Sitecore Experience Platform has been recognized as a leader in content management and digital experience, with enterprise-grade commerce functionality. Sitecore XP is still a CMS, but it has been categorized as such in the ecommerce industry that retailers tend to choose platforms like Salesforce Commerce Cloud or Magento.
Sitecore Experience Commerce has made great strides in leveraging headless commerce to show the right content, at the right times, to the right customers. Sitecore can outperform its competitors, which is why it should be considered a credible option when choosing an Sitecore Commerce Platform.
Table of Contents
Changing landscape of Sitecore Commerce Platform
The main goal of an ecommerce retailer was, historically speaking, to make its products and services easily available online.
This opened the door to traditional product-first platforms like Magento and Salesforce Commerce Cloud (formerly Demandware). These platforms were initially focused on product pages, carts, and checkout experiences, with product images as the only content. The content was not a top priority.
Platforms could focus on their strengths due to the rapid rise of ecommerce. There was so much demand for their services and products that there wasn’t any need to create a platform that everyone could use. It seems that everyone wants to be everything.
To increase or maintain market share, platforms now focus on providing the right tools, technology, and experience customers expect from their shopping experience.
Ecommerce platforms now offer content management platforms. Ecommerce platforms now have pre-installed email marketing, payment, and shipping systems, which means fewer third-party systems exist.
It makes perfect sense to keep everything under one roof. This keeps retailers’ total cost per owner (TCO) low and simplifies contract negotiations, development, and upgrades.
Sitecore’s strength lies in this. Sitecore can deliver a seamless, integrated content and commerce experience for consumers and brands.
Comparison of Sitecore XC and the competition
Today’s shoppers expect more from their shopping experience. You must deliver a digital experience that inspires and makes customers feel part of something greater than your competitors to be able to compete.
You need an ecommerce platform that can seamlessly integrate commerce and content. You also need to deliver hyper-personalized experiences for customers.
With traditional ecommerce platforms like Magento Commerce Cloud or Salesforce Commerce Cloud, this is not an easy task. With multiple integrations, data in multiple locations and customizations that take you out of the box, third-party systems are necessary. This can lead to increased risk, complexities, and higher costs.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Salesforce CommerceCloud is an excellent choice if you have a small ecommerce team that relies on IT and infrastructure setup.
Hosting is handled by SaaS (Software as a Service). The platform scales according to demand. This means that there are fewer worries during peak trading times. A Salesforce Commerce Cloud-based ecommerce site will provide your customers with a multi-channel experience.
However, you do not have full control of your platform. Updates and patches are usually made according to the schedule of the provider. Salesforce has a revenue share model that isn’t right for everyone. This is especially true if you want to protect margins or a boutique retailer with low order volumes and a high average order price.
Magento
This open-source platform is now called Adobe Commerce-powered Magento. It has a commercial license-based model for Enterprise. Magento 2 can be purchased on-premise, through a cloud-hosted service, or Magento cloud.
Magento Cloud is not an existing SaaS ecommerce platform like Salesforce Commerce Cloud. However, they will handle the hosting. Magento is a popular platform that has a loyal developer community. It covers both B2C as well as B2B ecommerce offerings. The powerful B2B features of Magento include the following:
- Various price books per customer type
- Management of the marketplace
- Get Quotes
- Orders
- Requisition lists
- Advanced features for ‘my account
Although there have been some teething problems since Magento 2’s launch, especially with the cloud offering, things seem to be moving in the right direction.
Sitecore Experience Commerce
Sitecore XC, an enterprise-grade commerce platform, delivers a completely personalized customer experience throughout its life cycle. This is where Sitecore wins out in the content/marketing/commerce ‘one platform for all stakes.
It can deliver personalization and content quickly and easily at scale. It also offers campaign management, marketing automation, and other digital marketing tools all in one platform.
Sitecore XC lets you personalize and define the digital experience of your customers. This improves customer satisfaction and advocacy and increases conversions.
Sitecore Commerce offers a variety of headless commerce options. This is what makes Sitecore Commerce so exciting. These options offer technology freedom, such as Sitecore experience Edge or the recent acquisition of Four51, a SaaS-based order management platform for ecommerce. These headless ecommerce options are easily integrated into the existing Sitecore platform via open APIs.
Sitecore XC can be described as a rally car on its way to becoming a champion in ecommerce. It is fast, agile, and has high performance. But it needs a navigator. Wodehouse is an experienced agency partner that can point you in the right direction.
What can we do to help
Your organization’s needs and the experience you wish to offer your customers are key factors in choosing your ecommerce platform.
We recommend being open to the possibility of being headless. Sitecore offers this option. You don’t need to adapt your requirements to make it work on a large platform. The technology can be tailored to meet your needs.
