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Integrating a PIM with CoreConnect

Integrating a PIM with CoreConnect for Commerce Engines, Syncing Product Data for a Seamless E-commerce Experience

Managing product data across multiple systems can be complex, especially when ensuring that your e-commerce store displays accurate and complete product information. In many cases, a Product Information Management (PIM) system holds key product details such as names, descriptions, images, and categories. CoreConnect acts as the middleware, connecting your PIM and Commerce Engine to ensure that product data flows seamlessly into your online store.

In this recipe, we’ll focus on how CoreConnect integrates with the PIM to retrieve product information and update the Commerce Engine. For stock and price information, which resides in the ERP, CoreConnect will integrate with the ERP so that stock and prices are available in the Commerce Engine.

Setting the Stage: The Integration Landscape

In this scenario, your ERP and PIM are already integrated. When a product is created or updated in the ERP, it is synced to the PIM, which holds all the relevant product information, such as names, descriptions, images, categories, and other attributes.

However, stock levels and prices are not managed in the PIM. Instead, they reside in the ERP, and CoreConnect will use product identifiers (e.g., SKUs) to fetch stock and price information from the ERP to the Commerce Engine. Refer to the ERP Stock and Price Integration Recipe for details on syncing stock and prices.

Here’s a breakdown of the systems involved:

  1. ERP: Handles product creation and is responsible for managing stock and prices.
  2. PIM: Stores product information such as names, descriptions, images, categories, and attributes.
  3. Commerce Engine: Displays product data to customers.
  4. CoreConnect: Bridges the PIM and Commerce Engine, ensuring the product catalog is kept up-to-date.

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The First Step: Retrieving Product Information from the PIM

The PIM is your source of truth for detailed product information, and CoreConnect’s primary role is to retrieve this data and push it to the Commerce Engine. Here’s how CoreConnect manages the product information flow:

  1. New or updated Product in PIM: When a product is created or updated in the PIM, the PIM sends an update notification or API call to CoreConnect. This data might come directly from the ERP or be manually managed within the PIM itself.
  2. CoreConnect Retrieves Product Data: CoreConnect pulls the full product details from the PIM, including essential information like product names, descriptions, images, categories, and attributes.
  3. CoreConnect Updates the Commerce Engine: CoreConnect syncs the retrieved product data with the Commerce Engine, ensuring that customers see the most up-to-date information in your online store.

Sync Strategy: Combining Real-Time Webhooks and Daily Full Syncs

To ensure your Commerce Engine is always up-to-date with the latest product information, CoreConnect prefers a two-tiered synchronization strategy:

  1. Real-Time Updates via Webhooks: When a product is created or updated in the PIM, the system triggers a webhook or API call to notify CoreConnect of the changes. CoreConnect then retrieves the updated product data and immediately pushes it to the Commerce Engine. This real-time syncing ensures that your e-commerce store is always displaying the most current product information.
  2. Daily Full Sync: In addition to real-time updates, CoreConnect performs a daily full sync of all product data between the PIM and Commerce Engine. This ensures that any missed or failed webhook events are captured, and that the product catalog in the Commerce Engine is fully aligned with the PIM. The daily sync acts as a backup, ensuring long-term consistency.

Why Use Both Strategies?

  • Real-time webhooks provide immediate updates, ensuring that new or changed product information is reflected in the Commerce Engine as soon as possible.
  • Daily full syncs provide a safety net in case webhooks fail or are delayed. By syncing all products once a day, you guarantee that no changes are missed and that the product catalog is always accurate.

Key Considerations

Handling Product Variants

If your products have variants (e.g., different sizes, colors, or materials), CoreConnect will handle syncing product details for each variant. The PIM will provide the variant-specific information (e.g., names, images, attributes), and CoreConnect will ensure these details are correctly reflected in the Commerce Engine. Each variant will be tied to its corresponding stock and price data in the ERP, ensuring that customers see the accurate variant information in the store.

Syncing Product Updates

Product details can change frequently—whether it’s new images, updated descriptions, or changes in categorization. CoreConnect continuously listens for updates from the PIM and ensures that these changes are reflected in the Commerce Engine. With the combined real-time and daily sync strategy, you can be confident that the Commerce Engine is always up-to-date with the latest product information.

Handling Large Product Catalogs

For businesses with extensive product catalogs, efficiency is critical. The real-time syncs and daily full syncs need to be optimized to handle bulk product data efficiently. The syncs should be designed to minimize performance issues and ensure the Commerce Engine is updated quickly, even with large volumes of product data.

Stock and Price Integration

While this recipe focuses on product information from the PIM, it’s essential to remember that stock levels and prices come from the ERP. CoreConnect links the product information retrieved from the PIM with stock and price data from the ERP using unique product identifiers (such as SKUs). For more details on how to handle stock and price updates, refer to the ERP Stock and Price Integration Recipe.

Processing Updates Further Downstream

In addition to updating product information in your Commerce Engine, other systems in your e-commerce ecosystem might also need to be updated. For instance:

  • Product Feeds: If you are using external product feeds to share data with marketplaces, affiliates, or advertising platforms (like Google Shopping), it’s crucial that these systems receive updated product information. CoreConnect can be configured to trigger updates to these feeds whenever product data changes.
  • Search Engines: Search engines, especially those with faceted search capabilities or advanced product filtering, rely on accurate product data (e.g., categories, attributes) for indexing. If the search engine is external to your Commerce Engine, you may need to push updates to ensure the latest product information is indexed correctly.

By integrating these downstream systems, CoreConnect ensures that product data flows consistently across all parts of your e-commerce infrastructure, not just the Commerce Engine.

Wrapping It Up: A Unified Product Information Strategy

By integrating your PIM with the Commerce Engine using CoreConnect, you ensure that all essential product information flows smoothly from the PIM to your online store. With real-time webhooks and daily full syncs, you can trust that your product catalog is always accurate and up-to-date.

  • Product Data from PIM: CoreConnect ensures that names, images, categories, and attributes are kept in sync with the Commerce Engine.
  • Stock and Price Data from ERP: Linked through unique identifiers, CoreConnect ensures that the right product information is matched with accurate stock and pricing data.

This integration streamlines your product management process, reducing manual work and ensuring a seamless customer experience in your online store.