Spatial Commerce is an innovative approach in ecommerce that fuses the digital and physical world with one another. Making use of technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), as well as 3D modelling, you enable customers to experience products first-hand in a three-dimensional space before purchasing them.
Imagine you want to buy a sofa. With the help of Spatial Commerce, you can place the sofa into your living room in 3D and have a look at it from various angles, instead of staring at it in the form of a two-dimensional catalog image. You may even configure the color and material in order to check the atmosphere the piece of furniture creates.
Application Examples for Spatial Commerce:
Spatial Commerce changes how consumers interact with the online shop and experience products, hereby creating a new level of shopping.
Spatial Commerce is a trend with enormous potential. Shopware, one of the leading platforms in the ecommerce field, integrates Spatial Computing into its products, hereby significantly facilitating the creation and use of 3D visuals for companies with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, while also rendering it more efficient (https://www.shopware.com/en/products/spatial-commerce/).
The further development of AR and VR technologies is what grants Spatial Commerce even more significance for years to come. In our whitepaper, “The most important ecommerce trends 2025,” we have summarized more of the most recent ecommerce trends besides Spatial Commerce.
A PIM System (PIM stands for Product Information Management) is an integral building block for fulfilling the wide range of requirements for Spatial Commerce. It creates a solid foundation for structuring and providing product data so that they can be optimally used for immersive purchase experiences.
This is How a PIM System Supports Spatial Commerce:
Central Data Source:
3D models: PIM systems can store and manage 3D models of products. Such models serve as the basis for the creation of interactive product visualizations.
Metadata: Besides 3D models, you can also centrally store all relevant product information such as measurements, materials, and colors. This data is essential for the configuration and personalization of products in a virtual environment.
Data Quality and Consistency:
Standardized data: A PIM system makes sure that all product information is consistent and error-free. This is especially important whenever 3D models must be synchronized with product information.
Multilinguality:
International markets: PIM systems support the management of product information in various languages which, in turn, is a great contributor to a company’s international orientation.
Daten Exports:
Connectivity to various systems: The data saved in a PIM system can be exported in various data formats for use in AR and VR applications, as well as ecommerce platforms and other systems.
Concrete Use Case Examples:
Advantages for Using PIM Systems for Spatial Commerce:
A PIM system of the likes of ATAMYA Product Cloud is an indispensable tool for companies that want to implement Spatial Commerce. It offers a central platform for managing and distributing the product information required to establish an immersive purchase experience. Through the combination of PIM system and Spatial Commerce application, companies can boost their competitiveness and win new customer groups. To this end, the ATAMYA PIM has a Shopware Connector in order guarantee a smooth data exchange.
Author:
Sebastian Faber
Senior Digital Performance & Marketing Operations Manager
ATAMYA
The Most Important eCommerce Trends 2025
In our whitepaper about the most important ecommerce trends, we take a deeper dive into these topics and more: from AI, through personalization, to Composable Commerce, Spatial Commerce, and Social Commerce, as well as the topic of sustainability.
Learn what it takes to be well-equipped for the newest trends.
Cloud native stands for applications which are developed exclusively for operation in a cloud datacenter such as, for example, Amazon Web Services (AWS). It also defines a software development method on the basis of which applications are designed from the get-go for “exclusive use” in the cloud, as it is the case for ATAMYA Product Cloud. The result of this are cloud-native applications (NCAs) that make full use of the strengths of the cloud-computing architecture.
Companies that utilize cloud-native applications by developers such as ATAMYA enjoy many privileges. Before anything else, this includes the ease with the solution can be scaled, organizational flexibility, access from anywhere, and, of course, reduced operation and hardware costs. In order to draw from the full potential available, companies need to opt for applications which are specifically engineered for and which can be operated in a cloud environment. And it is here where cloud native plays a decisive role.
Providers of cloud-native software invest a lot of development resources into the cloud-native approach. The effort centers around programming applications in the form of individual microservices which run on container-based, agile platforms, as opposed to the classic approach with “on-premises” (for local operation).
To this end, a cloud-native application rests on four pillars that reciprocally complement each other. This includes microservices and container technologies that are developed specifically for the cloud environment and constitute foundational elements in cloud-native development, coupled with continuous delivery and standardized APIs (interfaces):
(1) A microservice fulfills exactly one function and is housed in a container together with all necessary functions required for its operation.
(2) Containers, in turn, are portable and provide development teams with a high degree of flexibility when it comes to testing and rolling out new services.
(3) To achieve this end, continuous delivery is added as the third central pillar defining cloud-native applications. Cloud-native apps are created in close collaboration between the development teams and operation teams, commonly referred to as DevOps. This collaboration is what allows you to add new software features to a microservice without the need to interrupt the operation of the software with maintenance downtimes for updates. Thanks to continuous-delivery processes, new software features are rolled out automatically.
Cloud-native applications are composed out of multiple individual microservices. What connects everything with everything is the communication established with (4) standardized APIs. From the end user’s point of view, everything runs and feels like one single coherent application.
Cloud-native-software such as ATAMYA Product Cloud distinguishes itself thanks to its system stability and high degree of automation. An improvement in performance does not necessarily entail the need to scale up the entire software but, instead, scaling up individual microservices that operate independently from one another – while still boosting the application’s total performance.
On-premises software often times comes with a downtime for the roll-out of updates of the respective services. Cloud-native apps enable developer teams to roll out software changes such as new software features in real time without interruptions of services. As a result, there are no notable limitations when updating or upgrading the service.
Putting everything together, what are the most important advantages of using cloud-native apps?
The rapid availability, simple scalability, cost savings, and a relatively high reliability come together to constitute a decisive competitive edge for companies.
Author:
Eric Dreyer
Head of Product Management and Quality
ATAMYA
Cloud-Native Software for Managing Product Information – ATAMYA Product Cloud
ATAMYA Product Cloud is a cloud-native software developed by eggheads for the Product Information Management industry, in short PIM. With this system, you are well-equipped to centralize product data, manage it in a use-case-independent manner, and, lastly, distribute it to various sales and marketing channels. As a software specifically designed for use in the cloud, it provides you with all benefits a cloud-native software has to offer.
Companies in the field of ecommerce are subject to ever-increasing pressure to not only keep up with but also stay one step ahead of the competition – while also replying to changes on the market as quickly as possible. Classic business models often times hit a limit when it comes to meeting the market’s dynamic requirements and providing customers individual, personalized purchasing experiences across the entire customer journey. And it is here where the concept of Composable Commerce is coming more and more into focus as the promising solution.
Lars Bankert, Senior Manager and Head of Business Unit PIM & DAM for Vanilla Reply, a company specializing in web apps and ecommerce, comes together with Gerd Laski, Director Partner & Alliances for ATAMYA, to grant you valuable insights into this concept in the form of an interview. They share useful knowhow and demonstrate why Composable Commerce is indispensable for companies.
Lars Bankert: Composable Commerce is the method with which companies can build their ecommerce platform using various software components specifically designed for this very purpose. Such modular software components enable companies to quickly adapt to market changes, while enjoying the option to adjust and recompose their systems in a flexible manner. In today’s digital landscape, where the customers’ requirements change continuously, Composable Commerce offers the much needed agility and adaptability needed in order to optimize product experience and staying competitive.
Gerd Laski: As the provider of the PIM solution ATAMYA Product Cloud, which is based on the principles of the MACH architecture, we support the Composable Commerce method. Overall, the prototypical ecommerce infrastructure encompasses not only the PIM system but also other important software components such as online shops, billing processors, or marketplaces. Companies can choose between and put together technologies that best fit their needs to accomplish their goals. This so-called best-of-breed approach, also commonly referred to as freedom of choice, is decisive for making ecommerce companies scalable, maintainable, and continuously successful without any shutdowns, turnarounds, or outages. The future requirements of an ecommerce ecosystem often times remain indeterminate given the fast-paced market trends – with this method, however, you can implement and operate them in an uncomplicated manner.
Gerd Laski: Headless refers to the independency between frontend and backend. This means that a system can operate without a static and fixed frontend, allowing for the division of labor between frontend and backend software components. On the basis of this, various frontend technologies can be connected to the ecommerce system using APIs – without changes in the frontend affecting the backend. This approach offers companies maximum flexibility when it comes to the design of their ecommerce platform.
Composable Commerce builds upon the concept of Headless Commerce, but takes it even one step further with the implementation of microservices. Microservices are independent, self-sufficient modules that are developed individually and are highly flexible. What is hereby made possible is an all-encompassing modularization and adaptivity for the entire ecommerce ecosystem, not just the frontend.
Lars Bankert: APIs and microservices are the central building blocks of Composable Commerce. While APIs guarantee the smooth communication between the various modular software components, the previously mentioned microservices subdivide the overall functionality into smaller units that can be managed independently. This structure facilitates the integration of new technologies and functions. The API-First Approach assures that each and every component is easily accessible and can communicate with other relevant software components in the system environment without any gaps. Only with the use of these state-of-the-art technologies can the flexible composition of a company’s system landscape be fully realized.
Lars Bankert: Composable Commerce offers countless benefits, including high flexibility and adaptivity thanks to the combination of best-of-breed solutions. Equipped with this modular structure, new technologies and functions can be integrated more quickly and existing software components can be replaced on demand. The shortened time to market enhances customer experience and boosts both, customer satisfaction and retention.
Modern technologies such as APIs and microservices secure future sustainability and facilitate continuous innovations. On top of all this, Composable Commerce improves the operative efficiency and enables fast reaction times to market shifts in the short-lived digital environment.
Lars Bankert: One of the greatest challenges is the integration of the various software components, in particular when they are sourced by different developers. This requires a well-grounded understanding of the API approach and robust middleware as the integration layer. Additionally, companies must make sure that their team is equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage and optimize these complex systems – or they must bring service providers with suitable experts on board. A reliable consulting on this topic will coach companies about precisely these points and will work together with them to define solution strategies.
Gerd Laski: A PIM system is a central building block for the backbone of any “Composable eCommerce” architecture. Depending on the exact architectural approach, it receives product data from the ERP system and functions as the centralizing “single source of truth.” This means that all product data is here managed and maintained centrally.
Depending on the industry, product data such as texts, images, videos, and technical drawings from suppliers can be imported into the PIM system and, consequently, edited or enriched depending on given requirements. Furthermore, modern PIM systems offer functions like the automatic translation into various languages, the creation of target-group-specific product texts, as well as the contextualization of content. The PIM system supports even the internal maintenance of product data, including the distribution of information to the helpdesk. New requirements such as the Supply Chain Law and the Digital Product Pass can also be handled with a PIM in order to guarantee that all legal requirements are fulfilled.
Even a company’s partners and customers rely on encompassing product information to support the business effectively. This is why it is crucial that all this information is always available in all relevant formats. This includes print outlets such as datasheets and print catalogs, electronic catalogs such as BMEcat and ETIM, as well as the distribution of data across diverse sales channels, like the corporate online shop or marketplaces. This versatility is indispensable for data provision so that all the various requirements can be met. The right data must be provided in the right format at the right time and at the right spot – while involving minimal manual steps and delivering everything at highest speed. To be composable means in this context: regardless of what you need – the digital target system receives exactly all the information it needs to support the business in the best possible manner. Good PIM systems can integrate a Composable Commerce architecture effortlessly by utilizing APIs, hereby making the management and maintenance of product information much easier.
Lars Bankert: When it comes to the implementation of Composable Commerce, companies ought first to develop a clear ecommerce strategy which defines their business objectives and requirements. It is important to start with small, modular steps and adding further software components step by step. To this end, companies should rely on the best-of-breed approach and pay great care to the selection of the right partners and technologies. The software trainings of employees and the setup of robust API management frameworks, too, are crucial success indicators. Naturally, this method allows companies to successfully achieve business objectives as early as in the short term thanks to manageable, low-risk steps.
Lars Bankert: The future of Composable Commerce is promising. With ever-advancing digital transformation and growing demand for both flexibility and agility, more and more companies will opt for this method. The continuous development of technologies such as APIs, microservices, and cloud-native architectures will continue to make the implementation and administration of Composable Commerce much easier. In the long-term, companies will be well-capable of individualizing their e-commerce systems even more while also reacting even faster to market changes. The benefit of this method lies in the fact that, despite its high degree of individualization, you can always rely on battle-tested standard modules such as ecommerce, PIM, or personalization for every single phase of the customer journey.
Gerd Laski: Composable Commerce is already a well-established architecture in online retail today. Monolith systems will disappear more and more from the market. Even the classic suites develop into open systems. The trends clearly indicates that cloud-native microservice products gain in significance compared to on-premise solutions.
Our interview with Lars Bankert and Gerd Laski demonstrates that Composable Commerce bares significant influence on the future of ecommerce as a whole. For companies, this method provides the flexibility they need to quickly adjust their ecommerce platforms to ever-evolving market conditions. Through the use of modern software architectures powered by APIs and microservices, Composable Commerce constitutes smooth communication between the various systems involved, paired with an intuitive integration of new technologies.
The seamless integration of MACH PIM systems in Composable Commerce enables the distribution of product data across a diverse range of sales channels such as online shops, marketplaces, and even print catalogs in a flexible and efficient manner. This improves the overall operational effectiveness, shortens the time to market, and, last but not least, makes for a high-quality customer experience.
The Most Important eCommerce Trends 2025
Do you want to stay one step ahead of the competition? Then discover further ecommerce trends for 2025 in our whitepaper now.
Digitization has changed the way companies present and sell their products and services. Nowadays, customers expect personalized and quick solutions which match their needs and preferences. To keep up with this development, companies must optimize their sales processes and manage their product information efficiently. To this end, two software solutions play an important role: CPQ and PIM. CPQ stands for Configure, Price, Quote and makes it possible to automatically generate individualized offers and offer variants. PIM stands for Product Information Management featuring centralized management and automated distribution of product data and product content across all channels and markets.
In this interview, we’ve asked two experts from this field: Markus Pichler, CEO of ATAMYA, and Achim Beckmann, Managing Director at In Mind Cloud, the renowned software provider for digital sales platforms and CPQ which specializes in the complex requirements of sales. The two experts tell us what challenges companies active in digital sales encounter and how the combination of PIM and CPQ can help in mastering them.
Achim Beckmann:
CPQ is the abbreviation for Configure, Price, Quote. These are the three steps a sales employee has to go through in order to sell an individual product to a customer. First, the product is to be configured, i.e. adjusted to the customer’s wishes. Then, the price is to be calculated according to a myriad of factors. Lastly, an offer is to be created and approved which satisfies professional standards and is free of error. This whole process can be automated with CPQ. CPQ is more than a product configurator. It’s an end-to-end process that lets your sales team operate more efficiently and flexibly. With CPQ, customized products can be offered and prepared in a much faster manner.
Achim Beckmann:
In Mind Cloud focuses on the manufacturing industry which offers individualized products with a high degree of standardization. This is because individualized products are in highest demand here. Customers require tailor-made machine configurations most of the time – lot size 1. Manufacturers are to put together such “unique items” out of standardized components. In this context, CPQ can support two crucial processes relevant to the manufacturing industry:
CTO – Configure to Order: This is about pre-defined data models. To illustrate what this is about, let’s take an automobile configurator as an example. Even though cars are complex products, anybody can configure and order one today without the need to test-drive it. To this end, rules are defined such as the M package which opts for sport seats instead of comfort seats. Finally, the price is calculated.
ETO – Engineer to Order: This, in contrast, is about individual product requests. Let’s say a manufacturer for medical technology needs a plastic housing for their product. Accordingly, they will refer to an expert for plastic injection molding. The expert receives a CAD drawing and technical details on material, durability, etc. Then, the expert carries out a price calculation, usually on the basis of cost rates. Usually, the pricing is based on Cost+.
In order to reconcile standardization with individualization, CTO and ETO must be combined.
Achim Beckmann:
The market is developing in several directions. Based on our professional experience, however, we can identify four trends: specialization, consolidation, switching to the Cloud, as well as the integration of CPQ with CRM, E-Commerce, and ERP systems.
Achim Beckmann:
There are four big trends we are observing. The first is specialization. Some CPQ providers focus on specific aspects of the CPQ process, such as the Product Life Cycle. We from In Mind Cloud, however, defend the standpoint that a continuous end-to-end process is decisive, in particular for medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing industry.
The second trend is consolidation. We are observing how known CPQ providers are taken over by larger corporations. This is an indicator that demand for CPQ solutions is on the rise and that providers must prepare themselves to include more process depth.
Cloud is the third trend on the market. Based on our experience, more and more companies are asking for cloud solutions even in the CPQ field. We from In Mind Cloud made our early beginnings directly with the Cloud and, so, we have a lot of experience and a knowledge edge. Over the last months, we have rebuilt our platform with a hyperscale architecture in order to provide our customers with more flexibility and performance. Additionally, we have expanded our platform with a CRM and many commerce functions. As we have noticed, it is not only the case that our customers’ sales employees are required to make configurations but also that, even in the context of customer experience, it is imperative to build as many channels to end customers as possible. To this end, our standard product can now process both simple and complex configurations, requests of configured products for interested parties, customers, and partners, as well as spare parts orders through our platform.
The fourth trend is the integration of CPQ with other systems such as CRM, E-Commerce, and ERP. We have expanded our platform by CRM and commerce functions which are continuous with existing systems such as SAP, Salesforce, and Microsoft. We call this a digital sales platform: A central platform for E-Commerce, CPQ, and CRM with SAP and ERP integration.
Achim Beckmann:
In the manufacturing industry, we commonly take notice of the following challenges: First, sales of complex products require in-depth expert knowledge. Second, the offer process is usually time-consuming and costly – in particular, failure costs are a prominent topic. Third, the interaction between interested parties, sales, and construction can be bumpy. Fourth, Guided Selling plays a crucial role – the optimal selection of machines and equipment and their scaling is decisive. Fifth, the creation of consistent, high-quality documents poses a challenge. Sixth and lastly, even in the aftersales field do companies face expensive processes such as identifying spare parts.
Achim Beckmann:
In many companies, Excel is still used in the sales process. Even though CRM systems have already been implemented, the offer process for complex machines has received little to no digitization. This is where specialists with in-depth know-how are demanded. To do so, however, you will have to find one first. With a CPQ solution, even sales employees with less experience are quick to create correct and high-quality offers.
Furthermore, many manufacturing companies face high failure costs. What this means is that inconsistent configurations are offered since there is no central database for compatibility relationships. With a CPQ, you can only offer and, consequently, produce what matches the rule set. Also, no offer can be forwarded to customers that did not pass the approval workflow beforehand.
Based on our experience, there are also still difficulties concerning the “go-to-market” of a new product. Little is known by the sales team about product novelties so that they are offered only with heavy hesitation. Here, too, a CPQ can assist with Guided Selling and its rule set as a basis.
Achim Beckmann:
In our end-to-end processes, we come across product data at various spots. In order for the process to function smoothly, the product data must also be consistent, free of error, and well-managed. Let me illustrate this by using two examples:
First, we have a B2B self-service portal with spare parts identification. Customers for machine components can use 2D and 3D models to identify spare parts more easily. This customer group requires precise information to avoid machine downtime. It is here where we draw from well-structured data from a PIM system.
With the help of our Guided Selling approach, our solution provides sales employees with a walkthrough for a large number of variants in order to support them in the pre-configuration and selection of optimal offer components. In this process, texts, images, and other product data from the PIM is put to use.
One further central element is the offer generation. Our CPQ solution creates offers, configures products, calculates prices, and generates offer documents. These documents must be informative and appealing. Other than sales and configuration data, we also bank on product data such as images and marketing texts which are managed in the PIM system. PIM systems are also suitable for print exports, and we are currently in the process of implementing this function.
Markus Pichler, you are Managing Director of ATAMYA. Your company already has plenty of experience in the PIM field in relation to cloud solutions. You are probably the best candidate for explaining the following:
Markus Pichler:
The combination of PIM (Product Information Management) and CPQ makes sense for companies for multiple reasons. Naturally, product data plays a central role in it. While a CPQ tool primarily aims at the optimization of offers and offer creation, PIM concentrates on the consolidation and the management of product data. This combination provides immense benefits for companies.
Firstly, the combination of PIM and CPQ enables a smooth connection between product information and configuration possibilities. This means that sales employees have access to up-to-date and precise product data during the offer creation. Secondly, the combination of PIM and CPQ leads to a consistent presentation of products in offers, hereby establishing both professionality and the customer’s trust. Thirdly, this combination facilitates the managing and updating of product data since all changes are made in the central datahub and flow, from there, into all relevant processes. Fourth and lastly, it contributes to reducing errors and time loss because the entire process from configuration to offer creation is rendered more efficient. All in all, the combination of PIM and CPQ grants companies the possibility to optimize their sales processes and offer customers a better purchasing experience.
Markus Pichler:
CPQ and PIM work hand in hand to optimize sales processes. You can think of it like this: The PIM functions as the central data source for all product information such as details, images, videos, and much more. When a configuration is made in the CPQ system, we directly access this information from the PIM. The PIM makes sure that only the most up-to-date and precise data is used everywhere.
The next step concerns the price. In particular when it comes to the B2C field, the CPQ system makes use of the data from the PIM to automatically calculate prices for individual products. This includes, for example, the base price but also the specific configuration fees or special discounts.
In the offer phase, the CPQ system automatically creates offer documents with all configurations and prices. And it is here where PIM helps enriching these documents with further product information – for a clear and convincing offer. The beautiful thing is: Every updated unit of product information in PIM is automatically transferred over to the CPQ system. This way, all offers are correct and stay up to date.
Markus Pichler:
This can be accomplished by means of interfaces which make it possible for systems to exchange information in real time. Or one opts for a platform that integrates or supports both systems.
A further step is the synchronization of data. The PIM system ought to function as the single source of truth for product information and this data should be transferred over to the CPQ system at regular intervals in an automated manner. This way, you can make sure that up-to-date and consistent product information is always available for configurations and offers.
The integration does also enable the use of rules and validations in the CPQ system on the basis of the PIM data. This acts as the guarantor that recommended configurations are technologically feasible, in correspondence with product standards.
Markus Pichler:
The integration of a new system also means, of course, that there will be changes in existing workflows. Here, it is imperative that you prepare your employees and provide software training so that they can make effective use of the new processes. Furthermore, companies should also take into consideration to where the journey is supposed to lead them. While the integration may, initially, be intended for a specific product or a specific market, the company may grow and transform in the meantime. This is why the integration should be set up in a way that it is scalable and can keep up with the company’s ever-evolving requirements. Not least because of their scalability, cloud solutions continue to enjoy increasing popularity.
Overall, the integration of PIM and CPQ requires careful planning, clear communication, and the willingness to tackle challenges head on. With the right approach as well as a comprehensive support and service package set up by the software provider, however, these challenges can be successfully mastered so that you can make full use of the benefits involved.
Markus Pichler:
The fields of PIM and CPQ are constantly evolving. I am firmly convinced that Artificial Intelligence and machine learning will play an even more crucial role for PIM and CPQ solutions in the future. These technologies can help provide better product recommendations, optimize the configuration process, and improve accuracy in data management.
In order to stay ahead in the face of fierce competition, companies will put increasing emphasis on working out how to design personalized and tailor-made customer experiences. PIM and CPQ solutions can contribute to this process of creating individualized offers and configurations which match the specific needs and preferences of different target groups.
However, expanded analysis possibilities will also play a key role in the future. Be it customer feedback data or data from PIM and CPQ systems. Future developments will provide more elaborate analysis tools and dashboards which will then allow companies to gain valuable insights into their own target group or establish efficiency in sales processes and product management.
Digitize Your Product Data
In our whitepaper, we let you in on how you can quickly make the shift from manual processes to smart workflows with a PIM system – intuitive, concrete, and easy to implement.
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.
CPQ describes the sales process chain which encompasses the configuration of products, the calculation of prices, and the creation of offers. A CPQ system automates and digitizes your process chain and supports your sales team, in particular when it comes to multi-variant, customized, and complex products. CPQ software functions as an interface between individual parties (customer, sales, production, etc.) while also accelerating and optimizing the entire process chain significantly. Prominent providers of CPQ solutions are, for example: InMindCloud, encoway, SAP CPQ, Salesforce CPQ.
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:
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 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
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!
Author:
Nermin Zukorlic
Business Development Manager
Digitize Your Product Data
In our whitepaper, we let you in on how you can quickly make the shift from manual processes to smart workflows with a PIM system – intuitive, concrete, and easy to implement.
Are you sometimes reminded of popular hip hop songs full of “rapcronyms” and other kinds of abbreviations such as in the popular hit “Miami 2 Ibiza” by the Swedish House Mafia while researching software revolving around the management and organization of your product offers? Doesn’t this issue already pop up as soon as you try to get started? We understand this sentiment very well. Lots and lots of acronyms stringed together as if they were lines in rap lyrics and song titles. Songs such as the one just brought up are similar to what you encounter when informing yourself about software tools: “IMS, CRM, and C-M-S, / ERP or PIM, let’s clean that mess,” one might be tempted to sing along.
Let’s try and see if we can get some order into this alphabet soup. Which abbreviation stands for what? What software takes care of which tasks? Sometimes it’s best to simply spell it out for others: IMS stands for Inventory Management System, ERP for Enterprise Resource Planning, CRM is Customer Relation Management, and CMS is Content Management System. PIM, finally, stands for Product Information Management.
We can illustrate to ourselves how each of these individual systems function by looking at a simple product. Let’s take a bike as an example. Picture your own bike or the bike you always wished you could own for yourself. It doesn’t matter. Now, let’s switch to the perspective of the bicycle dealer: what software is required at which point of the process in order to deliver this fancy bike, be it in thought alone or in reality, straight into your hands as the customer? You’ve defined your ideal frame size and you’ve decided which tires and color etc. to settle for. And this is where we get down to business: there is a substantial difference between manufacturing, stock keeping, offer processing, and distribution. And this is also where mere labels and abbreviations are no longer going to cut it and the systems themselves need to prove what their names only promise. So, let’s have a look!
When configuring a bike as a customer, the individual components are automatically put together by the ERP. Out of this, then, an order is generated out of all positions. ERP solutions know the article number, purchasing price, net price, bulk buy prices, the manufacturer, as well as short descriptions of the items themselves. That is to say, it knows all the information revolving around enterprise resources for each position. The ERP software takes your order and generates out of it the order and delivery note as well as the bill. Additionally, it manages your supplier and customer data.
In connection to all this, the sales numbers, profit analyses, supplier margins, or even sales analyses and balance sheets are also calculated and created with the ERP system. All in all, the ERP system focuses on all business administration tasks relevant to your company. The most well-known ERP providers are SAP or Microsoft Dynamics.
To be precise, the Inventory Management System is a subset of the ERP system, specializing in the stock keeping department. The Inventory Management System knows your stock and the availability of components of your bike, so that it can even tell you where exactly in your warehouse the spare parts of your bike are physically stored, to bring up the example from above again. It can control minimum and/or maximum stock levels and trigger order recommendations, while also keeping track of all incoming supplies. The IMS identifies non-sellers and can generate an evaluation of your warehouse or inventory list. All such information is transferred over to the ERP system or the online shop. Your benefit: you can already check the availability while ordering. Here, too, prominent systems are SAP or Microsoft Dynamics.
With a Customer Relationship Management system, you can manage all customer-related information and interaction. It knows, for example, that you’ve already bought three bikes in the past. Let’s assume that you have already purchased a ladies’ bicycle, a men’s bicycle, and a balance bike for toddlers. Accordingly, what would be more natural than displaying an ad for a child’s bike? After all, it can be inferred from the purchasing date that your child has grown up by now. Another scenario may be that you’ve purchased some spare parts. Naturally, it’s most likely the case that your bike has already served its purpose for a few years and it might be a good chance to consider a newer, more attractive model? In this case, too, CRM software can take care of the customer interaction. It sends out targeted mails and ads as well as information for related customer events. Popular CRM solutions include, for example, Salesforce and HubSpot.
A Content Management System manages all information about your bike and its components on websites or your online shops. Equipped with APIs or other interfaces, it receives all relevant data from the ERP or IMS system, for example prices and availability. However, this is insufficient for establishing an online presence or even an independent web shop. What’s still missing are images, technical data, manuals, datasheets, and much more. The management of such data for your web presence or online store is taken care of by your CMS tool. On top of that, it handles SEO texts, sales banners, page images, and further content required by shops and websites. Go-to systems to achieve all this are Typo3 and WordPress.
A Product Information Management system is the datahub for all your data. The PIM software stores all information on product data. From the ERP system, it draws the prices; from the IMS system, it can draw the availability. In short: PIM contains all product information. This does also include images and media of, to continue the example from above, your bike and its components: detail images, atmospheric images, 360-degree images, datasheets, manuals, and all meta-data. But also product descriptions SEO texts, and technical details about the individual components are gathered by and in the PIM. Furthermore, the PIM software grants you the option of managing multiple languages, i.e. it supports data management with translation functions. Equipped with this, you already have built-in support for serving the international markets. Last but not least, PIM supports you in your workflows for all processes concerning data management and publication of your data for any connected systems – this also includes Desktop Publishing systems for designing catalogs and flyers. You can even directly transfer last-minute changes right before print release from one system to the other thanks to the connectivity of the PIM system. This way, you can make sure that all prices are correct and up to date – without any additional feedback loops and correction cycles.
As the central datahub, the PIM system distributes all information to connected systems. In particular, this includes CMS, shop systems, and websites. To the ERP system, a short description and the article name is sent, maybe with an additional preview image. This way, companies can manage their product data in an effective and efficient manner and get the best out of it. And it also guarantees that all data is always up to date and fully available. In short: PIM provides a frictionless connection to all the various systems such as ERP, IMS, CRM, and CMS.
Be it bikes, coloring and coating, travels and tours, carpets, or fashion: these fantastic five systems help you on your exciting path to reaching out to your customers. With a strategic and smart integration of these helpful systems, you can provide your customers with targeted and relevant information, hereby creating an even better purchase experience. Finally, we’ve come full circle and have returned to our opening remarks, so that you’re now ready to “rap along” the next time somebody throws around abbreviations revolving around systems which will give the beat for your business. Now, the name of the game is: “IMS, CRM, and C-M-S, / ERP or PIM, we’ve cleaned that mess!”
Author:
Frauke Effertz
Project Manager
We’re always more than happy to demonstrate to you how our PIM system can support you. Secure your free and unbinding demo tour now and experience first-hand just how simple managing product data and making your customers happy can be.
There have been a great many failed construction projects throughout history. It’s not just a myth as the Tower of Babel may suggest. Be it the Leaning Tower of Pisa or, to give a more recent example, the Rafael Viñoly skyscraper in London better known as the “Walkie Talkie” (its curved glass facade reflects sunlight in such an extreme manner that it ended up melting cars and causing fires). This is an outcome to be expected when people in response plan past each other, culminating in miscommunication and bad decision making grounded upon incomplete information. This then snowballs into delays, quality defects, and additional costs – construction projects are particularly prone to inefficient processes.
The building and planning field is subdivided in various areas of specialization: be it architecture, engineering, or automation. The planning, design, construction, and operation of a building is based on the efficient interplay of all sorts of aspects. And all this can only click together like lego when supplied with the correct information and when everything is up to date. Unstandardized information exchange is the root cause for misinterpretations and errors. This may spiral into further costly issues.
How, then, can such problems be prevented before they even come up in the first place? It’s simple. You can use the near-endless possibilities of ever-increasing digitization to your advantage: Building Information Modeling is the magic word. In short, BIM. Now, one may wonder, what exactly is BIM? Find out all you need to know in this article.
A question which is, in fact, not that easy to answer. To cut straight to the chase: The concept of BIM is a method which involves software solutions for providing a digital 3D model of a building’s entire life cycle with all relevant information for all fields and areas of specialization in the building industry. This enables collaboration with all stakeholders involved during the construction project and facilitates planning, building, and operation. The punchline: All fields and areas draw from one and the same mapped building object and feed it with further data from their own end. Throughout, this unified data pool remains up to date and consistent at all times. This, in turn, is the key to efficient projects.
Let’s have a closer look at an example scenario for Building Information Management to illustrate how BIM processes function: let’s draw a house without lifting the pen.
First, all requirements are gathered in collaboration with our example customer who wishes to build a new house. This data is stored in a central database and forms the foundation for the entire project. Now, the planning team can get down to business and plan the actual building itself. The building plan conceptualized by the planning team is enriched with information complying to consistent terminology and a standardized format. This way, every party involved in the construction always has all the newest information available on demand. This, in turn, translates into effective teamwork. With this information as the basis, the building can be mapped onto a digital object. Finally, as the end result, your BIM system draws an exact visual representation of your customer’s dream house for you – without even lifting a pen. Quite literally.
Digital objects, such as windows, can be enriched with further information by expert planners and designers, such as color or mount. The house requires water pumps? No problem. The pump manufacturer becomes active and supplies all important data so that the best-fitting pump is directly integrated into the digital object. To prevent any unexpected increases in costs, the project team utilizes the BIM model to manage all building areas and analyze all BIM data such as project costs, energy coefficients, etc.
The construction company makes good use of the model to propose offers and informs itself about the building components by checking the object properties. Once the best possible offer has been deduced, all required information is automatically processed by the BIM system. This guarantees that the matching windows are delivered, among other things (remember the example of the “Walkie Talkie” skyscraper brought up in the beginning). Our example customer can now send the visualization of her house – drawn digitally and fully automatically, without lifting a pen – directly to the building authority for building permissions.
With the BIM method, all important steps of the building process are centralized. All people involved in the project can access relevant information from anywhere. This boosts the overall efficiency of the construction project, saving time and money. Accordingly, it’s no wonder that the use of BIM has already established itself as a quasi-standard when it comes to big projects. That is to say, in the building industry, BIM is not just a nice-to-have feature, but much rather the very future of construction.
Now, it’s imperative to not simply reduce the use of BIM to generating 3D models. BIM is the process for managing your information chains throughout the entire life cycle of a building – be it a house, a tunnel, or a bridge. It provides a clear-cut structure for the systematic exchange of information, encompassing all data accumulated step by step throughout the building project.
On any of the central nodes of the information chain, however, BIM can itself not operate properly without functional and technical product data that is well-maintained. For those who’re looking to prepare themselves for the future of construction with BIM, also require a PIM system as the underlying foundation. Only PIM can function as the central datahub for consistent data. It provides you with a simple solution for managing large quantities of data – from collecting, through editing, to distributing data.
If you are interested in further information on the topic of PIM and BIM, please arrange a personal meeting with one of our product experts.
Author:
Kai Warmus
Professional Service Director
ATAMYA
Digitize Your Product Data
In our whitepaper, we let you in on how you can quickly make the shift from manual processes to smart workflows with a PIM system – intuitive, concrete, and easy to implement.
The purchasing patterns of consumers are undergoing a paradigm shift. Keywords such as “user experience” and “customer experience” are occupying center stage. The name of the game is to increase the customer conversion rate. 76 percent of companies surveyed have stated that they’re working on projects in the field of user experience in order to optimize their conversion. (Source: Statista DE)
A battle-tested tool for maximizing your customers’ purchasing and product experience are so-called product configurators. In the B2C sector, individualized product configurators have long become indispensable. However, in B2B they’re starting to enjoy rapidly-increasing popularity, too. What may be the reasons for this? When would it make sense to integrate a product configurator yourself? And how can this plan be put into practice? Learn about this and more in our most recent blogpost.
💡 What is a product configurator?
A product configurator is a software tool which enables users to set up individualized products simply by selecting some relevant product attributes. The result of such configuration is referred to as a product variant. In context to this, you may also occasionally stumble across related terms such as “variant configurator,” “offer configurator,” or “sales configurator,” and other synonyms.
💡 How does a product configurator function?
Equipped with a product configurator, your customers can create specific product variants themselves. To do so, they navigate a graphical web interface and select properties or components which hereby come together to form a product variant. Product configurators are particularly popular for complex products with many options, such as in the furniture and housing industries.
Let’s adopt the first-person perspective of Paul (purely fictitious entity). He needs a new kitchen. Yet after a long and tedious workday, he’s simply much too exhausted to stop by a kitchen studio to receive a configuration for his desired kitchen in person. Instead, Paul does his research and stumbles across a provider where he can configure his kitchen fully by himself. He selects a kitchen front, chooses his favorite drawers, and picks a work surface. At a glance, Paul notices that the desired kitchen work surface comes with a delivery delay. Easy peasy, he simply selects another work surface with shorter delivery times among the alternatives presented by the configurator.
Now, what electronics fits the configured cupboard best? Paul is worried about purchasing the wrong kind of oven. But no reason to get too warmed up about it, since the configurator only provides matching components which are fully compatible with one another. This way, the dynamic configurator allows even laypersons to set up complex products without any room for error whatsoever.
Once Paul is done configuring, he checks out the final result once more in the form of a 3D model for the intended room. He then proceeds by booking the kitchen assembly service and signs the purchasing contract at the click of a button. Immediately after, Paul receives an e-mail containing his kitchen as a 3D model together with a list of all ordered kitchen components. On the other end, the kitchen manufacturer and the warehouse do also receive a components list, allowing them to prepare his kitchen free from error. Paul is extremely happy about how the digital age makes his everyday life much simpler and eagerly awaits the arrival of his new kitchen.
The basis for a well-oiled product configurator is data, data, and, not to forget, data – for example on properties, components, building parts, services, variants, or configuration rules. All such data is gathered and managed in a Product Information Management system (PIM). With PIM, there’s no need to file data for every single variant and combination. You only manage the individual properties, components, and rules of how things can be put together. The actual putting-together, in turn, is processed with dynamics and automatisms. This comes with huge benefits, which is why more and more companies are putting their trust into the duo of PIM and configurator.
Manage Combinations More Efficiently
Product configurators are a must-have if your product offer consists of various combination options with multiple components. Some simple math best illustrates this point: If you have seven components and five different properties to offer, there’re already 78,125 possible variants to cover. Now, imagine creating all of these variants manually by hand, let alone maintaining and translating them – you don’t want to commit yourself to such menial labor. It’s much simpler to just register the seven components together with properties and combination rules in your PIM system and manage them centrally. On top of that, you also take care of any possible data redundancy.
24/7 Product Experience for Customers
Product configurators are crucial for the digitization of companies, especially since they provide customers with inspiring online experience and product visualizations. The concept is simple: A customer-oriented product approach translates into higher customer satisfaction rates, more sales, as well as lower return rates and, with all that, a substantial increase in revenue. On the other end, users benefit from simpler configurations, since the product finder is easy to operate – even for laypersons. After all, users can only combine compatible components with one another in their product config. This way, for example, Paul will never accidentally purchase the wrong oven. And the best thing is: Customers can configure your products around the clock 24h and make orders from anywhere they want. Neither do you have to invest personnel resources, nor do you need a physical store.
More Success in Product Sales and Lower Product Return Rates
Your sales team, too, will soon learn to cherish the merits of your new configurator. The offer creation can be fully automated. Your success rate increases. You save time, resources, and costs throughout all processes – from sales, through manufacturing, to logistics. With smooth process chains and exact components list, reliable price estimations will be generated together with the purchase offer. The overall error rate in production is minimized. As a result, the follow-up processes will bring in results with much less complaints and returns.
In particular, a configurator will pay dividends in product portfolios with a lot of product variants. If you’re distributing high-quality products and want to provide your customers with an extravagant purchasing experience, the configurator is also the perfect go-to choice for your online shop in this use case. Even without physically holding the product in their own two hands, consumers will gain a perfect impression of what it is like to use your product thanks to the configurator.
Product configurators are most prominently represented in the B2C sector, with an ever-increasing tendency. Regardless of whether we’re looking for a replacement part for our car, buying a new bike, or booking vacations – in many of today’s online shops, we wish we would be able to simply configure our own dream product by ourselves instead of being presented with a fixed and static assortment. When purchasing a new computer, we select the memory size ourselves. When it comes to tours and travels, we select our preferred hotel room and catering service. Even the clothing industry is investing more and more into configurators. In the furniture and housing sector, they have long become indispensable. And this is how you and your business, too, can make things easy for your customers, significantly enhancing customer experience.
Especially when it comes to complex products, a configurator can support your customer in making the right purchase. For this reason, we also find more and more configurators in some fields of the B2B sector. Be it for driving shafts, connector sockets, warehouses, automation systems, hydraulics, or pneumatics. In fact, as consumers, we sometimes don’t even come to realize that the offer has been put together by a configurator. When it comes to complex products or companies that value customer retention, sales teams may even operate the configurator themselves. With this approach, too, the benefits clearly outweigh the investment.
In a first step, choose a suitable provider and specify your requirements. The software solution will be adjusted to your individual needs. To this end, you will receive support and counseling throughout the integration project to make sure that all technological requirements are realized as smoothly as possible. After checking the product configurator on the basis of usability tests, you can import actual product data into the system. For this project stage, you’ll need a PIM system. After all, PIM is what constitutes your company’s data basis. In this system, you define variants, rules, combination options, CAD data, videos, and images. In short, all data and information which your configurator requires.
With a PIM system, you can also benefit from optimized interfaces for centralizing and bulk-editing data. This, in turn, avoids data redundancy and additional effort when working on content and data quality. Last but not least, you can not only supply your configurator but all relevant e-commerce channels in real-time with the newest product data which you have approved and released as part of your built-in product information workflow. Our software, ATAMYA Product Cloud, provides you with vital support as the central datahub for your company’s entire IT landscape.
Author:
Myriam Nonnemann
Project Manager & Consultant
ATAMYA
Our experts are always happy and go out of their way to demonstrate to you how our software can support you in tackling your challenges head-on – for free and without any commitments on your end. Send us a request for a demo tour as early as today.
Introducing new software in a corporate environment always comes with a great many challenges. There is a lot to take into consideration in order to satisfy all framework conditions and to get all teams who will later work hands-on with the software on board. Only in this way can you guarantee the optimal use of the new system.
We know: Such a project should always be tackled in a well-structured manner. For more than 30 years, we’ve been supporting companies in software implementation processes. Based on our experience, we’ve managed to identify the basic patterns which govern all success and failure of implementation projects. The good news is: You can avoid such problems in an easy and efficient way. In this blogpost, we want to discuss some Do’s and Don’ts which you should be aware of so that your implementation process will result not in a disaster, but in success across the board.
Don’t:
Underestimating the resources required and misplanning the core team.
Do:
Allocate sufficient resources well ahead of time for the software implementation. You won’t be able to tackle all tasks on your own given that you’ll also be handling day-to-day business. Come up with a concept for your core team of key users who will be accompanying the implementation from start to finish. This team should have in-depth know-how of all products and services provided by your company. Its members should know how products and services are developed or purchased, know what processes are required to do so, and know the target groups your products appeal to inside out. The team should also include a project manager who has some real-life experience on how to monitor and control digital projects methodologically.
Don’t:
Getting your IT involved only after the fact.
Do:
Get your IT department involved even before your implementation process kicks off. Your IT colleagues have professional experience from which the introduction of your software will profit enormously. The sooner you get them on board, the sooner you can clear up any remaining doubts. Meet at regular intervals and share the progress of the project. Regular exchanges between IT, Management, Development, Project Management, and your core team will resolve any problems before they even arise.
Don’t:
Attempting to configure existing, unoptimized processes into your new system.
Do:
Make sure that you’re always mindful of this simple fact: Your processes will change to the very core. But don’t panic, they will change for the better. After all, you’re introducing a new software with the goal to work more efficiently and optimize processes to begin with. This is where your software provider will lend you direct support. In collaborative workshops, you can define together precisely what intersection points between systems will have to be implemented and what technology is required to satisfy all requirements.
“Compiling all relevant product data prior to implementation start contributes to a smooth process.”
– David Klein, Presales and Data Track Hound for ATAMYA
Don’t:
Not providing adequate software training to users and including them when it’s already too little too late.
Do:
Make good use of training offers from your software provider. At the end of the day, this will save you both time and money. Trainings also take away the fear of new software from your colleagues, strengthening the acceptance of innovations. The result: Employees can work faster and more confidently with the new software. Think about who needs or wants software training. You can organize your colleagues into groups and also take individual requirements into consideration while doing so. In our case, we provide users with a battle-tested and practice-oriented training concept, our ATAMYA Academy. Here, our leading product experts demonstrate to you how our software can be used in an effective manner in order to make room for what’s most important: The unfolding of your product data.
Don’t:
A brief, company-wide announcement that a new software will or has been implemented.
Do:
It is of utmost importance to inform your colleagues ahead of time and communicate it as transparently as possible. For employees, the reasons behind decisions involved – the “Why” – plays a major role. Picture your goals and make it clear to both the executive board as well as all teams precisely why you’ve decided to implement this software in particular. Making it explicit: This software solution will leave a positive impact on higher-level goals of the company, will make things more transparent, and speed up the information flow in and through all company departments.
Very important: Provide sufficient training options and materials for open use. This will help getting your employees more involved and motivated to use the new software.
Author:
Yana Zabolotna
Copywriter
ATAMYA
Are you looking for an implementation partner?
Here you will find the right partner for your ATAMYA PIM project.
When browsing Google to search for a digital IT system capable of managing all your company’s product data, you’ll find yourself in a chaos of software tools. Some of which are more relevant for your individual product management use cases than others. In general, you’ll find management systems for Product Data (PDM), Product Lifecycles (PLM), Product Information (PIM), Product Content (PCM), Product Experience (PXM), and for Master Data (MDM). What all of these terms mean and which of the related systems satisfy which requirements are answered in our following blog post:
The function of a PIM solution is to store and organize all of a company’s product data in a central and media-neutral manner. Such product data may include marketing data (e.g. description texts and images) or technical data (e.g. size and other specifications like color). From Data Collection – through Data Maintenance or, as we like to call it, Data Enrichment – to Data Distribution into various sales and publication channels. Ultimately, all product data processes are unified in a single digital system.
For a more detailed account on Product Information Management and the answer to the question “Why is product data so important for companies?,” refer to our web page “What is PIM”.
The term PCM is used by some as a synonym to PIM. Others conceive of PCM as “only” covering the Data Enrichment functions for products, from product descriptions to media assets. From this standpoint, PCM is but a process step embedded within PIM. Functions such as data collection from multiple sources, data quality assurance, and data exports into various channels are, consequently, not included in a PCM system. Functionally, then, PCM is a subset of PIM.
Modern product sales and marketing is all about maximizing Customer Experience, i.e. the lived experiences customers have when purchasing and using your product. In turn, this translates into increasing conversion rates. One subset of Customer Experience is Product Experience, albeit a subset foundational to Product Experience at that. This is where PXM comes into play: Product Experience Management is a comparatively new term expanding the three core processes of PIM by an additional aspect – the “contextualization” of your product data.
In this particular process step, to be located in between Data Enrichment and Data Distribution, your product data is expanded by context-sensitive content. For example, such contexts may be the use case of a product or a specific phase in the purchasing process. By providing product information well-adjusted to the customer’s current context, you directly meet her on her own ground in a strategic manner – which, ideally, results in a conversion.
More details on PXM and why it is indispensable can be found on our web page “What is PXM”.
Contrary to PIM systems, PDM solutions don’t manage marketing and sales data of products, but all data collected during the creation process. This is why PDM systems are particularly relevant for manufacturers developing their own products. Data collected during product development is what constitutes the basis of the product information, as stored and organized in a PIM system for their eventual application to uses cases such as sales. Consequently, PDM and PIM systems are usually connected to one another.
PLM systems support you during the planning and management of the product creation process. That is to say, Product Lifecycle Management is a kind of project management tool for manufacturing products. In general, Product Lifecycle systems also save all data collected during the creation process – which is why they can also cover functions of PDM systems.
While PIM systems are limited to the field of products, MDM systems also allow you to manage master data from other fields. The main aim is to unify the manifoldness of a company’s data sources, allowing you to derive strategic business decisions. Typical objects managed in these so-called “Multi-Domain Master Data Management” systems include data on products, customers, target groups, suppliers, partners, employees, and tasks. By unifying all objects, you create a kind of 360°-degree-view of your company’s entire information flow.
For more information on MDM and some examples where the use of a Master Data Management system may be profitable, consult our web page “What is MDM”.
The following graph provides you with a comparison of all relevant terms and related concepts. For example, PCM is a subset of PIM, while PDM is a subset of PLM, and PXM is an expansion of PIM.
Author:
Eric Dreyer
Head of Product Management and Quality
ATAMYA
Why Do We Need a PIM?
The requirements for product data are ever-increasing – now is the right time to convince your stakeholders of a PIM system. This presentation delivers suitable arguments for a well-founded decision.
