Syndication / Product Data Syndication

In brief: Syndication is the automated delivery of product data to external recipients such as retailers, marketplaces and data pools, in their required formats and according to their rules. It is the final step in the information supply chain.

What syndication does

• Formats: Delivery as BMEcat, a GDSN message, CSV, an Excel template or via API.
• Mapping: Your own attributes, categories and values are mapped to the recipient’s structure.
• Validation: The recipient’s mandatory fields and rules are checked before delivery.
• Feedback: Errors and rejections from the recipient are logged so that issues can be corrected.

Syndication and PIM

Many PIM systems include a syndication component, while others are combined with specialist syndication platforms. The key factors are how many recipients you serve and how often their requirements change. The more retailers and marketplaces you supply, the more likely a dedicated syndication module is to pay off.

Example

A power tool manufacturer supplies ten specialist retailers with BMEcat catalogues, two marketplaces via API and a DIY retail data pool via GDSN. Instead of maintaining twelve Excel spreadsheets, the manufacturer maintains a single dataset in the PIM system, from which all exports are generated automatically.

See also

• Product data distribution
• Mapping / Attribute mapping
• BMEcat
• GDSN / Global Data Synchronization Network
• Data pool