SAP Product Content Hub underpins CX initiatives in C/4HANA
SAP SaaS tool integrates AI, APIs for pushing updated product content to e-commerce sites. It also gives sales, marketing and service teams using C/4HANA access to the content.
SAP has introduced cloud-based software that lets C/4HANA customers distribute critical product information across e-commerce, marketing, sales and customer support teams.
The new Product Content Hub, released this week, includes APIs that companies can use to maintain up-to-date product catalogs, documentation and pricing on 1,500 e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, eBay and Google.
SAP built the software into C/4HANA to also provide users with a single tool for distributing vital product information across customer service, sales and marketing teams. C/4HANA is SAP's cloud-based customer experience and e-commerce platform.
SAP developed Product Content Hub to improve product information management (PIM) within C/4HANA, said Riad Hijal, vice president of commerce strategy. AI built into C/4HANA can tag and route content from the PIM platform as managers make product updates.
Keeping product data on e-commerce sites currently is difficult because organizations often have disparate sources, said Constellation Research analyst Nicole France. Having one trusted place where users know the latest product information resides could save time for workers.
A screenshot of the SAP product content hub
Product Content Hub launches SAP into the PIM market, where it will compete with products from InRiver, Salsify and Pimcore. SAP will differentiate itself from the pack by integrating its PIM platform with back-end product integration with in the company's flagship ERP system as well as C/4HANA.
The reason tools like these are getting more attention is that companies are figuring out that when they rethink processes, it really doesn't make sense to have a bunch of isolated islands of information.
Nicole FranceAnalyst, Constellation Research
However, using C/4HANA as a one-stop repository for managing product data will require users to change how they work, France said.
"The reason tools like these are getting more attention is that companies are figuring out that when they rethink [workflow] processes, it really doesn't make sense to have a bunch of isolated islands of information," France said.
However, even with Product Content Hub, SAP customers are likely to continue using some separate content management repositories, such as Box, OpenText and Microsoft Excel.
"The idea here is not to tell customers to stop using any existing tools that do the job," Hijal said.
SAP went live with Product Content Hub early this year, but waited to formally announce it to iron out technical issues and add a few features, Hijal said. Monthly subscription pricing varies, depending on the number of products on the SaaS platform and the number of distribution channels.
