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10 Examples of Predictive AnalyticsWhat do you know about SAP Commerce Cloud implementation? You might think it’s a complicated process with many challenges on the way. We must say, you are not completely wrong. But today, we want to explain all the steps in such a way, that you’ll realize it’s not as tricky as you imagined.
You’ve read a lot about the platform’s features and benefits. So today, we’ll provide you with more specific information on the subject: implementation steps and challenges. And you will also get a few tips on how to choose the right implementation team. Ready to start?
With SaM Solutions’ SAP Commerce Cloud team, you get a robust ecommerce system and deliver personalized omnichannel experiences that increase your customer loyalty.
What Is SAP Commerce Cloud (ex. Hybris)?
Let’s answer the question again of what SAP Commerce Cloud is. It is an ecommerce platform that is very popular among companies all over the world. Why is it so popular? Because it can improve ecommerce operations, increase customer experience, handle a huge number of customers during holiday sales, and more.
Imagine millions of users visiting your website on Black Friday, for example. Everyone is clicking on the products, checking out, adding products to the cart. SAP Commerce Cloud can make sure that your website stays reliable and fast even during these “crazy times.”
If we talk about the main features of SAP Commerce Cloud, then omnichannel support will proudly be at the top of the list. It means that if a customer was choosing a sofa online, but then decided to buy it in-store, an employee of the store can access the cart and complete the purchase in-store.
Second place would be given to personalization. What does it mean? When a customer buys running shoes, for example, the platform can later suggest running socks or fitness trackers. This improves the customer experience because customers can see that everything is customized to their needs. But also a company can sell more by offering more relevant goods.
Thirdly, SAP Commerce Cloud seamlessly integrates with other SAP and non-SAP systems. What could they be? Anything, for example, CRM or marketing platforms. If you want to run email campaigns, you can choose SAP Marketing Cloud. If you want to analyze what sells better, then SAP Analytics Cloud is your choice.
We should never forget about scalability, of course. If a business grows from 100 products to 100000000 products sold globally, SAP Commerce Cloud makes sure the website stays reliable and fast.
Many companies choose SAP Commerce Cloud for centralized management of ecommerce operations. How does it work? If you run a clothing store, with SAP Commerce Cloud you can upload new products with prices and descriptions, offer discounts and promotions, and track inventory, so customers can always see whether the product is still available or not.
And last but not least, streamlined checkout process. What does this mean? A customer can pay with any options that are convenient for them: for example, with a credit card, or ApplePay, or PayPal, etc. And of course, the system will estimate how much a customer will have to pay for shipping depending on where he or she lives.
The 8 Steps to SAP Commerce Cloud Implementation
SAP Commerce Cloud deployment is not a straightforward task. That’s why based on our experience (over 10 years of implementing SAP Commerce Cloud for our global clients), we’ve made a list of the main steps you should follow to make the whole process as easy as possible.
To have a successful SAP Commerce Cloud implementation, you need to start by answering the question of what your goals and requirements are. Secondly, engage with people across departments to find the connection between your business goals and the platform’s capabilities.
- Come up with a list of challenges that SAP Commerce Cloud can help with.
- What things are you trying to achieve with SAP Commerce Cloud? Set clear KPIs. That could be everything, from entering new markets to adding a wide range of payment options for your customers.
- Talk to other people on the team, for example, marketing, sales, and IT departments to create the most comprehensive list.
Having a project plan will help you in many ways: you will be able to make sure that your stakeholders are on the same page, and that all the resources are utilized properly.
- Make a list of features, integrations, and customizations required.
- Think of responsibilities for each of your team members and external partners.
- Set realistic deadlines for each project phase.
To build SAP Commerce Cloud, it’s important to set up a secure and reliable development environment. Here’s a few steps on how to make sure your development environment is reliable:
- Configure servers, databases, and cloud resources.
- Use version control systems, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), and testing frameworks.
- Implement robust protocols to safeguard sensitive data during development.
Do you know what one of the most crucial steps in SAP Commerce Cloud implementation is? It’s to make sure that the platform is tailored to your specific needs.
- Design customer-facing interfaces with a focus on user experience and branding.
- Integrate secure payment methods such as credit cards, PayPal, and digital wallets.
- Automate processes for order management, inventory control, and customer service.
Custom features are not limited to what we describe below. You can think of any features that are important for your business:
- Add features like subscription models, loyalty programs, or unique product configurators.
- Connect with CRM, marketing automation, and analytics platforms.
- Create seamless data exchange between systems.
Before making the platform go live, you need to make sure that all the features work as you want them to. Check whether it can handle a large number of users (that you will have during Black Friday), whether the system is responsible and fast enough, and much more.
- Verify that all features and workflows function as intended.
- Assess system responsiveness and load-handling capabilities under different conditions.
- Allow end-users to test the platform and provide feedback. This way based on the feedback, you can add or delete certain features and improve customer satisfaction even more.
We at SaM Solutions have a strong history of successful go-lives (40 projects have already gone live, and 10 are now in progress). So we can share with you a few steps that are important for a successful go-live:
- Transfer data such as customer information, product catalogs, and transaction records.
- Test all integrations, security protocols, and functionalities in the production environment.
- Choose between a phased rollout or a big-bang approach, depending on business needs.
Here’s how to do it properly:
- You need to track uptime, user behavior, and response times. For this, use performance monitoring tools.
- Apply patches and updates to improve functionality and security.
What Are the Challenges of SAP Commerce Cloud Implementation?
As we’ve already mentioned, SAP Commerce Cloud implementation isn’t a walk in the park. It comes up with certain challenges and complications. Let’s have a look at them so that you have a clear understanding of what the process will look like.
As you can see, to successfully implement SAP Commerce Cloud, you will have to spend lots of time and money on training, in-house engineers hiring, architecture clarification, migration, etc. To avoid this, it might be a smarter solution to collaborate with a technology partner who already has the following:
- Great SAP Commerce Cloud expertise
- A large number of certified and experienced SAP engineers
- Imposing go-live expertise
- Global software vendors (SAP, Microsoft) certifications, and more
This way you can save money on training and hiring an in-house team, and get the needed solution much faster and more efficiently.
Why SaM Solutions Is the Best SAP Commerce Cloud Implementation Partner
There are multiple reasons why SaM Solutions can be the right technology partner for your SAP Commerce Cloud implementation. Let’s have a look at those reasons below.
We have over 10 years of SAP Commerce Cloud expertise
- Since 2013, SaM Solutions has been using SAP Commerce Cloud to deliver cutting-edge ecommerce solutions for medium-sized companies and large enterprises across the EU, UK, and US.
- We have implemented 40 successful go-lives. And customers from all over the world prove that our work is top-notch with numerous positive reviews.
We have our own dedicated SAP Commerce Cloud development center
- In our center, engineers improve their back-end, front-end, and quality assurance skills with the help of continuous training labs. Partially due to our training labs, more and more experienced engineers are becoming a part of our team. Now it has 80+ qualified experts, but this number is always growing.
We are flexible
We are more than happy to recommend certain technologies, tools, or methodologies because we believe they can significantly improve your operations, but at the end of the day, our customers always have the final say.
Our teams are globally distributed
This means that there are no time gaps in our communication. While one team is off work for the night, the other one is always ready to step in and resolve any important issues that might come up. This means you get 24/7 support and flexibility in choosing the needed location and team.
Enhance your digital commerce outcomes by building a seamless customer experience ecosystem with SaM Solutions’ SAP Commerce Cloud team.
Let’s Sum Up
SAP Commerce Cloud (Hybris) setup brings numerous benefits to your company. What are they? Let’s start with scaling up. Imagine you want to scale up your website from selling just 100 products to selling 1 million globally. SAP Commerce Cloud will make this happen and at the same time, it will stay fast and reliable.
It also gives an opportunity to upload products with descriptions and prices, track inventory in real time, personalize purchasing experience, use multiple payment options, and whatnot. And it integrates perfectly with other SAP products to analyze customer behavior or use e-mail campaigns.
Yes, the benefits are numerous. But we should remember that SAP Commerce Cloud implementation is not a very straightforward task.
It has its own challenges. Well, just as an example, lack of in-house expertise. Your in-house team might just not have the required skills. What does this mean? You will have to spend thousands of dollars to make them familiar with SAP Commerce Cloud. Time and money. You won’t be able to finish the implementation as quickly as you were hoping for.
The good thing is that these questions are easily solved with the right technology partner who will be able to deliver the whole setup process within time and budget. That’s why before starting a complicated process of SAP Commerce Cloud setup, answer this question: Have you already found a reliable implementation partner who will have your back?
Since 2021, Anastasiya has been diving deep into SAP Commerce Cloud, interviewing hundreds of SAP experts. She loves sharing what she learns and making complex topics easy to understand. While SAP Commerce is a big focus, Anastasiya is always excited to explore new tech areas such as AI, AR, and more, bringing fresh, valuable insights to her readers.
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