On October 25th, 2023, Perficient presented a webinar that was hosted by commerce experts:
- Sergio Granada, SAP Commerce Technical Director
- Ignacio Pascual, SAP Commerce Delivery Director
- Alejandro Granada, SAP Commerce Solutions Architect
- Kim Williams- Czopek, GM of Commerce Operations
They discussed the intricacies of migrating to SAP Commerce Cloud. The session provided actionable advice, unveiled real-world success stories, and highlighted key strategies to guide businesses through this transformative journey. The webinar covered three pivotal aspects: Seamless Migration, Future-Ready Strategies, and the PWA Revolution.
Seamless Migration: Composable Storefronts and Accelerators
The webinar initiated with a comprehensive exploration of seamless migration strategies. An emphasis was placed on the potential of SAP Commerce’s Composable Storefront (formerly SAP Commerce Spartacus) and Perficient’s accelerator. This integrated solution offers stability and continuous evolution, safeguarding against any risk of abandonment. It provides a robust foundation for e-commerce endeavors, equipped with out-of-the-box features for both domestic and commercial applications.
It is important to not confuse SAP Composable Storefront, which is a product, with composable commerce, which is a concept, it is an architecture.
Strategy #1: Composable Storefronts
This strategy employs SAP’s own Composable Storefront, previously known as Spartacus, offering an integrated and consistent approach to headless commerce that is designed to work seamlessly with other SAP Commerce Cloud features. Spartacus is an open-source JavaScript framework developed by SAP for building modern, responsive, and feature-rich e-commerce storefronts.
The Composable Storefront emerged as an ideal solution for expedited market entry. By pairing the SAP Composable Storefront with professional services, businesses can streamline operations and save both time and money. The added assurance of SAP’s managed support promises stability. Additionally, for businesses content with their current CMS for e-commerce, the Composable Storefront integrates seamlessly with existing components
When to Embrace This Strategy
- Ideal when you need to go to market quickly and would prefer an out-of-the-box solution that’s designed to integrate well with SAP Commerce Cloud.
- Opt for SAP Composable Storefront if you value the reliability and support provided by a solution from SAP.
- SAP Commerce Cloud hosting
- SmartEdit as CMS (existing components, CMS license, …)
Perficient’s SAP Commerce Accelerator
When we start a project there are various factors we must consider. Not only do we have to define UI components, integration elements, and business logic. But we also invest important amount of time setting up the software lifecycle. That looks like this:
- Establishing development guidelines
- Implementing testing frameworks
- Configuring code monetary quality tools
- Performance compliance
- Accessibility compliance.
At Perficient, we made a significant investment in our Accelerator. This solution reduces time to market for SAP Commerce new implementations, upgrades, and migrations.
Watch The SAP Commerce Accelerator Demo Here
Accelerators emerged as another key strategy, offering customers the flexibility to create tailored e-commerce solutions without limitations. This approach allows for the selection of a base CMS that aligns with specific business requirements. Unlike the Composable Storefront, Accelerators provide businesses with the freedom to choose from a wide array of front-end technologies, ensuring a truly customizable approach.
Strategy #2: Composable Commerce
This strategy allows customers to select and integrate the best individual solutions for each aspect of their e-commerce system. With this strategy, you can choose the best CMS, framework, etc. That best meets your requirements, you can select whatever products to go with whatever framework you want to compose your commerce platform.
Time-Saving Approach: Composable Commerce with SAP’s SDK
An important takeaway from the session was the efficient use of SAP’s SDK to consume SAP Commerce APIs. With this approach you do not have to start from scratch because SAP Commerce is compliant with the OpenAPI specification. This means you can take the OpenAPI JSON specification and use a generator to generate a javascript code, then you can use that code to consume the APIs on SAP Commerce.
This time-saving approach allows businesses to leverage existing code to interface seamlessly with SAP Commerce APIs. The generated code includes customizations, streamlining the integration process and reducing development costs.
When to Use This Strategy
- Opt for this strategy when you want to combine the best individual solutions for each aspect of your e-commerce stack.
- Useful when you prefer the freedom to select your preferred Headless CMS and frontend frameworks like Next.js / React.
- Ideal for businesses that prefer an iterative approach to development and want to be able to quickly adapt to market changes.
Learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy
Strategy #3 Composable DXP Digital Experience Platform
A DXP is like a toolkit and a composable DXP lets you mix an match different tools to create a customized platform, embracing the philosophy composability. A composable DXP empowers businesses to create tailored shopping experiences with agility and personalization across all devices through modular components.
Composable DXPs offers a holistic approach to building digital experiences. It encompasses critical components like Content Management System (CMS), analytics for insights, personalization modules for custom user experiences, and efficient search functionalities. DXP’s versatility allows businesses to create personalized experiences on different devices and platforms.
When To Use This Strategy
- Choose this strategy when you are already using an established Digital Experience Platform like Optimizely, Acquia, AEM, or Sitecore.
- Ideal for organizations looking for a unified environment that seamlessly integrates content, commerce, and personalization.
- Choose this if your strategy heavily centers on content creation or digital experiences.
Choosing Between Composable Storefronts and Accelerators
The session concluded with a thoughtful comparison between Composable Storefronts and Accelerators. Composable Storefronts offer an integrated and stable solution, while Accelerators provide unmatched flexibility and customization options. The decision ultimately hinges on a business’s specific needs, preferred technologies, and readiness for development complexity.
Future-Ready Strategies and the PWA Revolution
Looking ahead, the session touched on future-ready strategies to ensure businesses are poised to navigate evolving industry trends. By aligning with these trends, businesses position themselves as innovators in the ever-changing e-commerce landscape. Additionally, the webinar shed light on the Progressive Web Application (PWA) Revolution, highlighting how PWAs can revolutionize mobile shopping. With faster load times and enhanced user engagement, including push notifications, PWAs represent a powerful tool in modernizing the e-commerce experience.
Conclusion
With more than 65 SAP Commerce engagements and 122 SAP Commerce developers, Perficient is a leading SAP Commerce partner. You can catch the entire webinar right here! To delve deeper into our SAP Commerce team’s capabilities, success stories, and insightful thought leadership, click here.
