Sana and PIM

How does Sana Commerce Integrate with PIM Systems?

Like the ERP connector, Sana fetches product information via the following two tasks:

1: Product Import task

• All products modified since the last import will be updated in Sana Commerce.
• This update also contains the relation to the product images.

Sana Commerce fetches product updates from both the ERP and the PIM system.
Imagine the following:

• Sana's "Product Import" task runs on 09.05.2019 9:00 (A.M.), and its last run time was 08.05.2019 9:00 (A.M.).
• The below products have been changed in the meantime and both fields from the ERP and the PIM system are indexed.

The following behavior is expected:

• Product A needs to be indexed again, because the data in the ERP has been changed since last run.
• Product B needs to be indexed again, because the data in the PIM system has been changed since last run.
• Product C needs to be indexed again, because the data in both the ERP and the PIM system has been changed since last run.

2: Product Images Import task

• Images available on the Sana web server are processed.
• Optional: images from ERP or PIM are also processed.
• Sana automatically converts images to Large, Medium and Small images.
• Images are linked to the products in Sana's SQL database.
• This task will only add new product images: it will not remove existing product images (e.g. a product image that is available in Sana and has been deleted in the ERP will not be removed)

It depends on the add-on which data the PIM system returns to Sana. In brief, Sana asks for products and its images, and the add-on retrieves the relevant data from the PIM system.

Before integrating Sana Commerce with a PIM system, you should take the following into account:

• Products vs. Products and Variants
• • Out of the box, Sana supports two scenarios: 
  • • Products: orderable products from the ERP that are enriched in the PIM system.
    • Products and variants: orderable product variants with a relation to a parent product.
  • If you enrich your products with more product entities than just product or product with variants, you might need additional development in your Sana web store in order to present the products with the desired structure (e.g. structure based on size or color).
  • Sana Commerce groups products using product categories and creates web store navigation as configured in the PIM system.
  • The product structure in your ERP should be consistent with the PIM system. For example, if you have products with variants in your ERP, this setup should be similar in your PIM system.
• How does Sana display product images and other attachments:
• • Product images (JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP and GIF) are shown on the product pages in the Sana web store.
  • Product attachments (PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP and GIF) are shown as downloads on the product details pages.
  • Other file extensions: URLs are shown as plain text in product descriptions. Sana does not recognize HTML tags or does not add them as attachments.
  • All product attachments are listed under the same tab "Attachments".
  • Sana always present all available product attachments, regardless of the selected language.
• Related products
• • Most PIM systems offer the ability to build relations between products, such as spare parts, mix & match, accessories and product alternatives. In Sana, related products can be grouped and shown on different tabs depending on configuration in the PIM system.
• Performance: you must consider the amount of product information imported from PIM to Sana:
• • Number of products
  • Number of images per product
  • Number of attributes (specifications, facetted filters)
  • Number of attachments per product
• We always recommend checking complex scenarios with a Sana specialist before starting a project.