families and attributes, the languages, the state of the data and how many channels need connecting. We start with a catalog review and give you a fixed quote. PIM licenses, if you choose a paid edition, are separate.
Next step
Tell Us What Your Catalog Looks Like
A 30-minute video call with the person who will set up the PIM. If your store or your ERP is enough, we will tell you.
- No commitment
- Response in 24h
- Custom proposal
Let's talk.
Initial technical consultation
AI, security and performance. Diagnosis with phased proposal.
- NDA available
- Response <24h
- Phased proposal
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