April 2026 Product Release: Smarter Ways to Work With Your Product Data grade

This month's release makes Inriver easier to use, offers more powerful automation for data transformations, and unlocks new native analytics for online distribution. Whether you're searching for products, building business rules, or sharing content through Brand Store, these updates help you do it faster and with less friction.

In this release, we're giving you the power to:

• Find exactly what you need by asking in plain language with Inspire's new AI-powered Query Assistant.
• Automate date-based business rules with new Date and Time-based functions in the Expression Engine.
• Understand how your Brand Stores are being used with built-in usage analytics.

Here's the detail on everything that's new for your business this month:

Ask Your Data a Question — And Get an Instant Answer

Finding the right product data in a PIM shouldn't require technical expertise. The new AI-powered Query Assistant makes it as simple as describing what you're looking for. 

With Query Assistant, you don't need expertise in your data model, field names, operators, or CVL structures. Simply tell the Assistant what you need in plain language, and Inriver builds the query for you. Type something like "find all SKUs with a launch date in the next 30 days" or "show me all items in the air conditioning category without installation guides," and the Assistant interprets your intent, maps it to your data model, and generates a structured query — which opens directly in the Enrich view with results ready to explore. Here's how it works:

From there, it works exactly like any query you'd build manually. You can refine it in the Query Editor, save it for reuse, or share it with colleagues. The Assistant is a faster starting point, not a separate system — everything it creates integrates seamlessly into your existing workflow.

For teams that rely on Inriver daily, this means less time waiting, fewer support requests, and more autonomy for every user regardless of their technical background.

Query Assistant is available now for any organization with an Inspire license. It needs to be activated per environment. Please contact Inriver Support to get started or speak to your Customer Success Manager about licensing Inspire. 

Smarter Automation With Date and Time Logic

Expression Engine is a powerful tool for building business rules and automation logic directly in Inriver. 

This release adds a full set of DateTime functions to Expression Engine, giving you native date and time logic across workflows, field conditions, and completeness rules.

This opens up a new category of automation, eliminating the need for manual workarounds or custom code to perform any calculation or comparison based on when something happened. Examples include actions that are triggered by how long ago a product was updated, or whether a deadline has passed. Now, you can flag products that haven't been updated within a defined period, validate that launch dates fall within an acceptable range, trigger workflow logic based on time elapsed, and build completeness rules that factor in deadlines — all without leaving Inriver.

If you’re already using Expression Engine, then DateTime functions are available to you now, no further activation or configuration is required. 

If you're not yet using Expression Engine, speak to your Customer Success Manager about getting started. It's available to all Inriver customers at no extra cost but needs to be activated per environment. 

See How Your Brand Stores Are Performing

When you share product content with distributors, resellers and other stakeholders through Brand Store, you need to know it's reaching the right people. With new Brand Store Analytics, your store admins get built-in visibility into how that content is being consumed — including store access and data downloads at the store level.

This gives you a clearer picture of stakeholder engagement across your stores, helping you track adoption, identify where attention is needed, and confidently demonstrate the value your Brand Stores are delivering. 

Analytics are built natively into the latest version of Brand Store, require no configuration, and are included at no additional cost. They are available to any Inriver user with the existing BrandStore_Admin permission. This new functionality goes live on April 21.