PIM integration for your webshop and all your channels
You buy a PIM because product data no longer fits in the ERP. The ERP knows an item number, a price and a stock level, but not a compelling description, twenty specifications per product group, image material or a German translation. So a PIM arrives. And then the question is no longer whether you manage product data well, but how that data reaches every place you sell, on time and complete.
That is where the work of a PIM integration lies. We build it as a route in Alumio, the integration platform Memo has partnered with since 2020. The PIM supplies product information to Alumio, the ERP supplies price and stock, and Alumio combines the two and distributes the result to the webshop and the other channels.
Four PIM systems run in our projects: Ergonode, which Memo is a partner of, Akeneo, Pimcore and Stibo. Whichever you use, the pattern is the same. First we agree which system owns which field, and only then do we build the route.
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Where it goes wrong in practice
A PIM integration rarely stalls on the technology. It stalls on agreements about who manages what.
Who owns which field? The rule of thumb is clear: the ERP owns price and stock, the PIM owns copy, specifications, media, translations and variants. In practice the trouble sits in the edge cases. Who manages the weight, the EAN code, the delivery time or the "discontinued" status? As long as that is not settled, the sales team changes a field in the ERP and the nightly PIM sync overwrites it again. We agree that split field by field before we build. How the ERP side of this works is covered on ERP integration for your webshop.
When is a product ready? A PIM always holds products that are half enriched. Without an agreement they go live anyway, with an empty description or no photo. A good integration only passes on what meets the channel's requirements, and shows what is still missing.
What does each channel expect? Your webshop wants different fields than a marketplace, and a second storefront sometimes wants its own selection. If you start copying that per channel inside the PIM, you are back to the problem a PIM was meant to solve. We keep the PIM as the source and do the translation per channel in Alumio.
How large is the catalogue? A full sync of tens of thousands of products is something else than passing on what changed since yesterday. Per flow we choose whether it works with changes, a periodic full run or both.
Seven kinds of product data that flow through a PIM integration
Product copy
Titles, short and long descriptions, per channel and per audience.
Specifications
Attributes per product group, such as dimensions, material and technical values, as filterable fields.
Media
Product photos, lifestyle images, manuals and data sheets, linked to the right item.
Translations
Each language as its own set of fields, so a second country does not become a copy of your catalogue.
Variants
Sizes, colours and versions under one parent product, with their own attributes per variant.
Categories and classification
The tree your range sits in, and the structure each channel expects.
Compliance and passport data
Safety information, certificates and the data a digital product passport asks for.
One source, many channels
The real value of a PIM only appears when the same product data ends up in more places. Your own webshop, a second brand or country on its own storefront, and marketplaces you feed through Channable or ChannelEngine. Each channel has its own fields, its own categories and its own rules for images.
With Alumio in between, the integration layer fetches the data from the PIM once, combines it with price and stock from the ERP, and delivers to each channel exactly what that channel needs. Add a channel and you build one route to it while the PIM side stays put. Change webshop platform and the same applies. How the step to marketplaces and logistics works, including stock without overselling, is covered on Marketplaces and logistics.
There is also a new reason to get product data in order: the Digital Product Passport. The EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) sets the framework for a digital passport per product. The first obligation comes from the Batteries Regulation: from 18 February 2027, batteries for electric vehicles, e-bikes and e-scooters, home storage and industrial use, among others, need a battery passport. For other product groups under the ESPR, such as textiles, furniture and electronics, requirements are set group by group. If you sell such products, your PIM is the logical home for that data, and the integration is how it gets to the right place at the right time.
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Two PIM integrations in practice
Boomlab: Stibo alongside Business Central. Boomlab, a laboratory wholesaler with more than 60,000 products across the Benelux, manages its product information in Stibo and its prices and stock in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Shopware had to be fed from both sources through Alumio. The category tree turned out to be the hardest part: the Stibo API offered no endpoint to fetch the full tree in one go. So in Alumio we built a webhook process that walks the tree node by node and puts the complete structure into the webshop. Read the Boomlab case.
Juwelier Kremer: Akeneo, Shopify and the POS. Juwelier Kremer, a family jeweller from Veendam, moved from Shopware to Shopify. Product data is enriched in Akeneo first before it goes to Shopify, and the POS system in the shop is connected through Alumio, so stock in the shop and online stays in line. Two sources, a PIM for the content and the POS for the stock, with one integration layer bringing them together. Read the Juwelier Kremer case.
A wholesaler on Shopware and a retailer on Shopify, two different PIM systems, the same starting point: the PIM is the source of product information, and the integration layer makes sure that source tells the same story everywhere.
Running Shopware and want to know how the PIM integration works on the shop side? Read Connecting Shopware to your ERP, PIM and marketplaces.
Where does your product data stand today?
Tell us which PIM and which ERP you have, or do not have yet, and which channels your product data needs to reach. In half an hour we will know where the bottlenecks are and which route to build first.
Frequently asked questions
Which PIM systems can you connect?
Ergonode, Akeneo, Pimcore and Stibo run in our projects. Memo is an Ergonode partner, so if you still have to choose a PIM, we can deliver that part too. Alumio can connect any PIM with a usable API, so a different system is rarely a problem.
Do I need a PIM if I already have an ERP?
Not always. With a small range in one language and one channel, the ERP and the webshop itself often take you a long way. A PIM pays off when you have many specifications per product group, sell in several languages, serve several channels or need to process product information from suppliers. In a first conversation we look at where you stand.
Which system wins when the PIM and the ERP disagree?
We settle that field by field before we build. By default the ERP owns price and stock and the PIM owns copy, specifications, media, translations and variants. For edge cases such as weight, EAN code or delivery time we make an explicit choice, so neither system silently overwrites the other.
Can the same product data go to several channels?
Yes, that is exactly what an integration layer is for. Alumio fetches the data from the PIM once and delivers to each channel what it expects: your webshop, extra storefronts and marketplaces through Channable or ChannelEngine. See Marketplaces and logistics.
What does a PIM have to do with the Digital Product Passport?
The Digital Product Passport asks for structured data per product, such as composition, origin and information on repair and recycling. That data belongs to the product, and the PIM is where you already manage product data. For batteries the obligation applies from 18 February 2027; for other product groups the requirements follow group by group. Getting your product data in order now means you will not have to do it under time pressure later.