A few years ago, we already wrote a similar article→. But since then, the market has changed: new players have arrived, and American and European vendors have closed their products to Russian companies. Therefore, we decided to recompile the comparison of PIM systems, taking into account the peculiarities of the Russian market in 2024.
In this article, we compared Pimcore, Brandquad, Catalog.app, Compo PIM, and Akeneo PIM PIM systems. The comparison was based on questions asked by our customers from retail, e-commerce, and industry when choosing a system: from basic functionality to solving specific problems.
Why do we need a PIM system and what functions does it perform?
To begin with, let's briefly talk about what tasks the PIM system can solve.
The PIM system (abbreviated from English product information management system) is a master system for storing information about goods and services. The PIM system can centrally store text information, calculated parameters, media files, data for analytics, attributes, regional and seasonal characteristics, prices, etc. And then, through integrations, the system “distributes” this information to all sales channels: dealer portals, marketplaces, retail outlets, and online stores.
Using rules and filters, you can create specific uploads for any channel in a few minutes. For example, if you sell only white and lilac curtains to one of the dealers from the entire range of curtains, you don't have to select manually. It is enough to set the upload rules in the PIM system and it will be generated in a couple of minutes. Thus, one of KT.team's clients has implemented a PIM system that allows in 10 seconds, create an unloading of goods of any complexity for any of thousands of partners→.
What are the criteria for comparing?
When choosing parameters for comparison, we took into account the questions from our customers:
- What is the basic functionality of the PIM system? Is it possible to check duplicates, how complex the catalog is, what data can be stored in the product card?
- What additional features does the PIM system have for increasing sales metrics→.
- How user-friendly is the interface and how easy it is for users to learn its features, don't get confused about buttons and sections.
- How can a PIM system be integrated with existing systems? Will we have to write complex and poorly maintained integrations on a rare stack?
- Separately: are there ready-made integrations with 1C, 1C-Bitrix, Ozon, Wildberries, Yandex Market, Avito, Retail CRM, My Warehouse and other systems? Easy integration with major marketplaces and CRM allows you to reduce time-to-market and keep product information relevant in all channels (external and internal).
- How many products can the system handle without lags and freezes? Another important point for large retailers with hundreds of thousands or millions of SKUs or ambitious plans to expand their product line. If the system is not ready for large amounts of information, constant lags will slow down processes and lead to errors.
- Is it possible to improve the PIM system taking into account the peculiarities of the company's business processes? Out of the box, PIM may not be suitable for some of the features of your processes: for example, basic features will prevent you from building a sufficiently detailed catalog. Or PIM won't be able to generate the reports you need, as one of our clients did. This can be fixed with improvements and configurations if the code is open source.
- The PIM system must comply with the company's security requirements. For some companies, it is important that the core of the system is located on their own servers; in others, the use of SaaS solutions is also acceptable.
- What is the cost of owning a system.
PIM systems for comparison
A multifunctional platform that has long gone beyond PIM. Pimcore currently includes PIM, MDM, DAM, DXP (digital experience platform), DCF (digital commerce framework, e-commerce framework) modules. Using one or more of these modules, the company sets up a visual presentation of information about the product, related assets and customers. The development company is based in Austria, and the system itself is written in PHP.
The product ecosystem for working with product data is the most famous in Russia. It includes PIM, DAM, DSA (digital shelf analytics, analytics for digital shelf management), e-commerce analytics, and data distribution modules. The development company was founded in Russia in 2015, but is now headquartered in France.
Russian open source solution. As a UTP, the developer indicates the wide functionality of the system for working in PIM. The main development language is C#. The system is aimed at Russia and Belarus and takes into account the peculiarities of retail and e-commerce in these countries in the catalog structure and integrations.
Russian PIM system implemented on the Java 11 platform (framework: Spring Boot). It is part of Compo Soft's product ecosystem, which includes MDM and DAM modules, as well as its own ESB bus, a B2B/B2C digital commerce platform, SRM (supplier relationship management, supplier nomenclature management system), BI system, MPL (marketplace integrations) and search based on ElasticSearch.
A master system that stores all information in a single database with the ability to centrally manage marketing and technical information. Unlike Pimcore, Akeneo is only a PIM system, that is, a highly specialized tool. The development company was founded in France in 2013. The main language used is PHP.
A set of features out of the box
Pimcore
The following features are available in all Pimcore versions (Community Edition, Enterprise Edition, Unlimited Subscription):
- product catalogs of any complexity and with any interdependence;
- building product cards with any logic and information model;
- link to value guides by colors, sizes, materials, etc. ;
- fields with calculated values (using mathematical formulas or composite values);
- communication with media assets;
- validation of cards and data;
- building workflows (business processes) for working with product information — from linear to complex;
- integration with external systems and applications;
- publication on sales channels;
- multilingual support and AI translation of card content;
- relationship between goods (analogues and additional sales).
Only in paid versions of Pimcore:
- PXM (product experience management);
- PDS (product data syndication) is an analytical tool that allows you to increase sales and improve customer experience through more than 2500 channels;
- CDP (Customer Data Platform);
- building alternative hierarchies and category trees. A useful feature if several departments work with the product at once, each of which has its own catalog logic and product card;
- integration with Adobe and Microsoft products.
Brandquad
Brandquad has two boxed plans: PIM and PIM Lite. They have a different set of basic functions.
Brandquad PIM and PIM Lite versions include:
- customizable product cards;
- automatic data validation, assessment of the quality of filling out product cards;
- product category tree;
- bulk data import;
- module for setting up business processes for approving documents (with restrictions);
- a system for monitoring product cards on retailer websites;
- transcription of attributes for broadcasting to English-language sites.
The following services and features are only available in the full Brandquad PIM version:
- DAM tools;
- building product information models;
- links between goods (for example, for additional sales);
- setting up different levels of access to cards and business processes by role;
- unlimited public catalogs (only one in the PIM Lite version);
- transfer of the product catalog to sales channels (only within the functionality of the ready-made API; everything that is not included in the capabilities of this API must be additionally ordered from Brandquad).
Business users note that Brandquad is well designed to search for products and filter them. On the contrary, custom uploading of reports or product collections by attributes has not been implemented. To get these features, you need to order an appropriate upgrade from the vendor.
Catalog.app
- Price processing: files from mail, links, from Google.Tables and Google.Disk, Yandex Disk, Dropbox, etc. In different formats: xls, xlsx, csv, xml;
- Automatic comparison of goods from different sources;
- Setting up flexible pricing rules taking into account purchase prices, competitors' prices, and the characteristics of specific goods;
- Automatic creation of product cards;
- Integration with marketplaces with the ability to specify different prices on different platforms;
- Integrations using the API;
- The ability to compile reports by employees on the work done, reports on the state of the market;
- Generating and sending wholesale prices to customers.
Compo PIM
- Product change history, event log;
- Content manager work report;
- Customizable export;
- Grouping goods with a master card;
- Editing via xls;
- Elasticsearch search with search results ranking;
- A directory of price types and currencies;
- Residues, warehouses;
- Importing catalogs for suppliers;
- Multicatalog (support for combining products, series, faceted filter, custom list);
- Product templates: groups of characteristics, characteristics of popular types, management of directories;
- Bulk operations (adding attribute values in bulk, assigning directories, tags, etc.);
- Product enrichment rules: the purpose of the template, categories, analogues, related products, synonyms;
- Access management: roles of system users with distributed access to functionality;
- Customizable dashboard with widgets;
- An integration bus based on Apache Camel and RabbitMQ;
- Grouping units of measure;
- Statuses, tags, markers;
- Self-documenting API (all CRUD operations);
- Marketplace integrations.
Akeneo
Akeneo PIM is available in three builds with different amounts of functionality:
- Community Edition. A free open source version with limited functionality. It takes place on your company's servers.
- Growth Edition. A paid version with limited functionality. Cloud deployment, SaaS. Yearly billing.
- Enterprise Edition. A fully functional paid version. Cloud deployment, SaaS/PaaS. Yearly billing.
The following features are available in the Community Edition:
- Collection of data on goods/services from various sources (Excel, ERP system);
- Manage categories and catalogs;
- Automatic and manual addition of product data;
- Change data about several items at the same time.
Additional Growth Edition features:
- The ability to create pre-configured templates for groups of goods/services within the catalog. For example, when adding a new child constructor item, you will only fill in the fields that are needed in the “constructors” category;
- The ability to generate and translate product information into other languages using an AI tool;
- The ability for several users and teams to work with one product card at the same time;
- The ability to generate the most complete description with the addition of media files and SEO elements for product categories.
The Enterprise Edition includes all features from previous versions, plus:
- Access rights management;
- The ability to create workflows to add/enrich product information;
- The ability to create workflows to validate information;
- Multiversion of product information;
- Customizing the rules for filling out cards: you can set up rules that are important for your business and for selected sales channels;
- Asset Manager is a multimedia asset management tool;
- Internal sharing of product information via the link;
- Virtual assistant for teams;
- The ability to add guides and references for teams (brand policy, core values, etc.) );
- Analysis on the completeness and accuracy of product data+automatic suggestions for improvements;
- Time-to-market analytics;
- Analysis of the impact of product content on sales metrics;
- Extension for working with suppliers and distributors (Supplier Data Manager).
Additional features that impact sales and marketing
Pimcore
Customer Data Platform (only in paid on-premises versions) — collects data on customer activity on various sales channels. It allows you to create a customer portrait, more accurately segment the audience, unify user profiles, and automate some marketing tasks to personalize content.
Digital Commerce Framework (only in on-premises versions) — a framework for building automated omnichannel B2C commerce.
Digital Experience Platform — a headless platform for centralized content management for several sites in different languages and with different target audiences. It takes on a wide range of tasks: from creating and adapting content to analytics and optimizing clients' digital experience.
Brandquad
Public catalogue — a virtual showcase with a user interface synchronized with PIM. It allows you to show a catalog or a selection of products to any number of customers, as well as transfer product information via API, newsletters or manual export directly from the catalog in CSV, PDF, XLSX, XML formats.
E-commerce analytics module collects information on prices, reviews, and promotions from more than 300 sites, both by company and by competitor.
BuyButton — a widget that can be connected to the site (if it is not an online store) or the company's social networks. A button or a set of buttons, if your product is available on several sites, will allow the buyer to go to the product card on a convenient sales channel.
Plugins for interacting with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Figma — improve the quality of work with media assets and metadata.
Algorithms for distributing data to online platforms. Automated algorithms based on machine learning that transform content into the format of each retailer or partner. You can convert all key fields, from product names and marketing descriptions to image resolution and file titles.
Catalog.app
The ability to automatically monitor competitors' prices and product range.
Sales and cost analysis.
Pricing guidelines.
WITHtimely notifications about the need for supplies.
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of sales on marketplaces + anomaly notifications and action recommendations. Tracking the impact of prices and changes in the product card on orders.
Compo PIM
Customizing the export of product data for a specific platform or sales channel. Each showcase can broadcast its own version of the catalog, including structure, product names and prices.
Communication with DAM collections including for sending different sets of photos to different marketplaces. Because different marketplaces may require different image formats and sizes, using DAM to manage these options helps streamline the marketing process and meet the requirements of each platform.
Akeneo
PXM modules (Akeneo Onboarder and Franklin), which store marketing information about a product with different variations in its characteristics, taking into account the rules for publishing in external sources, target audience segmentation and positioning. PXM helps you manage product experiences using existing customer experience data.
Support for AI tools for quickly translating product information into different languages, which makes it easier to enter new markets without losing the quality of information about goods and services.
Integration options
Pimcore
The Pimcore box has a REST API by default. You can configure its endpoints in Pimcore Datahub to transfer exactly the set of attributes they need to each system and application. Pimcore can be integrated with other systems directly or via a service bus.
Brandquad
The full version of the system provides a ready-made API for integration with 1C, SAP, website, etc. But the attributes and formats that can be passed through this API are limited. To transfer a non-standard set of attributes, you must order an appropriate API update from the vendor.
Catalog.app
There is an API, you can get any information from the system. There are fewer methods for changing information — only basic features are covered. The documentation is complete and up-to-date, and there is OpenAPI.
Compo PIM
Instead of an API, the company offers to implement integrations using the Compo ESB bus. As a disadvantage of this implementation, it is important to note that using a specific solution will require more time to study and understand the features and limitations.
Akeneo
Like Pimcore, it comes in a box with a REST API that allows you to extract product data in JSON format. The solution documentation separately states that the REST API is currently as basic as possible, but plans include adding new methods for retrieving and updating objects.
Deployment technology
Pimcore
Each Pimcore plan offers cloud and on-premise hosting options. However, it should be noted that some features are only implemented in the on-premises versions of Pimcore.
Brandquad
Brandquad is distributed only on the SaaS model — the company gets access to its space on Brandquad servers.
Catalog.app
It offers both options — both in the cloud and on the client's servers.
Compo PIM
Offers both options
Akeneo
You can deploy the free version on your own server. PaaS versions are available on the PaaS model.
The possibility of improvements
Pimcore
Any IT team familiar with the stack will be able to customize the platform for unique processes and business features. IT integrators who have several Pimcore implementation cases in their portfolio may have ready-made bundles (unique code improvements) for the tasks and features of your company's business processes.
Overall, Pimcore is a fairly flexible system; it includes many microservices and tools for various business tasks.
Brandquad
Brandquad has a closed code that only the vendor company has access to. Any improvements are possible only through a feature request; an in-house IT team or contractor can only help with setting up basic features. The deadline for the feature request depends on the Brandquad team's backlog and product development plans. We have faced situations where minor improvements took 6 months or more.
Catalog.app
Another open source PIM system in C#. Improvement is possible if your integrator or team is familiar with the system and stack.
Compo PIM
Upgrading the PIM system is relatively easy. The vendor offers a framework that can be used to develop any functionality. In addition, the solution has a large set of ready-made tools for the most common queries that do not need to be written from scratch.
Akeneo
Akeneo is an open source cloud solution. You can customize the system.
How many products can the system handle without lags and freezes?
Pimcore
Several million SKUs.
Brandquad
The platform says it manages more than 30 million SKUs at a time. Within one client, we have seen cases of up to several hundred thousand SKUs.
Catalog.app
According to the vendor, the largest customer catalog contains 2 million SKUs, and at the same time, the system works stably.
Compo PIM
The developer states that the system is capable of processing data on 500,000+ SKUs within a single catalog.
Akeneo
IN documentation The developer indicated that the system can manage no more than 1 million products in 4000 categories.
What if your catalog is more than the capabilities of any of the boxed systems?
In this case, you will have to create a self-written solution. Any box will slow down and generate errors if you load more into it than PIM can handle.
Are there integrations with 1C, 1C-Bitrix, Ozon, Wildberries, Yandex Market, Avito, Retail CRM, My Warehouse and other systems?
Pimcore
You can set up any integrations with marketplaces and internal systems by implementing an ESB layer. For example, to ensure the quick creation of product cards on marketplaces for Polaris (a brand of household and climate equipment), KT.team, together with the Pimcore PIM-system, introduced the WSO2 ESB bus.
Brandquad
All of these integrations can be implemented at the implementation stage — this will require the participation of an integrator.
Catalog.app
There is full integration with Ozon and Wildberries (product cards, prices, balances, orders, promotions, financial analytics, management accounting). There is also integration with the 1C Bitrix system. In the case of other marketplaces, PIM allows you to synchronize price updates and balances. It is planned to create new integrations (you need to write in the language of the system) — this can be done by both your IT department and an IT contractor during the integration phase.
Compo PIM
The box has direct integration with 1C, and integrations with popular marketplaces are also implemented.
Akeneo
There are connectors for integration with 1C. Integration with Yandex.Market and SberMarket is carried out via API, which allows you to automatically update product data. E-commerce platforms like Magento and PrestaShop can be integrated with Akeneo through plugins. Akeneo also supports integration with CRM systems via API.
It's important to know about integrations
When a PIM system vendor claims that integrations with some systems or marketplaces are available out of the box, we are talking about ready-made APIs or connectors for direct integration.
On the one hand, this is convenient: you don't have to think about the logic of unloading goods and keeping integrations working. On the other hand, this approach creates strong connectivity. We recommend building integrations of PIM and other systems through the ESB layer. Read more about the benefits of this approach in our article.
System ownership cost
Pimcore
Depends on the tariff:
- Community Edition — a free version of Pimcore with a limited number of installations within one company. It does not support some features, including Product Experience Portal, Asset Experience Portal, integration with Adobe and Microsoft marketplaces and programs, workflow editor, and additional features for uploading product information. There is no user support from Pimcore.
- Enterprise Edition — an extended version of Pimcore, in which all the features of the platform are available. The cost for 2024 starts from 1800€ per month, depending on the range of options. Payment is charged annually. A limited number of installations within the company (but not the number of users), technical support is available.
- Unlimited Subscription — the maximum version of Pimcore without restrictions on functionality and the number of installations within one organization. The cost starts from 7200€ per month.
Brandquad
A commercial offer from Brandquad is drawn up individually. The annual amount of payments depends on the version of the system, the resources required, and the number of users. For example, one of KT.team's clients with a catalog of 125,000 items paid 5 million rubles a year.
Catalog.app
It is agreed separately with the client for his tasks (depending on the number of SKUs). According to open sources, the cost of ownership for catalogs up to 100,000 SKUs ranges from 120,000 rubles per month.
Compo PIM
From 900 thousand rubles — the introduction of basic functions (it will take 1-2 months)
From 360,000 rubles per year — support and license.
Akeneo
The Community Edition (basic version) comes free of charge. The Enterprise version comes with an annual subscription — the cost depends on the specific case and is calculated on an individual basis.
Which companies is suitable for a particular PIM system?
Pimcore
Pimcore does not impose any special restrictions on the size and profile of the company that can use the system, especially considering the almost endless possibilities for refining the system.
Thus, the free Community Edition can be suitable for small businesses and large companies with relatively simple product management processes. Paid (and with a large set of features) versions better meet the needs of large companies with complex processes: they can build multi-stage product information workflows that take into account the involvement of several departments and dozens of roles.
Brandquad
Companies with a linear product card structure and a small number of dependencies. Companies with a simple product catalog. Companies whose product management processes are already established and change minimally, and whose processes for approving cards and categories are simple and short.
Brandquad is suitable if you need to quickly launch a product or digital asset management system and organize the prompt upload of information to marketplaces and electronic catalogs.
Catalog.app
Although the system can manage large catalogs and contains tools for mass product management, there are problems with managing access rights to certain sections. This can be an obstacle to implementation in large corporations. Therefore, Catalog.app is a good option for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies and retail companies.
Compo PIM
It is suitable for large manufacturers, distributors and retailers with complex processes due to the fact that it can withstand high loads and provides many opportunities for customization for any business process. Another advantage is that the system itself is simpler than, for example, Brandquad, which will allow a large number of users to learn to work in it faster.
Akeneo
A basic version with limited functionality is suitable for small businesses — Community Edition (on-premise), Enterprise Edition (SaaS) with advanced features to meet the needs of large businesses. At the same time, Akeneo PIM is unlikely to be suitable for manufacturing companies and companies with products with highly related attributes due to the lack of functionality of independent directories.
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