Omnichannel Ecommerce Platform for a Major Children’s Retail Chain

The Customer’s custom PHP-based ecommerce platform had become a constraint on further digital growth. It lacked the performance, scalability, and flexibility required to support the company’s developing online business and evolving customer expectations.
The retailer needed a proven commerce platform capable of:

• Managing extensive data related to products, promotions, stores, customer services, and retail operations
• Migrating and retaining data from the existing system
• Supporting flexible pricing, promotions, marketing campaigns, and specialized content
• Accommodating different customer journeys, including store pickup, delivery, partial refunds, and compensation
• Integrating with SAP ERP, payment services, loyalty systems, product recommendations, marketing tools, and logistics solutions
• Providing user behavior tracking, reporting, and analytics
• Supporting delivery optimization, location-specific services, and brand-focused landing pages

The project also required specialists with sufficient SAP platform expertise to use the available functionality effectively and adapt it to the retailer’s business processes.

The project team deployed and customized SAP Hybris Commerce 5.4 according to the Client’s retail processes and technical requirements. The resulting platform brought ecommerce, content, customer service, order processing, and fulfillment capabilities into a connected environment.

SAP Digital Business Services selected SaM Solutions as the software development partner for the implementation. The joint team covered the project from business analysis and functional scoping through platform deployment, data migration, integration, testing, and go-live support.

Product discovery and digital merchandising

The platform provides catalog management and custom mapping of product categories, supported by Apache Solr search and navigation. Customers can browse a large product range and locate relevant items using structured navigation and commerce search.

The merchandising functionality supports:

• Complex price calculation rules
• Multiple simultaneous promotions
• Product bundles
• Cross-selling campaigns
• Promotional product placement
• Shop-in-shop landing pages
• Product reviews and ratings
• Social network integration

A responsive, adaptive interface was developed to provide consistent access across different devices. The implementation also addressed the Customer’s SEO requirements.

Ordering, payments, and customer service

The new platform supports a streamlined checkout and payment process together with customized order management. Customers can use flexible fulfillment scenarios, including buying online and collecting an order in a store or returning an online purchase to a physical location.

A dedicated module calculates estimated delivery dates and costs for the end customer. The calculation logic can work with multiple transportation companies, helping the retailer coordinate available fulfillment options.

Order management was integrated with call center operations and a self-service customer portal, enabling customers and service employees to work with order information through connected channels. Loyalty program functionality was also incorporated into the commerce process.

Enterprise integrations and data management

The platform was connected to the Client’s SAP ERP and warehouse management back ends, as well as relevant third-party services. These integrations support the exchange of product, inventory, order, payment, and fulfillment data between ecommerce operations and the company’s existing systems.

The technical scope also included data migration, web services, reporting capabilities, single sign-on, analytics support, and performance testing and optimization.

The Customer obtained an efficient and highly scalable platform that combines ecommerce and website functionality in one digital environment. Instead of relying on disconnected processes, the retailer can manage its web portal, orders, call center services, and customer self-service capabilities through an integrated solution.

Connections with SAP ERP and warehouse management systems established a consistent flow of information between customer-facing channels and back-end operations. Integrated order management improved visibility across purchasing and fulfillment processes, while delivery date and cost calculations supported coordination with multiple transportation providers.

The platform also gave the Client greater control over content, product data, and order management. A shared content source supports a consistent customer experience across touchpoints, while multi-currency and multi-language capabilities provide a technical foundation for future rollout into additional markets.