Content in Top Form: Quick, Individualized, and Professional

From catalog to flyer – your publication process is about fine-tuning your product content to approach your target groups and distinguishing yourself from the competition. At the same time, however, you also want to make your product content available to all target media outlets in a timely and efficient manner.

Unify content and form with a central PIM system: On the one hand, the lack of a PIM means tediously collecting and filtering technical, emotional, and use-case-related information and content from data aggregates which may be scattered all over the place. On the other hand, the effort required will otherwise multiply itself, since every publication is to be provided in various versions, channels, and languages for varying target groups.

When it comes to catalog generation, you can simply let a PIM system do all the heavy lifting in the background thanks to user-defined automatisms. Focus your creativity on what really matters: good content for your customers! In this blog post, you will learn everything you need to know, as well as valuable tips and tricks for efficient and automated print production.

 

Maximize Your Saving Potential

Print products can be many-sided, both figuratively and literally: be it a central catalog, a catalog for flagship products, or a flyer for niche products or a very specific target group which requires an individualized customer approach. A PIM system that offers integrated publishing tools allows you to use reusable templates and streamline the creation process. The use of style sheets, text modules and templates for pages and articles optimizes the entire process. In this context, a powerful print tool should offer the following functions:

• Automated generation of pages and even entire catalog PDFs
• Minimize effort with dynamic templates
• Subsequent layout editing in a layout editor

 

Establish Your Corporate Design

With a well-integrated print and publishing tool, you can significantly reduce the time and effort required to create your communication materials by simply letting your data flow into pre-designed master layouts. This ensures that your corporate design is always consistent and of high quality in all media. The following features help you save time and resources while ensuring your corporate design in all communication materials.

• Control publication and task planning with the fully-integrated module.
• Establish your Corporate Design in all target channels such as your website, web shop, or personalized e-mails.
• Set up information process chains in a semi-automated or fully-automated manner as necessary.
• Outsource some work steps to your Desktop Publishing thanks to standardized interfaces and data export formats.

 

Put a Smile on the Face of Your Design Team

The combination of a PIM system and a print tool makes your work much easier. You can select your product data and automatically transfer it to programs such as Quark or InDesign, where it is then prepared for printing. Thanks to integrated interfaces, you can work with the latest data in your familiar interface. If your publications appear in different versions and language variants, this is also not a problem for a powerful PIM system. This allows you to automatically convert texts on publication pages into all maintained languages. Here are a few more features that make the process even more efficient and take the pressure off your design team:

• Dynamics catch page overflows caused by language-dependent sentence lengths
• Seamless integration of neighboring modules for data maintenance and translation
• All publication channels are supplied with content in relevant language variants

 

Generate in a Fast and Target-Group-Oriented Manner

In an increasingly digital world, it is crucial to produce marketing and sales materials such as catalogs, brochures, flyers and data sheets quickly and efficiently. A powerful PIM system combined with a print tool enables you to create product previews based on templates and to process them directly. Here are some features that significantly speed up the production process:

• WYSIWYG: “What You See Is What You Get.” – Previews exactly match the final product
• Swap out stylesheets or products of templates with a few clicks
• Save previews of print pages directly on the product in your data model for fellow users

 

Automated catalog creation – efficient, flexible, consistent

Ein modernes PIM-System in Kombination mit einem Publishing-Tool macht die Katalogerstellung schneller, effizienter und flexibler. Von der Planung bis zur Ausspielung: Automatisieren Sie Prozesse, behalten den Überblick und sorgen für konsistente Publikationen über alle Kanäle hinweg. Diese Vorteile optimieren Ihren Workflow:

Adjustable Publication Processes
Actively control all publication processes – from planning to distribution – parallel to the continuous data acquisition and data management.

Reusable Templates
Make process steps sustainable with stylesheets, text modules, as well as templates for pages and articles.

Representative Reviews
View live previews of entire publications at the click of a button, save them, and share them: “What you see is what you get!”

Multilingual Publications
Centralized data management allows content to be automatically converted into all maintained languages, enabling you to create internationally consistent publications.

Seamless System Integration
Automatic update of changes – even directly in InDesign or other connected systems.

Personalized Content
Create customized publications for different target groups and inspire your customers with relevant, emotional content.

 

Automated catalog creation with ATAMYA: Seamless integration for maximum efficiency

With the ATAMYA Product Cloud, all this is possible seamlessly thanks to an API-driven architecture. Print and publishing tools can be easily integrated, so you can stay in your familiar working environment while still benefiting from maximum automation. Changes are synchronized in real time, multilingual content is easily published, and publications are efficiently created – all without media discontinuity.

Experience it for yourself! Secure an appointment now for a personal ATAMYA demo and discover how easy and flexible your catalog production can be.

For what Purpose do I need MAM?

With a market that is more and more driven by visuals, companies gather increasingly more image and video material. Keeping stock of all that and developing a good file system for it can pose a significant challenge. A Media Asset Management system (MAM) relieves the pressure and optimally complements your PIM.

Many companies place increasing focus on content and social media marketing, resulting in higher need for media assets internally. On top of this, customers have come to acquire a higher demand for a diverse range of visual means of representation for supporting their purchasing decision. Especially when it comes to e-commerce, good product images and videos play a crucial factor in the customer’s decision-making process. With great output, however, the number of files and, consequently, the potential for chaos increases.

To avoid this issue before it even comes up in the first place, you should consider the integration of a Media Asset Management or a Digital Asset Management (DAM). In such a system, you manage your digital content in an efficient and organized manner – which, in turn, enables you to optimize your product communication.

 

MAM as an Indispensable Foundation for Efficient Content Management

A MAM or DAM is a central storage system for all your digital media assets. Every user who has relevant permissions can access, view, download, any perhaps even upload assets. In contrast to conventional Cloud storage directories, you also benefit from many other functions.

Before anything else, the management and organization of your images grants you a better overview. The possibilities to tag images with keywords facilitates searching and finding content in a quick and easy manner. All important meta-data can be displayed at the click of a button so that you know about the usage and copyright of the individual asset. This way, for example, you know which product image is up to date and legally permissible for your use case.

If you want to share media with others, you can easily do so with dynamic links. In the same way, you can collect images by other users. And if you want to use or further edit files in another tool, you can usually do so without manually downloading them by directly using the respective integration or interface.

A MAM brings order into your media chaos and saves you not only time but also valuable storage space.

Benefits of DAM/MAM at a glance:

• Clear-cut overview in organization and management of media assets
• Simple and fast search thanks to keywords
• All important information at the click of a button
• Simple sharing and collecting of large files without a tedious compression process
• Integrations of other software for faster and easier access to relevant content and functions
• Numerous possibilities to flexibly and individually adjust your own system to your own needs
• And much more

The exact functions differ from system to system so that you will have to evaluate ahead of time which features matter to you before making your choice. As a company that works with a lot of visual content, however, it will be nigh impossible to make do without MAM. Even if the classic file directories “somehow” do what they are supposed to, you will still end up giving away a lot of time for handling your media assets.

 

Best Practices for Utilizing Your MAM

To successfully employ your MAM throughout the entire customer journey, we have compiled some tips for you that you should keep in mind:

• The Planning: Once you have decided that MAM is the right approach, you ought to think about how to organize your content in it. Consider which structures and folders you want to create for images or videos together with which information.
• Define Rules: As soon as the structure of your MAM is mapped out, define which rules users have to follow when uploading media. This way, you maintain order. Such rules may include, for example, the types and number of keywords or meta-data, where in your structures the respective asset is best stored, etc.
• Install Integrations: To always benefit from quick access to all media files, integrate other software tools into your DAM. Edit your images and videos by integrating, for example, Canva or Adobe Creative Suite into your MAM. You can then put the edited material directly to use, e.g. for your social media marketing in Hootsuite, your blog in WordPress, your online shop on Shopify, or your sales pitch deck in PowerPoint. And you can do so without downloading and uploading images for each and every system individually. A direct connection to PIM is possible, too, so that you can assign suitable product images to your respective product information.
• Create Portals: If you are to provide image material for PR or retailers on a regular basis, you can create a portal in your MAM. Here, you make selected images available that can then by easily used by the respective shareholders. Now, you do no longer need to process every single request individually via email and always gather matching images manually.

These tips will help you in bringing all your media in order and making sure that it stays so. At the same time, you always have everything available at your fingertips so that you can always provide during every phase of the customer journey and at every point of sale just the right visual material.

 

How MAM and PIM Complement Each Other

As you can see, MAM offers a great many benefits. You will only be able to draw from its full potential, however, if you combine it with your PIM. This way, you store both your product images and videos as well as your product data centrally and in a manner that grants you the optimal overview. File storage and file management are easy to handle and, thanks to integrations and interfaces, you are quick to access all required content.

One possible combination of PIM and DAM would be, for example, the use of ATAMYA with pixx.io. Both solutions are scalable and can be adjusted to match your requirements so that they grow together with your company. In pixx.io, you store your current images and videos – and, in ATAMYA, you link them with your product data. As a result, everything is always well organized.

 

Conclusion

A MAM or DAM brings both structure and overview into your file chaos and, at the same time, makes searching, sharing, and editing media easy and efficient. In the increasingly more visually oriented industries, it is indispensible and fully replaces your dusty folder structures on your local desktop. In combination with a PIM, it constitutes the ideal foundation for smooth processes, guaranteeing that data and files are always up to date and easy to manage.

Generate More Sales and Boost Your Brand through Product Reviews

Product reviews play a decisive role for the purchase decisions made by customers. This is especially true since online shopping is increasingly becoming the norm. It doesn’t only affect the consumer behavior but also boosts the brand integrity and increases your visibility in search engines. In this blog entry, you’ll learn how to generate positive reviews and how to mobilize them in order to win over more interested buyers. Additionally, we demonstrate how a Product Information Management System (PIM system) can support you in optimizing these processes.

 

The Significance of Product Reviews in E-Commerce

This is Why Product Reviews are Indispensable

Product reviews are more than just simple comments made by people who have already bought the product – they’re a mighty marketing tool that boosts both the consumer’s trust and your brand’s online presence. Reviews offer insights into the quality and reliability of a product, straight from the consumer’s point of view. They contribute to minimizing risks when purchasing goods online and promote transparent communication between company and customer.

Influence of Reviews on SEO and Customer Decisions

Product reviews have a direct impact on the ratings by search engines through generating fresh content and the occurrence of relevant keywords therein. Also, a high number of positive reviews can lead to a higher click rate on product pages and, consequently, translate into a higher conversion rate. On top of all this, products with a lot of positive reviews are usually the customer’s first choice, which in turn means an increase in total sales.

 

This is How You can Create Good Product Reviews in an Effective Manner

Measures for Increasing the Number of Product Reviews

In order to continuously receive good reviews, companies are to develop proactive strategies. This includes setting up automated e-mail systems which motivate customers to leave a review after the purchase. It’s important to design this process as easy as possible, for example by providing direct links to the review page. Furthermore, incentives such as discounts or raffles can increase the readiness to leave a review.

Trainings and Customer Support for Improving the Rating Quality

Another effective method to increase the quality of reviews is convincing customers through high-quality services. Training for your customer service team which focuses on addressing the customer’s needs and complaints more effectively can contribute to an increase in customer satisfaction and, consequently, more positive reviews. Happy customers are more likely to share their positive experiences.

Community Engagement and Interaction

Interactions with the community of your customers through social media and forums can also contribute to mobilizing customers so that they leave a positive review. Companies which actively reply to customer comments and establish a relationship to their community generally experience higher brand loyalty and improved reviews. Through regular interaction and by showing your appreciation for feedback, companies can establish and maintain a positive online reputation.

 

Using Product Reviews for Acquisition of New Customers

Personalization and Target-Group-Oriented Tone

Through the analysis of the data contained in reviews, companies can come to understand better what their customers truly cherish and provide appropriate personalized offers. This doesn’t only boost customer satisfaction but also the customer retention rate and loyalty.

Storytelling through Customer Reviews

Authentic customer reviews form an excellent foundation for storytelling in your marketing strategy. Telling a real story about the experience customers have when interacting with your product can appeal to a potential buyer’s emotions and convince them. This creates a deep bond between customer and brand. And this, in turn, increases consumer acceptance.

Using Reviews in Marketing and Ads

Positive product reviews can be put to work across various marketing channels in order to build trust by potential customers and boost your brand. By weaving authentic customer reviews into ads, product pages, and social media, companies can raise their credibility and positively influence purchase decisions.

 

The Role of PIM in Optimizing Your Product Ratings

Centralizing and Managing Product Information

A PIM system enables companies to manage and update all their product information in a centralized manner. Thanks to precise product attributes, relevant product descriptions and appealing product images which have been distributed to every sales channel in the appropriate form and are always kept up-to-date through systematic channel management, your customers can evaluate the product in a more informed manner. This increases your chance to bring in inspired customer voices and interactions.

Integration of Reviews in Product Information

An effective PIM system facilitates not only the collection of product reviews through correct and up-to-date product data, but can also contribute to smoothly integrate them into your product information database. This, in turn, enables potential customers to directly view reviews on the product pages – increasing transparency and making it easier to form an educated purchasing decision.

 

Boost Trust in Your Brand with Positive Product Reviews

Product reviews are a decisive element in e-commerce which doesn’t only influence purchase decisions but also enhances trust in your brand. Through strategic measures for generating and using reviews, companies can increase their visibility, win over more customers, and boost sales. An effective PIM system can support you in the process, namely by centralizing all product data and helping you integrate reviews into product information.

Boost Your Competitive Prowess with the ECLASS Classification and PIM

In today’s business world, the efficient management and classification of your product data plays a decisive role. The right classification does not only facilitate your search for products and product information but also optimizes the data exchange with companies, customers, and partners.

This article analyzes the synergy between ECLASS standard (formerly “eCl@ss”) and PIM — and how it can increase the efficiency of your product management, reduce the error rate, and push your competitiveness. The smooth interplay of PIM system and classification standards supports your company in the digital age and guarantees that your product information is not only all-inclusive but also well-harmonized – aspects that are important if you want to stay successful in this data-driven world.

 

What is ECLASS?

ECLASS is a cross-industry classification standard that enables you to consistently identify products and services on an international scale. The same-named non-profit organization was founded on November 14th, 2000, by twelve of the largest companies in German economy. By 2020, the association had already gathered well over 150 members worldwide. As a state-of-the-art ISO/IEC-compliant data standard utilized on a global scale, ECLASS is commonly referred to as the universal language of Industry 4.0 nowadays.

The standard is a hierarchical system and encompasses around 45,000 product classes and 19,000 unique features – allowing for a fine-grained and precise classification as well as a unique description of products and services. The result is standardized master data that can function as the enabling condition for an efficient Master Data Management. And it assures data integrity besides facilitating collaboration with global customers and suppliers. You can find an overview of the current ECLASS version on the official website of ECLASS e.V.

 

PIM and ECLASS Put into Practice

When it comes to formatting your products in accordance with the ECLASS standard, a so-called PIM system (Product Information Management system) can be of great help. Now, how exactly may a PIM system support you in putting your product classification into practice?

• Data Processing and Data Consolidation: A PIM system enables you to collect and optimize product data from diverse sources. This is a decisive step towards creating a comprehensive data foundation for your classification. With the aid of a built-in import configurator, you can import files in any data format into the PIM system.
• Data Quality Management (DQM): DQM helps you in your data maintenance processes with validation mechanisms that check for the completeness and quality of product data. Equipped with these DQM criteria defined on the basis of a classification, you can easily identify data records which don’t correspond to the criteria and make sure that this data can’t be exported from the system until it’s corrected or completed.
• Exportability: A PIM system allows you to export classified product data in various formats so that you can use it in other systems and on other platforms which require ECLASS data.
• Updates and Changes: Since classification standards improve over time, a PIM system can contribute to quickly adjusting product data to match the newest version and make corresponding updates for all channels.

These are only some examples as to why a PIM system can support you in exhausting the full potential of a cross-industry standard.

 

ECLASS, ETIM, and BMEcat – the Magic of the Digital Product World

While the classification makes sure that you can always pick out and categorize the correct product, BMEcat handles the smooth data exchange between business partners. In the E-Procurement field, this makes for a significant increase in efficiency while also reducing the error rate. Electronic catalogs that use a data standard are usually interoperable and can exchange data with both other systems and other platforms using the same classification. For more information on electronic catalogs in the BMEcat format, please refer to our article BMEcat: Exchange Format for Your Product Data.

Besides ECLASS, there are many more standards which serve other markets or sectors. One such example is ETIM. Here, once again, the versatility of PIM systems are brought to bear. Such systems do not only support ECLASS but offer possibilities to fully integrate it together with several other standards. Equipped with this, you’ll always correctly classify product information in a range of contexts.

Product Data Feed: What is this – and what do you use it for?

An unwieldy word that holds great meaning: product data feed – or product data flow – refers to a well-structured data record that contains all essential information about your product. That is to say, the product data feed bundles all product data in a centralized manner: This includes article identifiers, colors, descriptions, prices, availability, image URLs, and shipping information. Such a product data feed, however, is more than just a mere list of data: If used efficiently, it enables you to transfer data to all target sales channels in a quick and secure way without any errors – while, at the same time, also guaranteeing that this data pool is always up to date across all marketing and sales platforms. This is because the product data feed draws directly from your database and can, with the help of a management system, be utilized flexibly in all sorts of manners. How exactly does this work? That’s what we’ll discuss in a moment.

We can already take notice of the following at the very least: You can’t imagine today’s e-commerce and multichannel marketing anymore without a product data feed. There are, in fact, even more benefits which speak for creating and maintaining your own product data feed:

• The simplest yet also most important point: With a product data feed, you establish a reliable and consistent foundation for your data. You can look forward to information that is up to date, clear, consistent, and complete! This, in turn, enables the customer to make informed decisions concerning their product selection, makes their purchasing experience much simpler – and establishes more trust in your brand overall.
• Apropos customers: You want happy customers who are satisfied with your products rather than dissatisfied? With a product data feed, you make sure that all data about your products is always correct and complete – regardless of where your products are presented. Once you’ve centralized them, you can distribute the data to anywhere anytime – be it on B2B marketplaces, online shops, or comparison portals such as Google Shopping. This way, your customers always know exactly what they can expect from their purchases.
• But a product data feed does more than merely distribute your data completely and consistently: You can also use it to create personalized marketing campaigns and individualized recommendations for your customers. How? By evaluating which products sold particularly fast on which channels, by which target group, and for which reason. This is how you can also use the data drawn by your product data feed to conduct an analysis of your customers or their purchasing behavior.
• A structured product data feed grants you higher visibility on the web: The search engine gathers your product data and bases its rankings on it – when the data is complete and expressive, your SEO does also benefit from it! Besides being found by Google, do you also want to be listed on comparison platforms? A complete and correct data record makes this possible.
• All this culminates in: efficiency. Such an optimized product data feed facilitates your sales processes. Your product data transfers are processed without any errors in an automated manner – and this, in turn, saves valuable time and personnel-related resources.

 

An Optimal Product Data Feed: What do you need to look out for?

Product data feeds are usually stored as a .csv or .xml files on a server. Your sales partners are granted access with a URL. Be it .csv or .xml, both formats allow you to structure a large quantity of data, distribute it, and import it into other systems. When setting up your own data feed, pay special attention to the following aspects:

• Invest sufficient time into formulating clear and concise product descriptions! This is not only helpful to your customers but does also increase your chance to be listed higher on relevant marketing and sales platforms.
• List all relevant product details. Required attributes are, by convention: Product ID, product title, price, the product description, and an image.
• Add further optional information as you see fit – such as promotional offers or special availability.
• Optimize the data you provide for popular search engines – this concerns, in particular, the product title, image files, and image titles.
• Adjust the feed specifications as necessary to match with the respective target channel’s or platform’s individual requirements.
• Keep in mind that you need to keep your product data feed updated at all times – especially when it comes to availability and price adjustments. It goes without saying: Optimize, maintain, and check your data feed at regular intervals. This is because once data with errors or gaps is provided, the respective product may not be adopted or listed by your sales partners.

You can already see: Even if your product data feed is well set up, occasional updates are indispensable. Whenever you increase prices, make adjustments to the product availability, add new products to your assortment, or launch promotions, you’re required to update your data.

Also, a complete and well-maintained product data feed can only come to be when all data from all sorts of sources are unified in a clean, clear-cut manner without any redundancies. The to-be-managed data, however, rarely comes from a single source; the following domains may contribute to generating a complete set of all your product data:

• Product development provides all particular product specifications that are only known to your team in this form.
• Alternatively – or additionally –, product data may be supplied directly from the manufacturer.
• Your product managers optimize the product descriptions.
• Your marketing department assigns strategic keywords to the products in order to increase findability in the SEO field.

Further data may come from:

• A CRM system that unifies product data and customer data.
• The data system of your online shops that unifies the product with the search and purchase patterns on top of your customers’ consumer behavior.

How, then, can you bring together all this data in the best possible manner so as to form a single, well-manageable, and flexible data record? How can you make updates in a quick and easy fashion? How can you make sure to prevent duplicate data records so that you team can rely on complete and correct data records that convince with high data quality at any given time?

 

Our Definite Recommendation: a PIM System

In a PIM system (Product Information Management system), you can manage all your product information efficiently and smoothly distribute it to all sales channels – be it online shops, B2B or B2C marketplaces, apps, comparison portals, or online catalogs. A PIM takes your product data feed and elevates it to the next level of efficiency and applicability.

Think of PIM as your well-assorted shop next door that you would recommend to your friends: All products are neatly organized in intuitive categories so that you always have the full overview; you can search and sort relevant data according to your individual use case or, in the customer’s case, the current purchase decision; and you can easily compare products and articles. All this is established by a PIM – with the difference that PIM is like a digital rather than a physical store. With a PIM, you organize all your product data and media assets in user-defined hierarchies – e.g., by brands, types, or specific attributes –, you create relations between products, and you create the optimal basis for your product presentation on the web.

The product data model created hereby facilitates the management of your product data – and renders your data all the more flexible. Use your PIM system to personalize your product information, for example to strategically address your target groups – allowing you to appeal to a diverse range of regional markets. How is this possible, you may ask. You can do so, for example, by also maintaining your complete data records in relevant translation languages together with corresponding digital assets. This way, even a multi-lingual customer experience can be achieved in a smooth manner – while everything stays consistent even across multiple languages.

By providing further technical data (such as measurements, compatibilities, energy efficiency, operation requirements, and further specifications) as well as images and other kinds of media (optionally with the connection to a Digital Asset Management system), you perfect your product data. Accordingly, you can now look forward to…

• how all the different data sources are unified to constitute your consistent data pool,
• managing and distributing your product data throughout all stages of the customer journey
• and the entire customer experience.

 

In Closing, Some Tips: This is how you can optimize your product data feed

In order to make sure that your products can be searched, found, ranked, and accessed in the most optimal manner possible, you should keep the following in mind:

• Optimize your product titles: Put extra emphasis on short but concise formulations that only contain the most relevant information.
• The same applies to product descriptions: They should be 500 to 1000 characters long and only contain important information.
• Ask yourself what kind of expressions your target group uses when searching for your products – and add corresponding synonyms (e.g., a “hoodie,” “jumper,” and “sweatshirt”).
• When adding colors, be more general rather than concrete: Users are more likely to search for “light green” than “spring-meadow green.”
• Define categories for your products; and assign multiple ones if your product fits into several of them in a meaningful way (e.g., “outdoor clothing,” “clothing for change of season,” and “weatherproof clothing”).
• Make sure that every product has a European Article Number (EAN) as well as a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN).
• Always specify product sizes in all relevant measurement systems.

We wish you a good run with your new, well-organized visibility in digital sale!

Accelerating and Simplifying Business Processes with CPQ – How It’s Done

You want to secure your competitive edge and set yourself apart from your competitors in a highly competitive business environment? Then you should be in search for a timely solution in order to optimize, digitize, and automate your business processes. Efficiency, after all, is the key to staying successful in our fast-paced and digital world. Luckily, there are smart tools which support companies on this path. Two performative software solutions which can help you enhance the management and sales of your products are CPQ (Configure Price Quote) and PIM (Product Information Management).

While a CPQ software serves the primary purpose of optimizing offers and processes for offer creation, the PIM puts its focus on consolidating and managing product data. A heavenly combination for automating your business workflows and making them even more efficient. In this blogpost, we let you in on what’s behind CPQ and to what extent the combination of CPQ and PIM can drastically improve your processes.

Configure Price Quote: What’s Behind its Three Concepts?

1. Configure: Realizing Individual Customer Whishes
Just as the name says, this first step is about the configuration of a product or service which consist of various components. Accordingly, the CPQ solution also functions as a product configurator. Both, product configurator and CPQ, are tools which help companies in creating tailor-made products for customers. There are, however, definite differences between the two:

• Product Configurators: A product configurator is an interactive tool which enables customers to put together their own product variant. To this end, it makes sure that all selected options fit together and it generates a visual model or description of the final product. The product configurator is often used in conjunction with an e-commerce system to facilitate the ordering process of the product and to provide the customer with a positive customer experience.
• CPQ: CPQ systems do, in fact, go one step beyond pure product configurations. They help companies in creating customized offers. Such offers may, for example, include variant prices and discounts. The CPQ system lets sales team members generate offers in a quick and easy manner without any manual calculations.

Or in short:
Product configurators serve the primary purpose of making the configuration and ordering of products in an individualized and customer-specific way possible, whereas a CPQ system does, additionally, also facilitate the generation of offers together with the dynamic pricing for such customized products.

2. Price: Dynamic Pricing Made Easy
Determining the prices is a decisive step in the sales process. A CPQ automatically factors in the listings of all individual components and their quantity for the configured product, while also taking discounts and other cost factors into consideration. This way, it can determine the exact price for the configured product. Nowadays, discounts and special terms are common practice. The CPQ solution checks automatically whether the price creation is within the bounds of the discount limit. This way, you can avoid potential error sources and make sure that customers always get fair prices, while still bringing in profits.

3. Quote: Offer Generation Easily Automated
Having completed the configuration and determination of the price, the CPQ automatically generates a professional offer. The offer contains detailed information about the configured product, its price, the technical delivery conditions, and other relevant data. This offer content is organized into a CI-conform layout. A consistent and targeted offer which is appealing to customers strengthens their trust in you and increases the likelihood of a successful transaction.

 

What are the Pros and Cons of a CPQ Solution?

What concrete advantages do CPQ solutions bring to the table and, at the other hand, what challenges do they have in store for companies? This is what we want to examine more carefully now.

Efficient Configuration
• Fast and exact configuration of complex and multi-variant products or services
• Avoid mistakes during the offer creation thanks to automated configuration rules

Consistent Price Determination
• Uniform price structure for all products and services
• Taking account of discounts, actions, and customer-specific pricing rules

Accelerated and Automated Processes
• Faster offer creation and automated offer generation
• Shortening the delay between request and offer for a positive customer experience

Error-free Offers
• Automated calculation avoids incorrect prices and product configurations

Support for Sales Team
• Automated processes for offer creation disburden your sales team
• Thanks to access to all relevant product information, it’s easier to fulfill customer whishes

Besides Various Advantages, CPQ Software also Pose Challenges to Companies, including:
• A CPQ project means extra effort and expenses because of the initial implementation of the software into your existing IT infrastructure
• Additional costs because of software trainings for your co-workers
• Changing your established processes can be resource-consuming and strength-sapping work
• To fully exhaust all possibilities of a CPQ system, your company requires high-quality data of all products or services, since the system builds on exact, up-to-data product and pricing information for generating apt offers

 

PIM and CPQ: Top Combination for the Decisive Competitive Edge

A well-implemented CPQ solution provides companies selling complex and multi-variant products with a great many benefits: efficient, error-free sales processes, higher performance rates for the sales team, more positive customer experience, avoiding data redundancy – just to name a few.

All of this, however, does not click together without a consistent data foundation. And this is where PIM comes into play. As a central datahub, PIM can provide precisely this much needed data basis – a central source for all product information. The CPQ system can draw from this source to guarantee error-free product configuration and exact price calculations for offers. By combining both technologies, companies can make drastic improvements to their sales process.

The result is an efficient sales process enabling the sales team to react to customer requests in a fast and precise manner with competitive offers. This saves time and resources, granting your company the decisive business advantage for staying streets ahead of the competition!

ETIM: The Open Standard for the Classification of Your Products

 

What is ETIM?

ETIM stands for “Electrotechnical Information Model,” a classification system that unifies product descriptions from commerce, the industries, and construction. It’s a universal standard which can present product data in a neutral manner and independent of specific manufacturers, media formats, and languages. Equipped with this classification, retailer and manufacturer speak a common language, hereby facilitating and accelerating communication even on an international level. Initially, with the founding of “ETIM Deutschland e. V.” in Germany in the year of 1999, the open standard has exclusively been used in the field of electrical engineering up until 2015. By now, the classification system has also been adopted by many other sectors such as the “Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning” industry (HVAC) and “Tools, Hardware, and Site Supplies” industry (commonly abbreviated as WEBA in German, but there is no direct equivalent used by the English-speaking engineering communities). With the founding of “ETIM International” in 2008, the classification has started to receive a very high acceptance rate and recognition across all of Europe. In general, it’s a free standard so that you can utilize its data model without any license fees; you can also opt for a paid ETIM membership if you want to actively participate in the continuous optimization and refinement of the model.

 

How does ETIM work?

For the classification with ETIM, your products are assigned to corresponding article classes in a flat hierarchy. In order to achieve an exact mapping of all individual products, the differentiation of classes is very meticulous, resulting in a rich number of classes. Finally, all these classes are summarized into thematic groups, but these groups only serve the purpose of providing a more convenient overview and better internal organization. All in all, the current version 9.0 of ETIM consists of a total of 5,554 classes for the following 5 sectors: “electrotechnical” (E), “HVAC and plumbing” (W), “building materials” (B), “shipbuilding” (M), and “Tools, Hardware, and Site Supplies” (T).

Every class contains a well-defined set of technical attributes. You can use these attributes to describe all products assignable to this class. In order to also guarantee that the inserted product information is uniform and well-structured, the attributes come in the form of selection lists so that all you need to do is select from a list of pre-defined input values. In case of numeric values, you can select the metric unit. Thanks to the unified language, terminology, and structure, it’s very easy to identify, describe, and compare products. This reduces a lot of effort when generating offers or commissions and simplifies the selection process for compatible products, among other things.

In short, you can divide the process of classification and description for your products into three steps:

1. Assigning products to product classes
2. Assigning the attributes of the class to the product
3. Describing the product using the list of pre-defined values

In ETIM expert panels and working groups, members actively work on optimizing and developing the model further. Accordingly, this universal solution enjoys a high acceptance rate and international recognition, together with high data relevance and usability in your daily business.

 

BIM meets ETIM: The Future of Digital Product Communication

BIM (Building Information Modeling) is the method which allows all companies active in construction to visualize a building across its entire life cycle using a 3D model. With it, they can achieve an optimal and efficient collaboration for all construction projects. The relevant information required to do so comes in a standardized terminology and has a uniform format. You can learn more about how this works in our blog entry “What is BIM? Building Information Modeling in Simple Terms.“

BIM is an integrative, digital planning method for construction of buildings and infrastructure. ETIM, on the other hand, offers a standardized classification and well-defined, uniform product attributes. Applying the classification and attribute structure of the ETIM standard to BIM models is what enables a simple identification of technical products and facilitates their integration into your planning process. Bringing together ETIM and BIM makes it possible to optimize, digitize, and carry out the efficient planning and realization of construction projects. This, in turn, translates into a higher customer satisfaction rate, lower costs, and faster project completions. A clear advantage for all parties involved, be it manufacturer, retailer, or planner.

 

BMEcat and ETIM: How a Central Structure Facilitates Product Communication

While ETIM takes care of the classification as well as the attribute structure, thereby securing the uniform description of your products, BMEcat is a standardized format for the exchange of catalog data between electronic catalogs (commonly referred to as e-catalogs). The combination of both standards renders possible a simple and efficient exchange of product data between manufacturers, retailers, and even customers. Besides ETIM, BMEcat is also the go-to standard format for the transfer of product data for ECLASS, profiCl@ss, and the XML format ARGE Neue Medien. You can find further information about BMEcat and an overview of its benefits in our blogpost “BMEcat – A Universal Exchange Format for Your Product Data.”

 

How does PIM Software Support You in the Classification of Products?

The PIM system is the central system for managing your product data. And since it contains all your product data, it already contains everything you need for ETIM. By integrating the ETIM classes that are relevant to your industry and products, you can efficiently classify every article while also maintaining a good overview, i.e. you can handle the assignment of products to ETIM classes with PIM. You can also do so across different ETIM versions. Thanks to these relations, the corresponding ETIM descriptions are directly stored at the product and can be accessed and edited using the PIM system. Your user-generated and already well-maintained product attributes can be linked automatically to the respective ETIM attribute, so you can manage everything from a single source without any redundant data management.

We from ATAMYA support you with our knowhow and 30 years’ worth of experience in product data and classification systems when it comes to building your own ETIM structure, the mapping of your product data, as well as data distribution with our universal BMEcat export. A compact solution thanks to which you don’t need to rely on any specialized software for designing and creating e-catalogs. Does this topic resonate with you? We’re always happy to have an exchange over a virtual cup of coffee, without any commitments on your end. Make an appointment for a personal conversation with us.

Optimizing Product Data and Realizing Business Objectives Even Faster

In our digital day and age, product data and information are of decisive importance for the success of companies. Through the optimization of product data, companies can reach out to their customers in a more efficient manner, boost their online presence, and improve sales. This blog entry goes in-depth on product data – what it is, why it is so important, and how you can optimize it in order to accomplish business goals in a much faster fashion. So, if you want to draw from the full potential of your product data, make sure to keep on reading!

The Importance of Product Data for Your E-Commerce Strategy

Now that we’ve defined what product data is and know just how complex it can be, there still remains the question of how crucial this is to the sales of products. One good answer to this question are the results delivered by an empirical study conducted by KPMG and Statista.

According to this study, 57 percent of the surveyed people wish for detailed product information to avoid personally returning products. 42 percent of the people do also wish for more detailed product images in this context. This means that the majority of people wish for an overall higher quality of product data which can serve as the basis for good purchase decisions without product returns. In short: the quality of data is decisive. This, in turn, is easy to comprehend if you consider the gigantic quantity of products comparable to one another in a vast market such as e-commerce. Customers here have the freedom – or agony – of choice and must, therefore, rely on correct, precise, and elaborate product descriptions and product information. The point being: high-quality data is necessary to stay streets ahead of the competition.

Only this way can you create target-group-oriented product experiences which inspire customers and motivate more purchases. To achieve the desired results, you ought to concentrate on the quality of your data. The following guides you in 5 steps through the best practices for getting the best out of your product data while also optimizing the quality of this data at the same time.

 

Step 1: Shifting Perspectives – Think Just Like Your Customers Do

The rule of thumb in this context is: customers think in use, not in product properties. So, before your company gets down to business and starts filling product data with life, it’s imperative that you first step into your customers’ shoes and view things from their perspective. Grab pen and paper and write down your answers to the following questions:

• What problems do your product provide solutions for?
• What kind of search terms would you use for googling after these solutions?
• Now, imagine you’ve found just the right product: which attributes and properties are essential to your product?

This step is of utmost importance! After all, this is what constitutes the concentration point where all your target-group-specific information comes together. With it, you create a solid foundation from which all subsequent steps follow, allowing you to realize your objectives in a strategic manner.

 

Step 2: Unmistakable – Convince with Your Unique Selling Points

After analyzing the needs of your customers, your second step should be to present the unique value your products bring to the table in a clear-cut manner. What makes your products special? How can they make your customers’ lives easier? Even seemingly simple standard attributes such as size, color, weight, or material can already leave a lasting impression.

An example may best illustrate this: you’re selling flowerpots in your online shop. Providing only a simple description or a single image with the headline “Flowerpot” to your customers may, with a very high possibility, be insufficient for motivating purchase decisions. What is unique to your flowerpot? Tell an authentic story which inspires your customers to buy exactly this flowerpot and no other.

There’s one thing in particular that you should keep in mind concerning this step: in the first step, you’ve already determined the concepts and keywords which customers type into search engines to look for products like yours. Make sure to integrate them into your description in meaningful ways. This way, you don’t only provide relevant information to your shop but also make sure that your product or service can be found across different channels.

 

Step 3: Coherence – Pay Great Attention to Uniform Descriptions

One further golden rule for a successful online shop is the uniformity of your product information. The reason for this is self-evident: providing different currencies, measurement units, or color labels for related products will quickly make your shop appear to be unprofessional and may, consequently, result in consumers opting for the competition instead.

Conduct regular check-ups for validating the uniformity of your product data. For example, have you used the correct currency and the correct measurements in all target channels? Also take the coherence of your product images into account. Make sure that your customers are provided with high-quality images. Such images should clearly display both your product as well as its unique selling points. A uniform presentation of your data is a must-have you should establish across all your online marketplaces.

 

Step 4: Consistency – Structure Your Product Data

To make it so that customers can find their desired products when browsing you shop, you should sort your product data by specific product groups or categories. Here, too, the same principle applies: look at it through the customers’ eyes. To make this point as explicit as possible, let’s once more refer back to our flowerpot example: judging from your customer’s viewpoint, in which categories would you expect to find what you’re looking for? The answer to this question depends on the scope of your product portfolio. Assuming you’re a specialized flowerpot manufacturer, a categorization by use cases may be adequate. This is an entirely different story, however, if you offer an assortment of diverse products across several domains. In this case, you should neatly organize everything into parent categories and sub-categories to give your shop a simple structure to navigate through. The flowerpot, to stick to the example, would then be available under the category decorations or similar labels.

When it comes to the structuring of your data, here you should keep another rule of thumb in mind: Make things easy for your customer!

After all, if you customers can get straight to their desired article with little to no effort, you simplify the customer journey and make it more experienceable – all the while reducing the bounce rate to the minimum.

 

Step 5: Single Source of Truth – Manage Your Data Centrally

If you’ve carried out step 1 to 4 consequently to the end, then you’ve already done a lot of things right. The place where you store all this high-quality data and product information, however, is also a decisive success factor for the optimization of your product data. For example, if your product information is spread over various excel lists or multiple digital tools and file systems, you’ll be quick to find out that maintaining your data is a process prone to fatal errors which will not remain unnoticed by your customers.

This does not only cost time but also money. Shop operators who sell a large quantity of products across various online marketplaces should, therefore, invest into a PIM. In a PIM system (Product Information Management), you can structure data in a customized manner for target groups, manage large quantities of data centrally, and automate exports to target channels and all given touchpoints at specified time intervals. At the same time, automated processes accelerate your time-to-market. In short: with a PIM, you get the maximum out of your product data and secure your company’s competitive edge.

The Product Classification Brings Order into Your Product Data

Every manufacturer and retailer of a product knows the ins and outs of what it has to offer. They are well familiar with the properties which perfectly describe their product and which make its uniqueness vividly graspable. Naturally, the company’s naming conventions, own neologisms, and individual style do also determine what the description of the product assortment looks like. All these aspects are important when it comes to differentiating your brand from the competition and conveying the feeling the brand stands for. After all, the kitchen chair is not simply brown: it has a warm color with a hint of red shimmering through – a chestnut brown. Or your product may feature other unique characteristics. For example, the grip of the hammer is made out of reinforced plastic, allowing its owner to also use it near wires which conduct electricity.

Together, they function as an important decision-making criterion for your customers to select the right product. On the basis of this information, they can compare products – within your own assortment, but also with other product offers on the market. And this is where the product classification comes into play: it’s what grants your product data and information the required structure. It forms the perfect foundation for smooth data refinement in your PIM or ERP system and also guarantees a fast data transfer for optimal presentation in your online shop or e-catalog. In short: For those in the e-commerce and e-business world who want to market products internationally and globally, product classification is an uncircumventable topic. Further benefits include that your products will be presented in a much clearer and more distinct manner, be it in your own internal system or external sales channels. This, in turn, translates into higher customer conversion rates. How exactly product classifications function, what advantages they have to offer, and how you can profit from them – find out all this and more if you keep on reading.

 

What is a Product Classification?

When classifying products, they’re organized into so-called group structures and categories. In the process, each data record of your data pool is assigned to its respective category with specific properties. The product classification hereby allows you to find and compare product information more easily, while also simplifying and unburdening the entire data traffic going on between the systems of manufacturers, online shops, marketplaces, suppliers, and retailers.

Most commonly, data is organized in so-called standard classifications such as GPC, UNSPSC, or ETIM. These are centered around industry-specific criteria, providing you with a classification method which fits your company’s needs. The data exchange, in turn, is simplified with standardized exchange formats such as BMEcat.

 

 

How Product Classifications Prove to be Useful for You

For directly and automatically transferring your product portfolio into e-procurement systems (e.g. of wholesale retailers), a standardized description is necessary. To this end, there are product classifications by classification standards used within the respective industry. One example is the standardization developed by ETIM e.V., utilized for facilitating the product data exchange between the two industries of electrical installation as well as HVAC or sanitary engineering. In this particular case, we’re looking at an ID-based data model composed out of product classes, attributes, and attribute values.

Of course, there are also other classification standards. Other prominent examples include ECLASS, GPC, and profiCl@ss, which are employed in their respective industries. More often than not, they come with their own unique classification principle (while others build on and modify existing classifications, e.g. the XML format developed by ARGE Neue Medien was originally build out of the ETIM classification). By now, you may already have realized just how diverse the field of data processing really is. In order to make your journey through this field as simple and efficient as possible, you should first answer the following question before anything else: Which product classification do I need? How should the classification be structured in more detail? And how do I map my own data model onto it in the best possible manner?

 

This is how Product Classifications and Exchange Formats Synergize

Which product classifications you need is often times dictated by the market. It may be the case that a retailer or manufacturer demands a specific data format. A best practice example is to combine BMEcat with ETIM.

The widely used BMEcat format is applied to create e-catalogs. BMEcat has been slightly modified and expanded by ETIM in order to fit the requirements of all the industry-specific software systems involved. Usually, the product group structure is determined and parsed into the BMEcat format by the company which provides the data. However, in the use case of combining BMEcat with ETIM, this is no longer necessary, since ETIM already comes with the definition of such a group structure in its standard. No extra effort required. The receiving systems can already interpret the ETIM standard with their built-in means alone and can directly identify which article is to be assigned to which ETIM product group etc. In an ideal scenario, all suppliers agree upon operating with the same classification standard, meaning that all searches for orderable articles in e-procurement systems work with one and the same structure.

Another lesson you can take from this is that you need to be well familiar with both, your own data model and relevant product classifications. And this is where the use of a PIM systems (Product Information Management) can be extremely helpful.

 

Nothing Short of Classy: PIM and Classifications

PIM software serves the purpose of organizing your data in a data model in accordance with your product requirements. This way, you can map your products perfectly in a use-case neutral manner, without already having to worry about data exports and product classifications. Instead, you can approach the matter in a follow-up step, where you develop a mapping with which you can assign any given product attribute from your existing data structure to the required attributes of the respective classification. For example, the classification may only know the color brown; but in the terminology of your own data model, the product has the attribute chestnut brown; so, in the mapping, you can simply determine that the attribute chestnut brown is to be mapped onto and exported as brown.

In such a manner, you can map your entire data pool to a relevant classification’s requirements in step-by-step manner. In order to support you in this process, we’ve developed a method for our ATAMYA Product Cloud which makes the mapping of your data as smooth as possible. Once the mapping is set up, you can automatically parse any set of relevant data records into the target classification and export it to target channels at the click of a few buttons.

Are classifications a topic on your current agenda? If so, don’t hesitate to contact us. Our experts have years’ worth of expertise in this field and are always happy to provide you with help when it comes to overcoming challenges revolving around product data. No obligations on your end. Here’s our contact form.

BMEcat Standard – For the Successful Exchange of Catalog Data

In the times of ever-evolving digitization, digital standards for date exchange have long become indispensable. After all, it’s crucial for efficient product management that data can be quickly transferred back and forth between various software systems. Digital standards are a good method for realizing an uncomplicated processing of all corporate data.

 

What is BMEcat?

BMEcat is a standardized format for the exchange of catalog data pooled together in electronic catalogs (so-called e-catalogs) between supplier and customer. It’s primarily used in the B2B sector, independently of the industry. The BMEcat format supports manufacturers and wholesale retailers in supplying the e-procurement systems of their customers with standardized electronic product catalogs. Those who don’t use an exchange format are, instead, required to create all product data manually in their system or typing it out manually by using print catalogs or excel sheets as a basis. Sounds tedious, doesn’t it? BMEcat takes care of all this for you. In doing so, it shifts the focus to the optimal searchability and findability of one’s own products in the recipients’ software systems while also making them stick out against the competition.

However, what even does the concept BMEcat stand for? In 1999, the Fraunhofer Institute (German Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart) developed the BMEcat catalog version 1.0 in collaboration with Duisburg-Essen University. Two years later in 2001, the German Federation BME for Materials Management, Sales, and Logistics (Bundesverband Materialwirtschaft, Einkauf und Logistik e. V.) developed the more advanced version 1.2 of this BMEcat standard for electronic product catalogs. No more than five years later in 2005, finally, the most recent version of BMEcat was released, regarded as state-of-the-art by industries and experts to this day.

 

How does BMEcat work?

The BMEcat format is a normative description for the structure of XML files (Extensible Markup Language). This means: BMEcat determines the structure for the transfer of digital data. Based on this, software which can interpret the standard is able to automatically process all data, store received information about orderable products, and may itself also provide this information on demand to connected systems.

In addition to properties, prices and order-specific data, a BMEcat file often contains a tree-like structure of product groups to which the articles contained in the data delivery are assigned. The information can be either generally valid or recipient-specific.

Since 2005, committees concerned with e-catalogs have been privileging BMEcat as their standard format. In particular, this includes industrial bodies which develop classification standards for norming product data transfer. Paradigm examples in the area of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria are ECLASS, ETIM, and profiCl@ss, as well as the XML format developed by ARGE Neue Medien (which is itself based on the ETIM standard). Your country and industry may also employ other standards and norms such as UNSPSC etc.

 

What benefits does BMEcat offer?

BMEcat stands for a well-structured and optimized basis for data exchange across your entire product-data-related supply chain. The biggest advantage is the enormous time save when supplying e-procurement systems with standardized e-catalogs for customers. Besides this, however, BMEcat still has much more to offer:

• Quick and secure data transfers
• Freely configurable mapping for products and services
• Generate multi-lingual catalogs out of a single document
• Optimize all procurement and sales processes
• Translatability and compatibility with related classifications such as ECLASS, ETIM, and UNSPSC
• Industry-independent standard for data exchange well-established in regions such as German, Switzerland, and Austria
• Support for BMEcat catalog creation and design directly in software solutions

 

 

BMEcat, Data Quality, and PIM Systems

PIM systems (PIM = Product Information Management) are utilized by companies as their central datahub. With a PIM, all data is pooled at a central spot, managed centrally, and then distributed into the various market and sales channels. PIM systems guarantee well-maintained product data and high data quality. Quality of data here primarily means complete information and valid values for technical specifications. Product data can be mapped onto any format based on the requirements of the respective publication platform. This way, you can set up the active transformation from a BMTcat file or into a BMEcat file based on classification standards such as ETIM or ECLASS with relative ease – as a default export method in your PIM system.

As part of the process, the export collects all data and information required for creating a valid BMEcat file. The PIM system here provides the additional function of data quality assurance and structured distribution, including the actual classification procedure of the relevant data. Finally, a BMEcat file is generated in a fully automated manner and sent directly to the recipient system. In other words, you don’t need additional third-party software for parsing your data into the BMEcat format. PIM comes with the benefit of carrying out the data management and the mapping to e-catalogs within one and the same system, allowing you to switch between the relevant software modules at the click of a button. Accordingly, you also benefit from only having to maintain a single, all-encompassing data source. Equipped with this, you can kiss redundant data maintenance across multiple systems goodbye. During each and every export, the validity of the current data foundation is checked automatically thanks to the standards and classifications, hereby reducing the room for error to the minimum.

We at ATAMYA made good use of the free configurability of exports as one of the functions of ATAMYA Product Cloud and developed a universally applicable BMEcat export. Users can adjust it to their own individualized data model in a do-it-yourself manner – or make use of your support services and benefit from our expertise for doing so. After the initial setup, you’ve got a fully automated digital data transfer method at your disposal. Your product information is distributed directly to recipient systems – in a simple, efficient, and time-saving manner.

BMEcat or related classification topics are on your current agenda? If so, feel free to shoot us a mail and let’s have a look together at how we may be of help when it comes to mastering your challenges.