15 Oct Asset management in data syndication

Learn how asset management can work as a part of your data syndication: An image tells more than a thousand words, and this also applies to your e-business. Images help your customers visualize a product accurately and make purchasing decisions easier. Therefore, assets such as images, documents, or other media files are also crucial components of your electronic catalogs. These catalogs could be in ETIM BMEcat, FAB-DIS, ETIM xChange, DPB and other exchange formats. To achieve success in e-business, these assets must be integrated as part of your feed management and data syndication processes.

Discover the opportunities CatalogExpress offers for asset management in data syndication in our blog post.

How does CatalogExpress access your assets?

To provide assets to your customers, marketplaces, etc. through CatalogExpress, those assets must first be fetched. You have the following options for doing this:

Direct access to PIM, DAM, ERP, or other systems via an API

In this scenario, CatalogExpress accesses your assets stored in PIM, DAM, ERP, or other systems through an API call. This machine-to-machine (M2M) interface also enables an automated asset-fetching process. CatalogExpress already offers standard interfaces in its NEWCOMER version. That includes conntectors to Akeneo, Contentserv, crossbase, eggheads / ATAMYA, MongoDB, OMN by Apollon, Pimcore, and Viamedici EPIM.

Data interface via SFTP

You can also store your assets on an SFTP server. That server could either hosted by us or be your own server. Then, you simply grant CatalogExpress access. By using this file interface, assets from your systems can be utilized without requiring a direct integration. For example, you could set up an automated export in your PIM, DAM, or ERP system. That allows you to regularly (e.g., daily or weekly) push new assets directly to the SFTP server. This also ensures your assets remain up-to-date when providing them to your customers.

Link-based access

Another option is link-based access to your assets. These links can be provided by your PIM (e.g. Akeneo, Contentserv, crossbase, eggheads / ATAMYA, OMN, Pimcore, Viamedici), DAM, or also similar systems. You can then input these links into CatalogExpress, allowing the tool to fetch your assets directly through the provided URLs.

How can assets be provided?

CatalogExpress offers you three options for providing or exporting assets to your customers, marketplaces, and platforms as part of data syndication:

1. Link-based distribution from PIM, DAM, ERP, databases or similar systems

Here, image data is provided via links generated by your PIM system (e.g., Akeneo, Contentserv, crossbase, eggheads/ATAMYA, OMN, Pimcore, Viamedici), DAM, or similar systems. CatalogExpress then transfers these links into an electronic catalog format, such as ETIM BMEcat, ETIM xChange, FAB-DIS, DPB, or also your customer’s specific file template.

This allows your customers to download and process the assets accordingly.

2. File name-based distribution

In this variant, you only provide the file name via CatalogExpress (e.g., ‘098701234_frontal_perspective.jpeg’). This case is common with platforms like the eProcurement system simple system. Here, you are required to specify the exact file name in the BMEcat format (either 2005 or 1.2) when uploading images as physical files. Otherwise, your image data may not be assigned correctly.

3. Physical image distribution

CatalogExpress also allows you to provide your assets as physical ZIP files. This method is often used in combination with the second option. Depending on your customer’s or marketplace’s specific requirements, CatalogExpress enables not only simple delivery via email but also the direct distribution of image data to the customer’s (S)FTP server. This is a common practice with platforms like Mercateo Unite, where assets are delivered as a ZIP file stored in the ‘images’ directory on an FTP server. Additionally, you must also provide the asset file names in a BMEcat 1.2 format.

Which asset-provision variant do you need to use?

There is no universal answer to this question. The best variant for you will always depend on the specific requirements of your data receivers.

For example, in simple system, image files can be provided via deep-links or also by specifying the file name in a BMEcat and manually uploading a ZIP file. However, video and document files can only be delivered through deep-links. Additionally, some customers or wholesalers may only want to receive assets as deep-links.

Beyond asset provisioning, the update process for assets also depends on the requirements of your data recipients. For instance, when updating assets for Mercateo Unite, you are expected to only transfer new or modified image files. On the other hand, some receivers might also request all images to be sent again during an update.

With the SaaS solution CatalogExpress, you enjoy a high degree of flexibility in handling these scenarios. This applies not only to asset provision but also to various other aspects of asset management as part of data syndication.

Which additional asset management opportunities does CatalogExpress offer?

When it comes to asset provision and the formal or content-related requirements for media files, your customers hold all the cards.

For instance, Mercateo Unite only accepts images with a minimum size of 200 x 200 pixels and a maximum of 6500 x 6500 pixels. Image files must also adhere to specific naming conventions, such as using only lowercase letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores. On the other hand, a different customer or wholesaler might require images only in a 3:2 aspect ratio, also with a gray background, and an entirely different naming format.

Each data receiver, whether it’s a customer, wholesaler, or eBusiness channel, has its own set of unique requirements.

Handling all these image requirements manually could take a significant amount of time—especially with assortments of hundreds of articles. Also, you would increase the data storage burden in your internal systems (such as PIM or DAM), as you’d need to store multiple variations of your images with different names.

However, CatalogExpress simplifies these processes. With its built-in ImageMagick integration, you can automate image processing as part of data syndication. Once the system is set up, CatalogExpress can generate electronic catalogs (in formats such as ETIM BMEcat, ETIM xChange, FAB-DIS, DPB, Excel, JSON, CSV, XML) complete with the transformed assets—without requiring additional data storage on your end. These files can then be distributed to your data receivers (such as Conrad, Mercateo Unite, eBay, Amazon, OTTO, simple system, Open Datacheck, and various wholesalers) either manually or through automated methods (API, email, FTP, or SFTP).

Which asset management benefits does CatalogExpress offer?

Automated asset access from ERP, PIM, DAM, or other systems

CatalogExpress facilitates automated access to your assets directly from PIM, DAM, ERP systems, or databases through direct interfaces, custom APIs, or file-based connections. Even in the NEWCOMER version, you benefit from existing standard connectors to popular systems such as Akeneo, Contentserv, crossbase, eggheads / ATAMYA, MongoDB, OMN, Pimcore, and Viamedici EPIM.

Flexibility in data provision

Whether via deep-link, file name, or physical ZIP file provision, CatalogExpress offers various ways to automatically distribute your assets to your customers. With this flexibility, you can seamlessly meet the diverse requirements of your data receivers.

Automated asset and data transformation

With integrated ImageMagick for automated image processing and extensive mapping functionalities, you can quickly adapt your media files to the specific requirements of your customers. This allows for automatic transformations of image sizes, formats, and file names, significantly reducing manual effort and saving valuable time.

Prevention of duplicate data storage

Since asset management is handled during the data syndication process, you no longer need to store redundant data within your internal systems. Your electronic catalogs (e.g., ETIM BMEcat, ETIM xChange, FAB-DIS, DPB) are created with the appropriately formatted assets during catalog generation. This eliminates the need to store different image versions for each data receiver, simplifying management, reducing workflow complexity, and minimizing errors.

How do you gain access to the asset management in CatalogExpress?

These asset management features are already available in the standard version of CatalogExpress, called “NEWCOMER.” If you have any questions about asset management, feed management, or how the data syndication solution CatalogExpress works, feel free to schedule a free consultation with us.