The Akeneo PIM App for Salesforce offers two architectural paths to store and manage your synchronized PIM data within Salesforce: the default Custom Objects mode and the advanced Standard Objects mode. This flexibility allows you to select the optimal storage target independently for each data domain according to your Salesforce environment readiness.
Architectural overview
By default, the connector retains backward compatibility by routing all synchronized categories, translations, variation axes, and assets into Akeneo Custom Objects. However, if you are leveraging Salesforce Commerce Cloud or native Salesforce standard capabilities, you can gradually transition specific domains to use Salesforce Standard Objects.
Domain target mapping
The app operates on a per-domain target mode selector. The following layout details the mapping between Akeneo PIM domains, the default Akeneo custom storage, and the available Salesforce standard targets:
| Domain | Target mode selector | Standard target | Default target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Category target settings | ProductCatalog, ProductCategory and ProductCategoryProduct | Akeneo category custom objects Akeneo_Product_Catalog__c, Akeneo_Product_Category__c, Akeneo_Product_Category_Product__c |
| Translations | Translation target settings | Salesforce Data Translation | Akeneo variation-axis custom object Akeneo_Variant_Axes_Detail__c |
| Variation Axes | Variation axes target settings | ProductAttribute variation data | Akeneo variation-axis custom object Akeneo_Variant_Axes_Detail__c |
| Assets | Assets target settings | Salesforce CMS / ProductMedia | Akeneo asset custom object Akeneo_Product_Asset__c |
| Picklists | Picklist values | Tooling API metadata via Salesforce Self | No metadata update unless enabled |
| Associations | Transfer Associations option | No Standard target mode | Akeneo association custom object Akeneo_Product_Association__c |
The migration approach: one domain at a time
Moving from Custom Objects to Standard Objects does not require an all-or-nothing migration. Because each domain can be toggled independently, you should adopt a phased migration strategy based on your Salesforce configuration readiness.
- Keep it Custom by default: If a specific domain still lacks its necessary Salesforce prerequisites (e.g., Salesforce CMS is not yet fully configured), keep that specific domain target set to Akeneo Custom Objects while other domains move to Standard.
- Isolate Commerce Setup: Do not treat the general Salesforce Commerce Setup Assistant as a strict blocker for the entire connector. Commerce site and store readiness are only required for the domains that explicitly interact with standard Commerce objects.
- Validate before scaling: Always perform a test synchronization with a minimal dataset (such as a single short hierarchy or one variation parent) immediately after switching any domain to Standard mode to ensure configurations are correct.