integrating cms and ecommerce platforms
DESCRIPTION
Integrating CMS and eCommerce platforms. Different models compared.TRANSCRIPT
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Integrating CMS and eCommerce platforms - different models and pros & cons for each model
North Patrol Oy 2014 / 2014-10-06 / CMS Expert Group / Helsinki
Perttu Tolvanen, Web & CMS Expert, @perttutolvanen
CMS Expert Group Europe / Helsinki
meeting at North Patrol HQ
2 © 2014 North Patrol Oy
Advisor for large web projects
- Vendor-neutral CMS consultants- Helsinki-based, but most clients
operate in Northern Europe / Scandinavia / Russia
- CMS selections and partner selections for large projects
- Founded 2012, growing
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Agenda
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Typical differences
between CMS platforms and eCommerce
platforms
Different models: a) side-
by-side, b) WCM-heavy, c) eCommerce-
heavy
Key decision factors in
choosing the right model
Areas of strenght
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eCommerce platforms • product catalog(s)• product bundles / complex
product taxonomies• order life cycle management• payment processes (inc. taxes)• dynamic/personalized pricing
models• automated
promotion/personalization/emails• faceted search & product listings
WCM platforms • enabling custom user experience• content management (pages,
content items, metadata)• rich media management • mobile delivery options• campaign management, enabling
rich visual experiences• flexible personalization system• flexible platform for unique
concepts
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…according to Forrester.
Areas of strenght
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Side-by-side model
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Side-by-side
modelExample: Apple.com
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Side-by-side
modelExample: Apple.com
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Side-by-side
modelExample: Polar.com Drupal
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Side-by-side
modelExample: Polar.com hybris
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Side-by-side
modelExample: Suunto.com
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Side-by-side
modelExample: Suunto.com EPiServer
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Side-by-side
modelExample: Suunto.com
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Side-by-side
modelExample: Suunto.com Magento
Side-by-side model
• Two systems: WCM for the .com and eCommerce platform for the /store or /webshop
• Why?– Marketing and eBusiness often separate units– eCommerce is only for few markets – Faster version 1.0 implementation– Integrating eCommerce system to existing product
data & logistics systems usually cheaper & easier– Overall can be cost-effective to implement, if
limited a) amount of products and b) complexity– Best-of-breed thinking
Apple.com store.apple.com
Suunto.com
Polar.com www.polarshop.com
Webshop.suunto.com
• Key questions:1. Which system owns the ”buying
experience”?
2. Which system owns the product pages?
3. Returning customers: Do we personalize for them?
The classic two sites model. Apple even has
two comparison systems/pages
Suunto.com is very close to
being just WCM-heavy model
”The conversion concept” ->
this is actually pretty ok (if you
know what you are doing)
This works for many brand
stores that do not have a lot
of repeat customers.
This just sucks…
Side-by-side model
• Challenges:1. Heavy integration required between two systems
(although one-way integration can be done pretty easily)
2. Returning customers: Single-sign-on and order history can be challenging to syncronize between systems
3. All major changes require work on both systems slow and expensive to make major user interface or concept changes
4. Duplicate work: Lot of stuff has to be done two times (page templates, navigation systems, possibly even search)
Apple.com store.apple.com
Suunto.com
Polar.com www.polarshop.com
Webshop.suunto.com
• Benefits:1. Faster implementation with ’out-of-the-
box’ eCommerce platform
2. Best-of-breed idea, and eCommerce can be a difficult area!
3. Marketing and sales can have their own systems (!)
Side-by-side model – final thoughts
1. If you know what you are doing, side-by-side model can be pretty good. 2. But the more you rely on external partners, the more complex and difficult it
can be. You need strong project management to manage two systems.3. Recommendation: If you are a brand store that doesn’t have a lot of repeat
customers and complex pricing models you should consider the side-by-side model. But even then you should decide which system owns 90% of the buying experience (=WCM for brand stores). See Suunto.com as a good example.
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WCM-heavy vs. eCommerce-heavy
Example: Suunto.com
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The website has a lot of rich media content, e.g. video
backgrounds – and everything is very mobile-friendly
(responsive) the website is like a huge campaign website
that wants to tell stories about Suunto’s products and
customers.
Suunto.com runs on EPiServer.
WCM-heavy
Example: XXL.no/.se/.fi
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The website is just another store for XXL. The website is about product
search, pricing info, product listings. It doesn’t try to tell stories – it just sells. XXL webshops run
on hybris.
eCommerce-heavy
WCM (e.g. EPiServer)
eCommerce platform is just the last step or completely invisible (as a service layer only) – or WCM handles the
whole process (e.g. EPiServer Commerce / Sitecore)
Tyically the model for ”brand stores”.
eCommerce
eCommerce platform (e.g. hybris)
WCM (?)
eCommerce platform owns the website. WCM is either inside the eCommerce platform or in background content repository role (eg. Drupal / WordPress).
Typically the model for retailers.
eCommerce-heavyWCM-heavy
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Typical reasons behind the choice
eCommerce-heavy model is chosen• by retailers that have thousands
of products and categories• by retailers that are building tight
relationship between stores and digital channels
• by manufacturers who have large existing customer bases to whom they want to automate marketing and promotions
• by B2B companies that have highly complex pricing models and require log-ins to see pricing info and other details
WCM-heavy model is chosen…• by manufacturers like Suunto.com
who have a lot of content and visual experiences to offer
• by companies that do a lot of campaign-style content publishing
• by companies that have a complex and custom buying process (especially fulfilment process), eg. airlines, hotel chains
• by companies that are building a very unique website concept, e.g. a webshop that includes lot of community-style features
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Challenges
eCommerce-heavy model:• Less flexible templating system• Lot of features can be lost if highly
customized layout is used• Lack of CMS features, and can be
expensive and difficult to complement with a CMS
• Personalization systems not very flexible, e.g. for campaign purposes
WCM-heavy model:• Usually more integration work –
and challenges related to integrations
• Often slower to implement due to integration work and more custom templating system
• Product catalog features often much simpler than in eCommerce platforms
• Payment process support and order lifecycle management usually quite simple
Summary: key decision factors1. Large amount of products (thousands of products, think XXL) +1 for eCommerce-heavy approach
2. Large amount of product changes / bundle changes (possibly coming from several catalogs, or just a complex product taxonomy) +1 for eCommerce-heavy approach
3. Complex pricing models (dynamic pricing, depending on several factors, often B2B challenge – but can also be B2C, especially if there is a lot of discounts given) +1 for eCommerce-heavy approach
4. Complex and custom checkout/fulfilment process (eg. hotels, airlines, food eCommerce) +1 for WCM-heavy approach
5. Lot of content that needs to be managed (thousands of pages, different kinds of content producer roles) +1 for WCM-heavy approach
6. Campaign-heavy online business with rich media requirements (think Suunto.com) +1 for WCM-heavy approach
7. Community desires +1 for WCM-heavy approach
8. Cross-promotion concept where content needs to have product recommendations and product pages need to have content recommendations +1 for WCM-heavy approach
9. Requirements for unified analytics across content and product pages and checkout process (and possibly capabilities to use this analytics data automatically, e.g. for personalization) +1 for WCM-heavy approach
10. Your additions? => [email protected] // This is certainly a work-in-progress and I hope to do an updated version of this in the future.
=> Final score gives advice whether to do side-by-side model, WCM-heavy or eCommerce-heavy model.
Conclusions
1. There are business cases for all models.2. CMSs are evolving and building eCommerce feature sets (through acquisitions or in-
house) but it will take years to truly catch up the dedicated eCommerce platforms 3. For big brand stores the availability of choices is really good right now – for large
retailers it often still makes sense to go with eCommerce platforms (due complexities related to product catalog or to dynamic pricing requirements).
4. Future: For most customers eCommerce should be an invisible service that could be ”started” from any point – and content producers could embed it everywhere they want. But right now the product market isin’t really taking huge steps in this direction.
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