Ask buyers what frustrates them about their PIM and most of the answers come from two platforms, Salsify and Syndigo, and from one job: getting product content to retailers. The complaints follow that job. Interfaces are cumbersome for everyday edits, syndication struggles to keep pace as retailers change what they require, the data model is slow to bend, and setup takes specialists and months. Cost frustrates buyers in a particular way — several say their retailers' requirements leave them little practical choice of syndication platform, so there is little to shop around. What differs is which platform draws which, and the response is mostly to live with it: in these interviews, buyers more often cut part of a contract than replace the platform. Core PIM complaints — governance, workflow, master data — are thinner here, and so are complaints about Akeneo, Stibo Systems and other PIMs. For the ratings and the pre-purchase view, see what PIM buyers wish they'd known.
The six complaints — graded
Each complaint is classified by how buyers in these interviews typically respond: tolerating the issue, working around it, or reconsidering the contract. These are observed responses, not fixed severity ratings; the same limitation may be manageable for one company and unacceptable for another. Two of the six rest mainly on one platform's users, and say so.
Hard to use day to day
The most common complaint, and it lands on both platforms. A Salsify user says “it's not the most intuitive platform to use,” and another finds it “a bit cumbersome for single item editing, requiring multiple clicks and page loads, forcing reliance on manual export-import cycles.” Of Syndigo, one user says “I don't think it's very intuitive,” and a Stibo Systems user who expected a more dynamic platform with fewer clicks says “it hasn't really, it's just been more of the same.” Buyers mostly live with usability limits, and other Salsify customers praise its interface — “It also has a great user interface,” one says. One company that replaced Salsify included the interface and customer service among its complaints — “it was clunky. The customer service was kind of a challenge.” — although those were not necessarily its only reasons for switching.
Named for this: Salsify · Syndigo · Stibo Systems · inRiver
Syndication lags behind the retailers
The complaint about the core job. Retailers change what they require, and buyers describe platforms that do not keep up: “I don't believe they've kept up to speed with helping us be able to seamlessly syndicate content because of that. We run into a lot of errors,” says one Salsify user. Another notes “The tool isn't always aware if the content is changed on the marketplaces,” and a third feels the vendor “oversold how easy they worked with Amazon and other channels.” A retailer receiving content through Syndigo sees the gap from the other side: “There are a lot of gaps where they have the content, but we're not seeing it reflected on our side.” Buyers bring in outside help or fill gaps by hand; none here leaves over it.
Named for this: Salsify · Syndigo
The data model is rigid, and slow to bend
The complaint about fitting a business's products into the system. A Stibo Systems user calls it “not a very flexible model”; on Salsify, “any personalization or specific needs development is very slow and expensive.” A Syndigo user says the platform “has very low tolerance for inputting the wrong field,” and an Akeneo user that “any sort of customizations is sometimes difficult to do.” Buyers spend development time or build around it, and none cites it as a reason to leave.
Named for this: Syndigo · Salsify · Stibo Systems · Akeneo
Cost with no real alternative
The complaint is less about the price than about being unable to shop around. Several brands describe limited practical choice over their syndication provider because of the requirements or preferred integrations of the retailers they sell through: “the lack of choice in offerings in the marketplace frustrates me a little bit,” says a Salsify and Syndigo user, and another, of Syndigo, will “continue to use that almost as a toll road if you will.” Others name the bill directly — “It is expensive and requires a good setup,” says a Salsify user — or the per-item charges for listing products with a retailer. For those buyers, changing platforms may mean rebuilding feeds, finding another accepted delivery method or risking disruption to an important retail channel, so they mostly pay it. For the mechanics, see what buyers actually pay for a PIM.
Named for this: Salsify · Syndigo · Stibo Systems
It takes specialists and months to stand up
A complaint mostly from Salsify's users. One says “you need a degree in coding to run it effectively”; another that “it is a complex platform to administer if you do not have the native knowledge base or team to go through and work it.” Setup takes time too: “It took us many months to get it working and in the right place.” A Stibo Systems user describes the same need for “technical knowledge and multiple platforms you have to log in to for different configurations.” Buyers train, pay for expert help and push through — one calls Salsify “a good platform once it's been set up.”
Named for this: Salsify · Stibo Systems · Akeneo
Analytics discrepancies undermine buyers' confidence
A complaint from Syndigo's users, and the one behind the clearest repeated contract action here. Several Syndigo customers report discrepancies and data-quality problems in the content analytics they bought; differences between reports and retailer listings can have several causes, but these buyers found the issues persistent or serious enough to question the product's value: “their data integrity is really poor,” says one, and another that “We have found instances of information in their report that didn't match what was live on Amazon.” A third says “we do not get insights, we do not get a roadmap.” Two companies cut the analytics while keeping the platform — “So we canceled that part of our membership,” one says — the clearest repeated contract action in these interviews.
Named for this: Syndigo
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The counter-current: what PIM users don't complain about
The reach is the reason buyers stay. Salsify is praised for being “so well integrated with so many different retailer platforms,” and for reliability — “It is strong, robust, doesn't break.” A Syndigo user says “It's a lot better than the system that we had previously,” and an Akeneo user that “There's really not that much that they can't do.” Stibo Systems' service draws praise: “they're a phone call away whenever we need them.” Outages and data loss are almost never raised. And switching cost keeps buyers in place: “Workflows are a huge time investment to build, and to have to rebuild all of that, another PIM, I don't think I would want to do that.” Before you conclude the platform is the problem, separate what the vendor controls — syndication coverage, pricing, analytics — from what depends on your data model and the team running it; the second will follow you to any PIM.
What this means — whether you run one or you're buying one
If you already run a PIM or syndication platform, the common complaints are mostly worked around: buyers tolerate the interface, bring in outside help when retailers change their requirements, spend development time on customization, and accept higher costs when retailer requirements leave them with few practical alternatives. Most complaints lead to workarounds rather than replacement. The clearest repeated contract action concerns Syndigo's analytics: two buyers dropped the add-on while keeping syndication. A separate company replaced Salsify after several frustrations, including usability and customer service. If you're evaluating one, our recommendations — not practices buyers describe — are to list the retailers you syndicate to and check each against the platform's actual connectors, to ask how quickly it has updated when a major retailer changed its attribute requirements, to budget specialist time for setup, and to validate analytics against live retailer listings, check how often the data refreshes, and investigate material discrepancies before using the reports to make decisions. For what triggers a move, see why brands switch PIM systems.
Common questions
What are the most common complaints about PIM software?
Among the Salsify and Syndigo users who make up most of these interviews, six complaints recur: an interface that is hard to use day to day, syndication that does not keep up with changing retailer requirements, a data model that is rigid or slow to customize, cost that is hard to shop around because retailer requirements leave few practical alternatives, setups that take specialists and months, and — for Syndigo's analytics — discrepancies that undermined buyers' confidence. Most are lived with or worked around rather than acted on.
What are the biggest complaints about Salsify?
Salsify users in these interviews most often say it takes specialist knowledge and months to set up and run, that its interface can be cumbersome for everyday edits, that syndication has struggled to keep pace with changing retailer requirements, and that it is expensive with few real alternatives. Others praise its interface and how well it integrates with retailer platforms, and most stay.
What are the biggest complaints about Syndigo?
Syndigo users in these interviews most often raise discrepancies in reporting and analytics data, an interface that is not very intuitive, a data model with little tolerance for errors, and a cost they cannot easily shop around because their retailers' requirements leave few practical alternatives. Some cut the analytics add-on while keeping Syndigo for syndication, which several call the best or only option for reaching certain retailers.
Why do companies switch PIM platforms?
Rarely over these complaints. In these interviews one company replaced Salsify with Catsy, citing the interface and customer service, and companies left Informatica for Akeneo and for Stibo Systems. More often buyers cut part of a contract — two dropped Syndigo's analytics over data discrepancies — or stay because retailer requirements leave few alternatives. Most PIM moves start from spreadsheets or homegrown systems rather than another PIM.
Are these complaints reasons to switch PIM platforms?
Mostly not, in how existing customers respond. Buyers tolerate clunky interfaces, bring in outside help for syndication and setup, spend development time on customization, and accept higher costs when retailer requirements leave them with few practical alternatives. The clearest repeated contract action was cancelling Syndigo's analytics add-on over data discrepancies, while keeping the platform. That is how current customers behave, not a judgment that these limitations are acceptable for a new buyer.
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