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eCommerce Platform Selection Guide

Speed up the process to build your business case and select your eCommerce solution

  • Selecting and implementing the right eCommerce platform – one that aligns with your requirements – is a significant undertaking.
  • Despite the importance of selecting and implementing the right eCommerce platform, many organizations struggle to define an approach to picking the most appropriate vendor and rolling out the solution in an effective and cost-efficient manner.
  • IT often finds itself in the unenviable position of taking the fall for eCommerce platforms that don’t deliver on the promise of the eCommerce strategy.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • eCommerce platform selection must be driven by your overall customer experience management strategy: link your eCommerce selection to your organization’s CXM framework.
  • Determine what exactly you require from your eCommerce platform; leverage use cases to help guide selection.
  • Ensure strong points of integration between eCommerce and other software, such as CRM and POS. Your eCommerce solution should not live in isolation; it must be part of a wider ecosystem.

Impact and Result

  • A clear, concise, and compelling eCommerce RFP and a detailed requirements picklist.
  • An eCommerce platform that effectively meets business needs and delivers value.
  • Reduced costs during eCommerce selection and faster time to results after implementation.

eCommerce Platform Selection Guide Research & Tools

1. eCommerce Platform Selection Deck – A guide that walks you through the process of building your business case and selecting the proper eCommerce platform.

This blueprint will help you build a business case for selecting the right eCommerce platform, define key requirements, and conduct a thorough analysis and scan of the current state of the ever-evolving eCommerce market space.

2. eCommerce Request for Proposal Template – A best-of-breed template to help you build a clear, concise, and compelling RFP.

Create your own request for proposal (RFP) for your eCommerce solution procurement process by customizing the RFP template created by Info-Tech.


eCommerce Platform Selection Guide

Speed up the process to build your business case and select your eCommerce solution.

Table of Contents

3Analyst Perspective
4Executive Summary
8Executive Brief
17Selection Overview
22Vendor Analysis
48Summary of Accomplishment
49Related Research
50Bibliography

Analyst Perspective

Implementing the proper eCommerce platform is integral to providing your customers with an enhanced purchasing experience.

Modern eCommerce solutions enable businesses to carve out a place for themselves in the ever-expanding and hyper-competitive digital landscape. The market for eCommerce platforms has seen an explosion of growth in recent years as organizations look to accelerate their digital transformation to keep pace with the increased amenability of consumers for online shopping, the expanded adoption of smartphone use, and ultimately, a hyper competitive landscape that sees more and more companies putting a concerted emphasis on digital retailing.

IT needs to be a trusted partner in the selection and implementation of an eCommerce platform, but the business also needs to own the requirements and be involved from the get-go.

The selection of an eCommerce platform must be a multi-step process that involves defining target capabilities, prioritizing requirements across functional categories, determining the architecture model for the eCommerce environment, and developing a comprehensive RFP that can be scored in a weighted fashion.

To succeed with the implementation of an eCommerce solution, create a detailed roadmap that outlines milestones for configuration, security, points of implementation, data migration, training, and ongoing application maintenance.

Photo of Austin Wagar, Research Analyst, Customer Experience & Application Insights, Info-Tech Research Group.

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Customer Experience & Application Insights
Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

  • eCommerce solutions are becoming an increasingly essential tool – shouldering tasks integral to your organization and being an indispensable part of a holistic strategy for improving your customer’s experience. But selecting the right platform that aligns with your requirements is a significant undertaking.
  • After defining an approach to eCommerce, selection and implementation of the right eCommerce solution is a crucial step in delivering concrete business value.

Common Obstacles

  • Despite the importance of selecting and implementing the right eCommerce platform, many organizations struggle to define an approach to picking the most appropriate vendor and rolling out the solution in an effective and cost-efficient manner.
  • The eCommerce market is rapidly evolving, making it difficult to stay on top of the space.
  • IT often finds itself in the unenviable position of taking the fall for eCommerce platforms that don’t deliver on the promise of the eCommerce strategy.

Info-Tech’s Approach

  • eCommerce platform selection must be driven by your overall customer experience management strategy: link your eCommerce selection to your organization’s CXM framework.
  • Determine what exactly you require from your eCommerce platform; leverage use cases to help guide selection.
  • Ensure strong points of integration between eCommerce and other software, such as CRM and POS. Your eCommerce solution should not live in isolation; it must be part of a wider ecosystem.

Info-Tech Insight

IT must work in unison with other relevant stakeholders throughout the organization, including their counterparts in marketing and sales, to define a unified vision for the eCommerce platform.

Info-Tech’s methodology for selecting the right eCommerce platform

1. Contextualize the eCommerce Landscape2. Select the Right eCommerce Vendor
Phase Steps
  1. Define eCommerce Platforms
  2. Explore eCommerce Trends
  1. Build the Business Case
  2. Streamline Requirements Elicitation for eCommerce
  3. Construct the RFP
Phase Outcomes
  1. Consensus on Scope of eCommerce and Key eCommerce Capabilities
  1. eCommerce Selection Business Case
  2. Top-Level Use Cases and Requirements
  3. Completed eCommerce RFP

Info-Tech Insight

Need help constructing your RFP? Use Info-Tech’s eCommerce RFP Template!

Guided Implementation

A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

The eCommerce selection process should be broken into segments:

  1. eCommerce vendor shortlisting with this buyer’s guide
  2. Structured Approach to Selection
  3. Contract review
What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

Phase 1

Phase 2

Call #1: Understand what an eCommerce platform is and discover the “art of the possible” for sales and marketing.

Call #2: Build the business case to select an eCommerce platform.

Call #3:Define your key eCommerce requirements.

Call #4:Build procurement items, such as an RFP.

Call #5: Evaluate the eCommerce solution landscape and shortlist viable options.

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

DIY Toolkit

Guided Implementation

Workshop

Consulting

"Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.""Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.""We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.""Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project."

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

eCommerce Platform Selection Guide

Speed up the process to build your business case and select your eCommerce solution.

EXECUTIVE BRIEF

What exactly is an eCommerce platform?

An eCommerce platform is an end-to-end software solution that enables buying and selling over the internet, empowering users to effectively manage their online operations in a single, centralized application.

eCommerce platforms are typically designed to benefit two different types of organizational models: those selling business-to-business (B2B), and those selling business-to-consumer (B2C).

An eCommerce platform offers many key features, including but not limited to:
  • Catalog Management
  • Shopping Cart Management
  • Content Management
  • Order Management
  • Payment Processing
  • Reporting and Analytics
  • Integrated Search
  • Content Localization
  • Guided Selling

Stock image of a tiny shopping cart filled with bags sitting on a laptop keyboard.

Info-Tech Insight

eCommerce platform feature sets are rapidly evolving to keep pace with the accelerated growth of the eCommerce space. Base your eCommerce vendor selection on your requirements and use cases, not on the latest industry trends and developments.

eCommerce Platform Selection Guide

The proliferation and rapid evolution of the eCommerce market makes it difficult to stay on top of the space

A venn diagram of eCommerce platforms, with one circle filled with 'Business-to-business (B2B)' platforms and one filled with 'Business-to-customer (B2C)' platforms. Companies in both include 'Adobe Commerce', 'Big Commerce', 'Oracle Commerce', 'Salesforce Commerce Cloud', and more.

How it got here: the birth of eCommerce

Initial Traction Began as the Dot-Com Era Came to Fruition

1968

Icon of a wrench in a spech bubble.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) creates the world’s first routers, launching the first workable prototype of the internet (IWD Agency, 2021).

1979

Icon of a shopping cart.

Michael Aldrich, an English inventor, develops a system called “teleshopping,” enabling shoppers to purchase goods and services advertised through a TV program by calling into a processing center. For many, this is considered to be the birth of eCommerce (MerchantYard 2021).

1982

Icon of a digital storefront.

Minitel launches, and with it the first true eCommerce company is born – Boston Computer Exchange, an online market for selling used computers (IWD Agency, 2021).

1991

Icon of a delivery truck.

The World Wide Web becomes available to the public, and the National Science Foundation eases prohibitions on the commercial usage of the internet (IWD Agency, 2021).

1995

Icon of a hand holding a gift.

Major online retailers Amazon and eBay are born, signaling the beginning of the boom of eCommerce that is still being felt today. In 1998, just a few short years later, PayPal, a revolutionary eCommerce company, debuts (IWD Agency, 2021).

Where it’s going: the future of eCommerce

eCommerce is rapidly taking over the marketplace

Shopping cart filled with the headlines in the table on the right.

Icon of a bank.Accelerated Market Growth

The pandemic accelerated the growth of eCommerce by five years. Worldwide eCommerce revenue grew by nearly 20% between 2019 and 2020 alone (TechCrunch, 2020).

Icon of a digital lock.Outpacing Physical Stores

By 2024, eCommerce sales in the United States are anticipated to outpace in-store sales (MerchantYard, 2021).

Icon of a check and pen.Future Growth State

By 2026, global eCommerce sales are anticipated to reach $7.385 trillion, making up nearly a quarter – or 24.5% – of all retail sales (Insider Intelligence, 2021).

Icon of a wallet.Increased Adoption

The increased usage of smartphones and the increased penetration of the internet will continue to shift the affinity of consumers toward online shopping. By 2027, an estimated 7.69 billion people will own a smartphone (Statista, 2022).

Key Trend

Dynamic Personalization and Product Recommendations

Provide your customers with a personalized online shopping experience – machine learning algorithms and AI can make relevant product recommendations for users based on their shopping habits

AI and machine learning algorithms power what are commonly referred to as recommendation engines, or recommendation systems. These engines/systems analyze the digital footprint that your customers leave on your webstore – sifting through and processing vast amounts of data to match consumers with items that are most inline with their individual tastes/interests.

Dynamic personalization doesn’t stop at providing relevant product recommendations – it also relates to the content that is shown on a webstore, and how it is shown. By identifying your customers on an individual basis, you can offer personalized homepages based on their shopping history, you can alter the order of search results based on their search history, and you can even alter page style and color to fully tailor their experience!

One retailer excelling in providing a personalized shopping experience is Amazon.

31% of eCommerce store revenues are attributed to product recommendations. (Source: Hostinger, 2022)

60% of consumers are likely to become returning customers if they are offered a personalized shopping experience. (Source: Hostinger, 2022)

64% of marketing professionals believe that improving the customer experience is the leading benefit of eCommerce personalization. (Source: Statista, 2020)

Key Trend

Integrating eCommerce Platforms With Other Enterprise Applications

eCommerce solutions shouldn’t live in isolation – they are key components of a well-oiled customer experience ecosystem

Having a customer master database – a central place where all up-to-the-minute data on a customer profile is stored – is essential for eCommerce success. Typically, your eCommerce platform is not the system of record for the master customer profile: this information lives in a customer relationship management (CRM) platform or customer data platform (CDP). Attributes found in your CRM/CDP are integral to providing your customers with a personalized experience, making integration a necessity in the current age.

Similarly, strong eCommerce solutions orchestrate transactions but typically do not do the heavy lifting in terms of order fulfillment, shipping logistics, economic inventory management, and reverse logistics (returns). In an enterprise-grade environment, these activities are executed by an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution – integrating your eCommerce system with a back-end ERP is a crucial step from an application architecture point of view.

Recent years have also led to a merger of online commerce and traditional point-of-sales (POS) systems. Many eCommerce vendors – particularly the large players – are now going beyond traditional eCommerce and are making plays into brick-and-mortar environments, offering POS capabilities and the ability to display product assets and customizations via augmented reality – truly blending the physical and virtual shopping experience.

'Core Apps (CRM, ERP)': 'MMS Suite', 'E-Commerce', 'POS', 'Web CMS', 'Data Marts/BI Tools', 'Social Media Platforms'.

Key Trend

Headless eCommerce

Headless eCommerce is an architecture solution that separates the front-end of an online store from the back-end, allowing both systems to work independently through an application programming interface (API)

Think of the front-end of your eCommerce platform as it’s “head.” This is the client-facing portion of your online store that customers interact with, also referred to as the “presentation layer.” This layer not only includes your website itself, but also social media channels, mobile applications, and all the devices that are used on the Internet of Things (IoT), such as smart watches and voice-assisted technologies (i.e., Alexa).

The “back-end” of your online store, also known as the “application layer,” covers all the systems and processes that are required to ensure your eCommerce platform is running smoothly. The back-end provides checkout and payment capabilities, among other required functionalities, and integrates with relevant enterprise applications.

Through separation, you can update or change the “head” of your online store without causing disruption to the back-end code. This means that the back-end will be capable of functioning properly, regardless of which front-end it is plugged into. This allows for different storefronts, or front-ends, to be developed for different platforms and different devices, ultimately improving omnichannel capabilities while also offering higher levels of personalization and customization.

92% of businesses believe that headless eCommerce platforms make it easier to deliver powerful digital experiences to customers. (Source: TeleportHQ, 2022)

62% of organizations believe that headless eCommerce will significantly improve customer engagement and conversion rates. (Source: TeleportHQ, 2022)

61% of retailers have either already implemented headless eCommerce or are planning to. (Source: TeleportHQ, 2022)

Key Trend

The Convergence of B2B and B2C eCommerce Platforms

The changing needs and expectations of customers have spurred the evolution of today’s eCommerce solutions

Where there was once a clear distinction between B2B and B2C eCommerce solutions, there is a lot more blurring of the lines these days. Modern eCommerce platforms are empowering sellers to grow their businesses in new sales channels by converging the technological capabilities of B2B and B2C solutions. This convergence has been fueled by the rising expectations of purchasing managers, who have been heavily influenced by their experiences as consumers. When they come into the office in a procurement role, they now expect similar experiences as to when they are shopping at home.

While B2C platforms have historically served organizations that are strictly selling directly to consumers, the vendors providing these solutions are adapting their tools to also support selling to business customers. They’re accomplishing this by adding integral B2B features to their existing platform.

“Traditional” B2B platforms are doing the same – intertwining top features from B2C eCommerce solutions with their standard offering. This intersecting of features allows for organizations to attract a wider market while minimizing the number of resources and business applications that they require.

Shopify is a great example of this. Historically, they have been a B2C eCommerce vendor, but now they are building out their B2B capabilities in order to create a hybrid customer experience.

Stock image of a waterfall.

INFO~TECH RESEARCH GROUP

eCommerce Platform Selection Guide

Selection Overview

Info-Tech Research Group Inc. is a global leader in providing IT research and advice. Info-Tech’s products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns.
© 1997-2023 Info-Tech Research Group Inc.

Software Selection Engagement

Five Advisory Calls over a Five-Week Period to Accelerate your Selection Process

Expert analyst guidance over an average of five weeks to help you select and negotiate software

Save money, align stakeholders, speed up the process, and make better decisions

Use a repeatable, formal methodology to improve your application selection process

Better, faster results, guaranteed, included in membership

Calendar of Phases 1 to 5, each spread over a business week with advisory calls on Monday.

CLICK HERE to book your Selection Engagement

Elicit and prioritize granular requirements for your eCommerce platform

Understanding business needs through requirements gathering is the key to defining everything about what is being purchased, yet it is an area where people often make critical mistakes

Risks of poorly scoped requirements

  • Fail to be comprehensive and miss certain areas of scope.
  • Focus on how the solution should work instead of what it must accomplish.
  • Have multiple levels of detail within the requirements, which are inconsistent and confusing.
  • Drill all the way down into system-level detail.
  • Add unnecessary constraints based on what is done today rather than focusing on what is needed for tomorrow.
  • Omit constraints or preferences that buyers think are “obvious.”

Best practices

  • Get a clear understanding of what the system needs to do and what it is expected to produce.
  • Test against the principle of MECE – requirements should be “mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive.”
  • Explicitly state the obvious and assume nothing.
  • Investigate what is sold on the market and how it is sold. Use language that is consistent with that of the market and focus on key differentiators – not table stakes.
  • Contain the appropriate level of detail – the level should be suitable for procurement and sufficient for differentiating vendors.

Info-Tech Insight

Review Info-Tech’s requirements gathering methodology to improve your requirements gathering process.

Info-Tech’s approach

Develop an inclusive and thorough approach to the RFP Process

Info-Tech's approach in steps: 'Identify Need', 'Define Business Requirements', 'Gain Business Authorization', 'Perform RFI/RFP', 'Negotiate Agreement', 'Purchase Goods and Services', and 'Assess and Measure Performance'.

Info-Tech Insight

Review Info-Tech’s process and understand how you can prevent your organization from leaking negotiation leverage while preventing vendors from taking control of your RFP.

The Info-Tech difference:

  1. The secret to managing an RFP is to make it as manageable and as thorough as possible. The RFP process should be like any other aspect of business – by developing a standard process. With a process in place, you are better able to handle whatever comes your way, because you know the steps you need to follow to produce a top-notch RFP.
  2. The business then identifies the need for more information about a product/service or determines that a purchase is required.
  3. A team of stakeholders from each area impacted gather all business, technical, legal, and risk requirements. What are the expectations of the vendor relationship post-RFP? How will the vendors be evaluated?
  4. Based on the predetermined requirements, either an RFI or an RFP is issued to vendors with a predetermined due date.

Leverage the Contract Review Service to level the playing field with your shortlisted vendors

You may be faced with multiple products, services, master service agreements, licensing models, service agreements, and more.

Use the Contract Review Service to gain insights on your agreements.

Consider the aspects of a contract review:
  1. Are all key terms included?
  2. Are they applicable to your business?
  3. Can you trust that results will be delivered?
  4. What questions should you be asking from an IT perspective?
Validate that a contract meets the needs of IT and the business by looking beyond the legal terminology. Use a practical set of questions, rules, and guidance to improve your value for dollar spent.
Sample of the Contract Review Service.

CLICK HERE to BOOK The Contract Review Service

DOWNLOAD Master Contract Review and Negotiation for Software Agreements

INFO~TECH RESEARCH GROUP

eCommerce Platform Selection Guide

Vendor Analysis

Info-Tech Research Group Inc. is a global leader in providing IT research and advice. Info-Tech’s products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns.
© 1997-2023 Info-Tech Research Group Inc.

Get to Know the Key Players in the eCommerce Landscape

The proceeding slides provide a top-level overview of the popular players you will encounter during the eCommerce shortlisting process.

Logos of prominent eCommerce platforms including: 'Shopify', 'Squarespace', 'SAP Commerce Cloud', 'Microsoft Dyanmics 365', 'Adobe Commerce', and more.

Evaluate software category leaders through vendor rankings and awards

SoftwareReviews

Sample of the 'Data Quadrant Report' scoring system.Sample of the 'Data Quadrant Report' title page.The Data Quadrant is a thorough evaluation and ranking of all software in an individual category to compare platforms across multiple dimensions.

Vendors are ranked by their Composite Score based on individual feature evaluations, user satisfaction rankings, vendor capability comparisons, and likeliness to recommend the platform.

Sample of the 'Emotional Footprint' scoring system.Sample of the 'Emotional Footprint' title page.The Emotional Footprint is a powerful indicator of overall user sentiment toward the relationship with the vendor, capturing data across five dimensions.

Vendors are ranked by their Customer Experience (CX) Score, which combines the overall Emotional Footprint rating with a measure of the value delivered by the solution.

Speak with category experts to dive deeper into the vendor landscape

SoftwareReviews

Icon of an IT professional.
Fact-based reviews of business software from IT professionals.
Icon of a magnifying glass over analytics.
Top-tier data quality backed by a rigorous quality assurance process.
CLICK HERE to ACCESS

Comprehensive software reviews
to make better IT decisions

We collect and analyze the most detailed reviews on enterprise software from real users to give you an unprecedented view into the product and vendor before you buy.

Icon of a dashboard on a tablet.
Product and category reports with state-of-the-art data visualization.
Icon of a phone ringing.
User-experience insight that reveals the intangibles of working with a vendor.

SoftwareReviews is powered by Info-Tech
Technology coverage is a priority for Info-Tech, and SoftwareReviews provides the most comprehensive, unbiased data on today’s technology. Combined with the insights of our expert analysts, our members receive unparalleled support in their buying journey.

Logo for Adobe.
Est. 1982 | CA, USA | NASDAQ: ADBE

bio

Link for their Twitter account.Link for their LinkedIn profile.Link for their website.
Build multi-channel commerce experiences for B2B and B2C customers on a single platform – Adobe Commerce. From catalog to payment to fulfillment, our future-proof technology gives you a commerce platform that’s endlessly flexible, extensible, and scalable.

SoftwareReviews’ B2B eCommerce Rankings

Strengths:
  • ERP Integration
  • Guided Selling
Areas to Improve:
  • Content Management
  • Catalog Management
  • Shopping Cart Management
  • Vendor Support
  • Order Management
  • Payment Processing
Logo for SoftwareReviews.
7.7
COMPOSITE SCORE
7.9
CX SCORE
+80
EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT
79%
LIKELINESS TO RECOMMEND
DOWNLOAD REPORT169
REVIEWS
Vendor scores are driven by real-world practitioner reviews via SoftwareReviews. Composite, CX, EF, and NPS scores pulled from live data as of October 2022. Rankings and ”strengths” and ”areas to improve” pulled from July 2022 Category Report.
Sample of an Adobe screen.'Vendor Pulse: How Often Do We Hear About Adobe Commerce From Our Members for eCommerce? Frequently'
History of Adobe in a vertical timeline.

Logo for Adobe.

“Adobe has long been a major player in the enterprise applications space. Their Adobe Commerce offering – formerly known as Magento – is the focus of vast feature innovation and product development. New updates and versions of their software are regularly released in an effort to “future proof” their technology and to set new standards in commerce capabilities, security, and performance. As part of their Adobe Experience Cloud offering, Adobe Commerce is known for providing unmatched commerce experiences for both B2B and B2C customers. Ultimately, SoftwareReviews provides an underwhelming account of Adobe’s functionality when compared to their competitors in the eCommerce space, having scored poorly in our most recent peer-driven reports. Vendor capability satisfaction and product feature satisfaction are both low, with Adobe Commerce scoring in the bottom half of vendors in all the mandatory features looked at. Adobe Commerce would lend itself better to large organizations with a pre-existing Adobe footprint looking for an enterprise grade solution.”

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

Adobe Commerce – Pricing Opaque:

“Request a Quote”

Logo for BigCommerce.
Est. 2009 | TX, USA | NASDAQ: BIGC

bio

Link for their Twitter account.Link for their LinkedIn profile.Link for their website.
BigCommerce is an advanced, reliable platform designed to grow revenue and optimize operations. Customize your site, manage shipping and payments, and list your products on Amazon, eBay, and Facebook with the BigCommerce platform.

SoftwareReviews’ B2B eCommerce Rankings

Strengths:
  • Vendor Support
  • Quality of Features
  • Usability and Intuitiveness
  • Ease of Customization
  • Catalog Management
  • Order Management
Areas to Improve:
  • Breadth of Features
  • Payment Processing
Logo for SoftwareReviews.
8.4
COMPOSITE SCORE
8.5
CX SCORE
+87
EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT
87%
LIKELINESS TO RECOMMEND
DOWNLOAD REPORT37
REVIEWS
Vendor scores are driven by real-world practitioner reviews via SoftwareReviews. Composite, CX, EF, and NPS scores pulled from live data as of October 2022. Rankings and ”strengths” and ”areas to improve” pulled from July 2022 Category Report.
Sample of an Adobe screen.'Vendor Pulse: How Often Do We Hear About BigCommerce From Our Members for eCommerce? Very Frequently'
History of BigCommerce in a vertical timeline.
*Pricing correct as of October 2022. Listed in USD and absent discounts.
See pricing on vendor’s website for latest information.
Logo for BigCommerce.

“While other vendors have their hands in a range of enterprise applications, BigCommerce’s sole focus remains on providing a versatile and innovative eCommerce solution that is both reliable and secure. Their open, modern, and scalable SaaS platform provides organizations with the enterprise integrations and the customization tools required to build and sell however – and wherever – they want. BigCommerce’s dedication to eCommerce shows in our SoftwareReviews reports, with BigCommerce scoring extremely well in both our B2B and B2C eCommerce categories.

While BigCommerce’s tiered plans seemingly make it an attractive option for businesses of all sizes, some functional features that are expected of an eCommerce solution (i.e., product filtering) are only available in the Pro- and Enterprise-level plans. Small/mid-sized businesses may wonder how much ROI they can get from BigCommerce.”

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

StandardPlusProEnterprise
  • $29.95 per month
  • Small businesses after basic functionality
  • $79.95 per month
  • Small/mid-sized businesses
  • Adds marketing tools
  • $299.95 per month
  • Mid-sized/small enterprise
  • Adds product filtering
  • Opaque pricing
  • Request a quote
Logo for Microsoft.
Est. 1975 | WA, USA | NYSE: MSFT

bio

Link for their Twitter account.Link for their LinkedIn profile.Link for their website.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce empowers you to deliver unified, personalized, and frictionless buying experiences across online and offline channels for both B2B and B2C customers. Rich AI capabilities enable intelligent commerce and optimize business practices, while robust back-office operations power user-friendly applications.

Analyst Driven B2B eCommerce Rankings

Strengths:
  • Breadth of Features
  • Usability and Intuitiveness
  • Ease of Customization
  • Integrated Search
  • Catalog Management
  • Shopping Cart Management
Areas to Improve:
  • Vendor Support
  • Reporting and Analytics
Logo for SoftwareReviews.
N/A
COMPOSITE SCORE
N/A
CX SCORE
N/A
EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT
N/A
LIKELINESS TO RECOMMEND
0
REVIEWS
Vendor scores are driven by real-world practitioner reviews via SoftwareReviews. Composite, CX, EF, and NPS scores for this vendor were not available as of October 2022. As such, rankings and ”strengths” and ”areas to improve” are analyst driven.
Sample of a Microsoft screen.'Vendor Pulse: How Often Do We Hear About D365 Commerce From Our Members for eCommerce? Frequently'
History of Microsoft in a vertical timeline.
*Pricing correct as of October 2022. Listed in USD and absent discounts.
See pricing on vendor’s website for latest information.
Logo for Microsoft.

“Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce is a strong and compelling player in the eCommerce marketplace, directly rivaling Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Good functional breadth paired with a modern user interface and best-in-class Microsoft stack compatibility ensures that we consistently see them on our members’ shortlists, particularly when our members are looking to roll out eCommerce capabilities alongside other components of the Dynamics ecosystem (such as Finance, Marketing, Operations, and HR). Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce is well suited for both B2B and B2C commerce. User-friendly capabilities typically reserved for B2C offerings are enabled on the B2B side to enrich the B2B buying experience, while a powerful AI drives accurate product recommendations on the B2C side. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce is well known for providing strong omnichannel capabilities, delivering a seamless and personalized buying experience across both traditional and emerging channels, connecting digital, in-store, and back-office operations in a single, unified platform.”

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

Dynamics 365 CommerceE-Commerce Add-In for D365 Commerce
  • $230.40 per user/mo
  • Provides core functionalities for managing omnichannel operations
  • From $5,120* per month
  • Provides eCommerce management for D365 Commerce
Logo for Optimizely.
Est. 2009 | NY, USA | Private

bio

Link for their Twitter account.Link for their LinkedIn profile.Link for their website.
Optimizely Commerce (formerly Episerver) is Optimizely's B2B and B2C experience platform for digital shopping, customer experience management, and adaptive commerce.

SoftwareReviews’ B2B eCommerce Rankings

Strengths:
  • Payment Processing
  • Usability and Intuitiveness
Areas to Improve:
  • Vendor Support
  • Breadth of Features
  • Catalog Management
  • Shopping Cart Management
  • Content Localization
  • Ease of Customization
Logo for SoftwareReviews.
7.0
COMPOSITE SCORE
7.2
CX SCORE
+70
EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT
65%
LIKELINESS TO RECOMMEND
DOWNLOAD REPORT10
REVIEWS
Vendor scores are driven by real-world practitioner reviews via SoftwareReviews. Composite, CX, EF, and NPS scores pulled from live data as of October 2022. Rankings and ”strengths” and ”areas to improve” pulled from July 2022 Category Report.
Sample of an Optimizely screen.'Vendor Pulse: How Often Do We Hear About Optimizely Commerce From Our Members for eCommerce? Occasionally'
History of Optimizely in a vertical timeline.

Logo for Optimizely.

“Optimizely is a leading digital experience platform (DXP). They offer a vast product suite aimed at optimizing your customers’ experiences, with custom pricing and plans available to combine specific offerings based on your needs. This reliance on combining offerings does lead to some downsides, however, with Optimizely’s core B2B and B2C commerce platforms lacking “out-of-the-box” functionality. Additional “enhancements” would need to be purchased to extend the functionality of their eCommerce solutions to include features that have come to be expected as standard in the space. One such example is their recommendations enhancement, which is required to drive personalized product recommendations. As per our peer-driven reports on SoftwareReviews, users seem to most enjoy Optimizely’s payment processing capabilities as well as their reporting and analytics across both the B2B and B2C spaces. Optimizely would be best suited for small to mid-sized businesses and may not be the best choice for large enterprises or large volume merchants. ”

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

Optimizely Commerce – Pricing Opaque:

“Request a Quote”

Logo for Oracle.
Est. 1977 | TX, USA | NYSE: ORCL

bio

Link for their Twitter account.Link for their LinkedIn profile.Link for their website.
Oracle Commerce has everything you need to succeed in the next era of commerce, now with retail and B2B in a single SaaS platform. Enable customers to research and buy their products anytime, anywhere. Oracle allows you to provide your customers with a personalized, rich, and consistent experience across all channels.

SoftwareReviews’ B2B eCommerce Rankings

Strengths:
  • Breadth of Features
  • Content Localization
  • Guided Selling
Areas to Improve:
  • Content Management
  • Shopping Cart Management
  • Integrated Search
  • Vendor Support
Logo for SoftwareReviews.
8.0
COMPOSITE SCORE
8.1
CX SCORE
+81
EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT
82%
LIKELINESS TO RECOMMEND
DOWNLOAD REPORT43
REVIEWS
Vendor scores are driven by real-world practitioner reviews via SoftwareReviews. Composite, CX, EF, and NPS scores pulled from live data as of October 2022. Rankings and ”strengths” and ”areas to improve” pulled from July 2022 Category Report.
Sample of an Oracle screen.'Vendor Pulse: How Often Do We Hear About Oracle Commerce From Our Members for eCommerce? Frequently'
History of Oracle in a vertical timeline.

Logo for Oracle.

“Oracle is a long-term juggernaut of the enterprise applications space. While historically Oracle has been seen as lagging behind competitors like Salesforce and Microsoft, Oracle has made strides in improving their user experience via their Redwoods design paradigm, and they are now taking aim at improving the customer experience as well. Their eCommerce platform, Oracle Commerce, is one part of Oracle’s group of Customer Experience (CX) Cloud Applications. This suite of applications aims to connect all your business data across advertising, marketing, sales, commerce, and service to deliver extraordinary – and personalized – experiences to your customers. SoftwareReviews shows that Oracle Commerce has performed moderately well in our most recent peer-driven reports for both B2B and B2C eCommerce vendors. Nonetheless, we most commonly see Oracle Commerce as a pricier ecosystem play that’s often subordinate to a heavy Oracle footprint. Many of our members also express displeasure with Oracle as a vendor, highlighting their heavy-handed “threat of audit” approach.”

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

Oracle Commerce – Pricing Opaque:

“Request a Quote”

Logo for Salesforce.
Est. 1999 | CA, USA | NYSE: CRM

bio

Link for their Twitter account.Link for their LinkedIn profile.Link for their website.
Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud (formerly Demandware) can help you create unified, intelligent digital commerce experiences — both online and in the store. Attract more shoppers, build customer loyalty, and increase conversion rates with dynamic customer segments, merchandising rules, and AI-powered recommendations.

SoftwareReviews’ B2C eCommerce Rankings

Strengths:
  • Integrated Search
  • Predictive Recommendations
Areas to Improve:
  • Usability and Intuitiveness
  • Breadth of Features
  • Shopping Cart Management
  • Microsite Management
  • Payment Processing
  • Catalog Management
Logo for SoftwareReviews.
8.0
COMPOSITE SCORE
8.3
CX SCORE
+84
EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT
83%
LIKELINESS TO RECOMMEND
DOWNLOAD REPORT63
REVIEWS
Vendor scores are driven by real-world practitioner reviews via SoftwareReviews. Composite, CX, EF, and NPS scores pulled from live data as of October 2022. Rankings and ”strengths” and ”areas to improve” pulled from July 2022 Category Report.
Sample of a Salesforce screen.'Vendor Pulse: How Often Do We Hear About Salesforce Commerce Cloud From Our Members for eCommerce? Very Frequently'
History of Salesforce in a vertical timeline.
*Pricing correct as of October 2022. Absent discounts.
See pricing on vendor’s website for latest information.
Logo for Salesforce.

“After acquiring Demandware, Salesforce quickly became one of the pre-eminent vendors – and a major disruptor – in the eCommerce marketplace. Offering products for both B2C and B2B commerce, Salesforce focuses on driving efficiency as well as profitability. Their B2C Commerce Cloud unifies online and offline channels and takes advantage of the industry’s latest trends, including offering headless commerce capabilities. Their B2B Commerce Cloud provides a seamless self-service shopping experience in addition to more standard B2B functionality, meeting the heightened expectations that many B2B clients now have due to their increased propensity for shopping online as consumers. While our SoftwareReviews data shows that Salesforce underwhelms in the B2C eCommerce space, you would be hard pressed to find a vendor that scores better in its B2B capabilities. Salesforce would be a great fit for any organization looking to partner with a market leader with excellent functional breadth, strong interoperability, and a compelling technology and partner ecosystem.”

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

B2C Commerce
Starter
B2C Commerce
Growth
B2C Commerce
Plus
  • 1% of gross merchandise value
  • Billed annually
  • Designed to launch and grow commerce businesses
  • 2% of gross merchandise value
  • Billed annually
  • Designed to deliver improved commerce experiences
  • 3% of gross merchandise value
  • Billed annually
  • Focus on enhanced AI capabilities and CRM integration
Logo for SAP.
Est. 1972 | BW, Germany | NYSE: SAP

bio

Link for their Twitter account.Link for their LinkedIn profile.Link for their website.
SAP Commerce Cloud is a comprehensive commerce platform. It is flexible, offering an agility layer so you can innovate and test, and then implement with confidence, and their accelerators package unique industry-specific capabilities for a variety of verticals.

SoftwareReviews’ B2C eCommerce Rankings

Strengths:
  • Reporting and Analytics
  • Content Management
  • Microsite Management
Areas to Improve:
  • Breadth of Features
  • Integrated Search
  • Content Localization
  • Order Management
  • Predictive Recommendations
Logo for SoftwareReviews.
7.9
COMPOSITE SCORE
7.9
CX SCORE
+78
EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT
83%
LIKELINESS TO RECOMMEND
DOWNLOAD REPORT17
REVIEWS
Vendor scores are driven by real-world practitioner reviews via SoftwareReviews. Composite, CX, EF, and NPS scores pulled from live data as of October 2022. Rankings and ”strengths” and ”areas to improve” pulled from July 2022 Category Report.
Sample of an SAP screen.'Vendor Pulse: How Often Do We Hear About SAP Commerce Cloud From Our Members for eCommerce? Occasionally'
History of SAP in a vertical timeline.

Logo for SAP.

“SAP is another mainstay of the enterprise applications market. Their SAP Commerce Cloud platform is comprehensive, offering product content management, experience management, personalization, and order management capabilities. Their content management capabilities particularly, in addition to their reporting and analytics, are well revered, as evident in our most recent peer-driven reports on SoftwareReviews for both B2B and B2C eCommerce vendors. In terms of their other capabilities, these same reports show that SAP consistently underperforms. SAP Commerce Cloud seems a secondary focus for SAP, behind their more compelling play in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) space. Most instances where we see SAP in our clients’ shortlists, it’s as an ecosystem play within a broader SAP strategy. If you’re approaching an eCommerce selection with no legacy vendor baggage to SAP elsewhere, experience suggests you’ll be better served by a vendor that places a higher degree of primacy on the eCommerce aspect of their portfolio.”

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

SAP Commerce Cloud – Pricing Opaque:

“Request a Quote”

Logo for Shopify.
Est. 2006 | ON, Canada | NYSE: SHOP

bio

Link for their Twitter account.Link for their LinkedIn profile.Link for their website.
Shopify is a leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops.

SoftwareReviews’ B2C eCommerce Rankings

Strengths:
  • Quality of Features
  • Catalog Management
  • Shopping Cart Management
  • Order Management
Areas to Improve:
  • Vendor Support
  • Reporting and Analytics
  • Microsite Management
  • Content Localization
  • Predictive Recommendations
Logo for SoftwareReviews.
8.3
COMPOSITE SCORE
8.5
CX SCORE
+85
EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT
86%
LIKELINESS TO RECOMMEND
DOWNLOAD REPORT78
REVIEWS
Vendor scores are driven by real-world practitioner reviews via SoftwareReviews. Composite, CX, EF, and NPS scores pulled from live data as of October 2022. Rankings and ”strengths” and ”areas to improve” pulled from July 2022 Category Report.
Sample of a Shopify screen.'Vendor Pulse: How Often Do We Hear About Shopify From Our Members for eCommerce? Very Frequently'
History of Shopify in a vertical timeline.
*Pricing correct as of October 2022. Listed in CAD unless otherwise mentioned; absent discounts.
See pricing on vendor’s website for latest information.
Logo for Shopify.

“Shopify is an extremely well-known eCommerce platform. As far as eCommerce vendors are concerned, Shopify may be as close to a “household name” as we have in the marketspace. While Shopify itself is best suited for small and medium-sized businesses, they were able to extend their world-renowned functionality to large enterprises and high-volume merchants via their Shopify Plus offering, with the quality and breadth of features across both platforms being highly regarded. Providing omnichannel capabilities, Shopify enables selling across both online and offline sales channels.

Shopify got its start focusing on B2C commerce, and while their B2B experience is lesser (being a newer offering), that product line is maturing nicely. Shopify aims to perform capably across both sides, and they are well on their way there. Our recent SoftwareReviews peer-driven reports on both B2B and B2C vendors shows Shopify and Shopify Plus are held in a high regard by their users.”

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

StarterBasicShopifyAdvancedShopify Plus
  • $7 per month
  • Focused on social media selling
  • $38 per month
  • Small businesses, new eCommerce businesses with minimal in-person sales
  • $99 per month
  • Small/mid-sized target, growing businesses with online and offline sales
  • $389 per month
  • Focused on advanced reporting
  • Mid- to upper mid-market focus
  • Starts at $2000 USD* per month
  • Large enterprise, high-volume merchants
Logo for Squarespace.
Est. 2003 | NY, USA | NYSE: SQSP

bio

Link for their Twitter account.Link for their LinkedIn profile.Link for their website.
Squarespace is a leading website building and eCommerce platform, enabling users to build a brand and transact with customers online. Powerful design features and an expansive product suite empower users to maintain consistent branding across digital touchpoints.

Analyst Driven B2C eCommerce Rankings

Strengths:
  • Quality of Features
  • Breadth of Features
  • Ease of Implementation
  • Ease of Customization
  • Usability and Intuitiveness
  • Catalog Management
Areas to Improve:
  • Vendor Support
  • Reporting and Analytics
  • Predictive Recommendations
Logo for SoftwareReviews.
N/A
COMPOSITE SCORE
N/A
CX SCORE
N/A
EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT
N/A
LIKELINESS TO RECOMMEND
0
REVIEWS
Vendor scores are driven by real-world practitioner reviews via SoftwareReviews. Composite, CX, EF, and NPS scores for this vendor were not available as of October 2022. As such, rankings and ”strengths” and ”areas to improve” are analyst driven.
Sample of a Squarespace screen.'Vendor Pulse: How Often Do We Hear About Squarespace From Our Members for eCommerce? Occasionally'
History of Squarespace in a vertical timeline.
*Pricing correct as of October 2022. Listed in USD and absent discounts.
See pricing on vendor’s website for latest information.
Logo for Squarespace.

“Although they are lacking the required number of reviews to qualify for a peer-driven report on SoftwareReviews, Squarespace is a vendor that we are starting to hear more about from our members, and for good reason. Squarespace Commerce is a great platform to utilize if you are looking to build out an eCommerce website. They employ a very easy to use interface that limits any potential learning curve for those new to eCommerce and they offer a solid range of integrations with third-party applications.

Squarespace’s pricing is incredibly competitive across all their plans, offering high business value for their robust feature sets. Even though their Advanced Commerce plan would need to be purchased to enjoy full functionality – and to have access to beneficial commerce features such as abandoned cart recovery – their low pricing makes it easy to rationalize the purchase. Squarespace would be best suited for small, burgeoning businesses and for those new to eCommerce. ”

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

PersonalBusinessBasic CommerceAdvanced Commerce
  • $16 per month
  • Billed annually
  • Small business target, personal usage
  • $23 per month
  • Billed annually
  • Adds marketing and select commerce features
  • $27 per month
  • Billed annually
  • Adds commerce features, including social selling
  • $49 per month
  • Billed annually
  • Adds commerce features, including abandoned cart recovery
Logo for Woo Commerce.
Est. 2008 | CA, USA | Private

bio

Link for their Twitter account.Link for their LinkedIn profile.Link for their website.
WooCommerce is an open-source, completely customizable eCommerce platform for entrepreneurs worldwide. Go beyond the confines of traditional eCommerce solutions and be limited only by your own imagination.

SoftwareReviews’ B2C eCommerce Rankings

Strengths:
  • Breadth of Features
  • Quality of Features
  • Predictive Recommendations
  • Content Management
  • Shopping Cart Management
  • Payment Processing
Areas to Improve:
  • Vendor Support
  • Reporting and Analytics
  • Retargeting Capabilities
Logo for SoftwareReviews.
8.3
COMPOSITE SCORE
8.3
CX SCORE
+82
EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT
88%
LIKELINESS TO RECOMMEND
DOWNLOAD REPORT75
REVIEWS
Vendor scores are driven by real-world practitioner reviews via SoftwareReviews. Composite, CX, EF, and NPS scores pulled from live data as of October 2022. Rankings and ”strengths” and ”areas to improve” pulled from July 2022 Category Report.
Sample of a WooCommerce screen.'Vendor Pulse: How Often Do We Hear About WooCommerce From Our Members for eCommerce? Very Frequently'
History of WooCommerce in a vertical timeline.

Logo for WooCommerce.

“WooCommerce is a solution that has grown in popularity in recent years, and not just for being “free.” WooCommerce is loved for the breadth and quality of its features. It is important to note that WooCommerce is a plugin for websites powered by WordPress, however, that does come with some benefits. With advanced customization abilities, users are able to construct their eCommerce website to meet their exact specifications. Set-up is quick and easy, and users can extend the functionality of their store by utilizing extensions that are available from the WooCommerce Marketplace. SoftwareReviews’ most recent peer-driven reports for B2C eCommerce vendors highlights vast product feature satisfaction as well, including in the realm of predictive recommendations, which is currently a major focus for many online retailers. Despite its strengths, WooCommerce works best when it is rolled out in lower complexity environments. WooCommerce is designed to empower small and medium businesses and wouldn’t be suitable for an enterprise-grade organization.”

Austin Wagar
Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

WooCommerce – Free, Open-Source Software:

WooCommerce is a plugin, meaning that a WordPress site that can use plugins is required*

Outside of hosting and domain fees, users have control over associated costs. Pricing varies depending on the level of customization and the extensions/integrations selected (i.e., website themes, payment gateways, shipping solutions, etc.).

Leverage Info-Tech’s research to plan and execute your eCommerce implementation

Use Info-Tech Research Group’s three phase implementation process to guide your own planning.

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Assess

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Prepare

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Govern & Course Correct


Establish and execute an end-to-end, agile framework to succeed with the implementation of a major enterprise application.

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Ensure your implementation team has a high degree of trust and communication

Ensure your implementation team has a high degree of trust and communication

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Communication

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Proximity

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Trust

Teams must have some type of communication strategy. This can be broken into:
  • Regularity: Having a set time each day to communicate progress and a set day to conduct retrospectives.
  • Ceremonies: Injecting awards and continually emphasizing delivery of value can encourage relationship building and constructive motivation.
  • Escalation: Voicing any concerns and having someone responsible for addressing those concerns.
Distributed teams create complexity as communication can break down. This can be mitigated by:
  • Location: Placing teams in proximity can close the barrier of geographical distance and time zone differences.
  • Inclusion: Making a deliberate attempt to pull remote team members into discussions and ceremonies.
  • Communication Tools: Having the right technology (e.g. video conference) can help bring teams closer together virtually.
Members should trust other members are contributing to the project and completing their required tasks on time. Trust can be developed and maintained by:
  • Accountability: Having frequent quality reviews and feedback sessions. As work becomes more transparent, people become more accountable.
  • Role Clarity: Having a clear definition of what everyone’s role is.

Summary of Accomplishment

Knowledge Gained
  • What eCommerce is
  • The history of eCommerce
  • The future of eCommerce
  • Key trends in eCommerce
Processes Optimized
  • Requirements gathering
  • RFP’s and contract reviews
  • eCommerce vendor selection
  • eCommerce platform implementation
eCommerce Vendors Analyzed
  • Adobe
  • BigCommerce
  • Microsoft
  • Oracle
  • Salesforce
  • SAP
  • Shopify
  • Squarespace
  • Optimizely
  • WooCommerce
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Related Info-Tech Research

Stock image of a concentrated office worker.Build a Strong Technology Foundation for Customer Experience Management
  • Design an end-to-end technology strategy to drive sales revenue, enhance marketing effectiveness, and create compelling experiences for your customers.
Stock image of a smiling customer.Enable Omnichannel Commerce That Delights Your Customers
  • Create a cohesive omnichannel framework that supports the right transactions through the right channels for the right customers.
Stock image of a happy group of workers.Improve Requirements Gathering
  • An improvement in requirements analysis will strengthen the relationship between business and IT, as more and more applications satisfy stakeholder needs. More importantly, the applications delivered by IT will meet all the must-have and at least some of the nice-to-have requirements, allowing end users to successfully execute their day-to-day responsibilities.

Bibliography 1/4

“About Us.” WooCommerce, 26 Feb. 2020. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

“Adobe History.” Zippia, 9 Sept. 2022. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

“E-Commerce Global Market Report 2022.” The Business Research Company. Accessed 14 Sept. 2022.

“E-commerce platforms.” Adobe Experience Cloud Blog, 26 Mar. 2021. Accessed 13 Sept. 2022.

“Episerver Completes Acquisition of Optimizely, Creating the Industry’s Most Advanced Digital Experience Platform.” Optimizely, 21 Oct. 2020. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.

“Episerver Reintroduces Itself as Optimizely with Strategic Rebrand Focused on Optimizing Every Digital Experience.” Optimizely, 27 Jan. 2021. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.

“Leading benefits from personalization according to marketing professionals in the United States as of March 2020.” Statista, Apr. 2020. Accessed 12 Sept. 2022.

“Number of smartphone subscriptions worldwide from 2016 to 2021, with forecasts from 2022 to 2027.” Statista, Feb. 2022. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.

“Optimizely (Episerver): A 20 Year History Of Challenging Branding.” PostJoe, 19 Aug. 2021. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.

“Oracle Buys ATG.” Oracle, 2 Nov. 2010. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

“SAP to Acquire hybris to Deliver Next-Generation Customer Experience.” SAP, 5 June 2013. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

“SAP Unifies Comprehensive Cloud Portfolio With SAP HANA Cloud Platform to Serve Companies of All Sizes.” SAP, 14 May 2013. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

“Shopify History.” Zippia, 9 Sept. 2022. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

“Squarespace Timeline.” Squarespace. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

Bibliography 2/4

“The History of E-Commerce: How Did It Begin?” MerchantYard, 8 Nov. 2021. Accessed 14 Sept. 2022.

“What Is Adobe Commerce? A Brief Introduction.” Emizentech, 4 Mar. 2022. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

“What is an eCommerce Platform: Definition.” SendPulse, 31 Aug. 2022. Accessed 13 Sept. 2022.

“What is eCommerce Personalization and Why it Matters.” Dynamicweb, 31 Mar. 2022. Accessed 12 Sept. 2022.

“WooCommerce Mobile App Launched – Manage Your Store on The Go.” APPSeConnect, 24 Jan. 2019. Accessed 14 Nov. 2022.

Andrews, Evan. “Who Invented the Internet?” History, 28 Oct. 2019. Accessed 14 Sept. 2022.

Anjani, Nadya, and Linda D. “Top 18 eCommerce Trends You Should Know in 2022.” Hostinger, 3 Oct. 2021. Accessed 9 Sept. 2022.

Beck, Brian. “B2C and B2B Ecommerce Convergence: Your Ticket to New Revenue Streams & Cost Savings.” LinkedIn, 29 Mar. 2017. Accessed 12 Sept. 2022.

Brie, Paul. “Headless eCommerce: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners.” TeleportHQ, 22 Aug. 2022. Accessed 12 Sept. 2022.

Chandler, Jeff. “WooConf, The First Ever Conference Dedicated to WooCommerce Deemed a Success.” WP Tavern, 7 Nov. 2014. Accessed 14 Nov. 2022.

Coetzee, Jacques. “WordPress founder company Automattic acquires WooThemes, WooCommerce.” Ventureburn, 20 May 2015. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

Davis, Tom. “AI and Machine Learning in Digital Marketing: What You Need To Know.” BrandDad Digital, 2 Apr. 2020. Accessed 9 Sept. 2022.

Dopson, Elise, and Adeel Qayum. “Headless Commerce: Benefits, Uses, and Top Platforms in 2022.” Shopify, 28 Feb. 2022. Accessed 12 Sept. 2022.

Bibliography 3/4

Douglas, Aaron. “Turn Ideas into Products and Capture your Creative Spirit with the Woo Mobile App.” WooCommerce, 11 Dec. 2020. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

Fryer, Victoria. “Ecommerce Timeline: Ecommerce Through the Decades.” BigCommerce, 19 Jan. 2021. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

Gjerstad, Kim. “We’re Joining WooCommerce!” MailPoet, 7 Dec. 2020. Accessed 14 Nov. 2022.

Ha, Anthony. “Optimizely acquired by content management company Episerver.” TechCrunch, 3 Sept. 2020. Accessed 14 Nov. 2022.

Ha, Anthony. “Optimizely Brings Its A/B Testing Platform To iOS Apps.” TechCrunch, 17 Apr. 2014. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.

Ha, Anthony. “Optimizely hires Jay Larson as its new CEO.” TechCrunch, 11 July 2017. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.

Haponik, Artur. “The best Machine Learning Use Cases in E-commerce.” Addepto, 23 June 2021. Accessed 9 Sept. 2022.

Hillard, Devon. “Oracle Commerce Cloud – The Good, Bad, and Ugly.” Devon Hillard Digital Sanctuary, 8 June 2016. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

Kalinski, Anat. “Personalization Using Machine Learning – From Data Science to User Experience.” Medium, 17 Dec. 2019. Accessed 9 Sept. 2022.

Karaboğalı, İlke. “Product Recommendation and Artificial Intelligence in eCommerce.” Perzonalization, 2 Feb. 2022. Accessed 9 Sept. 2022.

Lebow, Sara. “Worldwide ecommerce continues double-digit growth following pandemic push to online.” Insider Intelligence, 19 Aug. 2021. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.

M., Sopha. “Headless eCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide.” Hostinger, 26 July 2022. Accessed 9 Sept. 2022.

Bibliography 4/4

Magyar, Judith. “SAP’s Cloud Platform Comes of Age with a New Name and New Capabilities.” SAP, 27 Feb. 2017. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

Marr, Kathryn. “WooCommerce Pricing: How Much Does it Cost to Run a Store?” WooCommerce, 14 Sept. 2022. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

Mattingly, Chris. “Combining B2C and B2C on Shopify to create a hybrid customer experience.” SparkLayer, 4 Apr. 2022. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.

McFerrin, Joe. “The History of eCommerce: How Did it All Begin?” IWD Agency, 23 Sept. 2021. Accessed 14 Sept. 2022.

Perez, Sarah. “COVID-19 pandemic accelerated shift to e-commerce by 5 years, new report says.” TechCrunch, 24 Aug. 2020. Accessed 29 Sept. 2022.

Saltis, Sam. “Here’s Why You Need a Hybrid B2B & B2C eCommerce Platform.” Core dna, 10 Sept. 2021. Accessed 13 Sept. 2022.

Schwartz, Ben. “DXP Optimizely Acquires Welcome to Improve Global Customer Experiences.” CMSWire, 6 Dec. 2021. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.

Sharma, Sourav. “Impact of Deep Learning on Personalization.” Analytics Insight, 1 July 2020. Accessed 9 Sept. 2022.

Shaw, Nick. “Ecommerce Machine Learning: AI’s Role in the Future of Online Shopping.” BigCommerce, 6 Oct. 2020. Accessed 9 Sept. 2022.

Simsek, Nazli. “SAP Hybris Commerce Cloud.” SAP, 6 Feb. 2017. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

Siroker, Dan. “Introducing Optimizely X: The Experimentation Platform.” Optimizely, 24 June 2021. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.

Timmermans, Rick. “SAP Hybris and SAP Cloud for Customer (C4C).” Axxis Consulting, 18 Apr. 2020. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

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