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How to Build Better Product Experiences with Akeneo PIM

Posted on by Casey Paxton
Akeneo News

How to Build Better Product Experiences with Akeneo PIM

From AI-powered content enhancements and dynamic attribute dependencies to improved collaboration workflows and interface customization, Akeneo’s latest Spring Release is packed with features that make product information management more intelligent and intuitive. In this blog, we break down the top five updates that will help you streamline enrichment, ensure compliance, and deliver content that truly resonates with your customers across every channel and market.

In case you missed it, our Spring Release was packed with exciting new updates designed to help brands and retailers like yours take product experiences to the next level. These enhancements reflect our ongoing mission to make product experiences smarter, more collaborative, and more aligned with what your customers want.

Here are the top five updates now available within Akeneo PIM that empower you to enrich your product content, streamline operations, and deliver standout customer experiences.

1. Let customer insights power your product content

Your customers are already telling you what they care about through reviews, search behavior, and product interactions. The question is, are you listening?

Now you can, with AI-powered PX Insights. By pulling in insights like top search terms and common review language, PX Insights enables you to incorporate real-life customer insights directly into Akeneo PIM and generate content that speaks directly to your audience’s needs across all channels and platforms.

Your descriptions and other product information can now dynamically reflect evolving consumer interests and trends. This means your content isn’t just accurate—it’s always relevant and resonant.

Learn more about PX Insights

2. Fine-tune AI-generated content with custom prompts

Last year, we introduced GenAI-enhanced enrichment and translation. This year, we’re taking it further by giving you unprecedented control over how AI crafts your product content.

You can now specify how individual product attributes should be handled—whether that means ignoring specific terms, preserving HTML tags, or ensuring a consistent tone across content. Set prompts at the product family level to maintain a distinct voice and style for each category.

Custom prompts also boost translation accuracy and enable faster localization at scale. With the ability to include prompts in automated rules and bulk actions, creating personalized, accurate, and on-brand content is easier than ever.

Learn more about AI-powered custom prompts

Meet with an Akeneo Expert Today to Start Your PX Journey

3. Strengthen data governance with attribute dependencies

Regulatory compliance can be a major hurdle; in fact, 99% of B2B organizations report facing challenges meeting local and industry-specific regulations. With attribute dependencies, Akeneo PIM provides your team with dynamic, conditional logic that helps automate compliance and improve data quality.

This feature ensures only the most relevant and necessary product attributes are displayed, depending on context, which not only simplifies product data management, but also protects your business from regulatory risk.

Whether you’re aligning with standards like ETIM or preparing for Digital Product Passports, attribute dependencies help ensure your data is compliant and reliable—without the manual effort.

Learn more about attribute dependencies

4. Collaborate more efficiently with enhanced review workflows

Product enrichment is rarely a solo task. To ensure product data is accurate, complete, and brand-aligned, we’ve introduced review steps to Akeneo PIM’s enrichment workflows.

These enhancements streamline collaboration between content creators and approvers. Teams can now leave targeted feedback and instructions directly in Akeneo PIM, making the enrichment process more efficient and transparent.

From validating supplier content to reviewing AI-generated descriptions, this structured workflow ensures that every product record is fully vetted before it goes live—improving trust, consistency, and brand quality.

Learn more about enrichment workflows

5. Customize your workspace with experience extensions

Every business has unique workflows and requirements. That’s why Akeneo PIM now supports experience extensions, allowing you to tailor your interface without custom development or complex integrations.

With experience extensions, you can bring in custom buttons, actions, and pages to display or interact with external tools, datasets, or processes—all within the Akeneo environment.

Whether you need access to external product specs, custom validation tools, or brand-specific workflows, this feature lets you adapt Akeneo to your exact business needs, improving productivity and user satisfaction.

Learn more about Akeneo extensions

Akeneo Spring Release is Here

These latest updates are all about helping you work smarter, move faster, and create product experiences your customers actually want. Whether you’re fine-tuning your content with AI, ensuring compliance without the headaches, or giving your teams better tools to collaborate, there’s something here to make your day-to-day a whole lot easier.

And this is just the start. We’re always continuing to build powerful, flexible tools that grow with you and your business needs.

Curious to see these features in action? Dive in and explore what’s new – we think you’re going to love what’s possible with Akeneo.

Are you ready to take the next step?

Our Akeneo Experts are here to answer all the questions you might have about our products and help you to move forward on your PX journey.

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

What is the Customer Feedback Loop?

Posted on by Casey Paxton
Customer Experience

What is the Customer Feedback Loop?

Discover what a customer feedback loop is, how it works, and why it matters for modern brands looking to stay competitive. Learn the benefits and challenges of implementing feedback loops, the difference between positive and negative feedback, and how companies like Amazon and Coca-Cola use them to strengthen customer relationships. Plus, explore how tools like PIM can improve the feedback process and help turn insights into meaningful action.

“Treat them mean to keep them keen” might work in dodgy dating advice, but it’s definitely not how today’s top brands keep customers coming back for more. The best businesses have ditched that outdated playbook in favor of something far more effective: putting the customer first and making sure they know it.

But it’s not just about showering buyers with promo codes, free shipping, or carefully curated bundles. The smartest brands are going deeper, tapping into customer preferences, frustrations, and thoughts in real-time, and using that insight to continuously improve. 

How? By creating a solid customer feedback loop that turns every opinion into an opportunity!

What is a Customer Feedback Loop?

Just like the name suggests, a customer feedback loop is a continuous process where businesses collect feedback from their customers, analyze it, act on what they’ve learned, and then—crucially—circle back to let customers know their input made a difference. It’s a cycle designed to make sure that businesses don’t get too ahead of themselves or fall behind on their customers’ expectations.

It’s called a “loop” for a reason: it doesn’t end once a change is made. The loop is only complete when the business closes the circle—communicating improvements back to the customers and inviting even more feedback! Rinse, repeat, improve.

The 4 Stages of the Customer Feedback Loop

So, how does this approach work? Well, the customer feedback loop goes through four key stages:

1. Gather the Feedback

The first stage is about putting the focus on your customers’ words—Whether it’s through surveys, reviews, social media comments, support tickets, or chatbots, this is where you tune in and start listening to what your customers are actually saying. 77% of consumers say they have a more favorable view of companies that actively seek and accept customer feedback.

2. Analyze the Feedback

Raw feedback is great, but identifying the patterns and trends is where the magic happens! By analyzing the feedback, you can see what’s working, what’s broken, and what customers are secretly (or loudly) hoping for. Companies that consistently analyze and act on customer feedback see nearly a 10x greater annual revenue increase compared to those that don’t. Let that one sink in.

3. Act on What You’ve Learned

It’s not enough to listen—you’ve got to do something with what you heard. Whether it’s fixing bugs, rolling out new features, or simplifying the checkout flow, this is where your customers start to feel seen, and your customer experience is improved.

4. Close the Loop

Don’t ghost your customers after you’ve made a change! Let them know you heard them and that you acted on that. Following up shows appreciation, boosts brand trust, and encourages even more valuable feedback in the future—which you definitely need.

Why are Feedback Loops Important?

The best way you can know what your customers are thinking is by listening to what they’re saying. Feedback loops give companies a direct line into what customers love, what they can’t stand, and what’s missing. They help brands avoid flying blind or running into preventable problems, instead guiding decisions with real-world input.

In a world where customer expectations evolve faster than app updates, a feedback loop ensures you’re not just always improving, but learning and staying relevant. It’s how good companies become great, and how great ones stay on top.

Harness Customer Signals to Build Better Product Experiences

Negative Customer Feedback Loops

Despite the name, negative feedback loops are anything but bad; they can be one of the most valuable tools a business can have. A negative feedback loop occurs when customer complaints or criticisms highlight a flaw in your product, service, or experience, giving you a chance to address the issue and reduce future dissatisfaction.

So, what does negative feedback actually look like? It can range from low star ratings and scathing reviews to social media comments or such, calling out problems. It might be a quiet drop in engagement or a loud public outcry. Either way, it’s a sign that something’s off, and it’s your cue to listen, learn, and adapt.

A famous example of a customer negative feedback loop working well comes from a company we all know and love; Coca-Cola. Back in 1985, Coca-Cola made a bold move, and it turned into an even bolder mistake. They replaced their classic formula with “New Coke,” hoping to revitalize the brand. The backlash was instant and fierce. Consumers flooded the company with complaints, protests, and even petitions. 

But here’s where the negative feedback loop kicked in: Coca-Cola listened. Just 79 days later, they brought back the original formula as “Coca-Cola Classic,” turning customer outrage into one of the most iconic comebacks in marketing history. Thus proving that while negative feedback can be harmful, addressing and responding swiftly and sincerely can fix the issue.

Positive Customer Feedback Loops

A positive feedback loop occurs when customers highlight what’s working—praising features, experiences, or services that exceed expectations. This kind of feedback reinforces your strengths, guiding you to double down on what delights your audience. It’s not just a pat on the back; it’s a green light to keep building in the right direction!

Positive feedback can appear in glowing reviews, high Net Promoter Scores (NPS), enthusiastic social media mentions, or even word-of-mouth referrals. These are signals that you’re doing something right—and opportunities to scale that success.

Amazon is a master of turning positive feedback into product evolution. One standout example? Their customer reviews system. Initially designed to help shoppers make informed choices, Amazon saw how much customers valued transparency—so they doubled down. They added verified purchase tags, top reviewer badges, helpfulness voting, and even video reviews. This created a loop: the more customers engaged with reviews, the more Amazon improved the system, and the better the shopping experience became. 

The result? Increased trust, conversion rates, and long-term loyalty. A great reminder that when customers tell you what they love, the best thing you can do is give them more of it.

Benefits and Challenges 

The customer feedback loop comes with its advantages as well as its disadvantages:

Benefits

  • Drives continuous improvement: Feedback loops provide a constant stream of insights, helping teams refine products, services, and experiences based on real customer needs—not guesswork. Notably, 85% of companies utilizing feedback loops report improved customer satisfaction.
  • Builds trust and loyalty: When customers see that their voices actually influence change, it creates a sense of partnership. This trust translates into long-term loyalty, with 86% of customers willing to pay more for a better experience.
  • Delivers better-matched products for the market: Understanding what resonates (and what doesn’t) helps companies align their offerings more closely with customer expectations, leading to better adoption and fewer costly missteps.
  • Encourages two-way communication: Feedback loops break down the wall between brand and buyer. They create space for meaningful dialogue rather than one-sided marketing.
  • Supports scalable growth: Consistently optimizing based on feedback helps businesses stay agile and relevant for growth, even as markets shift!

Challenges

  • Slow response times: Collecting feedback is easy—responding to it promptly and meaningfully is where many businesses fall short. Delays can lead to missed opportunities and diminished customer trust.
  • Misinterpreting feedback: Customers don’t always articulate their needs clearly; maybe they’re complaining that the shirt fit is too small, but maybe they simply ordered the wrong size; it doesn’t necessarily mean that the sizing of the shirt needs to change. Reading between the lines and translating vague complaints into real fixes requires context and analytical skills.
  • Requires cross-team coordination: Feedback affects various departments—from product development to customer support. Without alignment across teams, valuable feedback can get lost in internal silos!
  • Potential bias in feedback: Not all feedback is created equal. Sometimes, the loudest voices don’t represent the majority. Vocal critics (or superfans) can skew your perception of what’s working or failing. If you rely too heavily on extremes, you risk making decisions that don’t reflect the broader customer base. It’s important to balance qualitative and quantitative data—and to recognize that silence doesn’t always mean satisfaction.

Improved With PIM

Many of the issues customers flag in their feedback—like inconsistent product details, missing specs, or confusing descriptions—stem from messy or fragmented product data. A Product Information Management (PIM) system helps fix that by centralizing all product content in one place, making it easier to manage, update, and ensure consistency across every channel.

By streamlining how product information is handled, PIM makes it much faster to respond to feedback and apply improvements at scale. The result? Fewer complaints, faster updates, and a smoother customer experience—all of which help keep the feedback loop running efficiently.

Loop It or Lose It

In a world where customer expectations are always evolving, a customer feedback loop is a must-have. It turns passive data into proactive decision-making opportunities and shows your customers that their voices actually shape the experience. Whether it’s refining a product, updating a policy, or rethinking your messaging, acting on feedback helps businesses stay relevant, agile, and genuinely customer-first.

So whether the input is glowing or grim, don’t just collect it. Analyze it, act on it, and—most importantly—close the loop. Your customers will thank you. Probably with five stars.

Are you ready to take the next step?

Our Akeneo Experts are here to answer all the questions you might have about our products and help you to move forward on your PX journey.

Venus Kamara, Content Marketing Intern

Akeneo

Leveraging AI & Product Data for Greener Consumer Choices

Posted on by Virginie Blot
Sustainability

Leveraging AI & Product Data for Greener Consumer Choices

In honor of Earth Day, we take a look at why there is consumer and legislative pressure on businesses to implement transparent, sustainable practices, and how the right foundation of product information and the right intelligent technology can help businesses drive real change, both for the planet and for their customers.

Let’s face it. Modern shopping can feel like a high-stakes game of musical chairs. Blink, and suddenly there’s a new “must-have” trend, a limited-edition drop, or a miracle product you didn’t know you needed . . . until five minutes ago. We’ve all fallen into the trap—chasing the thrill of the buy now, regret later.

We are bombarded with the must-have latest styles that change every few weeks, pushed to “buy now before you miss out”, and every company claims to have the latest and greatest life-changing product or serum.

But all this speed and stuff comes at a serious cost—not just to our wallets, but to the planet. The result? Closets full of clothes we barely wear, gadgets that gather dust, and a mountain of discarded “essentials” we barely remember buying. It’s time to hit pause.

The Swiss-based WWF said in its Living Planet Report that more than three quarters of the world’s population lives in countries whose consumption levels are outstripping environmental renewal, and concluded that reckless consumption of “natural capital” was endangering the world’s future prosperity, with clear economic impacts including high costs for food, water and energy.

The fashion industry, with its quick turnarounds, endless new collections, and whiplash-inducing microtrends, plays a huge part in this. Producing clothes requires a vast amount of resources, from water-intensive cotton farming to synthetic materials that shed microplastics, not to mention the chemicals used in dyeing and treating fabrics that pollute our waterways.

If our demands on the planet continue to increase at the same rate, by the mid-2030s we would need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles.

James Leape previous Director-General

WWF International

The Revolution: Smart Consumerism

The good news is that it’s not all doom and gloom; many consumers, especially younger generations, are starting to realize the impact that their consumption of low-quality, environmentally damaging products can have on the planet, and are directing their dollars in response; nearly 60% of millennials are willing to pay a premium for sustainably-produced products.

Consumers are now considering a broader range of factors before making a purchase, embracing principles like:

  • Opting for items that can be used multiple times, or using rental services to reduce ownership of rarely used products
  • Choosing goods that can be easily repaired rather than replaced, or opting for items that can be recycled or resold
  • Saying no to unnecessary or unsustainable products and simply cutting down on overall consumption
  • Evaluating the necessity and impact of every single purchase
  • Prioritizing suppliers and products that meet high ethical and environmental standards

Transparency To Be Required By Law

Aside from just consumer pressure, there will be legal pressure coming as soon as 2026. 

Unveiled by the EU in 2022 as part of a broader package designed to make sustainable products the norm in Europe, Digital Product Passports will serve as comprehensive digital records that gather and share crucial data about a product’s environmental footprint, from its initial design through to its end-of-life. This includes detailed information on the materials used, sustainability credentials, repair data, and other essential data such as the product’s unique identifier, model, place and date of manufacture, and warranty details.

If you’re a seller within the EU market, the DPP regulation means you’ll need to provide extensive details about every material in your products, how and where they are made, and their environmental impact. 

Avoid Greenwashing: How to Build Sustainable Strategies

Harnessing AI for Enhanced Consumer Engagement and Compliance

As both consumer and legislative demand for detailed product information and long-lasting, sustainable products continue to grow, businesses face the critical task of  leveraging the right technology to not only gather but effectively manage and distribute crucial data. In a marketplace that values transparency and personalized experiences, AI can be a pivotal tool in meeting these demands, staying compliant with increasingly stringent regulations, and transforming how information is organized, enriched, and shared with consumers.

Let’s take a look at a few key ways AI can help:

1. Data Cleansing 

AI can streamline data management by cleansing databases of inaccuracies and inconsistencies, ensuring that the product information shared with consumers is reliable and trustworthy which is crucial for building brand credibility and customer loyalty.

2. Documentation and Compliance 

AI systems can be designed to ensure that every product has the necessary documentation, such as DPP, and adheres to industry standards. This is particularly important in sectors like healthcare, finance, and manufacturing, where regulatory compliance is stringent, but will become more important to all industries as more eco-friendly legislation is passed.

3. Supply Chain Transparency 

AI can track and record each touchpoint in a product’s supply chain, from raw materials to final delivery. This transparency is not only vital for compliance with regulations like the DPP but also aligns with consumer expectations for ethical sourcing and sustainability.

4. Smart Recommendations

By analyzing data on consumer behavior and product materials, AI can recommend products made of similar recycled or sustainable materials, not only enhancing the shopping experience by providing personalized options but also promoting environmentally-friendly products.

5. Enhancing Customer Support

AI-driven chatbots can handle routine inquiries, providing instant responses to common questions, allowing human support staff to focus on more complex and nuanced customer needs.

6. Content Personalization and Localization

AI excels in personalizing content based on consumer data and localizing it to meet regional regulations and cultural nuances. This tailored content is more engaging for users and ensures that products meet local regulations, increasing the likelihood of conversion and repeat business.

7. Analyzing & Interpreting Customer Feedback

AI can analyze large volumes of unstructured customer feedback such as reviews, surveys, chat logs, and social media to surface actionable insights. These solutions can detect sentiment, extract recurring themes, and identify gaps in provided sustainability data to help product teams better understand customer needs, guide product improvements, and refine sustainability messaging, ultimately providing insights into what customers actually care about.

Embracing the Revolution: Smart Consumerism and Sustainable Choices

The days of mindless consumption are numbered. Between increasingly eco-conscious consumers, stricter regulations like the Digital Product Passport, and the very real consequences of our throwaway culture, the message is clear: it’s time to rethink how we make, market, and manage products.

The good news? We have powerful tools at our fingertips. AI can feel overwhelming and overhyped, but when utilized correctly, it can be a practical, scalable solution for businesses looking to meet new demands with confidence. From cleaning up messy product data to ensuring compliance and creating meaningful, personalized shopping experiences, AI helps businesses walk the talk when it comes to sustainability and transparency.

So whether you’re a brand trying to future-proof your product strategy or a consumer striving to make better choices, one thing’s certain: smarter consumption is the future. And with the right tech and the right mindset, it’s a future we can all help build, one product at a time.

Avoiding Greenwashing

Discover how to avoid the pitfalls of greenwashing and build genuinely sustainable strategies that foster trust, align with regulations, and drive long-term business growth.

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

The Limitations of the Traditional Search Experience

Posted on by Casey Paxton
Product Experience

The Limitations of the Traditional Search Experience

Explore why outdated SEO tactics no longer meet the demands of today’s search behavior—and how to adapt. From intent-focused strategies to the role of PIM in improving product content, learn how to make SEO more effective, relevant, and human-centered.

Some of the world’s greatest inventions are high-tech smartphones, well-optimized coffee machines, and SEO. But while your phone keeps getting smarter and your coffee machine somehow knows exactly when to brew that next cup, businesses’ use of SEO is old-fashioned, failing to keep up with how real people actually search. It’s become a bit like using a paper map in the age of GPS—technically useful, but often archaic and far from flexible.

While many companies are using SEO, some still struggle to use it effectively, which means missing out on meaningful customer insights and even deterring potential buyers. As you can see, bad SEO can make or break your business. Instead of attracting the right audience, it can push them away. But what does poor SEO really look like? And how can you avoid making the same mistakes with your brand? Well, let’s find out!

What is SEO? And Why Is It Needed?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving a website’s visibility, content relevance, and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords. The goal is to attract more organic (non-paid) traffic by aligning businesses’ content with what people are actively searching for.

To achieve this, brands create content that directly addresses their customers’ questions—using the right keywords, structuring pages for readability, and ensuring the site is fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate. SEO involves optimizing everything from meta tags and headers to internal links and page speed, all to help search engines understand your content and connect it with the right users. When done well, SEO helps brands appear naturally in the moments that matter most!

What Happens When You Get SEO Wrong

But as valuable as SEO is, there are some drawbacks to the traditional SEO strategies that have become particularly evident as AI-powered search experiences have started to take the spotlight.

Traditional SEO often focuses on exact-match keywords, assuming users search in a predictable, uniform way. But in reality, people use conversational language, ask full questions, and vary their phrasing based on intent, location, or even mood. Focusing only on static keywords means your content may fail to appear in more meaningful, high-intent searches—where potential customers are actually looking for what you offer.

If your content is stuck chasing exact matches instead of understanding the bigger picture, you’re missing out on opportunities to show up for the searches that actually matter.

Another big issue? Traditional SEO often oversimplifies search intent. It lumps users into broad categories rather than recognizing that someone casually researching a product and someone ready to buy might use very different wording. 

Yet outdated SEO strategies treat them the same; or worse, force marketers to play a guessing game as to what customers really mean when they search.

And let’s not forget how fast search behavior changes. Sticking to a rigid set of keywords means you’re optimizing for yesterday’s searches instead of adapting to what people are looking for today and tomorrow. Businesses that cling to rigid keyword strategies may find themselves losing visibility to competitors who embrace more dynamic, AI-driven, and conversational approaches to content discovery.

The Next Chapter of Commerce

How You Can Use SEO Effectively?

Despite these limitations and the growing push for AI-powered intent-based searching, traditional search experiences aren’t going anywhere. But  focusing on strategies that prioritize user-friendly content, seamless user experience, well-optimized pages, and adaptability can help businesses ensure that they are utilizing these traditional SEO engines effectively. A few key tips include:

  • Understanding search intent: Go beyond keywords—ask and understand what your audience is really trying to achieve when they search.
  • Creating relevant, authoritative content that answers real questions: Use tools like Google’s “People Also Ask,” AnswerThePublic, or forums to find the actual language your customers use, and then incorporate that language into your product detail pages.
  • Structuring content for readability: Use headings, short paragraphs, bullet points (like this!), and visuals to keep your content skimmable and engaging.
  • Optimizing for technical performance: Ensure your site is fast, mobile-friendly, secure (HTTPS), and easy to navigate with clean URLs and proper metadata.
  • Keeping your SEO strategy flexible: Trends change—update outdated content, monitor keyword shifts (via tools like Google Analytics and third-party SEO platforms) and adapt your strategy regularly.
  • Leveraging internal linking and user flow: Help search engines and users understand how your content connects by guiding them through your site. Use internal links to highlight related topics and drive traffic to high-value pages, and a well-structured flow to create a smoother experience for your audience.
  • Thinking human-first, not search engine-first: Write for people, not algorithms. The more relevant and helpful your content is to real users, the better it will perform.

When SEO is approached with strategy and empathy, it becomes less about algorithms and more about connection, which is the best way to understand and communicate with your customers.

SEO and PIM: Why Product Information Matters

Strong SEO doesn’t start and stop at keywords. It depends on the quality, consistency, and completeness of your product data, which is where a Product Information Management (PIM) system comes in. PIM helps businesses centralize and manage product content across all channels, ensuring that information is accurate and up-to-date whether it’s appearing on a website, an app, or a third-party marketplace. This consistency is key not only to building trust with customers but also to optimizing for search engines, which reward relevance, structure, and completeness.

When product data lives in silos or is spread across disconnected systems, it creates gaps in customer experience and weakens your SEO foundation. In fact, poor data quality and data silos cost companies an average of $12.9 million annually, and 84% of retail executives admit to struggling with data silos. These inconsistencies can lead to incomplete product descriptions, conflicting information, misaligned keywords, and missed opportunities to appear in searches. PIM solves this by creating a single source of truth for all your product content!

A well-implemented PIM also enhances personalization and user engagement—both of which influence search rankings. By pulling together product data, customer feedback, and user-generated content (UGC) from across touchpoints, brands can create more targeted, SEO-friendly content that resonates with how people actually search and shop. 

In short: the better your product data, the stronger your SEO! PIM gives you the foundation to deliver consistent and search-optimized content across every channel—helping you win in both discovery and conversion.

Think Beyond the Search Bar

SEO today is about far more than just keywords and rankings; it’s about relevance, context, and creating frictionless experiences that match how real people search. Traditional strategies that focus solely on static keywords or guess at intent are quickly becoming outdated. If your brand wants to stay visible and competitive, it needs to evolve with the way customers think, speak, and shop.

That’s where strong product data and tools like PIM make all the difference. By centralizing and enriching your product information, you create a foundation for more accurate, personalized, and search-optimized content across every channel. When you combine that with a customer-first mindset, SEO stops being a guessing game and starts becoming your best strategic advantage.

The Next Chapter of Commerce is Here.

Discover how AI is transforming shopping, search, and product experiences, and why clean, structured data is the key to staying competitive in the next era of commerce.

Venus Kamara, Content Marketing Intern

Akeneo

How AI is Disrupting Commerce Today

Posted on by Casey Paxton
Artificial Intelligence

How AI is Disrupting Commerce Today

Learn how brands like Perplexity, Sephora, OpenAI, and Amazon are leveraging AI to reshape the customer journey—from intent-based search and virtual try-ons to intelligent agents and personalized shopping assistants. See how AI, powered by clean product data, is helping businesses drive engagement, boost efficiency, and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital marketplace.

Once upon a time, searching online meant typing in keywords and hoping for the best—now, AI search engines practically finish your thoughts for you. (Creepy? Maybe. Convenient? Absolutely.)

From intent-driven engines that cut through the clutter faster than you can say “page two of search results,” to AI assistants delivering real-time, personalized recommendations—AI isn’t some distant promise. It’s already transforming how customers discover, decide, and buy, turning what once felt like science fiction into standard practice for brands leading the digital charge.

But how are businesses actually putting this powerful tool to work?  We’ll dive into a few real-world examples, but first let’s take a moment to define what we really mean by “AI” in the context of customer experience—and why it matters now more than ever.

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

Forget the movies you’ve seen—artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t about robots taking over the world. It’s about machines getting smart enough to understand what we want, when we want it. 

At its core, Artificial Intelligence refers to the development of computer systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. These tasks include problem-solving, learning, understanding natural language, and even recognizing patterns. From personalized recommendations to automated chat support, AI is what’s quietly powering many of the experiences customers now expect as standard.

Why Do Brands Use AI?

For a long time (and still sometimes now), it can feel like AI is just a buzzword that businesses use to make themselves sound innovative. But if utilized correctly, AI can be the engine that quietly drives a new standard of convenience and personalization – and it’s not just consumers benefiting from this shift.

Many brands are leaning into AI in a real way to stay ahead in a fast-moving, customer-first world. In fact, 45% of brands are already using AI in their marketing efforts, tapping into its ability to scale personalization, streamline operations, and accelerate smarter decision-making.

From boosting efficiency behind the scenes to enhancing the front-end experience, AI enables businesses to work smarter and serve customers more intuitively. 

How Do Brands Use It?

So, what does this look like in practice? We all know about the AI chatbots that are now available on every website, but AI can also be utilized to deliver hyper-relevant product recommendations, optimize search experiences, and even predict what customers might need next. Whether it’s enhancing customer journeys or fine-tuning logistics, AI is showing up in ways that make shopping faster and smoother!

Now for the fun part—real-world proof. Here’s how smart businesses are using AI to rewrite the rules of customer experience:

1. Perplexity ‘Shop Like a Pro’: Intent-Based Search & Discovery

Our first case study is the AI-powered search engine Perplexity, which launched “Shop Like a Pro” in November 2024—a feature that allows users to search for products, receive tailored recommendations, and make purchases directly within the platform. It blends product discovery, smart recommendations, and a frictionless checkout into one smooth, all-in-one shopping experience.

By analyzing user queries, preferences, and behaviors, Perplexity delivers personalized product recommendations in a conversational, easy-to-digest format. Product cards display key details at a glance, giving shoppers the info they need without the hassle. And with the “Buy with Pro” feature, users can complete their purchases instantly—no more jumping between tabs or navigating a maze of websites!

Source

Perplexity’s ‘Shop Like a Pro’ marks a shift toward intent-based search and zero-click purchasing. Instead of requiring consumers to sift through search results and visit different retailers’ sites, Perplexity refines this process, ensuring that shoppers can find and purchase a product within a single, intuitive interaction. For retailers, this raises the stakes: product data needs to be accurate, enriched, and AI-ready to meet shoppers where they are. As platforms like Perplexity blur the lines between search, recommendation, and purchase, businesses that embrace this shift will be the ones leading instead of lagging in the next era of eCommerce.

2. Sephora: Virtual Assistance & Experiences

While Perplexity is redefining how we search and shop in one seamless step, other brands are using AI in entirely different ways. Take Sephora, for example—the beauty and skincare giant has been blending AI and Augmented Reality (AR) into its shopping experience for years, offering customers innovative tools that elevate both personalization and convenience.

One of Sephora’s notable innovations is the Sephora Virtual Artist, developed in collaboration with ModiFace, which allows users to virtually try on thousands of lip shades through their mobile app. By utilizing facial recognition technology, the app accurately maps facial features, enabling users to see how different products would look on them without physical application. Within two years of its launch, the Virtual Artist recorded over 200 million shade trials and attracted more than 8.5 million visits.

Source

Building upon this, Sephora introduced Color Match, an extension of the Virtual Artist. This feature assists customers in shade-matching by analyzing images to find corresponding lipstick colors from Sephora’s extensive product range. Users can upload a photo, and the AI identifies prominent colors, providing a list of matching lipsticks that can be virtually tried on and purchased directly through the app.

The core technology behind these tools includes advanced facial recognition, which accurately tracks facial features to apply virtual makeup precisely, and AI that analyzes users’ skin tones and leverages data such as customer preferences and purchase history to offer personalized product recommendations.

But Sephora didn’t stop there. They also put AI to work behind the scenes to boost SEO and customer outreach. Noticing a rise in detailed product searches, they used AI to whip up landing pages designed around queries like “best foundation for sensitive skin”, which resulted in smart, hyper-relevant content that clicked with customers – and a 6% increase in organic search visibility to prove it! 

Sephora’s AI-driven innovations show just how much tech can elevate the everyday shopping experience, making it smarter, more personal, and a lot more engaging. These tools don’t just boost convenience for customers; they also fuel stronger engagement and higher conversions for the brand.

The Next Chapter of Commerce

3. OpenAI’s Operator: Independent AI Shopping Agents

When talking about AI, how could we possibly forget OpenAI? The team behind ChatGPT recently introduced Operator, an autonomous AI agent designed to tackle a wide range of web-based tasks, from filling out forms and booking flights to ordering groceries and booking reservations. Users simply describe the task, and Operator gets to work in its browser environment. At any point, users can take over control, especially for actions requiring sensitive information like login credentials or payment details. This innovation contributes to OpenAI’s impressive growth, with weekly active users surging by 33% since December 2024, reaching 400 million globally. 

Customization is where things get really interesting. Operator lets users set preferences for specific websites, like always choosing aisle seats when booking flights or automatically reordering the oat milk that somehow disappears faster every week. Additionally, Operator allows for multitasking by running multiple tasks simultaneously in separate conversations, akin to using multiple tabs in a web browser. 

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While still in its early days (and not immune to the occasional stumble on a complex web interface), Operator represents a shift in how we as consumers interact with the internet and how businesses need to think about being discovered. As autonomous shopping agents become more common, it’s no longer just about appealing to human shoppers, and unlike human shoppers, AI agents rely on structured, machine-readable data to identify product attributes, compare options, and make decisions. If your listings are vague, inconsistent, or missing key attributes, you risk being invisible and overlooked by AI shopping assistants,  ultimately missing out on a growing wave of automated purchases.

4. Amazon’s Rufus: Personal Amazon Shopping Assistant

Ever wanted your own personal shopping assistant? Well, now you’ve got one. And no, it’s not Alexa.

Trained on Amazon’s vast product catalog and supplemented with information from across the web, Rufus acts as an intelligent shopping assistant that provides real-time answers, product comparisons, and tailored recommendations. Rufus allows consumers to interact conversationally—whether you’re asking “what to consider when buying running shoes?” or getting oddly specific with “is this cordless drill easy to hold?”, Rufus is ready. Since launch, it’s handled tens of millions of customer queries, proving just how eager shoppers are for smarter, quicker help. By integrating this assistance directly into the Amazon shopping journey, Rufus helps reduce friction and guide customers toward faster, more confident decisions.

Source

But the impact goes beyond the cart. AI assistants like Rufus are also changing the game for sellers. Amazon is already putting generative AI to work, helping brands create more engaging and informative product listings by enhancing titles and descriptions to better capture consumer interest and improve discoverability. 

And then there’s Fit Review Highlights—a feature that offers personalized size guidance and insights so customers can determine which size will fit them best. When you have 58% of consumers saying that sizing was the #1 reason for a product return, you can’t help but see how an AI-powered feature like this can help boost conversion rates and reduce return rates. 

These four brands (Perplexity, Sephora, OpenAI, and Amazon) are just a few examples of businesses putting AI to work in their own uniquely brilliant ways. The methods may differ, but the mission is the same: to make shopping (and searching, and browsing) faster, smarter, and way less frustrating. In a world where expectations are rising faster than your screen time, these brands are proving that smart tech and smarter data is the way forward.

Your AI Assistant Is Only as Smart as Your Product Data

Believe it or not, in the world of AI-powered shopping, messy or incomplete product data is enough to ruin the entire customer experience—no matter how advanced the tech behind it. If AI doesn’t have the right information to work with, it can’t recommend accurately, answer questions, or even surface your products in the first place!

That’s where a Product Information Management (PIM) system comes in. It helps brands centralize, organize, and enrich their product content—ensuring every attribute, description, and spec is accurate and AI-ready across all channels. With AI tools like chatbots, search engines, and virtual assistants relying on structured data to make recommendations or answer queries, a strong PIM foundation isn’t just helpful—it’s essential. The better your data, the better these tools can represent your products, guide customers to the right choice, and ultimately drive conversions. AI can only be as intelligent as the product content behind it!

The Future of Shopping Is Already Here—And It’s Powered by AI

From Perplexity’s zero-click shopping and Sephora’s virtual beauty tools to OpenAI’s Operator and Amazon’s Rufus, brands are already showing us what’s possible when AI meets customer experience. These innovations are setting new expectations for speed, personalization, and convenience across the board.

For brands looking to stay competitive, the message is clear: embracing AI is essential, but smart technology needs smart data. Investing in structured and enriched product information is the first step to unlocking the full potential of AI and delivering the kind of customer experiences today’s consumers expect.

The Next Chapter of Commerce is Here.

Discover how AI is transforming shopping, search, and product experiences, and why clean, structured data is the key to staying competitive in the next era of commerce.

Venus Kamara, Content Marketing Intern

Akeneo

Akeneo Earns Top Marks in 2025 Analyst Reports from IDC and ISG

Posted on by Casey Paxton
Akeneo News

Akeneo Earns Top Marks in 2025 Analyst Reports from IDC and ISG

Leading analyst firms IDC and ISG have released their 2025 assessments of Product Information Management (PIM) and Product Experience Management (PXM) vendors. Akeneo has been named a leader across multiple categories. Here’s a look at the highlights from five key reports.

Drum roll please . . .

We’re proud to share that Akeneo has been recognized as a leader in several newly published 2025 reports from IDC and ISG Research!

Two of the industry’s most trusted research firms, IDC and ISG Research have just released their 2025 assessments of the Product Information Management (PIM) and Product Experience Management (PXM) landscape. And we’re thrilled to share that Akeneo has earned top marks across the board!

From AI-powered automation and omnichannel consistency to next-gen syndication capabilities, our platform—and our vision—are being recognized for leading the pack. So if you’re wondering what makes a modern PXM solution truly best-in-class, or why your peers are investing in platforms that prioritize product experiences, you’ve come to the right place.

Let’s take a look at these five analyst, where Akeneo was ranked, and why we’re excited about what’s ahead.

1. IDC “Worldwide Retail Product Information Management Applications 2025 Vendor Assessment” MarketScape

The IDC MarketScape evaluates top vendors providing retail PIM applications, with a sharp focus on omnichannel consistency, AI-driven capabilities, and platform scalability.

Why Akeneo Was Named a Leader:

Akeneo was recognized as a Leader for our ability to support scalable product experiences across channels. At the core of the Akeneo Product Cloud is a modern PIM that helps retailers centralize product data and drive consistent experiences across eCommerce, marketplaces, stores, and beyond.

Key Strengths:

  • Omnichannel consistency: Unified product data across touchpoints enhances brand trust and customer satisfaction.
  • AI-powered enrichment: GenAI-driven tools support smart translation, tagging, and content creation at scale.
  • Customization & scalability: Flexible data models and workflows serve both midmarket and large enterprise needs.
  • Global syndication: Distribute product content to over 400 channels including Amazon and Walmart.
  • Forward-looking innovation: Investment in sustainability, AI-based data modeling, and integrations.

3 Key Takeaways:

  1. AI is redefining PIM: Automation and GenAI tools are now table stakes for digital success.

  2. Consistency drives conversion: Unified product data across all channels is critical.
  3. Syndication is a game changer: A broad channel network gives Akeneo customers a head start in global expansion.

Learn More

2. ISG Product Experience Management (PXM) Buyers Guide Results

The latest ISG PXM Buyers Guide showcases how companies think about product data, and how today’s leaders are orchestrating product experiences. This guide underscores the industry-wide shift from traditional PIM systems to experience-led platforms that put GenAI, analytics, and customer engagement at the forefront.

The businesses that will win in 2025 and beyond are those that can create compelling, consistent, and personalized product experiences across every channel and customer touchpoint.

Why Akeneo Was Named as a Top Three Performer:

Akeneo stood out as a top 3 performer in the critical areas of “Capability”, “Manageability”, and “Product Experience”, three pillars of successful PXM adoption. We were also recognized as “Exemplary” overall, highlighting our leadership in both technology innovation and user-centric design.

So, what makes us different?

  • Balanced and intuitive: Akeneo’s platform blends power and usability, giving both technical and non-technical teams the tools to create rich, contextual product stories without getting lost in complexity.

  • Scale without stress: Whether you’re managing hundreds of SKUs or hundreds of thousands, Akeneo helps brands scale product content creation and enrichment with ease—thanks to flexible workflows, AI-driven tools, and collaborative features.

  • Experience-first approach: While some platforms still treat product data like static spreadsheets, Akeneo transforms it into a dynamic driver of conversion, loyalty, and customer delight.

3 Key Takeaways

  1. PXM is central to digital commerce success: In a world of endless choices, product experience is a competitive advantage. Brands must go beyond accuracy and completeness—now, it’s about storytelling, personalization, and emotional resonance. PXM platforms like Akeneo are built to make that possible.
  2. Continuous, cross-channel engagement is essential: Customers don’t shop in silos. They browse online, research on mobile, purchase in-store, and expect consistent experiences every step of the way. Akeneo ensures your product information is always aligned—wherever and however your customers are engaging.
  3. GenAI and analytics are the new power tools: The days of manually updating product data are over. Today’s most successful companies are harnessing the power of genAI to accelerate content creation and using analytics to continually refine their strategy. Akeneo’s forward-thinking platform delivers on both fronts, making it easy to turn insights into action.

Learn More

Meet with an Akeneo Expert Today to Start Your PX Journey

3.  ISG PXM for Retail Buyers Guide Results

Retail is changing fast—and product information is at the heart of the transformation. The ISG PXM for Retail Buyers Guide zooms in on the unique challenges retailers face when trying to deliver consistent, enriched product experiences across a growing number of touchpoints.

With eCommerce, marketplaces, in-store experiences, mobile apps, and social commerce all vying for attention, retailers can’t afford to rely on outdated, fragmented systems. This report makes a strong case for why modern retailers need a PXM solution that unifies product data, enhances storytelling, and scales with speed.

In short: Retail success today depends on experience. And experience starts with great product information.

Why Akeneo Was Recognized as a Top Performer:

Akeneo was recognized as a top performer in key areas that matter most for retailers; “Manageability”, “Capability”, and “Product Experience”. Our platform was again classified as “Exemplary” in both Product and Customer Experience, affirming our leadership in helping retailers create and manage product content that actually connects with customers.

Key Highlights

  • Retail-ready manageability: Akeneo offers user-friendly workflows and governance tools that help merchandising, marketing, and ecommerce teams collaborate efficiently without needing to call IT every five minutes.
  • Seamless data flow across channels: Our platform ensures that product information is not only consistent, but contextually relevant—whether it’s being displayed on a website, in a mobile app, or on a digital shelf.
  • Experience-led innovation: With built-in AI features and a strong focus on product storytelling, Akeneo helps retailers move beyond basic attributes and craft immersive, engaging product narratives.

Key Takeaways

  1. Spreadsheets can’t scale. Centralized PXM is a must: If you’re still managing product data in Excel or bouncing between disconnected tools, you’re holding your customer experience back. Unified platforms like Akeneo empower retail teams to work smarter, faster, and more collaboratively.
  2. GenAI and XR are redefining product storytelling: With GenAI, retailers can now generate compelling, on-brand product descriptions in seconds. Combine that with emerging technologies like Extended Reality (XR), and the ability to tell rich, immersive product stories across digital and physical environments becomes a major differentiator.
  3. Manageability drives real results: It’s not just about having a powerful platform—it’s about having one that’s easy to manage, scale, and adapt to your business. Akeneo strikes that balance, making it easier for retail teams to take control of the product experience without compromising agility or governance.

Learn More

4. ISG PIM Platform Buyers Guide Results

The ISG PIM Platform Buyers Guide takes a step back to look at the bigger picture – how PIM platforms are evolving across industries, and why they’re no longer just back-end data tools. What emerges is a clear message: Product Information Management is moving from support role to center stage, playing a foundational part in driving customer experience, digital transformation, and business growth.

This guide explores how PIM is shifting from being a system of record to a system of engagement; one that empowers teams across the organization, leverages automation and AI, and enables businesses to scale product content creation and management in increasingly complex ecosystems.

Why Akeneo Was Named A Top Performer:

In this broader context, Akeneo was once again named a top performer, proving that our platform delivers not only for retailers, but for a wide range of industries, from manufacturing and consumer goods to distribution and B2B services.

Akeneo earned leading scores in both “Manageability” and “Product Experience”, two of the most critical capabilities for any modern PIM platform. Our adaptability and ease of use across various industries stood out, along with our commitment to cross-functional collaboration and scalable workflows.

Here’s what makes Akeneo shine in this category:

  • Industry-agnostic flexibility: Whether you’re selling fashion, furniture, industrial parts, or anything in between, Akeneo adapts to your business model and product complexity—with flexible data structures and a modular architecture.
  • Collaborative lifecycle management: Akeneo’s workflows are built for real-world teams. From product managers and marketers to compliance and ecommerce teams, everyone can work in sync to bring high-quality, enriched product data to life.
  • Usability that scales: The platform combines powerful features with an intuitive interface, so users across the organization—from tech-savvy admins to creative content teams—can contribute meaningfully without a steep learning curve.

3 Key Takeaways:

  1. PIM platforms must scale with complex ecosystems: The days of using basic tools to manage flat product catalogs are long gone. Today’s businesses need PIM platforms that can scale to handle thousands (or millions) of SKUs, multiple languages, varying regional requirements, and an ever-growing number of sales channels. Akeneo is built to grow with you, no matter how complex your ecosystem becomes.
  2. Automation and genAI are no longer optional: To keep up with speed, scale, and quality demands, PIM platforms must embrace automation. Akeneo incorporates GenAI for enrichment and workflow automation, helping businesses produce more content, faster—without sacrificing accuracy or consistency.
  3. Empower operational teams without the complexity of MDM: While some organizations may consider Master Data Management (MDM) solutions, these often come with complexity and overhead that slows teams down. Akeneo offers a purpose-built, user-friendly alternative that empowers business users to manage product information effectively—without relying on IT or managing a heavy enterprise system.

Learn More

5. ISG PIM for Manufacturing Buyers Guide Results

Manufacturing has always been a world of precision, scale, and complexity, and in the digital age, product information is just as mission-critical as the products themselves. The ISG PIM for Manufacturing Buyers Guide dives into how manufacturers can no longer afford to treat product data as an afterthought. Instead, it must be treated as a core business asset—one that drives operational efficiency, compliance, digital transformation, and customer satisfaction.

This report explores the distinctive pressures manufacturers face: global supply chains, strict regulatory environments, multiple product variants, and the increasing demand for rich, accurate product content across both digital and physical channels.

Why Akeneo Was Recognized As a Top-Tier PIM Solution:

In this high-stakes environment, Akeneo is recognized as a top-tier PIM solution, helping manufacturers tame complexity and thrive in an increasingly interconnected and data-driven world.

Akeneo earned top 3 rankings in “Capability”, “Manageability”, and “Usability”, positioning it as a powerful solution for manufacturers seeking to future-proof their operations.

Here’s how Akeneo delivers:

  • Streamlined product information flows: Akeneo helps centralize and structure complex product data—whether it’s technical specifications, multilingual documentation, or compliance attributes—so it flows efficiently from R&D to the digital shelf.
  • Digital & physical channel readiness: Whether you’re sending product information to distributors, ecommerce platforms, printed catalogs, or internal sales tools, Akeneo ensures consistency across every touchpoint.
  • GenAI-ready for speed and scale: As manufacturers increasingly turn to automation to scale product data across regions, Akeneo’s built-in GenAI tools enable fast, accurate content generation and enrichment tailored to each market or channel.
  • Seamless system integration: From ERPs and PLMs to ecommerce platforms and regulatory databases, Akeneo connects with the broader technology ecosystem manufacturers rely on to run efficiently.

3 Key Takeaways

  1. PIM is foundational for manufacturers going digital: Manufacturing firms are increasingly expected to deliver not just great products, but great product experiences. PIM platforms like Akeneo enable manufacturers to bring that digital layer to life—ensuring product data is accessible, accurate, and ready to power every customer interaction.
  2. Agentic AI and automation are game-changers: Managing a vast product catalog with multiple configurations, regions, and compliance requirements is no easy task. Akeneo helps manufacturers apply AI-powered automation to handle repetitive tasks like categorization, enrichment, and localization, freeing up teams to focus on higher-value initiatives.
  3. Scalable, integrated systems are critical for future-proof operations: In today’s volatile environment, agility is everything. Akeneo’s flexible and composable platform architecture allows manufacturers to adapt quickly—whether it’s entering a new market, complying with new regulations, or launching a new product line—without overhauling their entire tech stack.

Learn More

Wrapping It Up

Across five different analyst reports and a wide range of use cases, from the fast-paced world of retail to the complex demands of manufacturing, Akeneo has been consistently recognized as a leader. This recognition reflects not only the strength of our platform, but the impact it has on real businesses navigating real challenges.

Whether it’s harnessing the power of AI to streamline content creation, enabling collaborative workflows across global teams, or syndicating enriched product data to over 400 channels and marketplaces, Akeneo is helping brands take control of their product information and turn it into a strategic growth driver.

Our vision is clear: product information shouldn’t be a burden. It should be your competitive advantage. And we’re committed to giving businesses the tools they need to create product experiences that are accurate, consistent, and engaging across every channel, market, and touchpoint.

We’re incredibly proud to see that vision validated in these reports—but we’re even more excited about what’s next. With our customers as co-innovators, we’ll continue building the future of product experiences, together.

Curious how Akeneo can help your business thrive in 2025 and beyond? Let’s talk.

Are you ready to take the next step?

Our Akeneo Experts are here to answer all the questions you might have about our products and help you to move forward on your PX journey.

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

Using PIM to Prepare for Digital Product Passports

Posted on by Casey Paxton
Regulation Compliance

Using PIM to Prepare for Digital Product Passports

Discover how businesses are using PIM to prepare for the EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP)—centralizing product data, enabling supply chain transparency, and supporting sustainability goals. Learn how this powerful combination helps brands stay compliant, build trust, and deliver the clear, accurate product information customers expect in a more circular economy.

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) was introduced in 2024 as part of the EU’s broader push toward a circular economy, altering how product information is managed and consumed. With its push for greater transparency and circularity, the DPP brings new expectations – and new pressure – for anyone selling into the EU.

Brands are now faced with a critical question: how do you ensure your product data is consistent and ready to meet evolving regulatory demands? What could possibly help streamline this process, reduce manual work, and keep you a step ahead of compliance?

Well, let’s find out!

What is a DPP?

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a regulatory initiative introduced by the European Union in 2024. It creates a standardized digital record that collects and shares essential data about a product and its supply chain—such as materials, origin, environmental impact, and end-of-life options.

The goal of DPP is to increase transparency across value chains and support a more sustainable circular economy, bringing key benefits such as:

  • Regulatory compliance: The DPP records which sustainability or circularity standards a product meets, giving business partners and regulators clear, verifiable proof that you’re not just claiming compliance – you’re demonstrating it. 
  • Supporting sustainable production processes: By encouraging energy and material efficiency, longer product lifespans, and better reuse strategies, the DPP helps drive more sustainable manufacturing practices!
  • Enabling a circular economy: With transparency around product composition and lifecycle, DPPs support circular systems that reward repair, reuse, and recycling.
  • New business model creation: Goodbye short product lifecycles, hello repair-as-a-service! The DPP opens the door to new models that keep products useful and customers coming back.

  • Smarter shopping, less greenwashing: With access to real data on a product’s footprint, consumers can finally make informed choices without needing a PhD in sustainability!

By making this information available across the product lifecycle, the DPP empowers everyone including manufacturers, repairers, retailers, and consumers to make smarter, more sustainable decisions.

Who Will Be Affected By DPP?

The Digital Product Passport regulation doesn’t just impact one niche corner of the market—it applies to textile, electronic, automotive, plastics, chemicals, and battery industries that create, distribute, regulate, or purchase physical goods in the EU. If you conduct any part of your business in the EU, you’ll likely have to comply at some point – from factories to fitting rooms, the DPP introduces new responsibilities and opportunities for transparency, traceability, and sustainability for millions of different businesses.

Here’s how different stakeholders will feel the impact:

Manufacturers

Manufacturers will need to integrate comprehensive data collection processes to document product origins, materials, environmental impact, and compliance with sustainability standards. This initiative aligns with the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which mandates the use of DPPs to enhance product sustainability and circularity.

Supply Chain Partners

Suppliers and logistics providers will be expected to feed reliable data into the DPP system such as sourcing information, material composition, and transport-related emissions, which means closer collaboration across tiers and greater visibility into upstream and downstream operations.

Regulatory Authorities

Regulators will need to have access to standardized, real-time data through DPPs, streamlining the monitoring of compliance with environmental and safety standards. This enhanced transparency supports the enforcement of regulations such as the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan, which aims to make sustainable products the norm in the EU market.

Retailers

Retailers will be responsible for ensuring that the products they offer are accompanied by DPPs, providing consumers with accessible information on product sustainability and compliance. This transparency can enhance consumer trust and influence purchasing decisions as nearly 60% of millennials are willing to pay a premium for sustainably produced products.

Consumers

Consumers will benefit from increased access to information regarding product composition, environmental impact, and end-of-life options, enabling more informed purchasing decisions and supporting sustainable consumption patterns. The DPP initiative addresses the current lack of reliable product data, bridging the gap between consumer demand for transparency and available information.

Avoid Greenwashing: How to Build Sustainable Strategies

What Could Help Businesses Prepare?

It’s easy to look at DPP regulation as a burden and a a digital checklist for businesses, but in reality, it’s a big leap toward a market where transparency isn’t optional, accountability matters, and everyone from manufacturers to consumers can make smarter, more sustainable choices.

But that kind of transformation doesn’t happen overnight—and definitely not without the right tools. So, what could help businesses actually get ready for this new data-driven, transparency-first era?

The answer is a Product Information Management (PIM) system.

A PIM solution centralizes and structures all your product data in one place, making it easier to collect information from suppliers, enrich it with sustainability attributes, standardize formats, and distribute it to the right platforms—including future DPP interfaces.

By building your product data foundation on a robust PIM, you’re not only setting yourself up for smoother compliance, but you’re also reducing manual effort, improving data quality, and ensuring consistency across markets.

Benefits and Challenges With PIM

Benefits:

  • Centralized data, fewer headaches: A PIM consolidates all your product data into a single source of truth. No more scattered spreadsheets or chasing down suppliers for missing info—it’s all in one place, clean and structured!
  • Easier DPP compliance: With the ability to manage and enrich product data – including sustainability attributes, certifications, and lifecycle details – a PIM helps ensure you’re capturing what the DPP requires and sharing it in a consistent format.
  • Efficiency at scale: Whether you’re managing ten products or ten thousand, a PIM can automate and streamline data handling, reducing manual effort and accelerating your path to compliance!
  • Better collaboration across teams: Marketing, sustainability, product, and compliance teams can all access and contribute to the same dataset, helping break down silos and speed up processes.
  • Future-proof foundation: As DPP requirements evolve, your PIM can adapt, whether that means updating attributes, integrating with new platforms, or scaling across markets.
  • Improved supply chain visibility:

A PIM system centralizes product data from across your supply chain, making it easier to track sourcing, production inputs, and environmental impact—all key for DPP compliance. In fact, 55% of business leaders identified improving supply chain visibility as a top priority, highlighting the growing demand for transparency and data-driven decision-making.

Challenges:

  • Initial setup takes effort: Implementing a PIM (or optimizing an existing one) means gathering, cleaning, and structuring your data—a necessary but time-consuming first step, especially if your current setup is fragmented.
  • Data quality is everything: A PIM is only as good as the data you put into it. Ensuring supplier data is complete, accurate, and up to date is essential for DPP success.
  • Cross-functional buy-in is key: You’ll need alignment between IT, product, legal, and sustainability teams to define workflows and assign responsibilities, especially when managing data tied to compliance.
  • Staying up to date: DPP isn’t a static, one-and-done project. Businesses will need ongoing governance processes in place to keep product data current as regulations shift and new requirements emerge.

How Do the DPP and PIM Help Brands and Customers?

For businesses operating in the EU, preparing for the DPP isn’t just about staying compliant. When paired with a robust PIM system, the DPP becomes a powerful tool for building transparency, strengthening customer trust, and gaining a competitive edge. A PIM helps brands gather, manage, and distribute the detailed product data the DPP requires, making it easier to showcase sustainability efforts in a credible, consistent way across all channels.

For customers, this translates to greater clarity and confidence. With access to standardized, trustworthy product data—powered by PIM and delivered through the DPP—consumers can easily understand what products are made of, how they were produced, and how they can be repaired, recycled, or reused.

Stay Compliant—and Competitive!

The Digital Product Passport is a signal that the future of commerce is transparent, data-driven, and increasingly circular. For businesses, that future comes with both pressure and potential. Getting ahead of the curve means more than just checking compliance boxes; it means building the infrastructure to support better product data and stronger relationships with customers, partners, and regulators.

That is exactly why a PIM system is necessary. By centralizing, structuring, and streamlining your product information, PIM doesn’t just help you meet DPP requirements – it sets you up to thrive in a market that values both accuracy and sustainability.

Together, the DPP and a strong PIM foundation give businesses the tools to turn compliance into a competitive advantage!

Avoiding Greenwashing

Discover how to avoid the pitfalls of greenwashing and build genuinely sustainable strategies that foster trust, align with regulations, and drive long-term business growth.

Venus Kamara, Content Marketing Intern

Akeneo

4 Ways to Build a Resilient Business in an Unpredictable Global Market

Posted on by Casey Paxton
Retail Trends

4 Ways to Build a Resilient Business in an Unpredictable Global Market

Businesses are facing mounting pressure from every direction, from tariffs and regulations to evolving consumer demands. Discover four actionable strategies that can help you stay ahead of the curve, from streamlining supplier onboarding to scaling into new markets with localized content. Learn how the right tools and the right mindset can turn uncertainty into opportunity, future-proofing your product experience operations for whatever comes next.

From sweeping tariffs to fast-evolving regulations, today’s businesses are navigating a minefield of unpredictable challenges.

The latest curveball? A new 10% universal tariff introduced by the U.S., with even steeper rates for imports from roughly 60 countries. The move has left many companies bracing for price hikes and scrambling to reconfigure their supply chains to soften the blow.

And it’s not just tariffs causing turmoil. The European Union is preparing to enforce Digital Product Passports (DPPs) within the next year – a bold step toward greater transparency and sustainability. While this initiative promises progress toward a circular economy, it demands deep visibility into the supply chain; something few companies can claim to have today.

Supply chain disruptions, impending tariffs, evolving customer demands, a complex regulatory environment – how are businesses  expected to stay ahead of the curve when it feels impossible to see what’s coming next?

While you can’t predict every policy change or market shift, you can build an organization that’s flexible, agile, and prepared for change. Here are four practical strategies to help future-proof your operations and keep you ready for whatever comes next.

4  Tips for Expecting the Unexpected

1. Establish a system for smooth supplier communication and onboarding

When tariffs change or compliance rules tighten, one of the first areas under pressure is the supplier network. Delays in sourcing or onboarding new suppliers can ripple through the entire organization, slowing time-to-market and impacting revenue.

That’s why it’s critical to build a streamlined system for supplier collaboration. Whether you’re switching suppliers to reduce costs or sourcing more sustainable materials to meet environmental regulations, the process needs to be fast, transparent, and standardized.

Look for ways to digitize supplier onboarding and enable real-time collaboration. A centralized platform like Akeneo Supplier Data Manager provides a one-stop shop where suppliers can upload product specs, documentation, and compliance certifications, reducing back-and-forth and ensuring you’re always working with the latest information; electrical supplies distributor Rexel was able to enrich 800,000 to the international classification standard ETIM with Akeneo SDM.

The more efficient this process is, the more confident you can be when making quick changes under pressure – without compromising product quality or launch timelines.

2. Ensure ability to rapidly open/close different sales channels

As customer behaviors shift and economic headwinds hit different regions, agility in your go-to-market strategy is key. One region may be impacted by new import duties, while another remains stable. One sales channel may be booming, while another slows to a crawl.

Companies that can pivot quickly (launching a direct-to-consumer site, expanding a marketplace presence, scaling back in certain regions, etc.) gain a major competitive edge.

To do this successfully, businesses need product data that’s channel-ready and easily activated wherever customers are shopping, which is where a solution like Akeneo Activation can be a game-changer. Akeneo Activation is purpose-built to help businesses efficiently syndicate high-quality product information across dozens of global channels, enabling teams to manage, optimize, and distribute tailored product content from a centralized location – whether it’s for a webstore, mobile app, social commerce platform, marketplace, or brick-and-mortar catalog. With built-in tools to validate, enrich, and transform content to match each channel’s specific requirements, you can accelerate time-to-market and ensure consistency, no matter how fast things are changing.

So when the business needs to double down on Amazon, pull back from a third-party reseller, or launch a brand-new channel in a new region, you’re not starting from scratch. You’re activating the right content, in the right format, at the right time.

Meet with an Akeneo Expert Today to Start Your PX Journey

3. Create a single source of truth for all product information

Rather than juggling product specs, sustainability credentials, and compliance documentation across disconnected spreadsheets, legacy systems, and siloed teams, businesses need a centralized platform where all product data is stored, governed, and accessible to the right people.

Akeneo PIM is designed to do exactly that. By empowering businesses to centralize, manage, and enrich product information at scale, a composable PIM system like Akeneo ensures that every team, from merchandising to marketing to compliance, works from a unified set of accurate, up-to-date data, and that can lead to real cost savings – for example, AMG Medical saw a 60% reduction in catalog management costs after implementing Akeneo PIM. With powerful data governance, workflow automation, and enrichment tools, Akeneo PIM makes it easier to maintain consistency and quality across all channels and product lines.

This not only supports compliance with emerging regulations like DPPs, but also reduces errors, speeds up product launches, and improves the overall customer experience. And when change does come—whether it’s a new regulation, market opportunity, or supplier switch—you’ll already have the solid foundation in place to adapt with confidence.

4. Be prepared to expand to new markets/geos with translated, localized content

When conditions become unfavorable in one region, entering new markets—or doubling down on others—can provide much-needed growth. But too often, expansion plans are delayed or derailed by the complexity of creating localized, relevant content for each new market.

The key is to build a scalable localization process in advance. That means centralizing product data, leveraging translation workflows, and ensuring you can easily tailor product information to meet the needs of local customers, from language and measurement units to cultural context and buying habits.

The good news is that Akeneo can help there as well. With Akeneo Activation, you can distribute tailored product information to any channel, in any region, all from a central platform, ensuring that the right content gets delivered to the right place in the right way at the right time. Akeneo also offers AI-powered translation and localization tools that dramatically simplify the process of adapting product content for new languages and cultures – FELCO was able to scale their eCommerce presence from 10 markets to 170 in just six months with Akeneo. 

By ensuring that product descriptions, features, and marketing copy are not just translated but fully localized for tone, terminology, and context,  Akeneo enables fewer errors, faster launches, and better customer engagement in every market you enter.

With the right tools and processes in place, localization becomes a growth lever rather than a bottleneck. And in a volatile global market, having that kind of flexibility could make all the difference.

Build for Flexibility, Not Perfection

There’s no crystal ball in business. Tariffs will rise. Regulations will shift. Consumer behavior will evolve. And companies that cling to rigid, outdated systems will find themselves constantly playing catch-up.

But the answer isn’t to try and prepare for every scenario; it’s to build systems and strategies that let you adapt quickly to any scenario. That means modernizing your supplier onboarding, making your product information channel-ready, centralizing your data, and preparing your content for global reach.

The businesses that thrive through uncertainty won’t be the ones who guessed right. They’ll be the ones who build their organization with resilience, agility, and adaptability in mind. So, the next time the unexpected happens (and it will), you won’t be scrambling. You’ll be ready.

Are you ready to take the next step?

Our Akeneo Experts are here to answer all the questions you might have about our products and help you to move forward on your PX journey.

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

What Is a Point-of-Sale System?

Posted on by Casey Paxton
Technology

What Is a Point-of-Sale System?

Point-of-Sale systems are transforming how businesses operate — from processing payments to tracking data and improving customer service. Discover how POS systems work, the differences between cloud and on-premise setups, and how to choose the right solution. Learn about key features, benefits, challenges, and how tools like PIM can enhance your POS system’s power across channels.

There are certain experiences that connect people across cultures, borders, and backgrounds. And one of them is the act of making a purchase. Whether it’s a quick coffee run or a major business investment, buying and selling are things we hardly even think about anymore—and behind every transaction, there’s a system that makes it all possible.

For businesses, these systems are more than a way of getting their customers’ money. They manage inventory, track customer behavior, and deliver insights that drive smarter decisions. In today’s fast-paced, tech-driven marketplace, the system you rely on at checkout can determine whether your business merely survives or thrives. So what’s this powerful, do-it-all system called?

What is a Point-Of-Sale (POS) System?

I can assure you—I’m not referring to the naughty word. A Point-of-Sale (POS) system is the combination of hardware and software that helps businesses process transactions, accept payments, and manage the entire checkout experience—all without breaking a sweat.

Back in the day, the POS was simply the cash register at the front of the store. But today’s systems are often digital, cloud-based, and packed with features. Going beyond just transactions and analytical insights, modern POS systems can manage staff activity and generate sales reports—all from a single platform.

Whether it’s sitting pretty on a retail counter or tucked into a tablet at a stall, the POS is where the magic (and the money) happens.

How Does POS Technology Work?

At its core, a POS system is like different members of a sports team working together — every part plays a role to keep the transaction fast, yet error-free.

Before any product is bought, it’s chosen by a shopper. The item’s barcode is then manually scanned by a cashier or digitally scanned by the customer through a self-service touchscreen. This process places it into a store’s virtual (or physical) cart. 

The total cost is then calculated by the business’ POS system, including discounts, taxes, and promotions that are allowed to be added to the purchase. Various payment options are shown, whether cash, card, or digital payment, and then the POS system processes the customer’s payment. If a credit or debit card is used, it connects to a payment gateway to authorize the transaction.

After the customer’s payment has gone through, the POS system issues a receipt – either printed or digital – and the customer receives their product! Once the payment is confirmed, the system also updates inventory levels and logs the sale for reporting purposes. Depending on the setup, it can also capture customer information for loyalty programs.

Key Components of a POS System

Now I mentioned before, POS systems include hardware and software features. But what do they mean and specifically involve? Let’s break down these two core components:

Common POS Hardware

These are the physical components that make up the system and process transactions:

  • POS Terminal — The central device (such as a touchscreen or computer) used to run POS software and manage transactions.
  • Cash Drawer — Stores physical cash securely and opens automatically during cash transactions.
  • Receipt Printer —  Prints transaction receipts for customers, proving they bought a product.
  • Barcode Scanner — Speeds up checkout by scanning product barcodes, preventing you from typing anything manually.
  • Card Reader — Tap, insert, or swipe. This device accepts card payments and sometimes digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Common POS Software 

You can consider this as the digital “brain” of the system — the part that handles data, logic, and user interface:

  • Sales Processing – Handles the actual transaction: totals, tax, discounts, and payment processing.
  • Inventory Management – Tracks stock levels, sends low-stock alerts, and updates quantities after each sale.
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – Stores customer info, purchase history, and loyalty program data.
  • Employee Management – Tracks shifts, clock-in/clock-out times, and individual sales performance.
  • Reporting & Analytics – Provides insights into sales trends, inventory movement, and business performance.

Cloud Vs. On-Premise POS Systems

Knowing what your POS system does is only half the story—the other half is where it lives. That depends on whether you’re running a cloud-based POS or a traditional on-premise system, the two primary models available in today’s market.

Cloud POS:

Cloud-Based POS, aka the modern, go-anywhere option! Basically, all your product information and data live on an online, remote server that’s accessible from anywhere with Wi-Fi — rather than being stored on a single local computer. It offers strong advantages for small and mid-sized companies:

PROS

  • Access Anywhere: It gives you the ability to access your business’ data from your laptop, tablet, or even your phone no matter where you are in the world!
  • Automatic Updates: Cloud POS allows businesses a real-time synchronization, eliminating  manual installs or late-night IT headaches as updates roll in seamlessly.
  • Cost Efficiency: This system often has lower upfront costs and is usually subscription-based, so no need to buy expensive servers or infrastructure. 
  • Data Backups: Your data is securely stored in the cloud by your POS provider, so even if your hardware crashes, your information stays safe. Gone are the days of worrying about lost data!
  • Scalability: Need to add a new register, location, or team member? No problem. Cloud-based systems make it easy for you to scale up (or down) without overhauling your entire setup — perfect for growing businesses.

CONS

  • Internet-Dependent: If your connection drops, so might your ability to process transactions (unless you have offline mode) as the system completely relies on a stable internet connection. If your internet goes down and your system doesn’t have an offline mode, you could be stuck waiting to complete sales.
  • Ongoing Fees: Most cloud POS solutions run on a subscription model, which means monthly or annual fees. Over time, these can add up for businesses!
  • Data Security Concerns: While providers invest heavily in security, storing data online can raise concerns for businesses with strict privacy or compliance requirements.
  • Limited Customization: SaaS-based models are designed to work “out of the box,” which is great for simplicity, but it can also mean fewer options for deep customization. Businesses with very specific workflows or niche needs might find the system less flexible compared to on-premise setups.

On-Premise POS

Now this the old-school version — software installed directly on your hardware and stored locally. If cloud-based POS is online, then on-premise POS is offline! Software is installed directly onto your hardware, and data is stored locally — giving you full control over your system, but with a bit more responsibility.

PROS

  • Internet-Free: As On-Premise POS systems don’t depend on the internet, transactions can continue uninterrupted even if your internet goes down—ideal for areas with unstable connectivity.
  • Full Control: You own the software and infrastructure, giving you more freedom to customize, manage data access, and control how updates are handled.
  • One-Time Cost: While the initial investment is higher, you typically pay once for the software rather than ongoing subscription fees, which can be more cost-effective over time!
  • Customizations: On-premise systems often allow for more in-depth custom setups, making them suitable for businesses with complex or highly specific needs.

CONS

  • High Upfront Cost: Purchasing servers, licenses, and IT support can be expensive initially, especially for small businesses.
  • Manual Maintenance: You’re responsible for software updates, data backups, and security—which usually means having in-house IT support or hiring someone when things break.
  • Limited Remote Access: Since data is stored locally and doesn’t rely on the internet, managing your POS remotely (e.g., from home or another location) can be tricky without extra setup — you can only access the system from the physical location where it’s installed.
  • Scalability Challenges: Expanding to new locations or adding terminals may require additional hardware, software licenses, and manual configuration — making growth more complex and costly.

Both cloud-based and on-premise POS systems have their strengths — it really comes down to your business needs. If you value flexibility and real-time access, then a cloud solution may be the better fit. But if you prefer full control and deeper customization, an on-premise setup might be the way to go. The key is choosing the system that aligns with how you operate today — and how you plan to grow tomorrow.

Meet with an Akeneo Expert Today to Start Your PX Journey

Why Businesses Need a POS System

Whether you choose a cloud-based or on-premise setup, the core purpose of a POS system remains the same: to help your business run more smoothly, serve customers better, and make smarter decisions. But beyond just processing payments, POS systems have become essential tools for modern businesses.

From managing real-time inventory and automating sales reports to tracking employee performance and storing customer data, a POS system helps streamline operations and reduce human error. With everything connected in one place, business owners can make more informed decisions, save time on administrative tasks, and focus on growth. Features like low-stock alerts, data-driven insights, and built-in analytics also empower businesses to operate more efficiently and stay ahead of the curve.

That said, no system is without its challenges. POS systems — especially more advanced ones — can come with a learning curve, and depending on the setup, they may require regular maintenance, training, or updates. As I mentioned before, cloud-based systems rely heavily on internet access, while on-premise ones require dedicated hardware and IT support. 

Despite these hurdles, the long-term benefits often outweigh the initial setup and costs. For customers, POS systems enhance the overall experience by enabling faster checkouts, flexible payment options, and even personalized service through loyalty programs. Whether you’re running a small café or scaling a retail chain, the right POS system doesn’t just make your business more efficient — it makes it more competitive and future-ready!

Tips For Choosing The Right POS System

With so many benefits on the table — and a few challenges to consider — it’s clear that choosing the right POS system is a big decision. The key is finding a solution that fits your business’s size, industry, and unique workflow. 

Not all systems are created equal, and what works for one business might be a poor fit for another. So how do you make the right choice? Here are a few key tips to guide your decision:

1. Understand Your Business Needs

Start with the basics: What type of business do you run? A retail store, restaurant, or mobile service provider? Each has different requirements — for example, a café might need table management, while a clothing store may prioritize inventory tracking. Choose a system that’s built with your industry in mind.

2. Think About Scalability

Your business might be small today, but what about tomorrow? Pick a POS system that can grow with you — whether that means adding more registers, expanding to multiple locations, or accessing more advanced features down the line.

3. Consider Ease of Use

A system packed with features is great — but not if it’s too complicated to use. Look for a POS with an intuitive interface, easy staff training, and responsive customer support to keep things running smoothly.

4. Check for Integration Options

Your POS should play nicely with your other tools—whether it’s your eCommerce platform, accounting software, loyalty program, or marketing tools. Seamless integration saves time and helps create a more connected business ecosystem!

5. Review the Costs

Don’t just look at the sticker price. Consider setup fees, hardware costs, monthly subscriptions, payment processing fees, and any hidden charges. Cloud-based systems usually have lower upfront costs but ongoing fees, while on-premise options may require more investment upfront.

6. Decide Between Cloud or On-Premise

One of the most important choices you’ll make is whether to go with a cloud-based or on-premise POS system. Ask yourself what your needs or wants are for your business before selecting either model. Consider your technical resources, budget, and how your business operates day-to-day before deciding.

7. Security Matters

Your POS handles sensitive customer data, so make sure it offers strong encryption, secure payment processing, and regular updates. Ask about data backup and compliance with standards like Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

PIM It to Win It

In order to get the most out of a POS system, you also need to ensure the information flowing through it is accurate and consistent. That’s where a Product Information Management (PIM) system can make a big difference.

A PIM can be a powerful companion to your POS setup, especially for businesses with large or constantly changing product catalogs. PIM acts as a centralized hub for managing all your product data — from names, descriptions, and prices to images, specifications, and categories. When integrated with your POS system, it ensures that accurate, up-to-date product information is consistently reflected across all sales channels, both in-store and online. This not only helps prevent pricing errors and inventory mismatches, but also improves the customer experience by making product details clear and consistent. For growing businesses, a PIM system simplifies product updates and makes scaling across locations, platforms, or markets much more efficient—basically what every business dreams!

Closing the Tab: Why POS Isn’t Just a Checkout Tool

A modern POS system is more than a digital cash register — it’s the engine behind smarter sales and better customer experiences. The right setup can give your business the tools it needs to grow and adapt.

And when paired with systems like PIM, your POS becomes even more powerful — keeping your product info sharp, your team aligned, and your customers happy. In the end, it’s not just about completing transactions — it’s about building a business that runs like a well-oiled machine!

Are you ready to take the next step?

Our Akeneo Experts are here to answer all the questions you might have about our products and help you to move forward on your PX journey.

Venus Kamara, Content Marketing Intern

Akeneo

Three Reasons Why PIM Is The Key To Maximizing Your SAP Hybris Investment in 2025

Posted on by Casey Paxton
Technology

Three Reasons Why PIM Is The Key To Maximizing Your SAP Hybris Investment in 2025

SAP Hybris is a powerful eCommerce and customer experience platform, but its full potential is often limited by inefficient product data management processes. Discover why integrating a PIM system is key to maximizing your SAP Hybris investment in 2025, and how Akeneo PIM integrates with SAP Hybris to drive efficiency, accuracy, and long-term growth.

SAP Hybris has long been a trusted platform for businesses looking to streamline their digital commerce operations. As a robust solution for managing eCommerce, customer experience, and omnichannel sales, SAP Hybris (now part of SAP Commerce Cloud) enables enterprises to scale their online presence and drive revenue growth. But while SAP Hybris is an essential tool for many manufacturers and retailers, its full potential is often limited by inefficient product data management processes.

In order to keep up with constantly evolving trends and business needs, the best way to create a strong foundation for SAP Hybris is to integrate a Product Information Management (PIM) system. A PIM acts as a central hub for all product-related data, including ERP and marketing data, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and efficiency of product content distribution for any channel. 

But we’re jumping ahead a bit – let’s first break down what exactly SAP Hybris is and how it’s being utilized in the market today. 

What is SAP Hybris?

SAP Hybris is a powerful eCommerce and customer experience platform designed to support complex business models, including B2B, B2C, and D2C. It enables companies to create personalized digital experiences, streamline order management, and support multiple sales channels from a single system.

Manufacturers, retailers, and distributors leverage SAP Hybris to enhance their eCommerce capabilities by providing a seamless shopping experience across digital and physical channels, integrating with ERP systems, notably SAP S/4 Hana, for efficient inventory and order management, and driving omnichannel growth by ensuring consistency in product data, pricing, and promotions across multiple touchpoints.

The Changing Digital Commerce Landscape and the Role of PIM

If we’ve learned anything in the past decade, it’s that the digital commerce landscape can change in the blink of an eye. From the pandemic bringing about a hyperfocus on digital experiences to AI completely changing the way that businesses operate, it can be incredibly difficult to anticipate and react to changes. 

Businesses are dealing with increasing product complexity, higher customer expectations, and a growing demand for personalized experiences. And the expectation of seamless omnichannel experiences requires businesses to maintain consistent product information across multiple touchpoints, including eCommerce websites, marketplaces, mobile apps, and physical stores.

This is where a PIM solution becomes invaluable as it can enable businesses to centralize, enrich, and distribute product data seamlessly, ensuring that customers receive accurate and engaging product information across all channels. By integrating a PIM with SAP Hybris, businesses can unlock new levels of efficiency, agility, and scalability in a few key ways.

The Akeneo App for SAP Commerce Cloud

1. Create a Global Source of Truth for Product Information

One of the biggest challenges businesses face with SAP Hybris is managing product data efficiently. Many organizations using SAP Hybris rely on IT teams to make even minor product information updates, leading to slow processes and bottlenecks. This reliance on IT can also limit a company’s ability to expand its product information to better describe offerings to customers and the market.

Integrating a PIM with SAP Hybris creates one single global source of truth for product information. Business users can manage, enrich, and localize product data in a dedicated PIM environment, eliminating the need for IT intervention for every update and empowering marketing and eCommerce teams to improve product descriptions, imagery, and specifications. 

Having a PIM as the central hub for product data also ensures consistency across all channels  and enhances localization efforts, ensuring that product information is tailored to different markets, languages, and cultural contexts.

When data is centrally managed and connected to SAP Hybris, businesses can deliver richer product experiences while reducing errors and inconsistencies in their product information.

2. Manage Complex Product Catalogs Across Multiple Channels

Many industries deal with extensive product catalogs containing thousands (or even millions) of SKUs, from automotive to apparel to manufacturing and beyond. Managing such vast catalogs across multiple sales channels is a daunting task, especially when data must be maintained consistently across eCommerce platforms, online marketplaces, partner websites, and physical stores.

A PIM solution is specifically designed to handle complex product catalogs and streamline the management of product data across multiple channels. With built-in syndication capabilities, a PIM can automatically distribute enriched product data to various platforms, ensuring that every channel has the latest and most accurate product information while minimizing manual work, reducing errors, and accelerating time to market.

For businesses looking to expand into new markets or launch new product lines, a PIM also provides a structured way to scale product information management without adding complexity. By integrating a PIM with SAP Hybris, businesses can maintain consistency, improve operational efficiency, and drive higher conversion rates by delivering the right product content to the right audience at the right time.

3. Scale with Agility and Speed

Another major challenge businesses face is the rigidity of highly customized workflows feeding into SAP Hybris. Many organizations have heavily customized their SAP Hybris implementations to meet unique business requirements, but these customizations often make it difficult to adapt to changing market conditions. When businesses need to update product data due to new regulations, shifting customer expectations, or emerging trends, the process can be slow and cumbersome.

A composable, SaaS-based PIM solution can address this challenge by acting as a flexible, best-of-breed component within an SAP Hybris ecosystem. Rather than relying on IT-intensive customizations, a PIM allows businesses to make rapid updates to product data without compromising system stability. This also means that, when new regulations impact industries like automotive or electronics, businesses can quickly adjust their product information and stay compliant without disrupting operations.

By integrating a PIM with SAP Hybris, businesses gain the agility and speed needed to scale effectively, respond to market demands faster, optimize workflows, and drive digital commerce innovation without being held back by rigid system limitations.

Why Akeneo PIM is the Best Choice for SAP Hybris

For businesses looking to maximize their SAP Hybris investment, look no further than Akeneo PIM. 

By leveraging Akeneo PIM alongside SAP Hybris, businesses can:

  • Empower business users to manage and enrich product information without IT dependency, enabling marketing and eCommerce teams to quickly update and refine product content for improved customer engagement
  • Ensure consistent and high-quality product content across all sales channels, reducing discrepancies and enhancing the omnichannel shopping experience
  • Accelerate time to market by improving product data agility, allowing businesses to launch new products faster and adapt quickly to market changes or regulatory requirements
  • Scale product information management efficiently without over-customizing SAP Hybris, ensuring a flexible and future-proof solution that grows alongside the business while maintaining operational efficiency

To ensure maximum efficiency, we also offer the Akeneo App for SAP Commerce Cloud, which provides a blueprint for seamlessly integrating Akeneo PIM with SAP Hybris iPaaS and back-office systems. With 80% of the integration work already handled, businesses can quickly implement Akeneo PIM and start reaping the benefits of streamlined product information management.

As digital commerce becomes more complex and competitive, businesses must find ways to enhance their SAP Hybris investment, and a PIM solution can oftentimes be the best way to go. By providing a global source of truth for product data, enabling seamless multi-channel product catalog management, and enhancing scalability, a PIM ensures that businesses can maximize efficiency and drive growth.

For companies committed to SAP Hybris in 2025 and beyond, integrating a scalable and flexible PIM solution like Akeneo is the smartest move to stay agile, competitive, and future-ready.

If you want to learn more about Akeneo PIM or the Akeneo App for SAP Commerce, reach out to an Akeneo expert today.

Are you ready to take the next step?

Our Akeneo Experts are here to answer all the questions you might have about our products and help you to move forward on your PX journey.

Sarah Hoffman, Product Marketing Manager

Akeneo