inriver

The Inriver PIM solution is designed for large businesses, providing its clients in retail and manufacturing with a multi-tenant SaaS solution to streamline product information across all customer touchpoints.

What is inriver

Inriver was founded in 2007 and is a Swedish company headquartered in Malmo. It has global reach, with a presence in The Netherlands, UK, Germany, and the USA. It emerged out of the desire to solve a challenge identified during the telco boom in Scandinavia in the 1990s. The industry expanded across markets and products, and Inriver noted that the need to scale up product information volumes could not be sustained if the processes were done manually. Inriver created a solution to enhance creation and distribution processes for the product information their telco clients deployed.

The Inriver PIM solution is designed for large businesses, providing its clients in retail and manufacturing with a multi-tenant SaaS solution to streamline product information across all customer touchpoints. It services over seven hundred clients with more than 1,700 brand names.

What is inriver used for?

Inriver PIM solution defines itself by addressing four areas of product information management:

 

  • Onboarding – the fast integration of internal and external outputs
  • Creation – developing product experiences (‘stories’) using enriched data to create contextualised, compelling, and relevant content
  • Distribution – streamlined syndication processes to distribute content across all digital and physical channels
  • Evaluation – delivering data-driven insights across customer touch-points to enable rapid changes to be made to drive sales

Inriver’s core product is its PIM solution, which is augmented by extensive service training support and a wide range of integrations and partner organisations

inriver Features & Capabilities

inriver for eCommerce

Inriver and eCommerce are conceptually twinned in that the Inriver PIM solution enables clients to scale to new markets, create a high-quality and consistent customer experience and deliver a frictionless route to purchase across all touchpoints and channels.

To offer its customers the highest quality service, Inriver identifies its primary aims for customers as:

  • Launching new products and get them to market fast
  • Boosting sales revenue across the digital shelf
  • Streamlining the management of commerce across all platforms and channels
  • Guaranteeing syndication of best-quality product information to distributors and channels

inriver PIM Solution

The Inriver PIM solution operates on the principle of a ‘closed loop’ functionality, where one solution provides the product data and the insights required to fully optimise the CX). The Inriver PIM also offers the only elastic data model on the market for PIM solutions. This model (more of which later) increases flexibility and agility in meeting current demands, alongside the capacity to scale for whatever the future of commerce brings.

inriver DAM Solution

Inriver DAM solutions are contained in the PIM as a complete set of features. Digital assets can be stored and managed directly in their original file formats. They are well-indexed, making them easy to search for quick access. Inriver DAM solutions also remove the complications of metadata maintenance by using metadata from related products. Supplementary image software is unnecessary to convert images, as the Inriver PIM Capacity allow clients to connect digital assets directly to products, define how and where they are displayed and optimised.

inriver Workflows

Inriver workflows develop a path with end-to-end mapping capacity, such as that from raw data to published product stories.

Inriver workflows deploy a visual interface layer, which can create visual workflows using simple drag and drop to add and arrange tasks. This UI allows clients visually to plan and design workflow using predefined blocks.

Automated tasks also make sure product data fulfil business rules, notifications, compliance policies and completeness requirements, all pre-defined. This workflow automation, allows tasks to turn round faster, offering accountability and visibility at every stage.

inriver Syndication

Inriver Syndication offer add-on functionalities to automate the distribution of product content to online retailers, channel partners, and marketplaces. Inriver Syndicate eradicates inefficiency by taking away the need for manual data entry (and the consequent risk of errors).

The data mapping interface is straightforward for no-tech users and provides powerful functions in multiple delivery options, such as FTP and standard extensions like JSON or XML. Custom extensions can also be added.

inriver Onboarding

Inriver Onboarding brings all elements into one place, ensuring consistency and accuracy. It enables users to:

    • Easily source product data from suppliers
    • Enable suppliers to keep their digital shelves updated, using the option for validation or automatic updates
    • Integrate and extend the Inriver PIM solution to any source data system, using Inriver REST API
    • Choose from Inriver’s integrators (ready-made) to simplify import and export

inriver Migration

Inriver migration is handled by its expert solution partners who conduct the following processes:

  • Perform discovery and audit for legacy data
  • Carry out cleansing and standardisation
  • migrate existing data into the client’s new PIM or MDM system within the IT landscape
  • Support throughout the migration process

inriver Data Modelling

Inriver data modelling approaches all its PIM implementations with an elastic data model, created according to the requirements and circumstances of each individual client. This ‘elasticity’ is a fundamental principle of an Inriver installation, and any new project always begins by analysing a given customer’s product information needs.

Typically, a data model is not directly created or maintained by a client, but by the solution provider responsible for the PIM implementation. Inriver partners are equipped with the expertise and experience to create a bespoke data model. Using the elastic data model to organise product data in a customer-centric way makes enrichment processes much simpler for PIM users.

A core benefits of this model is its focus on configuration rather than customisation. So, for the business user, the elastic data model enforces data quality and simplifies scalability.

inriver Support

Inriver support offers a three-pronged approach to helping its clients get the most out of their PIM solution. Firstly, the Inriver support team is available to advise on troubleshooting, updates, or queries about functionalities. Inriver Academy offers paid-for training to enable clients to exploit Inriver PIM to its fullest extent, exemplified by its range of e-learning modules, webinars, and on-site courses. Finally, the Inriver community offers a network of over eight thousand active users whose influence and insights guide product development and business use cases.

inriver integrations

Inriver integrations equip PIM users with the resources required to create a highly adaptable and powerful tech ecosystem. Examples include:

  • assets adaptors
  • eCommerce adaptors
  • B2B connectors and B2C connectors for bulk export of content to retailers, marketplaces, and distributors
  • PIM accelerator
  • a range of partner-developed integration connectors enable brand teams to create results which address their specific needs

inriver partners

Inriver highlights the importance of its partner network by emphasising that it covers every aspect of digital transformation and the inception, implementation and post-sales maintenance and enhancement of the Akeneo PIM solution. Partners can be searched for by area of focus or geographical territory.

inriver pricing

Regarding Inriver pricing, no specific pricing information is provided, but there is a subscription-based model. There is no free version available, but a demo is available.

inriver reviews

Inriver reviews are positive, scoring an aggregated average score of 4.4 across five review sites. Areas singled out as value-added include:

  • High-quality open-source product management technology
  • Ease of use for all functionalities, with a user-friendly interface for read only and tech users working in backend
  • flexible data modelling to manage growing product list and the consequent complexity related to associating with various resources and digital channels.
  • the help centre – information-rich and with a dedicated customer success team with a proactive approach to maintaining contact with clients and dealing with their queries promptly.

inriver competitors

Book a inriver Demo

Salsify offers a guided demo for their commerce experience management suite, and to book a Salsify demo, (including the PIM) for the modern digital shelf contact us

PIM Selection Service

We help you select the right PIM solution, impartially and cost effectively