Is SAP Commerce Cloud right for me?
What is SAP Commerce Cloud (Hybris)?
Hybris was a leading eCommerce software developer bought by SAP, back in 2013. It became SAP Hybris Commerce before renamed SAP Commerce Cloud.
As the name suggests, it is a public cloud service best known for its wealth of APIs which allow B2B, B2C, B2B2C, D2C, wholesale and distributor retailers to easily integrate a whole host of advanced eCommerce features with ease.
Being cloud-based, online retailers are offered a quarterly update service as part of their package to ensure their sites are kept secure and performing at their optimum level.
For those online retailers with a wealth of in-house IT skills, there is a private cloud version available that offers annual, rather than quarterly, updates.
Its advanced ‘plug and play’ features empower online businesses to serve customers seamlessly across a variety of devices. Hence, SAP Commerce Cloud is best known by retailers for the breadth and depth of its features and the personalised omnichannel shopping experiences it allows them to offer customers.
What is the difference between SAP Hybris and SAP Commerce Cloud?
SAP Hybris has now been upgraded to the SAP Commerce Cloud allowing retailers to build full-featured, personalised, omnichannel stores in the cloud, without the hassle of updating servers and patching software.
The best way to think of it is that SAP Commerce Cloud is the upgrade to SAP Hybris. Where SAP Hybris installations still exist, they are no longer supported by the company.
Hence, new customers are automatically steered towards using SAP Commerce Cloud, and remaining SAP Hybris customers are advised to upgrade to it.
SAP Hybris was such a well-respected eCommerce powerhouse that its name continues to live on, even among those who actually have an SAP Commerce Cloud installation. It is a little like people saying they are going to “Xerox” a copy of a document even if they are not using that brand’s equipment.
SAP Commerce Cloud Features
The SAP Commerce Cloud is used by retailers to innovate new services and roll out new products across multiple sites at speed and scale. Here are a few of its key features:
- Plug and play applications empower retailers to build multiple stores with advanced features incorporating checkout, payment and automatic tax handling
- Experience management provides personalised customer journeys are made possible by the system understands and adapting to customer behaviour as they browse a site
- Machine learning automatically maximises conversions by offering recommendations, offers and promotions in real-time, based on a shopper’s behaviour
- A/B testing allows store owners to compare and learn from different approaches to see which drives greater sales
- Omnichannel retail made possible by Progressive Web App technology makes it far quicker, cheaper and easier to turn a website into a full-featured app than using native app technology
- Content can be easily managed across multiple stores including full support for multiple languages and currencies
- Headless eCommerce architecture allows stores to fully express themselves on the storefront (the front end) without having to tweak the software and server (back end)
- Seamless upgrades are provided by a native cloud platform which users can access through self-service portals designed to offer high or low touch engagement
- Scalable, flexible architecture allows sites to manage spikes in traffic reliably
- Subscription services and marketplaces can be launched with ease, alongside other digital add-ons available by the platform
- Real-time analytics gives users a 360-degree view of all relevant commerce transactions
SAP Commerce Cloud Integrations
The SAP Commerce Cloud is highly flexible, being built on Java applications that are easy to roll out from a central base and do not require a large amount of computing power.
It is based in the public cloud and offered on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis, meaning retailers do not worry about servers and software. Everything is maintained and kept running optimally for them, including site security.
SAP Commerce Cloud has a range of partners offering services and functions that can be added to a site with ease to extend its capabilities and reach. It can also be linked to other SAP cloud service to allow data and insight to be shared across the enterprise.
The platform also supports more than 50 shipping partners to ensure ordering and delivery run seamlessly.
Next Steps
Greenlight Commerce has been awarded SAP Recognised Expertise status for SAP Commerce Cloud four years in a row. We are the first to be awarded this accolade, as well as the first to have launched to live on SAP Commerce Cloud V2.
Discover how we helped businesses in B2B, B2C, B2B2C, D2C, and Wholesale and Distribution, successfully integrate the SAP Commerce Cloud system.
You can arrange to talk with one of our SAP Commerce Cloud experts here.
Greenlight Commerce remote working
If you are concerned that any future Covid-19 restrictions could delay your eCommerce project, rest assured that we have been fully set up to work remotely for many years now. We can remotely consult, demo, scope, setup, onboard, host, train, support and continue to partner with you. All of our systems are cloud-based so our clients can check progress, reporting and even access ‘show and tell sessions’ during a build, at any time and from any device.