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Company PlytixXCircular StiboSystemsShotfarm (now under Syndigo) MaPS SystemAgility MultiChannelAkeneoCatsySalsify
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Websitehttps://www.plytix.com/http://xcircular.com/https://www.stibosystems.com/
https://www.syndigo.com/about-us/news/syndigo-acquires-shotfarm/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/https://www.akeneo.com/https://catsy.com/https://www.salsify.com/
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OverviewDescribe what the company does (3-5 sentences)Plytix provides an all-in-one Product Information Management (PIM) platform for online retailers. The PIM platform enables sellers to manage products across multiple selling platforms (e.g., Amazon, Google Shopping, Facebook, etc.). It also creates custom PDF product sheets and B2B brand portals so that the seller can interface with retailers as well as sell directly through online marketplaces. In addition to providing performance analytics, Plytix also offers a "free dedicated account manager" to shepherd the seller through the process.XCircular provides a cloud-based, cross-platform marketing solution for e-commerce, retail, and marketing professionals. The company vision is "to become the innovative social media place for marketers and advertisers worldwide who could easily collaborate and create attractive and affordable cross-media promotional ads." However, while primarily focused on advertising, it has marketed a PIM and DAM (Data Asset Management) tool as its flagship product, XC Shopper (see below), and has become one of the key players in the global PIM market.Stibo Systems is a master data management (MDM) company headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark. It provides MDM solutions, support, and training to primarily corporate clients, including its "PIM evolved" solution Product Master Data Management (see below). Stibo is one of the larger players in this field, boasting over 600 employees in 18 offices around the globe and revenue of $145 million. Shotfarm offers product content network for the retail industry. Shotfarm provides an "end-to-end solution for the Management and Exchange of Product Information that meets the demands of the entire e-commerce industry". It offers free and simple functionality combined with upgrade options making its products useful and scalable. MaPS System provides clients with a complete solution for mastery of all strategic and operational data, allowing them to focus on their business and not how to manage and share its data within the company. It allows clients to consolidate its data inot a single source,
improve collaboration, reduce time-to-market and tailor content to different markets, geographical zones, audiences and channels.
Agility MultiChannel is a Product Information Management (PIM) vendor that integrates product information management, and experience management for commerce for a variety of industries. Its products provide a "single, reliable view" of the users product information. The company provides service to customers in the manufacturing industry that carry global brands, the distribution industry, and the retail industry throught its products that allow for aggregating, managing. and viewing all product and related master data via one central repository. Akeneo is an OpenSource enterprise Product Information Management solution for B2B and B2C companies. It takes data from an organization's flat files, ERP and any other data source, collects, clean and prioritizes the data, classifies, translates and enrichs product information, controls data quality, supports workflow processes and manages multiple sales channels.Catsy is a product management tool, utilizing syndication and content analytics technology to facilitate e-commerce growth. It is an all in one suite of product information management (PIM) and catalog softwares including field tested best practices. Catsy's PIM software platform stores product images, specifications, and data. It allows users to manage their product attributes and digital assets on one platform, optimizing content for various channels. This is done in an attempt to drive sales across these same channels.
Salsify is a privately-held company headquartered in Boston- Massachusetts. It also has offices in Austin and Lisbon. The company was founded in 2012, to help "brands win on the digital shelf".

Salsify was ranked 24th on Deloitte's Fastest 500 (representing the fastest growing companies in North America) in 2018. Ten awards recognized Salsify in best workplace awards in 2018.
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HistoryProvide a brief history of the company including, when and where it started, when its first product was launched, if it's been acquired or made any acquisitions, any change in senior leadership, and any other interesting facts. (5-7 sentences)Plytix was initially founded in 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark by Alejandro López, Morten Poulsen, and Stian Iversen, who came up with the concept while working together at Google. They began operations on two seed rounds of funding and in 2015, the company became an alumni of the StartupBootcamp accelerator program. It formally entered the SaaS market in 2017 after receiving a €50,000 grant and an unknown amount of venture capital in a funding round. By 2020, Plytix became a key player in the global Product Data Management (PDM) market according to Reports Intellect and in the global PIM market according to both Eon Market Research and Research and Markets. However, they remain a small shop, with only 21 employees listed on LinkedIn.XCircular was founded in 2010 by Aviel Amit, who had previously co-founded Universal Ad and who remains xCircular's CEO to this day. Headquartered in Bnel Brak, Israel, the company's leadership team has been involved in adtech since 1987, "when desktop publishing technologies first emerged." The company has been primarily focused on providing marketing solutions since. Even so, it entered the PIM market with the release of XC Shopper as a beta in 2013. XCircular was subsequently named a key player in the global PIM market by Radian Insights in 2018 and by Eon Market Research in 2020. Stibo, a Denmark-based company that has survived since the late 18th century, established Stibo Systems as a subsidiary in 1976. By 2012, Stibo Systems had expanded to Europe, Asia, North America, and Latin America, ultimately establishing 18 offices around the world. In the following years, Stibo Systems has established itself as a Magic Quadrant Leader in MDM and developed a Digital Business Hub for its enterprise customers. In 2020, the company plans to make "data transparency a catalyst for better business for a better world."Shotfarm was founded in 2010 by Mike Lapchick. It is based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The company
was acquired by Syndigo in 2019. Shortfam first launched "full-service Product Image and Information Gathering Services for Retailers" in 2011. The company's latest funding was in 2017. Serra Ventures has funded Shortfarm.
In 2006, consulting agency Prem1um developed the first version of the MaPS (Marketing, Publishing and Sales) System solution. MaPS S.A. was founded in 2011 as an independent company and editor of the software solution. Headquartered in Luxembourg, it had expanded to Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland by 2014. In 2016, MaPS attracted $1.7 million in additional capital from Newion Investments. In 2018, it acquired e-commerce agency Awevo.Agility MultiChannel was founded in 2011 was founded by Richard Hunt, Graham Cook and Jason Simpson. The company, previously known as Pindar, has been in the process of developing, implementing, integrating, and supporting product and content management and marketing solutions for over 20 years, and it is noted that the Agility PIM software has been around for about 15 years. The name Akeneo comes from the word "akene", which is the dry fruit produced by the dandelion. It is described as "a light and elegant way for a flower to propagate its seeds".
The company was founded in 2013. With the same founders since its inception, it is in it's fifth round of funding, with its last Series C round in 2019 with $46 million. It has180+ employees worldwide, with offices in US, France, UK, Germany, Spain & Israel.
It has 300+ enterprise customers, 60,000+ installed PIMs and 100+ Solution Partners.
A primitive version of Catsy was created in 2003 by Ceejay S. Teku. In launching the product, it seemed to have been too early for the market, and did not achieve much sales from its introduction. The company was again re-established in 2015. Catsy was developed as a solution for a problem Teku had, in organizing product attributes and syndicating its content. This old process was arduous, and brought about a lot of errors. When brought back into the market, companies embraced Catsy because they had not seen another product like this, now recognizing its value. Salsify was born in a Boston basement in 2012, of founders Jason Purcell, Jeremy Redburn, and Rob Gonzalez. They had come to the realization that there was a gap in the market where retailers and distributors were receiving unsatisfactory results attempting to source the required information though suppliers. Salsify was created to simplify the process of creating, managing, and exchanging product informaton.
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ProductsBriefly describe the company's products (1-2 sentences per product)Plytix's only product is its Product Information Management (PIM) portal, which is available in both a Free and Pro version. The latter adds unlimited SKUs and file storage along with other features and access to additional "modules," which appear to be add-ons available at additional cost (Plytix's site is unclear about the cost, if any, of these modules):

- Syndication, which enables multi-channel marketing;
- Brand Portals, which helps to showcase and manage orders for products in a professional manner for B2B sales;
- Product Sheets, which provides templates for professionally showcasing products; and
- Product Performance Analytics, which provide product-level and cross-domain analytics as well as custom segmentation. (Note that at least some analytics are available in the Free version of the PIM.)
XCircular produces six key products, of which only the last in the list below pertains to PIM:

XC Showroom PCM is a cloud-based platform "that provides PCM, MDM, CMS, DAM and Multi-Channel Publishing functionalities as an integrated solution for digital marketers."

XC InDesign Ad Builder automates the process of creating and updating promotional ads for retail.

XC 360 Studio does not come with a description but appears to be a tool that enables the 3D rotation of a product on the screen so that it can be seen from all sides.

XC Catalogs "offers complete services for automatic print or digital product catalog creation and online hosting at very affordable prices."

XC Image Composer improves the mobile consumer experience and click-through rates by automating the composition of multiple product images into "a single adaptive visual."

XC Shopper adds PIM to xCircular's DAM offerings. Since advertising products already require extensive product information, XC Shopper allows users to keep that information all on one platform while managing multiple sales channels.
Stibo Systems publishes several MDM solutions, not all of which directly compete in the PIM market:

- Multidomain Master Data Management, which "connects, manages and shares data from multiple internal and external sources to provide a foundation of high-quality data."

- Product Master Data Management provides a centralized database to track product data and content. This product constitutes Stibo's entry into PIM and has a variant specifically tooled for retail.

- Customer Master Data Management collates data for both B2B and B2C customers, improving marketing, sales, and customer experience.

- Product Lifecycle Management organizes product development workflows for the retail, apparel & footwear, and private label food industries.

- Product Data Syndication is a simple, cost-effective communication channel across the supply chain. It enables manufacturers and brands to deliver new and updated product information to retailers and content service providers. This includes e-commerce channels like Amazon.

These solutions are unified through Stibo Systems' STEP technology platform and coupled with powerful analytics tools.
The company's Product Content Network offers an end-to-end solution for product information management.
- Help clients automate their supply chain operations to increase sales through GDSN content.
- A single platform to manage and create and analyze content.
- GDSN price synchronization.
Product Information Management (PIM) allows clients to consolidate and organize product data from various sources into one place; Master Data Management (MDM) organizes all data into a single, secure repository that allows more comprehensive management and analysis. Digital Asset Management (DAM) is for centrally managing product information and multimedia content. Multilingual & Multichannel Publication is for developing and publishing content drawn from PIM and DAM repositories to any e-commerce solutions.The company products include Agility PIM and Agility Modular Interface (AMI). The award-winning products put valuable product data at the "core of a go-anywhere commerce strategy". The PIM provides product information management, data optimization and content optimization. The company provides services including consulting, implementation, data optimization, master data management, and ROI analysis. The Agility Modular Interface is easy to use for every role. Core features include collect data from any source with built in API’s, enrich and control the quality of the product information and spread product information to multiple channels.
Advanced features include Advanced Rights Management for role and security management, Asset Manager to track pictures, videos etc, Rules Engine to automate repetitive tasks, Validation Workflow to support the governance process, Teamwork Assistant for task generation and assignment, Versioning & Publication to track historical versions of product information, Franklin Insights, Reference Entities to manage brands, designers etc, and Data Quality Insights to track the accuracy of the data..
Catsy offers one product which is their PIM software. The platform functions by streamlining product information for successful functioning on multiple channels. It operates under the following functions:

Centralization- All product data and digital assets are stored in one database. This creates a single source for all approved product images and data. Product data can be easily updated as a way of increasing accuracy.

Optimization- Product content is tailored to the wants and needs of the retailer. This is done to increase conversions across channels. Product information is validated based on the retailers' specs.The content pages are then graded by Catsy, before the information is exported and sent to retailers.

Syndication- The optimized product content is then sent out to all sales channels. Catsy sorts the product content, and sends it out, reducing inefficiencies and speeding up the time taken to reach the market.
Salsify's only product is the PXM Platform, w to hich can be used to drive performance of products on the digital shelf. The platform that Salisfy has developed provides product experience, digital asset, and product information management, product conduct syndication, a global data syndication network, enhanced product conternt, chat, and social content syndication.
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FundingProvide the total amount of funding the company has received to date (US$xxx,xxx,xxx)Plytix is known to have raised €565,000 in pre-seed and seed funding and to have received another €50,000 in a grant from the EU Executive Agency for SMEs. However, the bulk of its funding comes from Promentum Equity Partners in a funding round of an undisclosed amount, making its total funding uncertain.XCircular did not use VC funding; it is likely that its founder and CEO self-funded by using earnings from his previous venture.Stibo Systems did not receive VC funding but was established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stibo.The company has raised a total of $540,000 in four rounds of funding.Since spinning off from Prem1um, MaPS has raised $1.7 million from Newion Investments.N/AFive funding rounds, total of $61.4 million.No funding was found for Catsy. The company was launched in 2003, while Teku was still employed to Apsiva.The company has received total funding of $97,600,000 over four funding rounds. Its last funding was a Series D round where the company received $43,000,000. It round took place on 7 August 2018.
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ClaimsDescribe any claims the company makes about how it helps businesses (e.g. specific key performance indicators the company tracks OR that they help their clients track) (3-5 sentences)Plytix's website notes the following KPIs that its PIM helps clients to track:

- Sales Conversions: Plytix helps users track sales conversions across multiple channels.
- Product Impressions: The PIM notifies the user that a particular product has been viewed and what other products have been viewed by the same customer.

In addition, Plytix tracks its own customer service via internal KPIs that are not fully disclosed. The system likely tracks other KPIs as well, but the public-facing site is not specific.
XCircular does not disclose its internal or client-facing KPIs, but we can infer a couple from their marketing copy:

- Time saved by a client's employees by automating much of the advertising and online selling process
- Higher click-through rates
Stibo claims that a client can set up 2,400 items on Amazon Vendor Central in 15 minutes using Product Data Syndication, as opposed to the usual 3-4 hours.

Better data quality resulted in one e-commerce business seeing a 30-40% increase in sales and another company increasing online sales by 400%.

The latter company also saw a 2.6x increase in direct and organic e-commerce traffic and dropped product description error rates from 20% to 0.5%.
Shotfarm's parent company website notes the following KPIs that its PIM helps clients to track:

- Shopper engagement: Their capabilities and content help retailers to drive shopper engagement.
- Conversions: provides complete product information.
Create strong brand identity across all customer platforms
- Launch complex marketing offers consistently across different countries, languages, target groups, etc.
- Publish reliable, high-quality and consistent content.
- Adapt content to each channel.

Increase online sales and visibility with a "great product experience" and regular data/information feedback.

Manage a complex work environment with various devices and connections.
- Stay in control of growing data flows.
- Keep connections flexible and secure.
- Quickly integrate new solutions to existing ones.

Streamline the development and publishing of quality communication materials for marketing and sales.
"Agility Multichannel is the only major PIM vendor focused on fully integrating Product Management, Experience Management and Commerce".
The company's mission is to provide customers with the most advanced and dynamic tools to help its customers' drive brand loyalty and maximize sales through every channel.
The company specializes in helping businesses "maximize returns on their product information with increased sales and margins".
The company claims that its customers have "radically reduced product introduction times, exploded SKU count, and introduced content excellent categories driven by ROI"
Akeneo is a global leader in Product Experience Management (PXM) solutions that help merchants and brands deliver consistent and enriched customer experiences across all sales channels, including eCommerce, mobile, print, and retail points of sale.

Akeneo’s product information management (PIM) and product data intelligence solutions dramatically improve product data quality and accuracy while simplifying and accelerating product catalog management.
Catsy claims to:
Simplify- Interface is considered easy to use, allowing customers to quickly import all product data and images. It also allows easy updating of this data.

Automate- Despite preferences, communication to all retailers can be achieved by one click.
Customizing- Simple product data modification is facilitated.

Catsy's synchronization process aims to eliminate confusion, empower teams, and maximize product data accuracy. Its optimization process is said to increase conversions across all channels. Its process will reduce inefficiencies, speed up the time the product takes to reach the market, and allow customers to focus on growth.
Salsify claims that its platform is a combination of all the elements required by brands to succeed on digital shelfs. It also claims that its all-in-one platform helps brands overcome organizational barriers and manage complexity.
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TeamProvide the names and titles of the company's current leadership team (preferably C-suite, or other most senior positions, Advisors)
e.g. John Doe, CEO
Jane Smith, CMO
Morten Poulsen - Co-Founder and Chief Unicorn (CEO)
Alejandro López - Co-founder and CTO
Stian Iversen - Co-founder and Head of Customer Operations
Aviel Amit, Founder and CEO
Meron Lake, CTO and VP of R&D
Niels Stenfeldt, CEO
Brad Crosby, President, North America
Jens Olivarius, CMO
Thomas Sønderby, Chief Commercial Officer
Diane Palmquist, Chief Product Officer
Bjarne Hald, CTO
Jesper Ejlersen, Group CFO
Anders Højte, Chief HR Officer
Mike Lapchick - Founder & CEO
Rob Cardenas - Marketing Manager
Jean-Luc Volpez - CEO
Thierry Muller - Founder
Jean-Pierre Schmit - Chairman
Kevin Corte - Sales Director
Iulia Cuzmina - Marketing & Communication Manager
Richard Hunt, GM, Agility and Kalido Magnitude Software
Graham Cook, VP, product strategy Magnitude Software
Jason Simpson, Director, European Sales and Alliance Magnitude Software
Chris Barnes, VP of Engineering, Applications Magnitude Software
Dawn Zassick, VP of Customer Solutions Agility Multichannel (a Magnitude Company)
Benoit Jacquemont Co-founder and CTO
Frederic de Gombert Co-founder and CEO
Nicolas Dupont Co-founder and V.P. Engineering
Yoav Kutner Cofounder of Akeneo and 3 other companies
Ceejay S. Teku- Founder & CEO
Jamie Lipitz - Senior Software Developer, Co-Founder at Catsy
Joe Donahue - Senior Software Engineer
Jason Purcell, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Jeremy Redburn, Co-Founder and General Manager, EMEA
Rob Gonzalez, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer
Mary Jefts, Chief Financial Officer
John Davagian, Chief Revenue Officer
Colleen Fuller, Chief People Officer
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CLIENTS
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Example: for example "Focused most on grocery and CPG right now. Penetration, is low -- just the beginning. Current clients ( General Mills, Coke, Target and others, Working on Walmart, Not sure about KrogerPlytix is focused on moving physical goods, but their clients range from Nitro USA (snowboards) to Mai Copenhagen (jewelry and watches) to CPE Auto (power equipment) and we do not find them to be focusing on any industry or sector in particular.XCircular's clients are a combination of online and brick-and-mortar retailers. While they do not appear to be deliberately targeting any particular industry or sector, many of their early clients were home improvement, furniture, and appliance retailers and grocery stores.Stibo Systems primarily serves clients in the CPG, Manufacturing, Retail, Banking & Capital Markets, Insurance, and Life Sciences industries. Penetration is likely high, based on their revenue.According to the parent company, it is focused mostly on food products, medical devices, and auto parts.
Apart from retailers, distributors, publishers, marketing agencies, and independent sales reps can also use Shotfarm.
Industry focus includes construction, medical, retail, tourism and watchmaking/jewelry. Current clients include Animalis, Atita, Bergere de France, Boyenval Van-Peer, Toupret, Brico Prive, Campeole, E.P.I. Center, Graines Baumaux, Ikks, Julbo, Kiloutou, Knauf, Nicoll, Nutricia, Ponant, Rothenberger, Sycabel and Vertbaudet.The company provides services for hundreds of brands in the world of manufacturing, distribution, retail, media, and service industries. The website lists 55 clients. Some of its clients include Allied Electronics, TestEquity, Office Depot/Office Max, Avon, Arrowhead Electrical Products, and Carolina Biological Supply Company among others.Sephora International, Staples Canada, Fossil, Lancaster Luxury Leather Goods, Essilor Eyeglasses. Website provides list of over 180 clients.Catsy is primarily used by firms and retailers to unify product content across sales channels. It is currently used by La-Z-Boy, Whirlpool, Sysco, and Wastequip.Salsify's product has gained traction with a range of different customers ranging from small brands to global retailers. The focus is on brand manufacturers. Examples include, Coca Cola, Fruit of the Loom, Bosch, Campbell, GSK, and Smead.
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PRICING
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Example: Example: License -- price point has been growing, doing value base ROI, 7 figure deals with
$24k to $1 million per year -- most are above $100, the average is $250k per year
Plytix's PIM Pro package starts at $830/mo and apparently scales based on the modules chosen and client size (e.g., how many users they have). However, the latter pricing details are undisclosed and require a sales demo and negotiation. Anyone can get a 14 day free trial limited by features and storage (pay for catelogs). 9,960 gives 100k skus, unlimited storage and users PDF users and dedicated Cusomter success person. XCircular does not publish the details of its pricing, preferring to negotiate with its potential clients after a demo.Stibo Systems does not publish pricing details, preferring to negotiate with its potential clients after a demo.The price of Partner Switch is between $0-$49/month with no additional subscription charges.MaPS only provides pricing information by providing individualized quotes.Agility MultiChannel only provides pricing information by providing individualized quotes.Community Edition is Free. Enterprise edition annual subscription cost varies based on the number of channels needed.It offers a free demo on request to interested retailers and brands where it reveals its pricing structure. No other pricing data was available. Infromation on pricing is limited, with Salsify directing consumers to contact them directly, so that it is customized to meet their needs.
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PILOTS
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Example: Pilots are typically built around one big pain point.$10k to $30k charged for each pilot. After the pilot a full rolloutPlytix has not publicized any current pilot programs.XCircular has not publicized any current pilot programs.Stibo Systems has not publicized any current pilot programs.Shotfarm has not publicized any current pilot programs.MaPS has not publicized any current pilot programs. However, it offers Proof of concept inwhich a potential client provides a sample of their data to see how it is managed by MaPS System. It is not noted whether this service has cost.No pilots. NoneNo information could be found on any pilot programs currently in progress for Catsy. No information was available on any pilot programs for Salsify.
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PRODUCT INFO
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Description Example: The product involves hyper-localized pricing and product data which is cleansed and localized. They have full historical data on each of these products in each location.This product involves centralizing a client's product information from multiple channels into one platform, optimizing the saleability of products through bringing more information to the end consumer, distributing that product data to retailers and consumers in a manner that builds a consistent brand, and analyzing product performance to enable data-driven decision-making by the user.XC Shopper, in conjunction with xCircular's other products, provides a platform where online sales, brick-and-mortar sales, and marketing can all be combined under a single cloud-based platform. This allows true centralization of a seller's advertising and sales data, avoiding inconsistency in branding and selling while providing more automation of mundane and repetitive tasks. Product MDM and Product MDM for Retail are Stibo's answer to PIM. They come "customized with intuitive, pre-configured modules, workflows, business rules, dashboards, and data models that [Stibo's] deep industry experience has shown retailers need." Additionally, Product MDM can track data and content throughout the value chain, an ability notably lacking in other PIM solutions.

Product Data Syndication (PDS) provides communication channels to retailers, data pools, and content service providers. It facilitates sharing and updating product data across multiple channels despite their differing requirements and formats, similar to Plytix's PIM solution, speeding time-to-market and driving revenue.
Shotfarm clients create a “Switch” (data export module). The Switch is then published to Shotfarm’s ‘Switch Marketplace’ "where their Manufacturers can find it along with thousands of additional partner Switches". Once the switch is installed contents start to flow to the partner.MaPS System's solutions collect and centralize a company's data to a single, connected repository for greater accessibility, management, development and analysis across organizations. It is not open source, "but it is an open system. Developers can be trained and work on MaPS System’s PHP framework so that it exactly suits [the client's] specific needs." It can also be integrated into a company's existing infrastructure.Agility MultiChannel provides a comprehensive PIM solution that focuses on product content management, experience management, and commerce management for busineses in manufacturing, distribution and retail. The company provides services including consulting, implementation, data optimization, master data management, and ROI analysis.The Agility Modular Interface is easy to use for every role. The solution focuses on providing a full 360 degree view that aggregates, enriches, approves, syndicates and analyzes every bit of product information. Akeneo PIM Enterprise Edition is an enterprise-grade,
open source PIM solution and open API, which delivers a transparent, secure, and extensible environment for the exceptional flexibility.The product has 98 featured extensions for everything from automatic SKU generation to automated back-up. The solution partners include Accenture, CGI, Alpine Consulting and Blue Badger.
Catsy is primarily a product information management system. The software automates the data collation, organization, and distribution of information relating to the products or services offered by firms and suppliers. It facilitates the efficient modification of product information across sales and distribution channels, while also ensuring that the information is consistent and up-to-date.Using centralization to manage product information, Salsify has enabled the management of product content and experience data from one location, creating a consistent brand image that engages consumers and optimizes product performance.
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Category Example: big CPGs and Grocery Chains for nowRetail and wholesale across a broad band of productsMarketing, e-commerce, and brick-and-mortar retail across a broad range of industriesCPG, Manufacturing, Retail, Banking & Capital Markets, Insurance, and Life Sciences, preferring large and enterprise clients.Manufacturing, retail, and wholesale. Industry focus includes construction, medical, retail, tourism and watchmaking/jewelry.Customers are industrial manufacturers, the distribution industry, and retail cusomters. From small businesses to enterprise level companies
Fashion, CPG, retail, wholesale distribution. Increasing focus on B2B
Manufacturers that operate a direct sales model, large scale distributors, and e-retailers.Retail industry focus from small brands to large retailers.
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UniquenessExample: High LowRelatively high; it is uncommon for PIM and DAM to be combined in a single platform.Medium, with Stibo marketing itself on competence, experience, and service rather than uniqueness.High: It is the "first end-to-end solution for the Management and Exchange of Product Information".It describes its all-in-one solution as "unique." However, it is unclear just how unique its solutionis compared to competitors.High as it is the only product information management and master data management vendor that focuses on full integration of product management, experience management, and commerce. unknownHigh. it is uncommon for a single platform to combine digital asset management(DAM), product information management(PIM), and syndicate features. High. When the platform was released in 2018 it was an industry first that looked to improve customer experience across every digital touchpoint.
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Complexity Example: Moderately High Moderate; requires some knowledge of Javascript to interface with e-commerce platforms.Low; xCircular's uses an intuitive web-based interface.Medium to high, depending on how many solutions and features a client avails themself of. Moderate: Clients have to create a data export module.Moderately low. It "easily adapts" to existing company infrastructure. Ad hoc application developments can be requested via generic and custom web-services. Developers can also be trained on MaPS' framework.Moderately low, it is easily configurable for different roles and the interface allows for effortless integration and optimization. Community edition is low complexity, becomes more complex as more functionality is added,HighUnclear from literature.
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Amazon DataExample: Not Clear, Dismissed the fear companies have on Amazon Not clear, though Plytix clearly has Amazon in mind as one of the e-commerce platforms its clients wish to utilize effectively.XCircular does not mention Amazon on its site, likely because most of its known clients are brick-and-mortar and/or online retailers with their own sales channels.Stibo Systems' solutions use Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure to provide a "high-performance environment and secure infrastructure to protect your sensitive data."Not Clear: Shortfarm does not publicly mention Amazon on its website and social media pages.Not Clear: MaPS does not publicly mention Amazon on its website and social media pages; there is no evidence linking MaPS to Amazon. not clearunknown, but likely given the sizeCatsy closely integrates with the Amazon platform. It is capable of automatically listing products on Amazon as well as syncing optimized product description updates across a wide range of sales channels, including AmazonYes. The platform incorporates an Amazon market connector.
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Replacement of Current ProcessExample: Yes, replaces manual data collectionYes, replaces manually checking and organizing multiple e-commerce platforms.Yes, replaces other marketing publishing products and online sales processes.Yes; Stibo's solutions are specifically designed to replace their clients' existing processes wholesale.Yes, replaces costly workflow challenge.Yes, it can replace current processes but also can work in tandem with current infrastructure.Yes replaces current processesYes, eliminates paperYes. It centralizes all product information such as images, descriptions, and specifications, on a single portal where it is used to update multiple sales channels. It removes the inconsistency, repetition, and time-consuming tasks associated with the process.Yes. The centalization of product information enables a consistent approach to brand management across the entire market.
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Actionable Example: use cases like reducing Trade spend seems actionable -- pricing changes, we're not sure yet although we think it could become actionable and even automated in timeWe are unsure what information is desired here.We are unsure what information is desired here.We are unsure what information is desired here.Use cases like reducing costs.Yes use cases like managing product information, supporting and providing connectivity and publishing tools for new and future touchpoints are actionable.Yes use cases like managing product information, supporting and providing connectivity and publishing tools for new and future touchpoints are actionable. Can support thousands of end users globally.Given customizable workflow, assume yesA review of the Catsy website details several actionable uses of the service. Top use cases include publishing product information to online marketplaces, identifying top-selling channels, and improving product page conversions with grading.Yes, The platform produces actionable insights based on the data aviailble.
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Design and Navigation Example: clean, looks goodClean and looks good; main website is also well-organized, which bodes well for Plytix's UX.There are few screenshots of the interface to judge by, but those available look utilitarian. The STEP interface is web-based and configurable and looks both pleasant and professional. Navigation appears to be tab-based and easy, though there may be a learning curve.The company site is clean and easy to navigate, which bodes well for the platform UX.The company's website is well-designed and easy to follow with clear explanations, examples and charts. However, the "Request a Demo" page link does not work.Easy to use and sophisticated designExcellent design, clean, simple to use, but has all the information required,Clean, with white background and clear text and graphs. Easy to Navigate.The design looks clean based on samples of the platform available on the Salsify website.
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UsabilityExample: moderately high (at a glance)High (at a glance; unable to demo)High (at a glance; unable to demo)Very high, at a glance and based on brochures.Moderately high (at a glance).Demo link does not work. However, it is given 8.0/10 score at FinancesOnline with a 99% user satisfaction rating.High usability according to customer testimonialsFrom assessment of the demo, highHigh, easy to use and understand.Moderate
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Empowering Example: Yes for store managers, product managers, buyers, supply chain, marketing, product design (private label)Yes for manufacturers attempting to sell products across multiple channels, including both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar third-party retail.Yes, for retailers who want to combine their marketing data and elements with their PIM.Yes at multiple levels, from a client company's chief officers down to SMB retailers. Yes for manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.Yes for marketing manages, ecommerce managers, communications managers and IT officersEmpowering for creatives, content managers, vendors, product managers, merchants and more. Central management of product info, supports collaboration of all sales channels – retailers, wholesalers, distributors, marketplaces.Yes, it empowers manufacturers attempting to sell products directly to consumers, distributors, and large retailers.Yes. It offers complete product control across all aspects of retail and brand management.
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IntegrationsExample: can feed into tools like RevionicsIntegrates with e-commerce platforms via JavascriptNo integrations are mentioned by xCircular, but presumably can interface with a client's e-commerce platform.STEP is data-agnostic and integrates with most systems.Integrates with existing tools by creating an "easy-to-configure data export module".Adapts to existing infrastructure thanks to RESTful API. Also provides packaged technical connectors for CNS, eCommerceand print solutions.The interface allows for seamless integration with popular tools from multiple vendor and is easily configurable for different roles. The PIM integrates with multiple upstream ERP and merchandising systems.Designed published Open Source API's for imports and exportsCatsy integrates with several third-party services especially online retailers such as Amazon, Costco, and Home Depot; shopping carts such as Shopify, Magento, and Woo Commerce; enterprise resource planning systems (ERPs) such as Sage, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics; and customer relationship management systems (CRMs) such as Salesforce, Pipedrive, and SugarCRM.Salsify integrates with a number of online retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Instagram, Google, Target, and Facebook.

Product integrations are API, World Sync, BazaarVoice, Box, Centrify, CLAVIS INSIGHT, Content26, DropBox, Drupal, EPICOR, GS1 GDSN, GXS, InterTrade, JAZVA, JDEDWARDS, Kwikee, Magento, MS Active Directory, MS Dynamics, NETSUITE, Okta, Onelogin, OpenLDAP, ORACLE, Ping identity, SAP, Shopify, ShopVisible, Sitecore, and Webcollage.
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Patents Example: unsure at this pointNone listed under Plytix or any of its co-foundersXCircular and its founder hold the patent for an Automatic Image Composer (AIC) under patent number US10210550B2.Parent company Stibo owns two patents, one for an "advertisement sales and management system" (US8190460B1) and the other for "a content management computer system for managing publishing content objects" (EP1194872A1).None listed under Shortfarm or its founder.None listed under company or founder.none registerednone registeredA search through the US Patent Office database showed no registered or pending patents related to Catsy. A search of the Google patent database also returned zero results.Salsify has 4 trademarks in the Scientific and Technological Services class. No patent information was available.
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International Plytix is considered a key player in the global market.XCircular is considered a key player in the global PIM market.Stibo Systems is a global company and a key player in the global PIM market.The company's product is widely adopted.MaPS is headquartered in Luxembourg.The company is headquartered in York, UK, Magnitude is headquartered in Austin, TX. Teams and multiple support locations in Malmö, Sweden, across the UK and US, and in numerous other countries, including Germany, France, Japan and India.global market - 300 customers worldwideIt is available globally. However, most of its clients are based in the US.Salisfy operates on a global level, with a focus on the North American and European markets.
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ENGAGEMENT MECHANICS
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ChangeExample: the product changes day by day -- the data changes -- so it is conducive to lot's of activityNot stated; we hypothesize that the rate of change depends greatly on the type and sales volume of the product in question.Not stated; we hypothesize that the rate of change depends greatly on the type and sales volume of the product in question.Uncertain and likely depends on the product and company in question.Not stated. Although the company says its products are infinitely scalable.MaPS System solution is a flexible, adaptable, and comprehensive solution to meet changing needs and activities.It is a flexible, adaptable, and comprehensive solution to meet changing needs and activities. Data modeling allows for easy change hierarchies or taxonomies. flexible and scalable - can handle any rate of change and level of activityThe service updates product information such as images, descriptions, and specifications, in real-time — that is, it changes all the time.Product information and changes are in real-time.
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AlertsExample: yes, automated alerts, but haven't seen them yetNone indicatedNone indicated.Yes, as a part of the embedded analytics platform.None indicatedNone indicatednot knownalerts built into workflow, but not yet seenCatsy can be configured to display alerts and notifications by the user. Its structured notification process helps reduce task completion time by up to 60%Yes. Alerts can be set up and customized to user.
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DATASETS
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Example: Price data, promotion data and assortment data are nearly 100% accurate right nowPrice data represents a baseline and Plytix requires a product demo to disclose more details.Price data is unavailable.Price data is unavailable.Price data available in a range of $0-$49 per month. No additional information is indicated.All product information, digital assets, suppliers, distributors, points of sales and customer reviews organized and synchronized in one place.Price data can only be obtained by contacting the company for individualized quotes. Products can be categorized by family, group, status, channel, creation date, completionAll product information, images, description, and digital assets are centralized on a single database.All product information, digital assets, suppliers, distributors, points of sales and customer reviews organized and synchronized in one place.
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Example: Out of stock is a more nascent part of the puzzleKPI data is inferred and Plytix has not provided a list of the KPIs it uses internally or provides to its clients.KPI data is inferred and xCircular has not provided a list of the KPIs it uses internally or provides to its clients.KPI data is taken from Stibo's own case studies and likely represents a best-case scenario rather than the average.KPI data is inferred. List of KPI used internally or provided to its clients is not available.Datasets are enriched by all predefined users.The company is constantly working to eliminate barriers to adoption so that companies can extend the value of the technology into every aspect of the enterprise and supply chain. Appears to be a robust database design, user management design also robustThe service is capable of managing product cross-references for out-of-stock or replacement product situations.Salsify is the only product available on the market that offers complete automated content solutions across all product categories including out of stock.
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Example: Want to do high-level categorizationXCircular emphasizes its advertising products over its PIM so there is relatively little data strictly on the latter.Not published to the public domainContent is customized and automated for various channels.Solves problems such as driving growth, convert single sales into multiple up-sells and long-term loyalty, exponentially increase numbers of SKUs, and drive maximum ROI.datasets also by languageCatsy's database is capable of categorization products. Its categorization process allows the user to view, edit, and export data from one category, rather than trying to sort through hundreds of products. Categorization at all levels is available. Salsify combines a comprehensive set of core data services under a flexible architecture that allowscomprehensive product management. Multiple data domains supported, including digital assets, inventory, and customer data.
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KPIs
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Example: $3M savings on trade spend by General MillsNot published to the public domainNot published to the public domain.Stibo claims that Caroline's Treasures can set up 2,400 items on Amazon Vendor Central in 15 minutes using Product Data Syndication, as opposed to the usual 3-4 hours.

Better data quality resulted in Caroline's Treasures seeing a 30-40% increase in sales and Elektra (a Latin American companY increasing online sales by 400%.

The latter company also saw a 2.6x increase in direct and organic e-commerce traffic and dropped product description error rates from 20% to 0.5%.

Additional KPIs are available through the many case studies Stibo Systems has published on its site; the above are intended as representative.
Not published to the public domainCase studies are provided via email.Case studies show the product drives KPIs for marketers by increasing bounce rate, page views, and average time on the website. Customers of Agililty have reduced introduction times, greatly increased SKU count and introduced content categories driven by ROI. For one company, Axminster, Agility reduced the time it takes to publish 20,000 items to the web down to just an hour. Case studies show KPI's in catalog volume increase, centralization of product data, data enrichment automization, multi-channel support, supplier onboarding, team collaboration, time saving in data enrichment.According to the Catsy website, businesses that make use of the product information management (PIM) system improve customer service satisfaction by 85 percent and successfully increase product availability by 80 percent.No KPIs have been published in the public domain.
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TECH STACK
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Example: Not sure yet
Appears to scale, though
Founders are technical -- software developers
Per Crunchbase, "Plytix uses 25 technology products and services including Google Analytics, WordPress, and Vimeo." Due to the co-founders' prior association with Google, they may be assumed to be highly technical.Per Crunchbase, "xCircular uses 10 technology products and services including WordPress, Vimeo, and G Suite (formerly Google Apps for Work)." Due to the existence of the patent and the relatively low number of third-party tech sources, it is likely that xCircular's team is highly technical.According to Crunchbase, "Stibo Systems uses 28 technology products and services including Google Analytics, WordPress, and Vimeo." The company is highly technical by nature.Uses about 17 technology products such as Google Analytics and WordPress.Technologies: API Restful, Typescript, Symfony, Connectors: Chili Publish, Divalto Groupe, Drupal, Easycatalog, generix Group, Magento, Mirakl, Oxid esales, PrestaShop, Restful API, Sage and SAP.Crunchbase gives that the company uses 18 technology products and services including Google Analytics, WordPress, and Vimeo.Other technology include Adobe, Elastic Path, EPiServer, IBM, Insite, Intershop Commerce, Magento, Melissa Data, Oracle, Hitachi Vantara, and Sales Force. Following vendors in their tech stack: Algolia, Automatic, Bootstrap, BreezyHR, Disqus, Gandi, Google, Gravata, Greensock, Hotjar, Mailchimp, NGinx, New Relic, Salesforce, Sellys, Varnish, PHP, Modernizer.Catsy relies on the following technologies: jQuery, Google Analytics, WooCommerce, Postman, PHP, SalesLoft, and Angular JS.Salsify uses 81 technologies including Viewport Meta, IPhone / Mobile Compatible, and SSL by Default.
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FEATURESBulk Editing, unlimited identifiers, Catalog standards scoring and grading - Catelog compliance is configurable, can I have compliance standards for each category - can set it up as needed per category. Can it work for Iterate managing startups? Can it be used for Iterate Startups? https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/shotfarm#section-overview
https://www.syndigo.com/about-us/news/syndigo-acquires-shotfarm/
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110913006771/en/Free-Product-Image-Exchange-Shotfarm-Launches-Complete
https://www.syndigo.com/product-information-management-syndication/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/shotfarm-llc/about/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/about-us/
https://clustercatalogue.luxinnovation.lu/ict/members/maps-system/
http://www.siliconluxembourg.lu/introducing-maps-system-a-centralized-information-management-solution/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/solutions/product-information-management-pim/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/solutions/master-data-management-mdm/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/solutions/digital-asset-management-dam/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/solutions/multilingual-multichannel-publishing/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/professions/marketing-manager/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/professions/ecommerce-manager/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/professions/it-officer/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/professions/communication-manager/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/references/our-clients/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/references/technologies-and-connectors/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/maps_system/people/
https://www.maps-system.com/en/faq/
https://reviews.financesonline.com/p/maps-system/#
https://www.maps-system.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/maps-system-what-if-you-managed-your-data-differently.pdf
https://www.maps-system.com/en/resources/
https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/why-agility-pim/
https://www.facebook.com/pg/AgilityMC/about/?ref=page_internal
https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/meet-team/
https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/customers-use-cases/
https://www.featuredcustomers.com/vendor/agility-multichannel/reviews
https://www.capterra.com/p/151865/Agility-Product-management-for-commerce/
https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/use-case/avon-products/
https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/industries/
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/agility-multichannel#section-m-a-details
https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/technology/
https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/problems-we-solve/
https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/109684-54
https://www.owler.com/company/agilitymultichannel
https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/why-agility-pim/
https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/technology-partners/
https://www.agilitymultichannel.com/industries/
Product content creation and publication
Rapid SKU introduction
Content collaboration
Content optimization
Content syndication
Product information management
Digital asset management
Content readiness
Digital product catalogs
Content analytics
Content onboarding
Product information management
Multi-tenant SaaS
Audit trails
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DEMO PICTURES[1]https://catsy.com/images/pim-2/publish-data-product-information-management.png
[2]https://catsy.com/images/sales-reps/centralize-products.png
https://www.salsify.com
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U9CppkYlYH3WCr7wk_GZpEs6Zg7omWM5RZMv1E2fLQY/edit?usp=sharing
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OPPORTUNITIESCentral
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Adjacent IndustryeBooks management, Host information for global tours, Real estateOpportunities exist for product information management services to penetrate adjacent markets such as the online product listing markets (also known as classifieds) and the online retail market (e-commerce).Salsify could potentially expand into other online product listing markets. There is potential for their inventory management software to be applied to the supply and distribution chain.
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Pro - Features are always charged for when. Transparent.
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Security Document Available
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No Privacy issues. No Security Issues. 30-50 day close.
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Salsify is the competitor. 2,3,4 looking for PIMs.
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PilotPass anyway?
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Next Steps.
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Sources
Sources for Rows 3-8
[1https://catsy.com/what-is-pxm
[2]https://catsy.com/catalog-software-faq
[3]https://catsy.com/our-story
[4]https://www.linkedin.com/company/catsy/about/
[5]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv8xgN_sL_Q
[6]https://catsy.com/centralize
[7]https://catsy.com/optimize
[8]https://catsy.com/syndicate
[9]https://catsy.com/product-information-management-system
[10]https://angel.co/company/catsy/jobs
[11]https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjteku/
[12]https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-lipitz-805b28160/
[13]https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-donahue-a9037386/

Sources 9 - 49
https://catsy.com/what-is-pim
https://catsy.com/blog/what-is-pim/
https://catsy.com/
https://catsy.com/product-feed
https://catsy.com/product-information-management
https://catsy.com/product-information-management-system.php
https://catsy.com/centralize
https://catsy.com/syndicate
https://catsy.com/our-story
https://catsy.com/optimize
https://catsy.com/network
https://vimeo.com/216682347
https://search.uspto.gov/search?query=catsy&op=Search&affiliate=web-sdmg-uspto.gov
https://catsy.com/pim-workflow
https://builtwith.com/catsy.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/salsify/about/
https://www.salsify.com/about-salsify
https://www.salsify.com/our-story
https://www.salsify.com/pxm-platform-overview
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/salsify#section-funding-rounds
https://www.salsify.com/fast-data-management
https://www.salsify.com/team
https://www.salsify.com
https://www.salsify.com/salsify-pxm-launch-release
https://www.salsify.com/partners
https://www.salsify.com/customer-success
https://www.salsify.com/blog/salsify-integrates-with-instagram
https://reviews.financesonline.com/p/salsify/
https://www.salsify.com/salsify-announces-international-expansion
https://www.salsify.com/inventory-management-ebook/inventory-management-changes
https://www.salsify.com/salsify-amazon-aacs
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/salsify#section-website-tech-stack-by-builtwith
https://reviews.financesonline.com/p/salsify/
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