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With fierce competition in the E-commerce industry, finding the right platform to power your online store is crucial.
SAP Commerce Cloud is an enterprise-grade solution that delivers exceptional shopping experiences across every touchpoint.
Whether you’re investigating options for a new ecommerce platform or looking to migrate from a legacy system, SAP Commerce Cloud enables scalability, flexibility, and intelligent selling through
- Defining SAP Commerce Cloud
- Explore the capabilities and functionalities
- Benefits and use cases of SAP Commerce Cloud
- Learn how to utilize and make the most out of the platform
- Understand Complex B2B requirements and how to meet them
- Discover how to drive growth and expansion using SAP Commerce Cloud
- Explore industry use cases and applications
- Learn about alternatives and how to get started
SAP Commerce Cloud started as Hybris, an independent commerce platform vendor founded in 1997.
It was rebranded as SAP Commerce Cloud (also referred to as SAP C/4HANA Commerce) and integrated closely with other SAP solutions for marketing, sales, service, and more.
What is SAP Commerce Cloud?
SAP Commerce Cloud is a cloud-native digital commerce platform enabling rich, personalized omnichannel customer experiences.
With advanced AI and machine learning capabilities, it aims to offer intelligent selling services to maximize relevance and conversion at every touchpoint.
Key capabilities include
- Omnichannel commerce unifies customer experiences across all channels
- In-depth personalization features for 1:1 segmentation and marketing
- Powerful order management and fulfillment functionalities
- B2B selling capabilities like account management and quotes
- Headless APIs allow innovation, customization, and expansion
Top benefits include increased sales and conversions, lower TCO compared to legacy systems, and faster time-to-market for launching new sites and business models on modern architecture.
Delivering a unified customer experience across all touchpoints is crucial for modern commerce success.
Customers expect consistent brand interactions whether on your website, mobile app, in a store, or contacting support.
SAP Commerce Cloud aims to power seamless omnichannel journeys with the following capabilities:
Seamless Customer Journey
SAP Commerce Cloud connects data and insights from all channels and locations to enable personalized, relevant experiences as customers move from discovering products to purchasing and beyond.
This eliminates friction during critical moments that impact conversion and loyalty.
Consistent Experience Across Touchpoints
Consistent messaging, promotions, product information and more are key to omnichannel execution.
Storefront templates, components, and interfaces also enforce consistency from the web to in-store kiosks.
Headless Architecture
SAP Commerce Cloud has an API-first “headless” architecture that separates the frontend presentation layer from backend commerce services.
This agility empowers companies to build & optimize digital touchpoints without being limited to one technology stack.
It also easily integrates commerce functionality into new contexts like IoT, conversational interfaces, and more.
With these capabilities, SAP Commerce Cloud aims to help retailers, branded manufacturers, and other businesses create frictionless end-to-end customer journeys that boost satisfaction and sales across every channel.
In an oversaturated market, personalization is key for connecting with customers and driving conversions.
SAP Commerce Cloud provides robust capabilities to craft tailored experiences through the following approaches:
Customer Segmentation
Leverage data from past interactions and transactions to build rich customer profiles and divide them into granular segments.
Go beyond basic demographics to incorporate behavioral and contextual data for a truly 360-degree view of each customer. Use this to precisely target content and offers.
Individual-Level Personalization
Serve up individual product recommendations based on purchase history and browsing behavior.
Show preferred payment methods and optimally calculated discounts to incentivize purchases.
Personalized experiences feel more relevant and build lasting engagement.
A/B Testing Capabilities
SAP Commerce Cloud has extensive A/B and multivariate testing features to experiment with variations of product displays, promotions, checkout flows, and more.
Rapidly test and iterate to determine optimal placement, messaging, and formats.
Then use algorithms to automatically serve the best-performing variation to maximize KPIs like conversions, revenue, and margin return.
With these personalization approaches, SAP Commerce Cloud helps companies get away from the “one-size-fits-all” approach to improve funnel metrics and provide memorable experiences that keep customers coming back.
Converting sales is only the first step - seamlessly fulfilling and supporting those orders influences customer satisfaction and retention over the long term.
SAP Commerce Cloud provides end-to-end order lifecycle management with:
Real-Time Order Management
As soon as an order is placed, it triggers workflows for fulfillment and revenue recognition behind the scenes.
Real-time and visibility into inventory across the supply chain enabling intelligent sourcing decisions to balance profitability and customer experience.
Smooth Order Fulfillment
Orchestrate omnichannel order fulfillment from your website, stores, or call centers via a unified interface and business rules engine.
Flexible modes support ship-from-store, curbside pickup, ship-to-consumer, and more. Orders can be split across multiple fulfillment centers, and inventory synchronized in real time.
Optimized Returns Process
With self-service return capabilities, customers can initiate and manage returns via their online accounts.
Backend processes automatically determine routing, refund eligibility, and restocking needs while keeping the customer updated on the status.
Return rate analytics identify problem SKUs and enrich product detail pages to set expectations.
With these capabilities to connect and optimize post-purchase workflows, SAP Commerce Cloud aims to drive operational efficiencies and cost savings while delivering the fulfillment flexibility and transparency that customers expect today.
SAP Commerce Cloud is an extremely robust platform right out of the box, but optimizing and extending its capabilities can take your ecommerce program to the next level.
Leveraging the Cloud Infrastructure
As a cloud-native SaaS platform, SAP Commerce Cloud offers advantages like rapid deployment, scalability to support growth, and resilience against traffic spikes & outages.
The cloud infrastructure also enables faster rollouts of new capabilities and innovations.
Customization Options
While SAP Commerce Cloud has extensive built-in functionality with B2C and B2B accelerators, the needs of every business are unique.
An open architecture and comprehension customization toolkit allows developers to tweak existing features or build new experiences like custom storefront layouts, integrations, and supplementary applications.
Integration with Other Systems
There is also seamless integration with payment gateways, content delivery networks, tax engines, and more to streamline operations.
Getting strategic about how you leverage SAP Commerce Cloud’s cloud delivery model, modify out-of-box capabilities, and connect with other enterprise systems will maximize both short and long-term value.
While B2C commerce also brings its challenges, B2B scenarios introduce further complexity with needs like account management, quotes, tiered pricing, and intricate product configurations.
SAP Commerce Cloud aims to address these B2B requirements out of the box with:
Self-Service Portals
Empower B2B buyers with branded self-service portals to manage their organizations within your ecommerce site.
Centralized control over cost centers, spending limits, ordering permissions, and workflows can be configured per their internal policies while freeing your sales team from repetitive admin tasks.
Quotes and Negotiations
Easily generate quotes customized for each account with account-specific pricing.
Built-in negotiation capabilities allow back and forth between buyer and seller to arrive at a final quote for B2B purchases.
Sync final approved quotes into orders and sales documents.
Managing Complex Products
Some B2B products and services feature a dizzying array of customization options, complementary accessories, and after-sales support plans.
Commerce Cloud allows modeling and selling even intricately configurable offerings while guiding customers through easy-to-follow configuration steps during checkout.
Overall, these functionalities demonstrate that SAP Commerce Cloud provides extensive capabilities purpose-built for businesses selling to other businesses - not just traditional B2C ecommerce.
Tackling this intricate channel expands revenue potential for companies already supporting B2C and retail channels today.
SAP Commerce Cloud provides an agile foundation for expansion by entering new markets, launching modern sales channels, or extending through a marketplace of third-party sellers.
Global Rollout
Easily manage multiple online storefronts with shared catalog data translated into any language.
Localized content, currency, taxes, and payment methods create tailored experiences that convert in each region.
Marketplace Integration
Bring more product selection to your site by onboarding third-party sellers, while maintaining control of the customer relationship and interface.
Centralized inventory, order routing, and settlement management streamline operations.
New Sales Channels
Headless architecture means commerce capabilities deploy into any frontend experience while the backend stays consistent.
New touchpoints harness customer data for personalized engagement that drives omnichannel growth.
As customer acquisition costs rise in existing channels, activating these avenues for expansion using the tools and scale provided by SAP Commerce Cloud is key for future-proofing growth.
With over 5,000 global customers, SAP Commerce Cloud powers both B2C and B2B digital commerce for leading brands across retail, manufacturing, telecom, and other sectors.
Industry Use Cases
As an omnichannel platform built for complexity, Commerce Cloud is well suited for industries like automotive, manufacturing, telecoms, and utilities that require modeling intricate products, bundling services, supporting channel partners, and enabling self-service.
Pre-configured accelerators showcase sector-specific functionality tailored for media & publishing firms, travel providers, banks, and insurers as well.
Companies combine these industry templates with custom extensions suitable to their unique needs.
Results Achieved by Customers
SAP Commerce Cloud helps customers enhance their digital channels in metrics that matter: higher conversion rates, larger average order values, lower acquisition costs and reduced IT spending compared to managing legacy systems.
Electronics retailer Brown’s saw an increase in conversion lifts across devices after re-platforming to SAP Commerce Cloud.
These real-world examples validate SAP Commerce Cloud’s ability to directly impact key revenue and customer experience KPIs for retailers and manufacturers of all sizes.
The composable architecture also future-proofs customer investment by allowing incremental innovation, new monetization models, and emerging channels to be activated over time through extensions and APIs.
When assessing if SAP Commerce Cloud is the right ecommerce platform for your business needs today and into the future, key considerations include:
Pricing and Licences
As an enterprise-focused solution, SAP Commerce Cloud is more costly than mass market options that target small businesses.
However, the complexity and customization capabilities justify the premium pricing for large organizations managing huge catalogs, global sites, and advanced scenarios.
All pricing is customized based on expected order volume, revenue, and level of support needed.
Implementation Costs
The breadth and flexibility of SAP Commerce Cloud translate into higher costs for implementing, customizing, and integrating features compared to simpler SaaS platforms with narrower functionality.
However, their global partner network provides experienced guidance and development resources to contain costs.
Compared to Alternatives
SAP Commerce Cloud competes against platforms like Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Elastic Path, Magento, and custom-developed options.
Evaluating total cost, capabilities, partner ecosystems, and development complexity across these alternatives in the context of current and future objectives will determine if SAP Commerce Cloud is the right long-term investment.
Conclusion and Next Steps
SAP Commerce Cloud is a robust enterprise-grade digital commerce platform, but determining if it's a cost-effective fit depends on your specific strategic goals and existing infrastructure.
When SAP Commerce Cloud is the right fit, the greatest ROI comes from companies that:
- Need to centralize and transform complex omnichannel commerce
- Require global scale, availability, and resilience
- Have outgrown more basic cloud commerce platforms
- Seek tighter integration with existing SAP ERP, CRM, and CX investments
- Support intricate B2B and B2B2C business models
- Value composable architecture allowing incremental innovation
Of course, resources must exist to properly implement, customize, and update the platform over time as well.
But for enterprises meeting these criteria, SAP Commerce Cloud represents a future-proof foundation supporting long-term growth objectives.
Getting Started with a Pilot
Rather than directly attempting a full migration, starting with a pilot contained to one region, brand, or commerce process allows for proving value at a smaller scale before a broader rollout.
Take advantage of available accelerators and reference architectures to minimize custom software needs during initial phases.
Measure against clear KPIs and grow iteratively across more of the organization.
