As businesses face increasing demands for streamlined, accurate, and scalable product information management, Salsify PXM Advance introduces enhancements that fundamentally transform how you structure and manage your data. In this first installment of our four-part blog series, we’ll explore the Foundational Elements of Salsify PXM Advance, breaking down what’s new and how these updates can help you elevate your product experience management strategy.
Universal Properties
What is it?
Universal Properties is a new feature designed to standardize commonly used product attributes across retailers and channels. Attributes like UPC/GTIN, brand name, and nutritional facts can now be automatically mapped to channels and transformed into the required format for each retailer. This simplifies how you manage shared product data and future-proofs your operations as more channels adopt this model.
What is new?
Traditionally, most PIM or PXM systems require you to start with a blank slate to create your own data model and hierarchies. Salsify’s introduction of Universal Properties evolves this approach by connecting commonly used attributes between brands and retailers. Currently, this feature supports Salsify’s Open Catalog and Kroger Direct Connection via the Grocery Accelerator, but is expected to expand across many more retail channels.
How will it help me?
Universal Properties accelerate and simplify the channel mapping process, ensuring accurate data transformation for attributes like nutritional information. Currently this feature is primarily used for Grocery Retailers and then specifically for Kroger, but we expect Salsify to heavily expand their grocery network. We believe this feature will become a big asset for food manufacturers to ensure data accuracy across their retail channels and will provide significant time savings. As more retailers adopt the Salsify Grocery Accelerator, Universal Properties will become more important. Investing in this feature now ensures you stay ahead of future requirements.
Taxonomy & Governance
What is it?
Taxonomy & Governance is the backbone of Salsify’s data quality and consistency tools. It enables organizations to assign validation rules at the product and category levels, ensuring data accuracy across teams, regions, and locales. Without proper governance, product data can become inconsistent, leading to inefficiencies and errors in syndication.
What is new?
The latest updates allow globally operating companies to define locale-specific validation rules. For instance, your team in Germany can have different regulatory and descriptive requirements than your U.S. team, tailoring content to the unique needs of each market. This localized approach improves accuracy and relevance, especially for multinational organizations.
How will it help me?
Taxonomy & Governance reduces errors, enforces brand guidelines, and ensures compliance with market-specific standards. By enabling global teams to work within a single Salsify instance, companies can streamline operations and manage content more efficiently. If your business operates in multiple regions or works with regulated markets, this feature is essential for maintaining data integrity. You may also consolidate multiple Salsify instances into one if this feature has been a hold up for you.
Custom Records
What is it?
Custom Records expand Salsify’s data modeling capabilities, allowing you to store and manage non-product and product-adjacent data, such as materials, licenses, or specific features. For example, outdoor jacket manufacturers can store fabric details in a separate record and link it to multiple products.
What is new?
While not a brand-new feature, Custom Records may not be enabled in all existing Salsify instances. Upgrading to PXM Advance unlocks this functionality, which can be transformative for businesses with complex data management needs.
How will it help me?
Custom Records allow for unique data structures tailored to your business needs. By linking non-product records to products, you can improve syndication workflows and internal reporting. While smaller businesses might find this feature less critical, enterprises with specialized products or extensive catalogs will benefit from the flexibility and efficiency Custom Records provide.
Locale Awareness and Locale-Aware Workflows
What is it?
Locale Awareness ensures your product information meets the specific regulations, preferences, and standards of various regions by supporting multiple languages and local data requirements. Locale-Aware Workflows take this a step further by automating validation rules and updates for different markets.
What is new?
With PXM Advance, locale-aware workflows are triggered automatically when updates occur in the primary locale, ensuring regional teams maintain consistency and accuracy. For instance, if you update product descriptions in English, workflows ensure compliance with character limits or regulatory needs for localized versions in German or French.
How will it help me?
For global businesses, these features reduce the manual effort of adapting content for multiple markets and improve efficiency. If your business operates in a single market, however, this feature might be less critical.
App Center
What is it?
The App Center is a hub for tools and integrations that extend Salsify’s functionality. With over 40 applications available, you can enhance automation, integrate AI-driven tools, and connect to new sales channels.
What is new?
While app marketplaces are common in enterprise software, their addition to Salsify fills a crucial gap. Available exclusively in PXM Advance, the App Center simplifies adding third-party integrations and leveraging new capabilities, such as Sitation’s GenAI tool RoughDraftPro and other prebuilt Connectors for DAM and eCommerce.
How will it help me?
Although the App Center alone may not justify upgrading, the additional tools available can significantly boost productivity and optimize workflows. For businesses seeking to scale or enhance their PXM operations, this feature provides valuable flexibility.
Conclusion
Salsify PXM Advance’s Foundational Elements offer powerful tools to improve how you structure, manage, and validate product data. Features like Universal Properties, Taxonomy & Governance, and Locale Awareness are designed to address real-world challenges, enabling your organization to deliver consistent, accurate product information across multiple channels and regions.
Upgrading to PXM Advance is not just about accessing new features; it’s about future-proofing your product information strategy for an increasingly complex digital landscape.
Stay tuned for the next blog in this series, where we’ll explore how Salsify PXM Advance enhances Content Syndication capabilities to streamline your omnichannel strategies!
Contact Sitation today to learn more about the value of Salsify PXM Advance.
