PIES (Product Information Exchange Standard)
PIES is the Auto Care Association's data standard for exchanging automotive aftermarket product information — descriptions, pricing, packaging, digital assets, warranty terms, and hazardous-materials data — as machine-readable XML that manufacturers, warehouse distributors, and retailers all parse the same way. It organizes item data into segments (Description, Price, Attribute, Package, Digital File Information, and more) and depends on the Auto Care Association's shared PCdb and PAdb databases, so a brake pad from one supplier and a competitor's use identical category and attribute definitions. PIES 8.0, released in April 2026 alongside ACES 5.0, is the current version.
What a PIES file actually carries
A PIES record is built from named segments, not a flat list of fields: an Item segment (part number, brand code), Description segment (short, extended, marketing, and slang descriptions), Price segment (list, jobber, MAP, and other price types), Attribute segment (dimensions, material, performance specs), Package segment (weight and dimensions at each pack level — each, inner pack, master case), and a Digital File Information segment for images, PDFs, and video, each tagged with a usage and type code. An Extended Product Information (EXPI) segment covers warranty terms, hazardous-materials data, and kit component breakdowns. Files are typically exchanged as XML over FTP or EDI, or pulled through a catalog aggregator, and validated against the Auto Care Association's published schema before a trading partner will accept them.
PIES depends on shared controlled vocabulary, not free text
The Attribute segment doesn't accept arbitrary text — it references attribute IDs from PAdb (Product Attribute Database), the Auto Care Association's shared list of attribute names and valid values for things like color, material, horsepower, and flow rate. Category and part-type assignment comes from PCdb (Product Classification Database), the same reference PIES and ACES both use. A brand owner is identified by a four-character code from the Brand Table rather than by whatever name a given distributor happens to use internally. A supplier subscribes to PAdb — which bundles PCdb and Brand Table access — to build compliant files; an attribute value that doesn't map to a current PAdb ID is exactly the kind of thing that gets silently dropped by a receiving system rather than rejected outright.
PIES and ACES are two halves of one catalog
PIES carries what a part is; ACES carries what it fits — the vehicle applications built from VCdb, Qdb, and the same PCdb part-terminology IDs PIES uses. A supplier ships both files for the same part, joined by part number and PCdb ID, to warehouse distributors, marketplaces, and fitment-based storefronts. The two standards ship on a coordinated release cadence for exactly this reason: ACES 5.0 and PIES 8.0 both launched in April 2026 after the same industry review, so the fitment and product-attribute sides stay validated against consistent reference data.
Where PIES enrichment breaks
Two failure modes recur. First, attribute values written as free text instead of a valid PAdb ID — many receiving catalogs drop the value rather than reject the file, so a gap shows up later as an empty filter or a failed fitment lookup, not as an error at intake. Second, brand mismatches: a supplier's internal brand name doesn't map cleanly to the Brand Table code a distributor's system expects, which breaks part number cross-reference lookups downstream. Cleaning up a PIES feed means mapping every attribute and category to a current PAdb/PCdb ID before publishing — filling more description fields doesn't fix either problem.
Frequently asked questions
How is PIES different from a standard product feed like a Google Shopping feed?
A Google Shopping feed describes a listing for one retail channel using Google's own attribute schema. PIES describes a part using the automotive aftermarket's own shared classification (PCdb/PAdb), independent of any single retailer, so the same PIES file can feed a warehouse distributor's ERP, a marketplace listing, and a fitment-based storefront without rewriting attributes for each.
Do I need to license anything to use PIES?
Yes. Building or receiving PIES-compliant files requires an Auto Care Association subscription — a PAdb subscription includes PAdb, PCdb, and Brand Table access, the reference databases every valid PIES attribute and brand code is drawn from.
What's the difference between PIES and ACES?
PIES carries product-level data — descriptions, pricing, packaging, digital assets, hazmat, attributes. ACES carries vehicle-fitment data — which year/make/model/engine combinations a part fits. They're companion standards published on the same release cadence and validated against overlapping reference databases; PCdb is shared by both.
Is PIES XML the only format aftermarket suppliers use?
PIES dominates for automotive aftermarket product data specifically, but suppliers often maintain EDI transactions for the same trading relationships, and increasingly attach a GS1 GTIN alongside the PIES part number for retailers that require one.
What changed in PIES 8.0?
PIES 8.0, released April 2026 alongside ACES 5.0, added Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) packaging data to support packaging-waste regulations, support for multiple package configurations at a single pack level, and digital-asset file hashing and record sequencing for better data validation.