PIM requirements checklist: 240 testable requirements
The PIM requirements checklist lists 240 testable PIM requirements in four domains, 60 each, taken from the PIMvendors 400+ item checklist. Each requirement has a stable ID, a rationale, a demo test, a default priority, industry tags and a regulation tag. Filter the checklist, adjust priorities and export the selection to a spreadsheet or the RFP builder.
How the PIM requirements checklist works
The checklist turns the published part of the PIMvendors requirements set into a working list for your selection. It holds 240 requirements in four domains, and each requirement comes with the information you need to test it. The checklist belongs to the PIM requirements guide, which explains the method behind it.
Every requirement has the same fields, so you can compare, filter and export them consistently. The table shows what each field contains and how to use it.
| Field | Content | Use in the selection |
|---|---|---|
| ID | Domain prefix plus three digits, such as DM-035 | Reference in RFP, scorecard and contract |
| Group | Sub-area within the domain, such as Variants | Workshop agenda and filtering |
| Statement | One testable sentence of 12 to 30 words | Text the vendor confirms |
| Rationale | One sentence on why it matters | Defence in the scoring session |
| Test | One sentence on how to verify it on your data | Input for demo scenarios |
| Priority | Must, should or could | Knockout and weighting |
| Industries and regulation | Industry tags and one optional regulation tag | Filtering to your context |
| Select | ID | Requirement | Priority | How to test it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DM-001 | AttributesThe PIM supports typed attributes for text, number, boolean, date, single select, multi select, measurement, asset reference and table values.Typed attributes are the precondition for validation, filtering and correct output to every channel. | Must | Create one attribute of each type in a test family and import 20 of your own products that use them. | |
| DM-002 | AttributesThe PIM lets business users create, rename and retire attributes through configuration screens, without a vendor release, a partner ticket or custom code.The data model changes every month in a live catalogue, and each change that needs a developer slows every launch. | Must | Ask a business user from your team to add and retire an attribute live in the demo, guided only by the vendor documentation. | |
| DM-003 | AttributesThe PIM stores the owner, business definition, data type, allowed values and source system of each attribute, and shows them to every user who edits it.Editors make fewer errors when the definition sits next to the field they are filling. | Should | Open a product in edit mode and check that the definition and owner of a chosen attribute are visible without leaving the screen. | |
| DM-004 | AttributesThe PIM supports table attributes, such as a load table per temperature range, with typed columns and validation per row.Technical products carry matrix data that loses meaning when it is flattened into separate text fields. | Could | Model one of your own technical tables, such as a load or performance table, and export it to a channel template. | |
| DM-005 | AttributesThe PIM stores global, channel-specific and locale-specific values for the same attribute on one product record, with clear precedence rules.Channel and language variations of one value are the main source of duplicated records in spreadsheets and legacy systems. | Must | Enter a product name that differs for the webshop and a marketplace in two languages, then preview each channel output. | |
| DM-006 | AttributesThe PIM stores a stable code for each option separately from its labels, so a label change in any language never alters stored values or channel mappings.Label-based values break integrations and filters the first time someone corrects a translation. | Must | Rename an option label in one language and confirm that existing products and an export mapping keep the same code. | |
| DM-007 | FamiliesThe PIM groups products into families that define the applicable attributes, the mandatory attributes per channel and the display order.Families are how the PIM knows what complete means for a pump, a shirt or a sealant. | Must | Configure two of your product families from your attribute inventory and show the editing screen for a product in each. | |
| DM-008 | FamiliesThe PIM lets child families inherit attributes from a parent family and override them, with every override visible in the family definition.Inheritance keeps a model with hundreds of families maintainable when a shared attribute changes. | Should | Add an attribute to a parent family and show that three child families receive it, with one child overriding its mandatory setting. | |
| DM-009 | FamiliesThe PIM shows which values will be dropped and which attributes become mandatory before a user confirms moving a product to another family.Silent value loss on reclassification is a common cause of data gaps after go-live. | Should | Move one of your products between two families and review the impact message before confirming. | |
| DM-010 | FamiliesThe PIM versions family definitions, so each change to mandatory attributes is traceable to a date, a user and a reason.Completeness scores change when family rules change, and data owners need to explain why. | Could | Change a mandatory attribute in a family and retrieve the change record with date, user and comment. | |
| DM-011 | FamiliesThe PIM assigns each product to exactly one family while allowing several classification codes from internal trees and external standards.Separating the data structure from classification avoids duplicating families for each standard or channel. | Should | Assign one product to a family plus an internal category, a webshop category and an external standard class. | |
| DM-012 | VariantsThe PIM models products with at least two variant axes, such as colour and size, with values inherited from the model product to each variant.Variant inheritance removes repeated entry of shared content across dozens of sizes and colours. | Must | Import one of your multi-axis products with all its variants and change a shared value once on the model level. | |
| DM-013 | VariantsThe PIM lets administrators set each attribute to model, sub-model or variant level, and enforces that level in editing, import and API writes.Values stored at the wrong level create inconsistent variants that channels reject. | Must | Try to import a model-level value on a single variant and confirm the PIM blocks or redirects it. | |
| DM-014 | VariantsThe PIM generates the variant matrix from selected axis values and lets users exclude invalid combinations before the variants are created.Manual creation of large variant sets is slow and produces combinations that do not exist. | Should | Generate a size and colour matrix for one of your products and exclude two combinations before creation. | |
| DM-015 | VariantsThe PIM lets a variant override an inherited value and flags each override, so editors see which variants deviate from the model.Hidden overrides cause one variant to show outdated content after the model is corrected. | Should | Override a description on one variant, change the model value, and show which variants received the change. | |
| DM-016 | VariantsThe PIM enforces unique variant identifiers, such as GTIN and supplier article number, and validates them on every save, import and API write.Duplicate or invalid identifiers cause listing failures at retailers, marketplaces and data pools. | Must | Import a file with a duplicated GTIN and a wrong check digit and review how both are rejected. | |
| DM-017 | RelationshipsThe PIM supports typed product relationships, such as accessory, spare part, replacement, successor and bundle component, with direction stored per type.Cross-sell, service and lifecycle processes all depend on relationships that a channel can interpret. | Must | Create accessory, spare part and successor relations for one of your products and export them to a channel template. | |
| DM-018 | RelationshipsThe PIM stores attributes on relationships, such as quantity in a bundle or a compatibility note, editable by authorised users.A relation without context forces the information into free text on one of the products. | Should | Add a quantity and a note to a bundle relation and show where both appear in the export. | |
| DM-019 | RelationshipsThe PIM links one part to many vehicles or machines through structured compatibility fields for make, model, year range and engine or machine type.Fitment errors are a leading cause of returns in parts businesses, and they start with unstructured compatibility text. | Should | Load a sample of your compatibility list and query which parts fit one model and year. | |
| DM-020 | RelationshipsThe PIM lists every relationship pointing to a discontinued product and supports bulk reassignment of those relationships to a successor product.Orphaned relations send customers to discontinued products long after phase-out. | Should | Discontinue a product with ten inbound relations and reassign them to a successor in one action. | |
| DM-021 | RelationshipsThe PIM stores the role of each linked asset, such as main image, technical drawing or safety data sheet, per channel and locale.Channels need to know which asset to use where, and a plain list of files does not tell them. | Must | Link five assets with different roles to one product and preview which asset each channel receives. | |
| DM-022 | UnitsThe PIM stores measurement values with a unit from a controlled unit list, and rejects free-text units on entry, import and API write.Free-text units make filtering, conversion and standards export unreliable. | Must | Import values with units written three different ways and show how the PIM normalises or rejects them. | |
| DM-023 | UnitsThe PIM converts between metric and imperial units on output while storing the original value and unit unchanged.Converted values stored as master data drift through rounding with every round trip. | Should | Store a dimension in millimetres and export it in inches to one channel and in centimetres to another. | |
| DM-024 | UnitsThe PIM maps internal unit codes to the unit identifiers each target standard or channel requires, configured once and reused across exports.Standards-based exports fail validation when unit codes do not match the receiving format. | Should | Export one product with five measurement attributes to a standards-based format and validate the unit codes. | |
| DM-025 | UnitsThe PIM stores dimensions, weights, quantities and identifiers for each packaging level, such as each, inner pack, case and pallet, in one hierarchy.Logistics, retailers and packaging reporting all need data for each packaging level separately. | Must | Model the packaging hierarchy of one of your products and export it with all levels. | |
| DM-026 | UnitsThe PIM enforces minimum, maximum and decimal precision per numeric attribute, and shows the rule to the editor.Out-of-range values, such as a 2,000 kilogram drill, reach channels when nothing stops them at entry. | Must | Enter a value outside the defined range and a value with too many decimals and review the response. | |
| DM-027 | UnitsThe PIM stores range values, such as an operating temperature from minus 20 to plus 60 degrees Celsius, as structured minimum and maximum fields.Ranges in text fields cannot be filtered, compared or mapped to standards. | Should | Store an operating range and filter products whose range covers a given temperature. | |
| DM-028 | LocalisationThe PIM stores values per locale for every localisable attribute, with fallback rules configurable per channel and visible in the channel preview.Uncontrolled fallback publishes the wrong language to a country site. | Must | Leave one locale empty and preview two channels with different fallback settings. | |
| DM-029 | LocalisationThe PIM supports all locales in scope, including non-Latin scripts where needed, without schema changes when a locale is added.Market expansion should be a configuration step that takes days. | Should | Add a new locale live in the demo and show it appearing in editing, completeness and export. | |
| DM-030 | LocalisationThe PIM tracks translation status per attribute and locale, and marks dependent translations as outdated when the source text changes.Outdated translations are invisible errors that stay online for months. | Must | Change a source description and show which locales are now flagged as outdated. | |
| DM-031 | LocalisationThe PIM shows locale-specific completeness, including which missing languages block publication to which country channel.Country launches are planned per language, and teams need to see the blocking items. | Should | Show the completeness of one family for three locales and the products that block a country channel. | |
| DM-032 | LocalisationThe PIM stores country-specific values, such as legal warnings or certification marks, separately from language-specific values.Belgium in French and France in French can require different legal content. | Should | Store different warnings for two countries sharing a language and preview both channels. | |
| DM-033 | ValidationThe PIM runs validation rules for format, pattern, range, uniqueness and allowed values on manual edits, imports and API writes alike.Rules that only run in the user interface let bad data in through every other door. | Must | Send one invalid value through each entry path and confirm all three are rejected with the same rule. | |
| DM-034 | ValidationThe PIM enforces cross-attribute rules, such as requiring a battery type when a product is marked as containing a battery.Cross-attribute consistency is where most channel rejections and compliance gaps originate. | Must | Configure one conditional rule from your own catalogue and test it on five products. | |
| DM-035 | ValidationThe PIM validates GTIN length and check digit before saving, on every entry path including supplier imports.An invalid GTIN blocks listing at retailers, data pools and marketplaces. | Must | Import ten GTINs including two with wrong check digits and review the result. | |
| DM-036 | ValidationThe PIM returns row-level import errors that name the product, attribute and rule, in language a business user can act on.Generic import errors push every correction back to IT or the implementation partner. | Must | Import one of your own files with seeded errors and ask a business user to fix them from the messages alone. | |
| DM-037 | ValidationThe PIM lets administrators configure each validation rule as blocking or as a warning, separately per channel.A missing marketing text should not stop an ERP export, while a missing safety warning must stop a webshop publication. | Should | Set one rule to warn for one channel and block for another, then publish to both. | |
| DM-038 | ValidationThe PIM lets data stewards maintain quality rules in a rule editor and test them on sample products before activation.Untested rules flood users with false errors and lose credibility within weeks. | Could | Create a new rule, run it in test mode on 50 products and review the hits before activation. | |
| DM-039 | CompletenessThe PIM calculates completeness per product, channel and locale against the attributes each channel requires.One overall score hides that a product is ready for the webshop and missing data for a marketplace. | Must | Show one product with different completeness scores for two channels and two locales. | |
| DM-040 | CompletenessThe PIM shows completeness dashboards by family, supplier and channel, with drill-down to the missing products and attributes.Data owners act on concrete lists of missing data. | Should | Open the dashboard for your demo data and drill down from a family to a single missing attribute. | |
| DM-041 | CompletenessThe PIM withholds a product from a channel while its completeness is below the threshold set for that channel.Without a gate, incomplete products reach customers and the score becomes decoration. | Must | Lower a product below the threshold and run the channel export to confirm it is withheld. | |
| DM-042 | CompletenessThe PIM calculates a quality score from completeness, validation results and asset coverage, with weights set by the data owner.Completeness alone rewards filled fields that are wrong. | Could | Configure a weighted score and compare two products with equal completeness but different validation results. | |
| DM-043 | CompletenessThe PIM gives each user a filtered work list of owned products that fail completeness for an upcoming launch date.Launch deadlines are missed when editors have to search for their own gaps. | Should | Set a launch date on ten products and show the work list for the responsible editor. | |
| DM-044 | ClassificationThe PIM supports several classification trees per product, such as an internal category tree, a webshop navigation tree and an external standard.Each channel and standard has its own tree, and one product must sit in all of them. | Must | Classify one product in three trees and export each classification to its channel. | |
| DM-045 | ClassificationThe PIM imports ETIM classes and features as a managed reference and records the ETIM release version used for each class.Electrotechnical, installation and building wholesalers in Europe expect ETIM-classified data. | Should | Import the ETIM classes for one of your product groups and show the release version on a classified product. | |
| DM-046 | ClassificationThe PIM imports ECLASS classes and properties, maps them to internal attributes and records the ECLASS release version.Industrial buyers and procurement platforms often require ECLASS-classified data. | Should | Map one ECLASS class to your internal family and export a product with ECLASS properties. | |
| DM-047 | ClassificationThe PIM maintains mappings between internal attributes and external classification features in configuration, with a coverage report per class.Mapping coverage shows how much work remains before a standards-based export is valid. | Should | Show the coverage report for one standard class with mapped and unmapped features. | |
| DM-048 | ClassificationThe PIM reports, when moving to a new standard release, which values carry over, which need conversion and which features were removed.Standards publish new releases regularly, and each release changes classes and features. | Could | Ask the vendor to show a past release upgrade on sample data with the impact report. | |
| DM-049 | ClassificationThe PIM lets business users maintain category trees through drag-and-drop or bulk operations, with a change history per node.Navigation trees change with every assortment review, often several times a year. | Should | Move a category branch with 200 products and show the change record afterwards. | |
| DM-050 | VersioningThe PIM stores the previous value, new value, user or system, timestamp and source for every change to a product value.Change history is the basis for audits, error analysis and supplier disputes. | Must | Change one value by hand, by import and by API, and show all three entries in the history. | |
| DM-051 | VersioningThe PIM lets users compare two versions of a product side by side and restore selected earlier values.Bulk errors happen, and restoring by hand from memory is slow and incomplete. | Should | Bulk edit 100 products, then restore the previous values for a selection. | |
| DM-052 | VersioningThe PIM can reproduce the full state of a product record as it was on a given past date.Regulators, customers and courts ask what was published on a specific date. | Should | Request the state of one product on a date before the demo changes and export it. | |
| DM-053 | VersioningThe PIM manages lifecycle states such as draft, active, phase-out and discontinued, with rules per state for editing and publication.Lifecycle states stop draft content from leaking to channels and keep discontinued items findable for service. | Must | Move a product through four lifecycle states and show what each channel receives at each step. | |
| DM-054 | VersioningThe PIM stores scheduled changes, such as new specifications from a launch date, and activates them automatically on that date.Range changes are prepared weeks ahead and published at a fixed moment. | Could | Schedule a value change for a future date and show the pending change on the product. | |
| DM-055 | Regulatory data PPWRThe PIM stores packaging component data per packaging level, including material, weight and recyclability attributes, as structured and reportable fields.Packaging obligations require data per component, and spreadsheets cannot keep it consistent across thousands of articles. | Must | Model the packaging components of one of your products and run a report of material weight per packaging level. | |
| DM-056 | Regulatory data ESPRThe PIM stores material composition and substances of concern as structured, repeatable records per product, with concentration, location and source.Ecodesign rules and supply chain disclosure need substance data that can be queried and reported. | Should | Store a three-line composition with one substance of concern and query all products containing that substance. | |
| DM-057 | Regulatory data DPPThe PIM flags attributes that feed a Digital Product Passport and reports their completeness separately from marketing completeness.Passport readiness has to be measurable on its own, with its own owner and deadline. | Should | Flag ten passport attributes and show a passport completeness report for one family. | |
| DM-058 | Regulatory data GPSRThe PIM stores the manufacturer and, where applicable, the EU responsible economic operator with name, postal address and electronic address per product.Online offers to EU consumers must show this information for each product. | Must | Assign a manufacturer and responsible operator to a product and export both to a webshop and a marketplace feed. | |
| DM-059 | Regulatory data GPSRThe PIM stores safety warnings and instructions per language as structured attributes that each channel can publish with the product offer.Warnings must appear in a language consumers understand, and they belong to the product record. | Must | Enter warnings in three languages and preview them in two consumer channels. | |
| DM-060 | Regulatory data EUDRThe PIM stores commodity type, country of production and references to geolocation and due diligence records for products containing regulated commodities.Deforestation due diligence links each product to the origin of its commodities. | Should | Flag one product as containing a regulated commodity and store its origin references and due diligence statement reference. | |
| IN-001 | APIsThe PIM exposes a documented API with read and write access to products, attributes, families, categories, assets and relationships.Every integration and every future channel depends on complete API coverage. | Must | Ask the vendor to read and update one of your products, its assets and relations through the API during the demo. | |
| IN-002 | APIsThe PIM vendor publishes API documentation before contract signature, with a versioning policy and stated deprecation notice periods.Integration effort cannot be estimated from a promise. | Should | Review the API documentation and versioning policy with your integration architect before the demo. | |
| IN-003 | APIsThe PIM API supports bulk operations and pagination, so the full catalogue can be extracted within the buyer integration time window.Nightly and initial loads fail when the API only handles single products. | Must | Measure the time to extract your sample catalogue through the API and extrapolate to your full volume. | |
| IN-004 | APIsThe PIM vendor documents API rate limits per licence tier, and the expected call volume of the buyer fits within them without extra fees.Rate limits found after go-live become emergency licence upgrades. | Must | Share your expected call volume and ask for the limit and price that apply in writing. | |
| IN-005 | APIsThe PIM applies the same validation, permissions and workflow rules to API writes as to edits in the user interface.An API that bypasses rules becomes the route for bad data. | Must | Write an invalid value through the API and confirm it is rejected with the same rule as in the screen. | |
| IN-006 | APIsThe PIM issues scoped credentials per integration, each revocable without affecting other integrations.Shared credentials make every incident a full outage. | Should | Create two API clients with different scopes and revoke one. | |
| IN-007 | APIsThe PIM vendor provides a sandbox environment with API access and representative data for integration development and testing.Integrations built against production put live data at risk. | Should | Confirm the sandbox terms, data refresh method and cost in the commercial offer. | |
| IN-008 | ERPThe PIM receives article master data from the ERP, such as article number, status, base unit and logistics data, on creation and change.The ERP usually creates the article, and the PIM must start from that record. | Must | Show an ERP article creation, using a file or mock service, arriving in the PIM with its key fields. | |
| IN-009 | ERPThe PIM lets administrators set ownership per attribute between ERP and PIM, so neither system overwrites fields owned by the other.Two systems writing the same field produce silent conflicts and lost changes. | Must | Configure ownership for five fields and send conflicting updates from both sides. | |
| IN-010 | ERPThe PIM creates a product record for each new ERP article on arrival and starts the enrichment workflow automatically.Manual handover between ERP and PIM teams adds days to every launch. | Should | Create an article in the mock ERP feed and show the workflow task appearing. | |
| IN-011 | ERPThe PIM vendor offers a prebuilt or reference connector for the buyer ERP, with customers in production on a comparable ERP version.Reference connectors reduce integration risk, provided they are in real use. | Should | Ask for connector documentation and a reference customer running the same ERP. | |
| IN-012 | ERPThe PIM shows ERP integration errors in a monitoring screen with retry options and alerts to a named role.Silent integration failures leave the PIM and ERP out of sync for days. | Should | Send a malformed ERP message and show the error, alert and retry. | |
| IN-013 | PLMThe PIM receives engineering data from PLM, such as technical attributes and released revisions, with revision numbers preserved.Engineering is the source of truth for technical specifications in manufacturing. | Could | Import a released revision from a PLM export file and show the revision on the product. | |
| IN-014 | PLMThe PIM creates change tasks for affected marketing and channel attributes when an engineering change arrives from PLM.Technical changes that do not reach marketing content cause wrong specifications online. | Could | Send a changed revision and show the tasks created for dependent attributes. | |
| IN-015 | PLM ESPRThe PIM imports material and substance declarations from PLM or compliance systems as structured records linked to the product.Substance data is usually maintained outside the PIM and must arrive in a usable structure. | Should | Import a material declaration file for one product and query the substances afterwards. | |
| IN-016 | DAMThe PIM links products to assets in an external DAM by stable identifier, without duplicating the binary files.Duplicated files drift apart, and storage costs double. | Should | Link three DAM assets to a product by identifier and update one asset in the DAM. | |
| IN-017 | DAMThe PIM synchronises asset rights, expiry dates and permitted channels, and withholds expired assets from channel output.Publishing images after licence expiry is a direct legal and cost risk. | Should | Set an expiry date in the past on one asset and run a channel export. | |
| IN-018 | DAMThe PIM asset module, where included, generates channel renditions automatically from size and format rules per channel.Manual resizing per channel does not scale with marketplace requirements. | Could | Upload one image and show renditions for three channels. | |
| IN-019 | DAMThe PIM links assets to products automatically through filename conventions or metadata rules on upload.Manual linking of thousands of photos is slow and error-prone. | Should | Upload 20 images named with article numbers and show the automatic links. | |
| IN-020 | DAM GPSRThe PIM links document assets, such as safety data sheets, instructions and declarations of conformity, per product, language and version.Safety information must be available with the product in the right language and version. | Must | Link two language versions of a safety document to a product and preview them in a channel. | |
| IN-021 | CommerceThe PIM publishes products, categories, variants and assets to the buyer commerce platform as delta updates within an agreed latency.Full reloads are slow and risky, and customers see stale data in the meantime. | Must | Change a product and measure the time until the change is visible on a test storefront or in an export file. | |
| IN-022 | CommerceThe PIM publishes channel-specific values, such as a webshop title or SEO description, only to the channel they are intended for.Channel values leaking to the wrong channel produce duplicate content and listing errors. | Must | Set different titles for two channels and inspect both outputs. | |
| IN-023 | CommerceThe PIM publishes category trees and filter attributes together with the product data to the commerce platform.Navigation and filters built separately from product data go out of sync. | Should | Publish a category change and show it on the test storefront or export. | |
| IN-024 | CommerceThe PIM supplies the product data fields needed for structured Product markup on the buyer webshop.Structured product data improves how search engines and AI assistants read product pages. | Could | Show which PIM attributes map to the structured data fields of one product page. | |
| IN-025 | CommerceThe PIM delivers a separate assortment, locale and content selection to each of several stores from one instance.Multi-brand and multi-country setups should not require several PIM instances. | Should | Configure two store outputs with different assortments and locales from the same products. | |
| IN-026 | Commerce EAAThe PIM publishes alternative text and accessibility information attributes per locale to consumer webshops.Accessible product pages depend on text alternatives and accessibility information that start in product data. | Should | Publish a product with alternative text in two locales and inspect the output. | |
| IN-027 | Import and exportThe PIM lets business users import Excel and CSV files with saved mappings, a preview and validation before the import is committed.File import remains the most used integration in most product teams. | Must | Ask a business user to import one of your own spreadsheets with a saved mapping. | |
| IN-028 | Import and exportThe PIM runs scheduled import jobs from file transfer, cloud storage or URL sources, with a log per run.Recurring supplier and system files should not depend on someone uploading them. | Should | Schedule an import from a file location and show the run log. | |
| IN-029 | Import and exportThe PIM lets users configure exports with filters, attribute selection, locale and file format, and schedule them.Ad hoc data requests are frequent, and each one through IT costs days. | Must | Ask a business user to build and schedule an export for one channel template. | |
| IN-030 | Import and exportThe PIM reports failed import rows individually while processing valid rows, unless the buyer configures all-or-nothing imports.One bad row should not block a file of 10,000 good ones. | Should | Import a file with three bad rows and show the processed and rejected counts. | |
| IN-031 | Import and exportThe PIM applies reusable value mapping rules on import, such as converting supplier colour names to internal colour codes.Every supplier writes values differently, and mapping once per value saves repeated cleaning. | Should | Import supplier colour names and show the mapping table applied. | |
| IN-032 | Import and exportThe PIM exports product selections to a spreadsheet for offline editing and re-imports them with the same validation rules.Offline editing remains part of real work, and it must not bypass controls. | Should | Export 50 products, change values offline including one invalid value, and re-import. | |
| IN-033 | StandardsThe PIM exports ETIM-classified product data in the exchange formats required by the buyer wholesalers and trading partners.Wholesale channels in electrotechnical, installation and building sectors expect ETIM-based data. | Should | Export one of your ETIM-classified products and validate the file with your trading partner or a validation tool. | |
| IN-034 | StandardsThe PIM produces BMEcat 2005 exports including ECLASS or ETIM classification for B2B catalogue exchange.BMEcat remains a common catalogue format for procurement and wholesale platforms in German-speaking markets. | Should | Export a BMEcat file for five products and validate it against the schema. | |
| IN-035 | StandardsThe PIM validates GS1 attributes such as GTIN, target market and packaging hierarchy against the GS1 data model before syndication.Data pool and retailer rejections are expensive to resolve after publication. | Must | Publish one trade item with a seeded error and show the validation message before sending. | |
| IN-036 | Standards DPPThe PIM generates GS1 Digital Link URIs from product identifiers for use on packaging and product passport data carriers.Web-resolvable identifiers connect a printed code to product data. | Could | Generate a Digital Link URI for one product and resolve it to a test endpoint. | |
| IN-037 | StandardsThe PIM vendor or partner supports each new standard classification release within a stated period after its publication.Trading partners move to new releases, and lagging support blocks exports. | Should | Ask for the update history of the last two releases of one standard. | |
| IN-038 | StandardsThe PIM supports the industry standards in scope, such as TecDoc for automotive parts or GS1 healthcare attributes, natively or through a named connector.Sector standards decide channel access in these industries. | Should | Export one product in the sector standard format and validate it with the receiving party. | |
| IN-039 | StandardsThe PIM supports UNSPSC or another procurement classification as an additional classification on export.Procurement platforms often classify with their own scheme. | Could | Classify five products in a procurement scheme and export them. | |
| IN-040 | Channel feedsThe PIM generates channel feeds from master data with per-channel mapping, filtering and value conversion rules.Feeds built outside the PIM recreate the spreadsheets the PIM was bought to replace. | Must | Build a feed for one of your channels from its specification during the demo. | |
| IN-041 | Channel feedsThe PIM lets business users maintain feed mappings and preview the output for a sample product before activation.Channel specifications change often, and each change through IT delays listings. | Should | Change one mapping rule and preview the output for one product. | |
| IN-042 | Channel feedsThe PIM captures errors returned by channels and links each error to the affected product and attribute.Errors in channel portals are fixed slowly because nobody connects them to the source. | Should | Simulate a channel rejection file and show the error linked to the product. | |
| IN-043 | Channel feedsThe PIM generates retailer and distributor portal templates from one master record per product.Each retailer template filled by hand is a recurring cost and an error source. | Must | Generate two retailer templates from the same products and compare them with the retailer specifications. | |
| IN-044 | Channel feedsThe PIM runs feed output on a schedule or triggers it from publication events per channel.Timely feeds keep prices, stock-independent content and new products current in channels. | Should | Publish a product and show the triggered feed update. | |
| IN-045 | Channel feedsThe PIM shows per product which channels received which version and when.Teams need to answer whether a correction has reached the channel. | Should | Publish to two channels and show the status per product. | |
| IN-046 | Channel feedsThe PIM includes localised values per target country in feeds, applying the configured locale fallback.Country feeds with wrong-language content are rejected or rank poorly. | Could | Generate feeds for two countries and check the locale of each text attribute. | |
| IN-047 | MarketplacesThe PIM maps attributes to the category-specific schemas of each marketplace in scope, and reflects schema updates.Marketplace schemas differ per category and change frequently. | Should | Map one of your products to two marketplace categories and show the required fields. | |
| IN-048 | MarketplacesThe PIM receives marketplace listing errors per product, with the original marketplace error message.Errors visible only in seller portals stay unresolved. | Should | Show a returned listing error on a product record. | |
| IN-049 | Marketplaces GPSRThe PIM maps manufacturer contact details and safety information to the required fields of each marketplace in scope.Marketplaces require product safety information for listings to EU consumers. | Must | Show the mapping of manufacturer and safety fields for one marketplace. | |
| IN-050 | MarketplacesThe PIM vendor states for each marketplace connection whether it is native, partner-built or delivered through a named syndication tool, and who supports it.Support gaps appear when nobody owns the connector. | Should | Ask for the ownership, support terms and cost of each marketplace connector in scope. | |
| IN-051 | MarketplacesThe PIM maintains marketplace-specific titles, bullet points and images without altering master values.Marketplace optimisation should not degrade the master record. | Should | Edit a marketplace title and confirm the master title is unchanged. | |
| IN-052 | Data poolsThe PIM publishes trade item data, including the full packaging hierarchy, to the GDSN-certified data pool used by the buyer retailers.Many grocery, health and beauty retailers receive product data through data pools. | Must | Publish one trade item with its hierarchy to the data pool test environment. | |
| IN-053 | Data poolsThe PIM receives data pool responses, such as acceptance, review requests and synchronisation errors, per trade item.Responses not visible in the PIM leave listings stuck. | Should | Show a data pool response linked to the trade item. | |
| IN-054 | Data poolsThe PIM receives product data from data pools as a data recipient, for distributors that consume manufacturer data.Distributors save manual entry when they subscribe to manufacturer data. | Could | Show a subscribed item arriving in staging. | |
| IN-055 | Data pools PPWRThe PIM includes the packaging material attributes the buyer needs for packaging obligations in data published to data pools.Retailers increasingly request packaging material data alongside trade item data. | Should | Publish a trade item with packaging material attributes and inspect the message. | |
| IN-056 | Events and webhooksThe PIM emits events or webhooks on product creation, update, deletion, publication and workflow state change.Event-driven integration keeps systems current without heavy polling. | Must | Subscribe a test endpoint and trigger each event type. | |
| IN-057 | Events and webhooksThe PIM includes the changed attributes in event payloads, so receiving systems need no full product read for every change.Thin events multiply API calls and rate limit consumption. | Should | Inspect the payload of an update event. | |
| IN-058 | Events and webhooksThe PIM retries failed webhook deliveries with backoff and shows every attempt in a delivery log.Lost events cause silent inconsistencies between systems. | Should | Take the test endpoint offline, trigger events, restore it and check the retries. | |
| IN-059 | Events and webhooksThe PIM connects to the integration platform or message broker the buyer already runs, through a supported connector or standard protocol.A second integration stack adds cost and skills risk. | Should | Ask for the connector documentation for your integration platform and a reference customer using it. | |
| IN-060 | Events and webhooks DPPThe PIM provides an endpoint that serves the passport fields for a given product, model or batch when a data carrier is resolved.Passport data must be retrievable from the data carrier on the product. | Could | Resolve a test identifier to an endpoint showing the passport fields for one product. | |
| PL-001 | SecurityThe PIM vendor holds a current ISO/IEC 27001 certificate or SOC 2 Type II report covering the PIM service, and shares it under NDA.Independent attestation is the minimum evidence for a system holding all product master data. | Must | Request the certificate or report and check its scope and date. | |
| PL-002 | SecurityThe PIM encrypts data in transit and at rest, and the vendor documents its key management approach.Unencrypted master data is a security finding in any audit. | Must | Review the security documentation with your security officer. | |
| PL-003 | SecurityThe PIM vendor commissions independent penetration tests at least yearly and shares a summary of findings and remediation.Testing frequency and remediation discipline show the security maturity of a vendor. | Should | Request the latest penetration test summary. | |
| PL-004 | SecurityThe PIM vendor notifies security incidents affecting buyer data within a contractually defined period that supports the buyer GDPR obligations.Personal data in user accounts and supplier contacts brings breach notification duties. | Must | Check the incident notification clause in the draft contract. | |
| PL-005 | SecurityThe PIM vendor provides a data processing agreement and a sub-processor list, and gives notice of sub-processor changes.Sub-processors determine where data actually goes. | Must | Review the data processing agreement and sub-processor list. | |
| PL-006 | SecurityThe PIM scans uploaded files for malware before storing them or sharing them with suppliers and channels.Supplier portals accept files from many external parties. | Should | Ask how uploads are scanned and what happens to an infected file. | |
| PL-007 | SecurityThe PIM exports administrative actions and access logs to the buyer security monitoring tool.Security teams monitor all business systems in one place. | Could | Ask for the log export method and format. | |
| PL-008 | SSO and identityThe PIM supports single sign-on through the buyer identity provider with SAML 2.0 or OpenID Connect.Central identity management is a baseline requirement for enterprise software. | Must | Ask the vendor to show single sign-on configuration with your identity provider type. | |
| PL-009 | SSO and identityThe PIM enforces multi-factor sign-in for every user who signs in without single sign-on, including supplier users.External users are the weakest point of access control. | Must | Create a supplier user and show the multi-factor setup. | |
| PL-010 | SSO and identityThe PIM automates user provisioning and removal from the identity provider through SCIM or an equivalent interface.Manual removal of leavers leaves active accounts behind. | Should | Ask for the provisioning documentation and a test of user removal. | |
| PL-011 | SSO and identityThe PIM maps identity provider groups to PIM roles, so access changes are made in one place.Role assignment in two systems drifts apart. | Should | Map one identity provider group to a PIM role and show the result. | |
| PL-012 | Data residencyThe PIM vendor hosts production data, backups and logs in the EU or EEA, and names the hosting provider and region in the contract.Data location affects GDPR transfers and customer contract obligations. | Must | Check the hosting clause and sub-processor list for region details. | |
| PL-013 | Data residencyThe PIM vendor discloses and logs any support access to production data from outside the EU, and requires buyer approval for it.Follow-the-sun support can create data transfers that the buyer must document. | Should | Ask how support access is granted and logged. | |
| PL-014 | Data residencyThe PIM vendor lets the buyer choose the hosting region at contract and states the cost and process of a later region change.Group reorganisations and acquisitions change residency needs. | Could | Request the region options and change terms in writing. | |
| PL-015 | Data residencyThe PIM keeps data processed by AI features within the agreed region, or the contract lists the exceptions.AI features often call external model providers in other regions. | Should | Ask for the AI data flow and processing locations. | |
| PL-016 | Availability SLAThe PIM contract states a monthly availability commitment for production, the measurement method and service credits for missed targets.An availability figure without a measurement method and remedy is a marketing number. | Must | Review the SLA schedule and the credit calculation. | |
| PL-017 | Availability SLAThe PIM vendor announces planned maintenance in advance and schedules it outside the main business hours of the buyer.Maintenance during launch hours stops enrichment and publication. | Should | Check the maintenance window policy against your time zones. | |
| PL-018 | Availability SLAThe PIM contract states recovery point and recovery time objectives, and the vendor tests them at least yearly.Backups that are never restored are assumptions. | Must | Ask for the latest restore test date and result. | |
| PL-019 | Availability SLAThe PIM vendor runs a public status page with incident reports and availability history for the service.Incident history shows real reliability over time. | Should | Review the status page history for the past 12 months. | |
| PL-020 | PerformanceThe PIM returns search and filter results across the full catalogue within an agreed response time, measured in the demo or proof of concept.Slow search is the most common user complaint after go-live. | Must | Load a volume sample of your catalogue and time ten typical searches. | |
| PL-021 | PerformanceThe PIM completes a bulk edit of 10,000 products within an agreed time without blocking other users.Bulk jobs that freeze the system stop the whole team. | Should | Run a bulk edit on 10,000 products while another user edits. | |
| PL-022 | PerformanceThe PIM completes a full catalogue export for the largest channel within the nightly batch window of the buyer.Exports that overrun their window delay every downstream system. | Must | Time a full export on a representative data volume. | |
| PL-023 | PerformanceThe PIM vendor measures performance figures on a dataset with the buyer attribute count, locale count and asset volume.Performance on a small demo catalogue predicts nothing about a large one. | Must | Provide a volume data set and agree the measurement protocol before the demo. | |
| PL-024 | ScalabilityThe PIM licence and architecture support the projected product, locale and channel counts for five years without re-platforming.Growth that forces a re-platform resets the entire investment. | Should | Share your five-year volume forecast and ask for the licence and architecture impact in writing. | |
| PL-025 | ScalabilityThe PIM supports several brands, business units or countries in one instance, with separated permissions and shared master data.Multiple instances multiply licence, integration and governance cost. | Should | Configure two business units in the demo environment with shared and separate data. | |
| PL-026 | ScalabilityThe PIM offer includes development, test and production environments, with a defined method to promote configuration between them.Configuration changes tested in production put live data at risk. | Should | Ask for the environment list in the offer and the promotion process. | |
| PL-027 | ScalabilityThe PIM exports configuration such as attributes, families and workflows as a package and deploys it to another environment.Manual re-entry of configuration across environments causes drift. | Could | Export a configuration change and deploy it to a second environment. | |
| PL-028 | UpgradesThe PIM vendor delivers releases on a published schedule and makes release notes available before deployment.Teams need time to test and train before changes reach users. | Should | Review the release calendar and the last three sets of release notes. | |
| PL-029 | UpgradesThe PIM vendor preserves buyer configuration and integrations through upgrades, and announces breaking API changes at least six months in advance.Unannounced breaking changes stop integrations without warning. | Must | Check the API deprecation policy and the history of breaking changes. | |
| PL-030 | UpgradesThe PIM vendor states which extension types remain supported through upgrades, including partner-built customisations.Customisations that block upgrades turn SaaS into legacy software. | Should | Ask for the extension guidelines and an example of an upgrade with customisations. | |
| PL-031 | UpgradesThe PIM vendor states supported version lifetimes and typical upgrade effort for self-hosted or private cloud deployments.Upgrade effort is a recurring cost that belongs in the business case. | Could | Request the version support policy and an upgrade effort estimate. | |
| PL-032 | UpgradesThe PIM vendor provides a preview environment where the buyer tests new releases against its own configuration before production rollout.Testing on your own configuration catches regressions that vendor tests miss. | Should | Ask how preview access works and how long before production rollout it opens. | |
| PL-033 | SupportThe PIM contract defines support hours, channels, languages and response times per severity level.Support terms that are not in the contract cannot be enforced. | Must | Review the support schedule in the draft contract. | |
| PL-034 | SupportThe PIM vendor responds to severity 1 production outages within one hour at any time of day.Outages during launches cost revenue by the hour. | Should | Check the severity definitions and the out-of-hours response commitment. | |
| PL-035 | SupportThe PIM vendor offers support in the languages the buyer users work in, during the business hours of the buyer.Language barriers slow down issue resolution for business users. | Could | Ask which languages are supported and in which hours. | |
| PL-036 | SupportThe PIM vendor assigns a named customer success contact, with review meetings at a frequency stated in the offer.Regular reviews catch adoption issues before renewal. | Could | Ask for the customer success model in the offer. | |
| PL-037 | SupportThe PIM vendor makes documentation, a knowledge base and training material available to all users without extra fees.Paid training limits adoption beyond the core team. | Should | Review the documentation portal and the training offer. | |
| PL-038 | RoadmapThe PIM vendor shares a 12-month product roadmap under NDA, with each item marked as committed or exploratory.Roadmap items without a status give the buyer nothing to plan against. | Should | Request the roadmap and ask which items are committed. | |
| PL-039 | RoadmapThe PIM vendor lets customers submit enhancement requests and follow their status in a portal or community.A visible request process shows how customer needs shape the product. | Could | Ask for access to the idea portal or community. | |
| PL-040 | RoadmapThe PIM vendor confirms in writing that every feature shown in the demo is generally available in the contracted edition, or states its release date.Demonstrated beta features are a frequent source of post-contract disappointment. | Must | List the features shown and ask the vendor to confirm availability per edition in writing. | |
| PL-041 | Roadmap DPPThe PIM vendor states its delivery plans for the regulatory needs in scope, such as Digital Product Passport data and packaging data.Regulatory deadlines are fixed, and the PIM roadmap has to meet them. | Should | Ask for the roadmap items and dates for passport and packaging data. | |
| PL-042 | Licence termsThe PIM pricing model names every metric that drives cost, such as users, products, channels, locales, API calls or AI credits.Hidden metrics surface at the first renewal or growth step. | Must | Model your five-year volumes in the vendor price model and compare totals. | |
| PL-043 | Licence termsThe PIM contract caps price increases at renewal by a percentage or an index for at least the initial term.Uncapped renewal increases erode the business case. | Must | Check the renewal clause in the draft contract. | |
| PL-044 | Licence termsThe PIM vendor documents its editions, so the buyer sees which requirements need a higher tier or a paid add-on.Requirements met only in a higher edition change the price comparison. | Must | Map your must requirements to editions and add-ons with the vendor. | |
| PL-045 | Licence termsThe PIM vendor prices supplier, reviewer and read-only users at a stated rate that differs from full editor users.Broad participation is limited when every user costs a full licence. | Should | Ask for user type pricing in the offer. | |
| PL-046 | Licence termsThe PIM contract states the rate for usage above licensed volumes, and overage never blocks production use.A hard stop on volume during a launch is an operational risk. | Should | Check the overage clause and the behaviour when limits are reached. | |
| PL-047 | Licence termsThe PIM vendor prices AI features per stated unit, with a monthly cap that the buyer controls.AI consumption can grow quickly once teams adopt it. | Should | Ask for AI unit pricing and how a cap is set and enforced. | |
| PL-048 | Exit and portabilityThe PIM lets the buyer export all product data, assets, relationships and history in documented open formats at any time.A PIM you cannot leave sets the price of your next renewal. | Must | Export the full demo data set and open it in a tool of your choice. | |
| PL-049 | Exit and portabilityThe PIM vendor delivers a complete data export within a defined period after termination and confirms deletion afterwards.Exit terms negotiated at signature cost nothing, and later they cost a great deal. | Must | Check the termination and data return clauses. | |
| PL-050 | Exit and portabilityThe PIM contract states exit assistance, switching charges and data extraction fees, consistent with EU Data Act switching rules.Switching costs belong in the total cost of ownership from day one. | Should | Ask the vendor to quote exit assistance and confirm fees in the contract. | |
| PL-051 | Exit and portabilityThe PIM exports configuration, including data model, workflows and rules, in a machine-readable format for migration.The data model is often the most valuable result of a PIM project. | Should | Export the family and attribute configuration in the demo environment. | |
| PL-052 | Exit and portabilityThe PIM contract allows termination without penalty after repeated breaches of the availability commitment.Service credits alone do not compensate for a chronically unreliable service. | Could | Check the termination for cause clause. | |
| PL-053 | Partner ecosystemThe PIM vendor names at least three certified implementation partners active in the region and language of the buyer.Partner choice is a separate decision and needs real options. | Should | Request the partner list and check references for two of them. | |
| PL-054 | Partner ecosystemThe PIM vendor publishes partner certification criteria, and the proposed partner states its number of certified consultants.Certification depth predicts delivery capacity. | Could | Ask for the certification criteria and the consultant count. | |
| PL-055 | Partner ecosystemThe PIM vendor maintains a connector library that lists the owner, support model and pricing of each connector.Unsupported connectors become the buyer problem after go-live. | Should | Review the connector library for your integrations. | |
| PL-056 | Partner ecosystemThe PIM vendor provides reference customers of comparable size, industry and integration landscape for a call without the vendor present.References in a different context say little about your project. | Must | Schedule two reference calls and use a prepared question list. | |
| PL-057 | AccessibilityThe PIM user interface meets WCAG 2.1 level AA, documented in a current accessibility conformance report.Accessible software widens the group of colleagues who can work in the PIM. | Should | Request the conformance report and check its date and scope. | |
| PL-058 | Accessibility EAAThe PIM stores alternative text per image and locale, and channel exports include it where the channel supports it.Text alternatives for product images are part of accessible online shops. | Must | Add alternative text in two locales and inspect a channel export. | |
| PL-059 | Accessibility EAAThe PIM models accessibility information about the product itself as structured attributes and publishes it to consumer channels.Accessibility information for products and services has to reach the point of sale. | Should | Model three accessibility attributes and publish them to a test channel. | |
| PL-060 | AccessibilityThe PIM user interface supports keyboard navigation and screen readers for core editing tasks.Keyboard support also speeds up power users. | Could | Ask a tester to complete an edit task with the keyboard only. | |
| PR-001 | WorkflowsThe PIM lets administrators configure workflows with steps, assignees, due dates and conditions, without custom code or a vendor release.Workflow rules change as teams change, and every change through a developer delays the business. | Must | Ask the vendor to build a three-step workflow from your process description live during the demo. | |
| PR-002 | WorkflowsThe PIM routes each new product to the owners of each attribute group, in parallel where enrichment steps do not depend on each other.Sequential handovers are the main reason new products take weeks to reach a channel. | Must | Run one of your new products through a workflow where marketing and technical teams enrich in parallel. | |
| PR-003 | WorkflowsThe PIM starts workflow steps on events such as product creation, a supplier import, a value change or a lifecycle state change.Manual workflow starts are forgotten, and products wait in queues nobody watches. | Should | Import a new product from a file and show the workflow starting automatically. | |
| PR-004 | WorkflowsThe PIM gives every user a personal task list with due dates, priority and the attributes still required per product.Editors need to know what to do today without running reports. | Must | Log in as an editor in the demo and show the task list after a new product is created. | |
| PR-005 | WorkflowsThe PIM escalates overdue tasks to a named role after a configurable period, with notifications by email or chat tool.Escalation keeps launches on time when an owner is absent. | Should | Set a short escalation period on a task and show the escalation notice. | |
| PR-006 | WorkflowsThe PIM reports workflow lead time per step and per family, from product creation to first publication.Time to market cannot be improved when nobody can see where products wait. | Should | Show the lead time report for products processed during the demo or a prepared data set. | |
| PR-007 | WorkflowsThe PIM lets users complete, reassign or reject workflow tasks for a selection of products in one bulk operation.Range launches involve hundreds of products, and task handling one by one does not scale. | Should | Select 50 products in a workflow step and reassign them in one action. | |
| PR-008 | WorkflowsThe PIM links workflows to a go-live date per channel and flags products at risk of missing that date.Seasonal and range launches are planned against fixed dates. | Could | Set go-live dates for two channels and show products flagged as at risk. | |
| PR-009 | Roles and permissionsThe PIM configures permissions per role at the level of attribute group, family, category, channel and locale.Coarse permissions force either too much access or too many workarounds. | Must | Configure a translator role limited to one locale and one attribute group, then log in as that role. | |
| PR-010 | Roles and permissionsThe PIM grants read, edit and approve rights separately for the same attribute group.Separation of editing and approval is the basis for governance of regulated data. | Must | Show one user who can edit but not approve compliance attributes. | |
| PR-011 | Roles and permissionsThe PIM restricts product visibility by brand, business unit or supplier, so one instance serves several organisations.Groups with several brands need shared master data with separated editing rights. | Should | Set up two business units and show that each sees only its own products. | |
| PR-012 | Roles and permissionsThe PIM logs every permission change with the administrator, timestamp and the before and after state of the role.Access reviews and security audits require evidence of who granted which rights. | Should | Change a role and retrieve the log entry. | |
| PR-013 | Roles and permissionsThe PIM exports role definitions and user assignments for review, showing who could edit which data on a given date.Auditors ask who had access on a specific past date. | Could | Export the role matrix and the assignment history for one user. | |
| PR-014 | Roles and permissionsThe PIM applies field-level permissions equally in the user interface, bulk edit, import and API access.Permissions that only hold in the screen leave every other channel open. | Must | Try to change a protected attribute through import with a restricted user and confirm it is refused. | |
| PR-015 | Roles and permissionsThe PIM ends temporary access for agencies or contractors automatically on a date set when the account is created.Forgotten external accounts are a security and licence cost risk. | Should | Create an agency user with an end date and show the expiry setting. | |
| PR-016 | EnrichmentThe PIM lets users bulk edit values across thousands of products, with a preview of the change and an option to undo it.Bulk editing is where most enrichment time is saved and where most damage is done. | Must | Bulk edit one attribute on 1,000 of your products, review the preview and undo the change. | |
| PR-017 | EnrichmentThe PIM offers a grid view with filters on any attribute and inline editing, saved as personal or shared views.Spreadsheet-like editing is how product teams work, and it decides user adoption. | Must | Ask an editor from your team to build a filtered grid and edit values inline. | |
| PR-018 | EnrichmentThe PIM derives calculated attribute values from other attributes, such as a product title built from brand, type and key specifications.Rule-based titles stay consistent across thousands of products and update when specifications change. | Should | Configure a title rule from three attributes and change one input to show the update. | |
| PR-019 | EnrichmentThe PIM supports controlled formatting in rich text attributes and cleans the output per channel, such as plain text for marketplaces.Uncontrolled HTML breaks layouts and is rejected by many channels. | Should | Enter a formatted description and preview the output for a webshop and a marketplace. | |
| PR-020 | EnrichmentThe PIM shows enrichment status per attribute group, so each team sees which products still need its data.Teams need to see their own backlog without inspecting each product. | Should | Show a product with three attribute groups in different enrichment states. | |
| PR-021 | EnrichmentThe PIM lets users copy selected attribute values from a reference product to a set of similar products.Similar products share most content, and copying selectively saves time without overwriting differences. | Could | Copy four attributes from one product to 20 others and check that other attributes are untouched. | |
| PR-022 | EnrichmentThe PIM lets users comment on a product or attribute and mention colleagues, and keeps comments in the product history.Questions about data are answered faster when they sit next to the data itself. | Could | Add a comment with a mention and show the notification and the comment in history. | |
| PR-023 | ApprovalsThe PIM requires approval before publication for designated attributes, while changes to other attributes publish directly.Approving everything slows the team, while approving nothing exposes regulated data. | Must | Configure approval for two attributes and edit both an approved and a free attribute. | |
| PR-024 | ApprovalsThe PIM shows approvers each proposed change next to the currently published value, with approve and reject actions and a comment field.Approvers cannot judge a change without seeing what it replaces. | Must | Submit a change and show the approver screen with old and new value. | |
| PR-025 | ApprovalsThe PIM can require a second approver in a compliance role for regulatory attributes, separate from the editor who made the change.Four-eyes control on regulated data is a basic expectation of auditors and notified bodies. | Should | Show a regulatory change that the editor cannot approve personally. | |
| PR-026 | Approvals ECGTThe PIM blocks publication of environmental claims until a named compliance role approves them with the substantiation document attached.Unsubstantiated generic environmental claims are a legal risk for consumer-facing brands. | Must | Enter a sustainability claim and show that publication is blocked until evidence is attached and approved. | |
| PR-027 | ApprovalsThe PIM keeps published and draft values side by side, so editing continues while channels receive the last approved version.Without a draft layer, every edit in progress is immediately visible to customers. | Must | Edit an approved product and export it before approval to confirm the channel receives the old value. | |
| PR-028 | ApprovalsThe PIM lets approvers delegate approval rights during absence and records the delegation in the audit trail.Holidays should not stop launches or bypass controls. | Could | Delegate approvals for a week and show the audit entry. | |
| PR-029 | Audit trailThe PIM records every create, update, delete, approval and export event with user, timestamp and before and after values.An incomplete trail cannot answer the question an auditor actually asks. | Must | Perform each event type in the demo and retrieve all of them from the audit trail. | |
| PR-030 | Audit trailThe PIM protects audit records from changes by business users and administrators, and retains them for a period the buyer configures.An editable trail has no evidential value. | Should | Ask the vendor to show how an administrator would try to remove an audit entry and what happens. | |
| PR-031 | Audit trailThe PIM lets users filter the audit trail by product, attribute, user and date range, and export the result.Investigations start from a question, such as who changed this field last month. | Should | Filter the trail for one attribute over the demo period and export it. | |
| PR-032 | Audit trailThe PIM records which product version was sent to which channel and when.Customer complaints and recalls require proof of what was published where. | Should | Publish a product twice with a change in between and show both publication records. | |
| PR-033 | Audit trail DPPThe PIM links each change to a regulatory attribute to the evidence document that justified it and the person who verified it.Passport and compliance data must be defensible years after it was entered. | Should | Change a regulatory value, attach evidence and show the link in the history. | |
| PR-034 | Audit trailThe PIM exposes audit data through the API for export to the buyer archive or compliance system.Retention policies often outlive the PIM contract. | Could | Retrieve audit records for one product through the API. | |
| PR-035 | Supplier collaborationThe PIM offers suppliers a portal or template that applies the buyer attribute definitions, validation rules and mandatory fields.Supplier data is the largest data source for distributors and retailers, and quality must be enforced at the door. | Must | Ask the vendor to onboard one of your suppliers files through the portal during the demo. | |
| PR-036 | Supplier collaborationThe PIM holds supplier submissions in a staging area until they pass validation and approval into the master record.Direct writes from suppliers into master data spread their errors to every channel. | Must | Submit a supplier file with errors and show it held in staging. | |
| PR-037 | Supplier collaborationThe PIM gives suppliers row-level feedback on rejected data and lets them correct it without contacting the buyer data team.Feedback loops through email make every supplier correction a ticket for the data team. | Should | Reject a supplier row and show the feedback screen as the supplier sees it. | |
| PR-038 | Supplier collaborationThe PIM maps supplier data in its own structure or in ETIM, ECLASS or BMEcat files to the internal model through reusable mappings.Distributors receive the same standards from many suppliers and should map each standard once. | Should | Import one BMEcat or ETIM-based supplier file and reuse the mapping for a second supplier. | |
| PR-039 | Supplier collaborationThe PIM shows onboarding status per supplier, with submitted, rejected and accepted products against the agreed scope and deadline.Category managers steer suppliers by onboarding status per supplier. | Should | Show the onboarding overview for two suppliers in the demo data. | |
| PR-040 | Supplier collaboration PPWRThe PIM sends data requests to suppliers per product, such as missing packaging weights or materials, and tracks each request to completion.Packaging data often sits with suppliers, and collecting it is a process with deadlines. | Should | Send a request for packaging data on five products and show its tracking status. | |
| PR-041 | Supplier collaborationThe PIM stores supplier certificates, declarations and test reports per product with expiry dates that start renewal tasks.Expired certificates are discovered during audits unless the PIM tracks them. | Should | Upload a certificate with an expiry date and show the renewal task created in advance. | |
| PR-042 | Data stewardshipThe PIM records a named data owner and data steward for each attribute group and shows them on the editing screen.Ownership written only in a governance document is ignored in daily work. | Must | Show the owner and steward for three attribute groups on a product screen. | |
| PR-043 | Data stewardshipThe PIM lets data stewards define, publish and change quality rules within their own domain without administrator rights.Rule changes queued behind administrators lose their timing. | Should | Log in as a steward and create a rule within the assigned domain. | |
| PR-044 | Data stewardshipThe PIM flags likely duplicate products on creation and import, using configurable matching on identifiers and descriptions.Duplicates split enrichment work and confuse customers. | Should | Import a near-duplicate of an existing product and show the match warning. | |
| PR-045 | Data stewardshipThe PIM turns data issues reported by users or channels into tracked tasks for the owner of the affected attribute.Issue reports in mailboxes are lost, while tasks are closed. | Should | Report an issue on a product and show the task created for the attribute owner. | |
| PR-046 | Data stewardshipThe PIM maintains a data dictionary with attribute definitions, owners and rules, exportable for governance reviews.One maintained dictionary replaces several outdated spreadsheets. | Should | Export the dictionary for one family and compare it with your attribute inventory. | |
| PR-047 | Data stewardshipThe PIM reports open data quality issues per owner, with ageing and resolution time.Governance boards steer on trends, and trends need history. | Could | Show the stewardship report for issues created during the demo. | |
| PR-048 | AI-assisted enrichmentThe PIM stores AI-generated values as proposals that a named role accepts, edits or rejects before they become master data.Generated content needs human review before it reaches customers or partners. | Must | Generate descriptions for ten of your products and show the review queue before publication. | |
| PR-049 | AI-assisted enrichmentThe PIM records the model, prompt or template version, source inputs, timestamp and accepting user for every AI-generated value.Without provenance, an AI error cannot be traced or corrected across the catalogue. | Must | Open one accepted AI value and show its full provenance record. | |
| PR-050 | AI-assisted enrichment GPSRThe PIM lets administrators disable AI generation per attribute, so safety, regulatory and legal attributes are excluded from automated filling.AI output is unreliable for regulatory data, and a wrong safety value is a legal exposure. | Must | Exclude two safety attributes from AI and run a bulk generation job on the family. | |
| PR-051 | AI-assisted enrichmentThe PIM reports AI acceptance and correction rates per attribute and per family, measured on the buyer products.Accuracy claims mean little until they are measured on your own catalogue. | Should | Run AI enrichment on 50 of your products, review them, and show the resulting acceptance report. | |
| PR-052 | AI-assisted enrichmentThe PIM shows the expected AI cost per job before execution and reports monthly use in units such as products, tokens or credits.Usage-based AI pricing becomes a budget risk when consumption is invisible. | Should | Start an AI job on 500 products and show the cost estimate before confirming. | |
| PR-053 | AI-assisted enrichmentThe PIM shows the source location in the supplier document or image for each value extracted by AI.Reviewers can only verify an extracted value when they see where it came from. | Should | Extract attributes from one of your supplier datasheets and show the source reference per value. | |
| PR-054 | AI-assisted enrichmentThe PIM applies the buyer glossary and do-not-translate list in AI translation, and flags violations for review.Brand and technical terms translated wrongly erode trust in the whole catalogue. | Should | Translate five descriptions with a glossary containing protected terms and review the output. | |
| PR-055 | AI-assisted enrichmentThe PIM vendor excludes buyer product data from training shared third-party models unless the buyer opts in, and states this in the contract.Unreleased product data is commercially sensitive. | Must | Ask for the contract clause and the data flow diagram for AI features. | |
| PR-056 | Translation processThe PIM creates translation jobs per locale and attribute set, sends them to a translation service or agency, and imports the results.Manual file exchange with agencies loses versions and status. | Should | Create a translation job for two locales and show it returning into the PIM. | |
| PR-057 | Translation processThe PIM sends only changed source text for translation and shows the changed content to the translation manager.Retranslating unchanged text inflates cost and lead time. | Should | Change one sentence in a description and show what the next translation job contains. | |
| PR-058 | Translation processThe PIM applies one glossary and translation memory to both human and machine translation of product content.Consistent terminology across thousands of products needs one shared reference. | Could | Show how a glossary term is applied in both a machine and an agency translation. | |
| PR-059 | Translation processThe PIM routes translated values to a native-speaking reviewer before publication, for the locales the buyer selects.Review effort should go where errors cost most, such as safety texts and key markets. | Should | Configure review for one locale and show a translation waiting for review. | |
| PR-060 | Translation processThe PIM reports translation volumes, costs and turnaround times per locale and per translation provider.Translation is a recurring cost line that needs the same scrutiny as licences. | Could | Show the translation report for the jobs created in the demo. |
Filters: domain, group, industry and regulation
Filters reduce the 240 requirements to the set that applies to your business. Start broad and narrow down, because a filter that hides a requirement also hides the question you might have needed to ask.
- Domain and group: show one domain, such as IN for integration, or one group within it, such as Marketplaces.
- Industry: hide requirements tagged for other industries. Requirements tagged "all" always stay visible.
- Regulation: show only the requirements tied to PPWR, ESPR, DPP, GPSR, EUDR, the green transition directive or the EAA.
- Priority: show musts first to agree on knockouts before the detailed discussion.
A practical order for the workshop is regulation first, then industry, then domain by domain. Regulatory requirements have fixed dates and rarely become optional. Industry filters then remove the requirements that clearly do not apply, which shortens the domain sessions.
Priorities you can change
Each requirement carries a default priority of must, should or could. The default reflects a typical mid-market manufacturer, and it is meant to be changed. Set your own priority per requirement, or exclude a requirement from the export.
Change the defaults in a workshop with the process owners, so each priority has an owner who can defend it. The method for setting priorities and weights is explained on prioritising PIM requirements.
Stable IDs and how to cite a requirement
Every requirement has a stable ID made of the domain prefix and a three-digit number, such as DM-035 or PL-048. Published IDs never change meaning. New requirements receive new numbers at the end of their domain, and retired requirements keep their number reserved.
Cite a requirement by its ID and the source, for example "PIMvendors checklist DM-035". In an RFP, keep the ID in its own column. Vendors can then answer per ID, and your scorecard, demo scripts and contract annexes can refer to the same line.
Export to a spreadsheet or the RFP builder
Export the filtered selection when the requirement workshop is complete. The export keeps ID, domain, group, statement, rationale, test, your priority and the tags.
Use the spreadsheet export for internal review and the scoring model. Add columns for the process step, the requirement owner and the scenario that will test each line. Those three columns make the trace from business process to demo visible to the whole buying committee. Use the PIM RFP builder to turn the same selection into an RFP document with response columns for vendors. Both exports start from the same IDs, so nothing gets lost between the two.
Use the checklist to find what you forgot to ask, then delete what does not apply. A shorter list that you can test beats a long list that every vendor ticks.
Frequently asked questions
Is the PIM requirements checklist free to use in our RFP?
Yes. Buyers can use the published requirements in their own RFP and scoring documents. Keep the IDs, such as DM-035, so vendors and advisers can trace each line back to the published statement, rationale and test. Requirements you rewrite substantially should get your own ID prefix, so nobody confuses your version with the published one.
Why does the checklist show 240 requirements when PIMvendors uses more than 400?
PIM Selection publishes the PIMvendors checklist progressively. The first release covers 240 requirements, 60 per domain, selected because they apply to most mid-market and enterprise selections. Further requirements are added with new IDs at the end of each domain. Published IDs never change meaning, so documents that cite them stay valid.
Are the default priorities a recommendation for my company?
The default priority reflects a typical mid-market manufacturer selling through its own webshop, distributors and a few marketplaces. It is a starting point for the workshop. A distributor with hundreds of suppliers or a brand with strict regulatory exposure will move many requirements up or down. Change every priority you disagree with before export.
Can I add my own requirements to the checklist export?
Add your own requirements in the exported spreadsheet or in the RFP builder. Use a prefix that cannot clash with published IDs, such as your company initials followed by a number. Write each one in the same format: one testable sentence, a rationale, a demo test, a priority and the process it supports.
Sources and method
How this page was made: drafted by the PIM Selection editors from the sources listed, checked against the PIMvendors selection method, and signed off by a named expert. Editorial policy.
Cite this page
PIM Selection (2026). PIM requirements checklist: 240 testable requirements. PIMvendors.com. https://pimselection.com/requirements/checklist/ (version 2026-10-14).