Businesses looking to launch a large eCommerce website need a flexible and scalable commerce platform that can adapt to changing business conditions. So, what is SAP Commerce Cloud, and why should you be interested in it? Here are some compelling reasons the platform could be a good fit for you.
What is SAP Commerce Cloud?
Formerly named SAP Hybris, SAP Commerce Cloud is a cloud-based omnichannel ecommerce platform for businesses to sell products directly to customers (B2C), to other businesses (B2B), or business-to-consumer companies (B2B2C).
It caters to each customer’s unique needs by providing tailored experiences from acquisition through retention, connecting all touchpoints (online, mobile, POS, social, print, contact center) globally.
Features of SAP ecommerce: What Can It Do?
Here’s a rundown of SAP Commerce Cloud’s six core features.
Customer Experience Management
Commerce Cloud has a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG website editing tool called SmartEdit for creating mobile, tablet, and desktop websites, pages, promotions, and banners.
SmartEdit can also build on top of existing designs across many stores to retain a consistent consumer experience.
You can even customize customer experience at an individual level using Commerce Cloud’s Context-Driven Services, which assess patterns of customer intent, action, behavior, and affinities down to preferences for sizes and colors.
With this data, merchants can create highly tailored shopping experiences for their customers by fine-tuning online product displays (merchandising), recommendations, offers, and remarketing on a per-customer basis.
Industry-Specific Features
SAP Commerce Cloud has a set of industry-specific ‘Accelerators’ designed to address the challenges, opportunities, and requirements of specific industries.
Each Industry Accelerator includes a ready-to-launch storefront with numerous customized features for a quick time-to-value. These Industry Accelerators include:
- The Financial Services Accelerator. Designed for Insurance firms, retail banks, and other financial services providers. Your customers can apply for insurance products, and policyholders can access policy information and make claims directly on the website.
- The Travel Accelerator. Designed for travel agencies and booking companies. Customers can search for flights and hotels using advanced filters and manage their vacation itinerary before being directed through a simple booking process.
- The Citizen Engagement Accelerator. Designed for local government agencies. Customers can read a summary of all local government services, submit and manage online applications, pay for services such as water and taxes, and access documents such as driver’s licenses and birth certificates, among other things.
- The Telco and Media Accelerator. Aimed for companies selling device and service bundles. Customers can browse product and services packages straightforwardly and intuitively.
Omnichannel Commerce
Different companies use a variety of go-to-market models, which include reaching clients via multiple and varied touchpoints.
This can be extremely difficult to manage, resulting in increased complexity and data fragmentation for the seller, a lack of personalization and reliability for the consumer, and greater costs for both.
Commerce Cloud intends to address these issues with modules geared at B2B and B2C users.
It provides an omnichannel, responsive storefront that encourages consistency across all devices and powerful search functionality, and tailored promotions and suggestions on improving customer engagement are all core B2C capabilities.
Through intelligent pricing models, quote generation and price lists, the B2B Accelerator module manages complex B2B interactions.
Customers can also request quotes to be reviewed by management using self-service tools such as “Organization Management,” where they can set order approval workflows, and “Quote Negotiation,” where managers can request quotes to be reviewed. Auto-replenish, PO number entry, and the ability to charge an account rather than a credit card are all B2B-friendly features of the checkout.
Order Management
Order management is a challenge for businesses that operate across several channels and multiple locations.
It is even more difficult knowing customers demand a consistent experience across all touchpoints, and they expect medium-sized businesses to provide customer care on par with Amazon’s.
Thankfully, that’s achievable with SAP Commerce Cloud.
You can get a single view of inventory across an entire organization using SAP Commerce Cloud.
For the seller, this means a single source of information; And for the buyer, it offers total omnichannel flexibility. Customers can buy, pick up, and return items from any location without affecting stock levels.
Product Content Management
All SAP Commerce Cloud’s product content management features are stored in a single, easy-to-use content repository.
You can easily categorize items based on a variety of criteria, as well as bulk-edit, bulk-publish, and bulk-upload many products at the same time, saving time and maintaining consistency.
You can also do the following:
- Curate bundles of products and services into unique, personalized offers
- Create flexible pricing rules
- Use built-in templates to streamline the buying process and increase average order value.
How Much is SAP Commerce Cloud?
SAP does not publicly disclose the price for the base Commerce Cloud platform, although it starts at more than $100,000 per year per license.
How does it stack up against the competition?
The Shopify Plus platform cost starts at $2,000 per month. Once you’ve reached $800,000 in monthly income, they change the price to a revenue-sharing scheme with a ceiling of $40,000 per month.
The licensing model for Salesforce Commerce Cloud likewise depends on a retailer’s gross merchandise volume (GMV). The average amount is approximately 2% to 3% for businesses turning $5 million to $25 million.
Advantages and Disadvantages of SAP Commerce Cloud
Before deciding, you should consider the platform’s pros and cons. This will help you determine if you should use it as an eCommerce platform for your business. Below are the benefits and drawbacks of SAP Commerce Cloud.
SAP Commerce Cloud Advantages:
- Cloud-Based System. It provides all the benefits of being on the cloud, including scalability, agility, flexibility, and immediate access to the latest upgrades and releases.
- Highly Adaptive. It can be structured and expanded to accommodate various businesses, including B2B, B2C, and B2B2C.
- Highly Reliable. With 24/7 monitoring, proactive health and performance checks, it has a 99.95 percent SLA.
- Integrable Within its Ecosystem. It works in tandem with the rest of SAP’s S/4HANA solution stack.
- Looks Good on Any Device. It offers a user interface that is responsive and adaptable and works well on all devices.
- Many Pre-Installed Features. The features that come with the software are easy, well-designed, and useful.
- Omnichannel Capabilities. The customer journey is wholly integrated across all touchpoints, reducing friction in the buying process.
- Personalized Customer Experiences. Customer data patterns are recorded and put to good use, resulting in improved experiences that increase engagement.
- Relevant to Specific Industries. With its plug-and-play storefronts, the Industry Accelerators are appropriate for a wide range of industries.
SAP Commerce Cloud Disadvantages:
- Expensive. Commerce Cloud isn’t cheap; in fact, some clients spend more than $1 million each year for their SAP Hybris platform.
- Requires Specialist Implementation. In most cases, implementation is not included and is handled by agency partners. It’s a complicated procedure that takes a long time to complete.
- Not Ideal for Small and Medium-sized Businesses. For all but the largest businesses, cost and convenience of use are barriers to entry.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, SAP ecommerce is a powerful platform that businesses can use to streamline their operations and improve their customer experience.
It offers a wide range of features and capabilities that you can customize to meet the specific needs of your business.
However, before you can reap the benefits of SAP ecommerce, you need to understand how it works and what it can do for your business.
Whether you choose SAP Commerce Cloud or not, finding the right ecommerce development specialist to build your eCommerce store is a challenge. No matter your needs, there is always a candidate that best meets your needs.
Jarvis is a world leader in eCommerce recruitment and SaaS recruitment.
We have successfully sourced and placed full-time and contract professionals with ecommerce retailers and service providers for a wide variety of clients, from start-ups to megastores in all industries.
Ready to supercharge your eCommerce presence with the help of SAP Commerce Cloud development experts?