Considering adding ecommerce as part of your Sitecore upgrade?
By: Sitecore MVP Amanda Shiga
If you’re considering adding ecommerce as part of your Sitecore upgrade, you have a number of options. We give you an overview of the various available ecommerce platforms.
If you’ve got a Sitecore upgrade coming down the pipeline, you’re likely starting to think about changes you’d like to make, ways to optimize based on data and analytics you’ve collected since your last upgrade, and what it will mean for the modules, add-ons and connectors you’ve got running on your site currently.
Ecommerce is a common addition that has come up in our conversations with Sitecore owners in the midst of an upgrade. Whether it’s as a result of a change in business goals or a new addition to an organization’s offerings, stakeholders are always concerned with how it can best be integrated with the customer experience platform.
Our advice differs based on the client, but we always start with 3 key questions:
3 biggest decision factors
1. How much benefit would you be getting by having products and ecommerce functionality served entirely by Sitecore? For example:
- Streamlining workflows
- One-stop management of content and products
- Use of a common taxonomy
- Ability to optimize the shopping experience natively using DMS for testing and personalization
2. What is your organization’s tipping point on volume of products, volume of transactions, complexity of pricing/tax/fulfillment model and ERP integration requirements? This will determine where a best-of-breed platform may be a stronger consideration.
3. What is your infrastructure footprint? Some of the options below are a simple Sitecore module install, while others need substantially more than that.
Now let’s take a look at what’s out there for Sitecore ecommerce connectors:
Sitecore Ecommerce Option
Sitecore Ecommerce Services (SES)
Cost
Free with Sitecore; available on SDN
Details
- This module consists of a framework with a flexible API that enables the implementation of a custom ecommerce solution in Sitecore. Please note that this module is fully deprecated after version 7.2 and has been replaced by Commerce Connect, which facilitates the integration of third-party ecommerce platforms with Sitecore XP.
Sitecore Ecommerce Option
Cost
Lower-end pricing; both upfront and subscription models based on number of instances
Details
- This product is built on top of Sitecore Ecommerce Services (SES) and optimized for administration directly within Sitecore’s interfaces and with the DMS, including a user-friendly faceted search and products stored in Sitecore. Some customization usually required but very well equipped with API hooks along every transaction step and ships with a complete quickstart solution to accelerate deployment
Sitecore Ecommerce Option
Cost
Lower-end pricing; subscription model based on number of instances
Details
- This product started in the market as an Umbraco integration, and since adding the Sitecore integration they have also focused on shop management embedded directly in Sitecore’s native interfaces and offer a quickstart solution to accelerate deployment.
Sitecore Ecommerce Option
Cost
Enterprise pricing
Details
- Insite as a standalone product is ranked as a “strong performer” for enterprise B2B commerce suites by Forrester. Insite has a separate products database, customer management and ERP integration, and the Sitecore connector offers a separate management console and replicates products as Sitecore items.
Sitecore Ecommerce Option
Cost
Enterprise pricing
Details
Sitecore Commerce comes in two flavours: Powered By Commerce Server is a the newly branded Commerce Server acquisition, now integrated with Sitecore; a standalone version is also available.
- The strength of the product is management of multiple core catalogs and merchandizing functions, and it is a sophisticated platform best suited to enterprise-level requirements and performance.
- Additional thoughts in a couple of blog posts we’ve written on this topic
Sitecore Commerce also comes as a product Powered By MS Dynamics, with a focus on the retail vertical.
Regardless of which option you go with, if you’re considering a Sitecore upgrade with an ecommerce component, be sure to do your due diligence and figure out which solution is right for you. Still on the hunt for the right implementation partner? Luckily we’re pros at both upgrades and ecommerce. Check out our new Sitecore upgrade service offering for more information.
