Perfion

Product Information Management (PIM) solutions for businesses with a large volume of products requiring multi-channel, multi-language capabilities.

What is Perfion?

Perfion is a global company founded in Aaaborg, Denmark in 2002. It specialises in cloud-basedf (SaaS) Product Information Management (PIM) solutions for businesses with a large volume of products requiring multi-channel, multi-language capabilities. It is headquartered in Denmark, with offices in the United States, Germany, Benelux, and the UK. Its mission is to boost productivity and creativity for product-centric companies, giving them full control over their product data.

What is Perfion used for?

Perfion PIM is marketed as an easy-to-use, no-code product information management (PIM) solution. It targets organisations looking for a complete PIM platform with data management, data modelling, digital asset management, and life cycle management. It provides the capabilities to push high-quality product information seamlessly to print and digital publications, apps, online stores, data pools, and websites. Perfion PIM can integrate with existing IT-platforms and handles continuous changes in requirements at no extra cost.

Perfion Features & Capabilities

Perfion for eCommerce

Modern product information management systems must allow businesses to leverage eCommerce to reach new markets by offering fast and efficient scalability. That is why Perfion and eCommerce capabilities for its PIM offers its customers the capabilities to:

  • speedily import and process data from suppliers and data pools.
  • Easily enrich product information from a centralised product data hub.
  • create multi-language versions of product texts.
  • Efficiently manage and process digital assets like product images, videos, and other rich media types.
  • Quickly and easily distribute updated product data to major marketplaces and Amazon, Google Shopping as well as any other channel in any format
  • fully control how product information is categorised and displayed on the online channels to which it is syndicated

Perfion PIM Solution

The Perfion PIM solution can be cloud-based or on-premises and allows users to create and maintain any kind of product data. Perfion PIM solution covers the following areas:

  • Data management
  • Data mapping
  • Data modelling
  • DAM
  • Life cycle management
  • Translation and language versioning

Perfion DAM Solution

Perfion DAM solutions are served by the Perfion Asset Portal, a single point of entry for users to instantly access up-to-date media such as images, pictures, video, audio, and animations, directly from the Perfion PIM system.
The key features of the Perfion Asset Portal enable users to:

  • Distribute digital assets to partners and third parties (including multi-language media descriptions)
  • Configure digital assets and metadata to share on the Perfion Asset Portal
  • Guarantee a Single Source of Truth for product data quality: updates are reflected on the portal in real time
  • Apply corporate branding and introductory pages to all assets
  • Define and control user access at category-level
  • monitor user activity for historical tracking of changes made to product data
  • download assets in multiple formats (with multiple interface languages available)

Perfion Workflows

Perfion workflows streamline and automate operations as a guarantee of ensuring consistent and valid product data. It deploys the proprietary Perfion Item Triggers tool, which is an automated action executed by the Perfion PIM system when an event occurs involving a specific SKU or product line. It is a time saver, as countless tasks can be automated, raising the bar for product information quality.

Perfion Item Triggers works together with Perfion Actions, which is a data mapping framework enabling users to create a customised series of sequential steps. The built-in Perfion Scheduler then allows users to specify execution schedules for each Action Map.

Perfion Syndication

Perfion syndication can publish up to date, accurate and enriched product information across all channels and in formats and styles which satisfy the most stringent requirements. The range of destinations to which it can publish include:

  • eCommerce platforms
  • eCatalogs and classification systems
  • product catalogs (Adobe InDesign)
  • Web content management systems
  • Datasheets
  • Marketplaces and webstores

Perfion syndication can manage the most intensive and sophisticated of product information and these capabilities ensure a good degree of future-proofing regarding publishing across an omnichannel landscape for what is yet to come in eCommerce.

Perfion Onboarding

Perfion onboarding Suppliers addresses the everyday issue of product data being ingested in different file formats (Excel, CSV, XML) with data structured according to their data models. The Perfion onboarding tool, Perfion Actions, allows users to import data as and when it is received, using the previously mentioned action map to create a unique portal for each supplier to map their formats to what the user has set up as their Perfion formats.

Perfion Migration

Perfion migration uses its partners PIM to provide support for a migration sub-project. One instance indicates the thought Perfion puts into this complex area. For a typical customer profile, data from the existing file servers, image databases and so on, need to be integrated into the new PIM solution. The legacy ERP system can be connected bi-directionally via API interfaces. For data quality purposes, Perfion migration services will connect with the most suitable partner to assist customers with auditing, cleansing and validating product data from legacy systems.

Perfion Data Modelling

As mentioned above, Perfion Data Modelling capabilities are enhanced by the Mapping framework which can create customised Action Maps.
For example, Perfion actions can transform various formats to the correct data exchange format (BMEcat), which saves time and effort on what would be a time-consuming task.
Perfion data modelling is built on the foundation of data inheritance. When a user generates a new product in the PIM, the product “inherits” those data which it has in common with other products in the same product group. Using one simple Dialog it is possible to create:

  • any imaginable feature
  • an unlimited number of features such as numbers, texts, dates, images, or all other files
  • Remote features that link directly to data from other data sources

That means users can define features to act exactly as required. For example, to define the weight of a product, a simple number would be needed.

Perfion Support

Perfion support offers a support desk for the most immediate of queries, and for UK users, British partners and customers will find local support guidance easier to access when they need it. On the website, Perfion support provides a knowledge base, a Perfion PIM Wiki, a YouTube channel, and downloadable guides and fact sheets. For implementation in the UK, Perfion support for a PIM implementation project is usually provided by their own consultants or in collaboration with local partners.

Perfion integrations

Perfion integrations leverage open APIs for its PIM solution by integrating at depth with existing IT infrastructure, such as Web Content Management systems, ERPs, and eCommerce solutions. Perfion Integrations connect smoothly with a number of common platforms and systems, including Microsoft Dynamics AX, standard ERP systems, most web content management systems, eCommerce marketplaces (like Magento Commerce and Shopify), MS Office, and Adobe InDesign. This covers the large majority of applications needed to create added-value product content.

Perfion partners

Perfion partners come in two categories:

Solution Partners resell Perfion PIMs and have the capacity to implement and support the solution, as well as train new users. More ‘tech’ oriented than strictly business-oriented, these partners are expert in specialist micro-sections of a PIM implementation project, as well as in managed services.

Business Partners sell Perfion PIM but are not equipped to perform the actual implementation of the solution. Typically, these partners are involved at the inception of a PIM project, guiding, and assisting in planning, data road mapping, PIM architecture and business case development.

Perfion partners also create a number of add-ins for the Perfion PIM solution. We read above about Channable (for DAM), but other partner add-ons and extensions include Easy catalog, Shopware, PIMedia, and PIM Connect.

Perfion pricing

Perfion pricing is unavailable on review sites but on the Perfion website, it does explicitly mention that pricing depends entirely on the potential customer’s circumstances, hence the invitation to contact them with details like ERP model, number of SKUs, and so on in order to get a customised quote.

Perfion reviews

Perfion reviews are generally positive, with multiple entries for the following:

  • Eases segmentation of data without needing to create new instances
  • Affordable, fast, and simple to implement.
  • Easy to use and flexible in adapting to specific needs
  • Very proactive Perfion support
  • Improves business performance through its capacity to manage descriptions, images, certifications, compliance regulations, tech specs, drawings, SEO information and more, as well as being the reliable single source for product catalogs, flyers, websites, and e-commerce
  • recently added many new connectors and helpful feature

In 2021, the Perfion PIM system was officially recognized as one of the leaders with the categorization as Vendor of Merit in Ventana Research’s Value Index for PIM systems. There are not many reviews for Perfion PIM online, but:

Gartner Peer Insights rates Perfion PIM at 4.9
SaaSWorthy rates Perfion PIM at 5.0 (2 reviews)
B2B software Guide gives an ‘expert’ score of 10/10

Perfion competitors

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