PIM Approvals gives your team one place inside PXM to send product information, such as titles, bullets, and descriptions, for review, collect sign-off from the right people in the right order, and keep a clear record of who approved what and when.
Instead of exporting spreadsheets, chasing feedback over email and Slack, and copying changes back in by hand, reviewers work directly in PXM. When the last step signs off, the approved content is saved back to your products automatically. The result: content gets to market faster, with fewer back-and-forth loops and a full audit trail.
Looking for images? See Image Approvals: Review and Approve Images in PXM.
Watch: PIM Approvals
How to send product information for approval, build approval steps, and review and approve content.
Key concepts
Approval flow — a single review request: the products being reviewed, plus the steps and people who need to sign off.
Step — one stage of review (for example, "SEO team" or "Brand team"). Steps run in order. When a step is complete, the next step's approvers are notified.
Approvers — the people assigned to a step. Each step can require all reviewers to approve, or let any one approver move it forward.
Workflow template — a saved chain of steps and approvers you can reuse, so you don't rebuild it every time.
Watcher — someone, such as a manager, who follows progress and gets notified but doesn't approve or edit.
Description — instructions for your reviewers (for example, "Review bullets 1–3 and add bullets 4–5"). It's included in the notification they receive.
Activity — the comments and history for an approval, showing what changed, who changed it, and when.
Who can use Approvals
Approvals is available to all Pattern PXM customers. PIM Approvals and Image Approvals are included with every account, along with Drafts for choosing exactly which attributes to send for review.
Starting an approval: only users with the Admin or Super Admin role can start an approval, for both product information and images. If you don't see Start Approval Flow or Enable Approvals Upload Flow, check your role. If a teammate needs to start approvals, a Super Admin can update their role.
Reviewing an approval: anyone an Admin or Super Admin adds as an approver or watcher is notified and can open the approval from their notification.
Learn more about roles in User Roles and Permissions in Pattern PXM.
Send and review product information
Send product information for approval
Open the Products tab and select the product or products you want reviewed. You can select several at once.
Open the Batch Action menu (the three-dot menu in the bottom-right action bar) and click Start Approval Flow.
Choose how to select the attributes reviewers will see:
Map a marketplace template (most teams) — pick a Channel and a Template. Only that template's attributes are included.
Select specific attributes — choose a draft, then hand-pick the attributes to review. Drafts are available on every account; if you haven't created one yet, set it up before using this option.
Click Continue to Review and check the preview of attributes and products (for example, Bullets 1–5 and Description).
Click Send for Approval, then fill in the approval details:
Name — anything you like. A channel + event + month name (for example, "Amazon Prime Day July") makes it easy to find later.
Description — clear instructions for reviewers.
Watcher (optional) — someone who should follow progress.
Workflow template (optional) — select a saved template to skip building steps.
Build your steps: name each step, add one or more approvers, and choose whether all reviewers must approve. Turn on the option that lets approvers make edits if they should be able to change content, not just approve it. Hover the info (i) icons for details on each option.
Add more steps as needed. You can add a step at the end, or insert one between two existing steps.
Optional: click Save Workflow Template so this approver chain is available next time.
Click Send. Approvers on the first step are notified by email and in PXM.
Review and approve product information
Open the notification you received and click Review.
Review the attributes for each product in the grid.
To leave feedback, right-click a cell and add a comment. Comments appear in the Activity panel, tagged with the product and field.
If your step allows edits, type directly in the cell or in the edit box below the grid. You can update existing values or fill in empty fields. Edits save automatically, and PXM warns you before you leave with unsaved changes.
Select the product, then click Save changes to come back later, or Approve when it's ready.
When your step is complete, the approval moves to the next step and those approvers are notified. When the final step approves, PXM shows the approval as complete and saves the approved content back to the products.
Note: If you approve something by mistake, you can unapprove it. To send content back for changes, leave a comment on the cell explaining what needs to change.
Track your approvals
In the left sidebar, click Approval Flows to see every approval, including its status, number of products and steps, who created it.
Click View Details on an approval to open it.
Open Activity and switch between Comments and History. On a comment, click Go to cell to jump straight to that field in the grid.
History records approvals, unapprovals, and edits with who made them and when, including previous and new values.
Tips and best practices
Start small. Pilot Approvals with one team or product line, then expand once your steps are working well.
Keep reviews focused. Use Map a marketplace template so reviewers only see the fields that matter for that channel.
Write clear descriptions. Tell reviewers exactly what to check, such as "check for SEO" or "review bullets 1–3 and add bullets 4–5."
Save workflow templates for approval chains you run often, such as content team → brand team → final review.
Use watchers for managers who need visibility without approving.
Select variants, not parents. Parent products have no content of their own to approve, so select the variants or standalone products instead.
Need an offline review? Export the approval to an Excel (.xlsx) file for reviewers, such as legal or regulatory teams, who work outside PXM.
FAQ
Why is Start Approval Flow greyed out or blocked?
Usually one of these: the content is already in an open approval, only parent products are selected, the selection mixes product types that don't fit one template, or you aren't an Admin or Super Admin. Only those roles can start an approval.
Can different people approve at different stages?
Yes. Each step has its own approvers, and steps run in order. Each step can require every approver or any one of them.
Can a reviewer reject product information?
Not as a separate status today. Reviewers approve content, and an approval can be undone. To request changes, leave a comment on the cell. Image approvals support both approve and reject.
Does a watcher need to approve?
No. Watchers follow progress and receive notifications, but they can't approve or edit.
Who gets notified, and how?
Approvers get an email and an in-app notification when their step starts. The creator is notified when the approval is complete. Tagging someone in a comment doesn't send a notification yet.
Can I add or change approvers after an approval has started?
Yes. The creator can add or remove approvers on the step that's currently active.
Does completing an approval publish my content to marketplaces?
No. Approval saves the approved content in PXM. Publishing to a channel is still a separate step.
Need help?
Want a walkthrough or help setting up your first approval workflow? Reach out to your Customer Success Manager or email pxmsupport@pattern.com.