Introduction
If you are undergoing digital transformation, or evaluating your enterprises'
current digital commerce platform for fitness for purpose moving forward, there are
many aspects that need to be considered. This article is an attempt to filter out
the noise
and focus on the core aspects that are most important to an enterprise level
customer as a starting point down the path of selecting platform partners to invite
to a request for information or request of proposal. The
focus of the article is currently on Enterprise B2C/D2C commerce platforms.
Enterprise Integrations
ERP/CRM integration will form a core consideration when selecting an enterprise
digital commerce solution. Many platforms will come with OTS plugins/connectors for
popular ERP/CRMs and/or APIs for custom integrations. Personalisation and analytics
integration
will be another factor for consideration though most enterprise digital commerce
platforms now come in an experience suite that includes both. Choosing a capable
systems integrator or having one recommended by a platform
provider will also be critically important.
Mobile and Headless
Enterprises already know that they must go mobile first due to the continued growth
in the use of mobile devices especially in developing natures where it is common for
consumers to own a mobile device but not a desktop, laptop or tablet. Headless
commerce
platforms allow for the solutions to be integrated into presentation
platforms/clients via RESTful APIs which requires a developer to integrate but
allows for any type of storefront, like mobile apps, kiosks, billboards,
smart mirrors, wearables, and vending machines.
Note:
We will endeavour to update the article periodically to include additional
platforms, maintain platform features and cite additional findings from various
research organisations to support the findings expressed here.
The Platforms
Shopify Plus
A more limited enterprise commerce platform which translates to reduced costs (both
implementation and running) when compared to competitor enterprise digital
platforms. The platform's SME offering has been gaining traction at the expense of
more complex
competitors and due to its fully SAAS offering. Shopify Plus is recognised as a
Challenger on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce (Q3, 2019).
Cost Model: Base Subscription + GMV
Solution Model: SaaS only
Datacentre Provider: Google + Fastly CDN
Positives: Rapid time to launch, low cost of ownership,
secure cloud hosting, headless, customisable themes, built in SEO
Negatives: Support for complex product data, more native
product types, native filtering, support for multi-store, limited SEO, limited
international customisation support, limited addons/apps
Acquia Commerce Manager (Drupal Commerce)
This open source enterprise commerce platform comes with a lower implementation cost
due to the nature of open source and a broad developer base due to the low barrier
to entry for its developer community. The commerce solution requires the drupal CMS
be installed. Aquia's managed service provide for enterprise level support and
secure hosting in the cloud.
Cost Model: Quote based subscription pricing
Solution Model: Hosted or SaaS
Datacentre Provider: AWS
Positives: Seamless integration to CMS, Headless commerce,
Secure cloud hosting, personalised product integration as dynamic content in
omni-channel customer experience, Scalable and secure platform, Real-time
customer profiles, Preconfigured components for faster time to market.
Negatives: Cost transparency, no decoupling from drupal cms,
higher ongoing security cost, support for 3rd party extensions is not covered by
Acquia, No China offering at the moment.
Sitecore Commerce
Sitecore Experience Commerce offers a proprietary build refactored into the existing
Site Experience Platform, and as such its tightly coupled with the platform. ASP.NET
Core 2 support and Microsoft based solution.
Cost Model: Quote based subscription pricing
Solution Model: Hosted or SaaS
Datacentre Provider: Azure
Positives: Flexible integration, headless, prebuilt store
using SXA for faster time to market. multi-site, multi-brand and multi-language
deployments, B2C B2B Marketplace business models, Buy online, ship-to-store,
ship-from-store, Scalable and secure, Integrated with Experience Platform and
Content Hub, Commerce Connect API to integrate to ERP and CRM, Real-time
customer profiles
Negatives: Complex implementation, Opaque pricing model, High
TCO,
Adobe Commerce
Adobe purchase Magento Commerce in 2018 and integrated it into their best of breed
Experience Platform. Adobe has the widest range of integrated services for
enterprise clients and is recognised as a leader in Digital Commerce Magic Quadrant
(August 2019)
from Gartner and recognised as a Strong Performer (Q3 2018) in B2C Digital Commerce
Wave from Forrester.
Cost Model: Base Subscription + GMV
Solution Model: Hosted or SaaS
Datacentre Provider: AWS
Positives: Highly Flexible integration, Global, multi-site,
and multi-brand deployments, B2B B2C Marketplace business models, Buy online,
ship-to-store, ship-from-store options, real-time customer profiles, headless,
wide integration to Experience, Advertising, Marketing Clouds and AI (Sensei),
ERP and CRM integration APIs, Massive application &extension library
Negatives: Opaque and complex licensing. Very high TCO.
Aggressive sales practices, costly migration, some scaling problems. Reliance on
3rd party support for extensions.
Saleforce
Salesforce purchased Demandware in 2016 rebranding it as Sales Commerce Cloud. It
has lead the GMV based cost model adoption for ecommerce SaaS. Salesforce has
excellent integration between Commerce Cloud and its other service offerings.
Commerce Cloud
is recognised as a leader in Digital Commerce Magic Quadrant (August 2019) from
Gartner and recognised as a Leader (Q3 2018) in B2C Digital Commerce Wave from
Forrester. The GMV cost model is best suitable to high margin
B2C and D2C clients.
Cost Model: GMV
Solution Model: Saas
Datacentre Provider: Salesforce/AWS
Positives: AI Assisted decision tool, scalable, secure,
multi-site, secure, advanced personalisation, b2c b2b business models, Buy
online, ship-to-store, ship-from-store options, Salesforce service
integrations
Negatives: Small developer community, few agency partners,
complicated API customisation, slow sandbox environment, High TCO, Restricted
Integration