For: ebusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 by Peter Sheldon and Andy Hoar, June 26, 2015 KEY TAKEAWAYS B2B Commerce Vendors Must Emulate B2C Features To Meet High Expectations B2B ebusiness professionals must move quickly to catch up to their B2C counterparts that set the high bar for the ecommerce experience. B2B buyers continue to expect an Amazonlike experience despite the space s increasing complexity, and B2B sellers face both internal and external channel conflict on the route to meet these high customer expectations. The B2B Competitive Landscape Is Rapidly Expanding In Market Breadth And Depth The B2B commerce suite market is expanding to new verticals and geographies as more ebusiness professionals see ecommerce as a way to address key strategic business challenges. Watch out for new and old B2B selling sites and marketplaces moving online and increasingly supporting omnichannel across several markets. Solution Architecture And Platform Agility Are Differentiators In B2B Commerce Suites B2B commerce platforms must have a best-in-class foundation of B2C features such as robust marketing, merchandising, and experience management, but differ in their emphasis on solution architecture, platform agility, and, increasingly, product information management (PIM) capabilities. Forrester Research, Inc., 60 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140 USA Tel: +1 617.613.6000 Fax: +1 617.613.5000 www.forrester.com
JUNE 26, 2015 The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 The Eight Vendors With A Focused Strategy And Mature Solution For B2B Commerce by Peter Sheldon and Andy Hoar with Zia Daniell Wigder and Diana Gold WHY READ THIS REPORT In Forrester s 88-criteria evaluation of B2B commerce suite vendors, we identified the eight most significant providers in the category CloudCraze, ebay Enterprise (Magento), hybris (an SAP company), IBM, Insite Software, Intershop, NetSuite, and Oracle and researched, analyzed, and scored them in three areas: current offering, strategy, and market presence. This report details our findings about how well each vendor fulfills our criteria and where they stand in relation to each other to help ebusiness and channel strategy professionals select the right partner for their B2B commerce solution. Table Of Contents 2 6 10 14 Companies Must Move Quickly To Meet Higher Customer Expectations Manufacturers, Distributors, And Wholesalers Drive Growth In Commerce Tech Spend B2B Commerce Suite Evaluation Overview B2B Commerce Is An Extension Of B2C How The Criteria Are Organized Vendor Selection Criteria The Results: Niche Solutions Play Head To Head With The Big 3 Vendor Profiles Leaders Notes & Resources Forrester conducted lab-based evaluations in April 2015 and interviewed eight vendor companies: CloudCraze, ebay Enterprise (Magento), hybris (an SAP company), IBM, Insite Software, Intershop, NetSuite, and Oracle. Related Research Documents Commerce Technology Investment And Platform Trends 2014 The Forrester Wave : B2C Commerce Suites, Q1 2015 US Commerce Platform Technology And Services Forecast, 2014 To 2019 Strong Performers 18 Supplemental Material 2015, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester, Technographics, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. To purchase reprints of this document, please email clientsupport@forrester.com. For additional information, go to www.forrester.com.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 2 COMPANIES MUST MOVE QUICKLY TO MEET HIGHER CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS US B2B ecommerce is on pace to reach $1.13 trillion by the year 2020 (see Figure 1). However, despite the fact that the B2B market is twice the size of B2C and growing rapidly, B2B companies still lag far behind their B2C brethren in terms of their level of digital maturity and the quality of the customer experience they offer (see Figure 2). In addition, many B2B companies must contend with new and unexpected competition both from within and outside of their traditional industry. B2B companies realize that today s B2B ecommerce is: Still heavily influenced by leading B2C experiences. B2B buyers continue to crave the Amazon-like customer experience they enjoy as consumers both on PCs/laptops and mobile devices (see Figure 3). They expect real-time interaction, extensive price and inventory transparency, and robust guided selling as a condition for them to engage in purchase channel shift. But with 74% of today s B2B buyers researching at least half of their work purchases online, time is running short for B2B sellers. 1 In addition, the number of B2B buyers expected to complete at least half of their work purchases online will nearly double from 30% today to 56% by 2017. 2 B2B companies must therefore move quickly to build a world-class digital buying experience. The business case is clear moving offline-only customers into a partially or fullydigital environment reduces cost to serve and increases customer spending. 3 Becoming more complicated both internally and externally. B2B companies still find themselves plagued by both internal and external channel conflict, which in many cases is impeding their forward progress with digital. Internally, many B2B companies lack explicit digital leadership and C-suite buy-in to support a critical rethink of the role of B2B salesman in a digital-first world. Externally, B2B companies find their positions in the market changing either slightly or dramatically depending on how aggressively their ecosystem partners pursue digital. For example, many distributors are now becoming de facto manufacturers by selling via private label, and many manufacturers are becoming de facto distributors by selling direct to customers. This reordering of the players in many industries has caused channel complexity regarding pricing and assortments that many B2B companies are ill prepared to handle. 4 Getting more crowded and reshaping key verticals. With new B2B selling sites and marketplaces emerging in various verticals and geographies, the competitive landscape in B2B has changed. Not only are offline companies moving online, but omnichannel competitors in adjacent categories, as well as pure-play online sites, are popping up in several markets. For example, Staples recently entered the power tools, medical devices, and garden tools categories online even though it does not sell those items in its stores. 5 In addition, online electronics retailer site Newegg announced that it was expanding its online assortment to include a brand new category of industrial tools. 6 Further, web-only site SafetyGlassesUSA.com has recently become a major player in the safety equipment space. 7 However, in the past two years we ve also seen Internet giants Google and Amazon struggle with their respective B2B strategies: Google Shopping for Suppliers exited the B2B space in 2014 and Amazon folded its B2B site AmazonSupply into AmazonBusiness and moved to a marketplace model. 8
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 3 Figure 1 Forecast: US B2B ecommerce Sales, 2015 To 2020 $690 $780 $855 $928 $999 $1,066 $1,132 CAGR from 2015 to 2020: 7.7% (US$ billions) Year-on-year growth Share of total B2B sales 2014 2015 (F) 2016 (F) 2017 (F) 2018 (F) 2019 (F) 7.4% 12.7% 9.6% 8.5% 7.7% 6.7% 8.5% 9.3% 9.9% 10.5% 11.0% 11.6% 2020 (F) 6.2% 12.1% Note: (F) = Forecast Source: Forrester Research B2B ecommerce Forecast, 2015 To 2020 (US) 119376 Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction, citation, or distribution prohibited.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 4 Figure 2 The Four Stages Of B2B ecommerce Maturity Apprentices are deciding how much and how quickly to invest in B2B ecommerce. Greenhorns are just starting out. Practitioners are building out scalable organizations and platforms. Volume of companies in this category 2012 Role Models are rare and mostly aspirational in today s B2B ecommerce environment. 2014 B2B ecommerce maturity Time online Greenhorns Apprentices Practitioners Role Models <2 years 2 to 5 years 5 to 10 years 10+ years Maturity 119376 Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction, citation, or distribution prohibited.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 5 Figure 3 B2B Companies Match Competitors But Fall Well Short Of The Amazon Standard How would you rate your company s B2B website customer experience versus...? Your B2B competitors Better 48% Comparable 39% Worse 14% Better 17% Comparable 36% Worse 48% Base: 92 B2B ecommerce professionals (percentages do not total 100 because of rounding) Source: Forrester/Internet Retailer Q4 2013 Global B2B ecommerce Online Survey 119376 Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction, citation, or distribution prohibited. Manufacturers, Distributors, And Wholesalers Drive Growth In Commerce Tech Spend Forrester predicts that combined spend on commerce and order management platform technology in the US will grow at an annual compound growth rate of 10% over the next four years, from $1.4 billion in 2014 to $2.1 billion by 2019. Leading this growth will be manufacturing and wholesale trade firms. We estimate that by decade end, investment in commerce technology by manufacturing and wholesale firms in support of B2B selling channels will exceed that of B2C retailers (see Figure 4).
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 6 Figure 4 Manufacturing And Wholesale Will Account For 30% Of US Commerce Tech Spend By 2019 Breakdown of US commerce technology spend by industry 2013 2019 5% 2% 5% 7% 6% 5% 12% 8% 1% 41% 7% 4% 9% 4% 11% 28% Education and government Healthcare Finance and insurance Utilities and telecommunications Media, entertainment, and leisure Business services Wholesale trade Retail 12% 19% Manufacturing 8% 5% Consumer products Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. Source: Forrester Research Commerce Platform Technology Forecast, 2014 To 2019 (US) 119376 Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction, citation, or distribution prohibited. B2B COMMERCE SUITE EVALUATION OVERVIEW To assess how well the B2B commerce suite vendors meet the evolving needs of the market and to determine how the vendors stack up against each other, Forrester evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of eight leading B2B commerce platform vendors across a range of business and technology criteria. B2B Commerce Is An Extension Of B2C Forrester has intentionally kept the majority of the criteria in this evaluation in common with the criteria in our sister B2C commerce suites evaluation so that clients may use both in their assessment process. 9 Today s B2B firms benchmark themselves not only against B2B peers like Grainger but also against B2C leaders like Amazon and Wal-Mart, which means B2B commerce platforms must have a best-in-class foundation of B2C features such as robust marketing, merchandising, and experience management tools upon which unique B2B capabilities are then layered on top. Subsequently, this B2B Forrester Wave differs from our sister B2C Forrester Wave by:
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 7 Adding unique B2B-commerce-focused criteria. We added all-new criteria to evaluate how these solutions solve unique B2B problems. Added were criteria for quotes; complex pricing lists; eprocurement; product configuration and customization; guided selling; bulk order entry; dealer management; and account, contract, and budget management, to name a few. These unique B2B features account for 25% of the criteria weighting. Maintaining a strong emphasis on solution architecture and platform agility. B2B commerce projects are inherently more complex than their B2C peers. Complex, bidirectional integrations between the system of engagement (the B2B commerce platform) and enterprise systems of record (ERP, CRM, manufacturing, and PIM systems) are the norm, while agile workflow capabilities are required to allow B2B firms to design custom business processes that conform to existing operating practices. Increasing the emphasis on product information management capabilities. Foundational for manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors is the management of hundreds of thousands of parts, many which have complex dependencies or compatibly relationships with one another. In order to improve their governance of product content, Forrester commonly finds that our clients choose to implement (or replatform) PIM as part of their broader B2B commerce program. How The Criteria Are Organized After examining past research, user need assessments, and vendor and expert interviews, we developed a comprehensive set of evaluation criteria. We evaluated vendors against 88 criteria, which we grouped into three high-level buckets: Current offering. We evaluated each offering against seven core groups of criteria: end userfacing digital touchpoints, solution architecture, experience management, product information management, B2B commerce management, order management, and marketing tools. However, our criteria are heavily biased toward the maturity of the architecture (including the usability of the administrative tools, flexibility of the platform and integration tools) and the specific B2B commerce features that are unique to these B2B-orientated solutions. Strategy. We compared the strategies of each company with the needs of commerce executives, industry trends, and Forrester s forward-looking vision of the B2B commerce market to assess how well each vendor is positioned for future success. We examined each vendor s B2B commerce vision, planned B2B enhancements, target market and B2B focus, key technology partners, commerce service providers, professional services capability, typical implementation time frames, and cost of ownership. Market presence. Many B2B firms today support their online businesses with legacy platform technology that has been orphaned by vendors who struggled to innovate, have gone out of business, or were acquired and subsequently lost their focus on this market. Together with
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 8 their business technology (BT) counterparts, ebusiness executives must look for vendors that have a strong and stable installed base, demonstrate steady growth, and have a solid network of implementation and support partners. To determine the current market presence for our evaluation, we combined information about each vendor s installed base, new customers, revenue, revenue growth, and financial resources to support their stated B2B product and market strategy. Vendor Selection Criteria In this Forrester Wave, Forrester evaluated vendors that support a variety of B2B business models including support for distributors, resellers, partner networks, employees, retail stores, and direct B2C channels. Forrester included eight vendors in the assessment: CloudCraze, ebay Enterprise (Magento), hybris (an SAP company), IBM, Insite Software, Intershop, NetSuite, and Oracle with each of them able to demonstrate (see Figure 5): A product that supports complex B2B selling channels. Beyond supporting direct-toconsumer channels, products in this category offer capabilities that B2B companies selling to other B2B companies need such as product configuration, quotes, and account and contract management that support lead generation and sales support for distributors, resellers, and partner channels. A significant track record in supporting B2B commerce at large companies. This category comprises vendor solutions that primarily target organizations with online B2B revenues of more than $100 million per year. Vendors in this category focus on enterprise-class organizations; scale to serve large end customer accounts; support multiple selling channels across divisions, brands, and markets; and possess a deep understanding of the needs of their B2B clients. Native products or partnerships in support of Forrester s definition of a commerce suite. Beyond supporting core B2B commerce functionality, these vendors are able to support their clients needs for order management, product information management, and experience management via embedded functionality, companion products from within their solution portfolios, mature partnerships with best-of-breed vendors in each of these categories, or a combination of these approaches. A profitable or stable business with at least $10 million in revenues and client momentum. To ensure that the vendors we evaluated will remain viable in this rapidly maturing market, Forrester limited its analysis to companies that have the resources and momentum to sustain themselves through variable market conditions. Each of these companies has or is approaching $10 million in annual commerce solution product sales, is profitable or indicates it is approaching profitability, has at least 20 existing clients using the solution in support of B2B channels, and has positive sales momentum.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 9 Mindshare among the Forrester client base. The vendors we evaluated are frequently mentioned in Forrester client inquiries, shortlists, consulting projects, and case studies. Forrester did not include companies in this assessment with a primary focus on other related market segments, such as: B2C-focused solutions with limited B2B commerce capabilities or clients. Vendors such as Demandware, Digital River, Elastic Path, and MarketLive which are all identified in our Forrester Wave for B2C commerce suites do not have a sufficient focus on, or capabilities to support, complex B2B selling channels. However, some of these providers do support basic B2B commerce, for example supporting employee or partner storefronts for their clients. Digital- or media-focused solutions. These providers focus their solutions on media, software, online subscriptions, and other virtual or digital goods. We have written separate research on vendors that specialize in the unique requirements of selling digital goods. 10 Increasingly, the vendors in this category (arvato, Avangate, BlueSnap, cleverbridge, Digital River, Elastic Path, and FastSpring) are supporting multiple selling channels for their clients, including B2B and B2B2C. Midmarket-focused B2B solutions. Forrester also identified several smaller vendors serving this space such as EPiServer, OroCommerce, and Sana Commerce that are starting to gain traction in B2B. However these vendors do not yet have mature offerings or sizable installed bases. Today they primarily serve midmarket companies or divisions within larger companies. Configure, price, quote (CPQ) or sales force enablement vendors. Vendors like Apptus, CallidusCloud, Endeavor Commerce, FPX, and Pros offer configure, price, quote (CPQ) solutions but lack actual capabilities to support online sales. Instead, these tools are a fit for firms that need to equip their sales forces with rich, field-based selling tools that manage sales analytics, contract management, purchase order optimization, and compensation. The remit of these solutions is to make the sales rep s life easier and make him or her richer, rather than to support direct channels or B2B commerce.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 10 Figure 5 Evaluated Vendors: Vendor Information And Selection Criteria Vendor Product evaluated Version evaluated Platform dependencies CloudCraze CloudCraze N/A Salesforce.com ebay Enterprise (Magento) Magento Enterprise Edition 1.14 N/A hybris hybris Commerce v5.5 N/A IBM WebSphere Commerce Sterling Order Management Sterling CPQ v7 Feature Pack 8 v9.4 v9.4 N/A Insite InsiteCommerce v4.0 N/A Intershop Intershop Commerce Suite v7.5.1 N/A NetSuite SuiteCommerce Advanced v15.2 N/A Oracle Oracle Commerce v.11.1 N/A Vendor selection criteria The vendor s product was generally available at the time of data collection, with at least two references available for contact. The vendor has a focused product offering for, an established customer base in, and an ongoing commitment to B2B commerce. The vendor is on track to generate at least $10 million in annual ecommerce platform software and services sales in 2015, is profitable, and has at least 20 clients with positive sales momentum. The vendor demonstrates the ability to support enterprise-class business-to-business online sales of more than $100 million per year with the product evaluated. Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction, citation, or distribution prohibited. THE RESULTS: NICHE SOLUTIONS PLAY HEAD TO HEAD WITH THE BIG 3 The evaluation uncovered a market in which (see Figure 6): IBM, Insite Software, Intershop, hybris, and Oracle play head to head. These five vendors go head to head in the majority of B2B commerce requests for proposals (RFPs) today. All five have proven, mature B2B commerce capabilities, a large installed base of B2B customers, and a focused product strategy for supporting B2B channels. Although each has its own merits, the total cost of ownership, time-to-market, geographical presence, existing vendor relationships, and strength of their respective implementation partner networks are increasingly influencing decision outcomes. All five of these vendors pack a heavy punch of leading B2B capabilities that, in many cases, represent a significant leap of maturity compared to the current operational B2B capabilities of prospective clients.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 11 For B2B firms that use SAP or Oracle for ERP, hybris and Oracle routinely make it to the final shortlist not only on merit of the respective solutions, but also because firms with large existing SAP and Oracle footprints can expect to negotiate attractive terms for broadening their solution footprint. Intershop and Insite stand out as independent alternatives to the big 3 software firms and often prove attractive to firms that: 1) are new to B2B commerce or have a midmarket positioning; 2) seek a closer working relationship with and influence over their vendors; 3) are not existing customers of SAP or Oracle for ERP; 4) seek a lower cost of ownership; and 5) have aggressive time-to-market goals. One concern cited by firms considering Intershop and Insite is the availability of large, global implementation partners with both B2B domain expertise and implementation experience with these two platforms. CloudCraze, ebay Enterprise (Magento), and NetSuite offer competitive options. Each of these vendors has a strong offering in B2B, but all come with noteworthy caveats. CloudCraze is a native Salesforce application and as such appeals to B2B firms standardizing their cloud infrastructure and applications on Salesforce.com or those who have standardized their B2B quoting and ordering processes on Salesforce s CRM platform. Magento offers a low-cost, highly customizable solution for firms that want to develop a B2B engagement platform without being beholden to complex solutions from the big 3 software firms. NetSuite s is a true multitenant SaaS solution, which will appeal to midmarket B2B firms who want to avoid the ownership headaches of hosting and future platform upgrades and is the only solution that wraps B2B commerce, ERP, and CRM into a single architecture and solution set. The product is, however, best suited for midmarket firms that have already made or are considering a broader investment in NetSuite s ERP or CRM solutions. This evaluation of the B2B commerce suite market is intended to be a starting point only. We encourage clients to view detailed product evaluations and adapt criteria weightings to fit their individual needs through the Forrester Wave Excel-based vendor comparison tool. We also encourage clients to review our complementary Forrester Wave research on best-of-breed PIM, OMS, WCM, and digital experience delivery platforms and to leverage their inquiry access to learn more about these solutions. 11 Forrester also offers a formal vendor selection methodology through our consulting division to assist clients with their vendor selection processes.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 12 Figure 6 The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 15 Strong Current offering Risky Strong Bets Contenders Performers Leaders NetSuite CloudCraze Intershop hybris (SAP) IBM Oracle Insite ebay Enterprise (Magento) Go to Forrester.com to download the Forrester Wave tool for more detailed product evaluations, feature comparisons, and customizable rankings. Market presence Weak Weak Strategy Strong 119376 Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction, citation, or distribution prohibited.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 13 Figure 6 The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 15 (Cont.) Forrester s Weighting CloudCraze ebay Enterprise (Magento) hybris IBM Insite Intershop NetSuite Oracle CURRENT OFFERING End-user-facing digital touchpoints Solution architecture Experience management Product information management B2B commerce management Order management Marketing tools STRATEGY B2B commerce product vision Planned B2B enhancements Target market and B2B focus Key technology partners Commerce service providers Professional services Typical implementation time frame Cost of ownership MARKET PRESENCE Installed base (live customers) New customers Revenue Revenue growth Financial resources 50% 7% 25% 13% 13% 25% 10% 7% 50% 25% 15% 15% 10% 15% 10% 10% 0% 0% 30% 20% 25% 15% 10% 2.74 2.60 3.19 1.64 2.87 2.84 2.29 3.40 2.75 2.50 1.55 1.00 1.00 0.00 3.16 3.25 2.78 3.07 3.16 3.52 3.30 3.01 3.60 4.10 4.32 4.46 4.46 4.49 4.38 3.98 3.85 4.40 3.50 4.75 4.43 3.80 4.34 4.30 4.27 4.75 4.54 4.65 3.50 3.55 1.00 3.43 4.20 3.31 3.44 2.85 3.85 3.27 2.85 3.63 3.75 2.60 1.00 4.05 4.60 4.44 4.02 3.41 4.25 3.49 3.50 3.33 3.75 2.45 1.00 3.20 3.40 3.61 2.22 2.80 3.54 3.31 2.70 2.96 3.10 3.95 4.14 3.80 4.23 4.46 3.66 4.31 3.83 4.25 3.45 3.50 3.75 All scores are based on a scale of 0 (weak) to 5 (strong). Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction, citation, or distribution prohibited.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 14 VENDOR PROFILES Leaders Hybris (an SAP company). Since its acquisition by SAP in 2013, hybris has experienced significant market share growth in B2B verticals including (but not limited to) manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution firms, with these verticals now accounting for approximately 50% of hybris revenue. The firm has made significant R&D investments over the past two years in B2B features including integration with SAP s CPQ tools, the development of DataHub (an integration and data exchange tool that provides robust integration with SAP s ERP), a focus on account and organization hierarchies, and an all new responsive-enabled B2B reference store. B2B prospects continue to be attracted to hybris for six key reasons: 1) the modern Java-based architecture; 2) the embedded enterprise product content management (PCM) capabilities; 3) the flexibility of the platform framework to solve bespoke business scenarios; 4) the reference integration framework with SAP s ERP and CPQ offerings; 5) the robust partner ecosystem; and 6) hybris pedigree in core commerce capabilities and associated customer engagement and marketing solutions. Customers unanimously cite that the hybris architecture is very robust, scalable, and flexible, empowering developers (and partners) to quickly extend and customize the platform. Despite this, some B2B clients have faced challenges that have hampered their ability to upgrade the platform after initial implementation. Subsequently, many of hybris B2B clients face increasingly complex upgrade programs in the near future to move from v4 or early 5.x implementations to the current 5.5 version. References cited issues around relationship and support issue ownership between hybris and their implementation partners, with clients reporting poorly defined processes for account ownership between the hybris and partner account managers. Hybris has consequently created a new Customer for Life program designed to address these issues. IBM. For B2B commerce, IBM comes to market primarily with four core products: WebSphere Commerce, Sterling CPQ, Warehouse Management, and Sterling Order Management. Together, these products represent a formidable solution that is proven in the market to serve complex, global B2B commerce requirements. IBM continues to invest in these solutions with incremental enhancements: recent notable enhancements and announcements include Commerce Composer (site experience management tools); the all-new starter store Aurora, which integrates best-in-class B2C and B2B experiences into a single reference site; and Commerce Insights, which leverages analytics and cognitive commerce principles to drive personalized buyer experiences. Furthermore, IBM has recently added a new subscriptionbased, term pricing model and an order line item metric in addition to its traditional enterprise CPU licensing.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 15 Although IBM has a significant installed base for B2B commerce, in recent years, the firm has faced increased competition in the market. As a result, the company has struggled to win net new midmarket deals and has had to price aggressively to win enterprise deals, although the firm has seen traction with the uptake of its cloud offering IBM Commerce on Cloud. The IBM suite continues to shine in complex enterprise environments, and IBM offers significant flexibility on business model terms and deployment options. Both midmarket and enterprise clients cite attractive terms for adopting the suite. On the product front, IBM continues to suffer from an aging and fragmented set of business user tools across the four core products of the suite, with some clients citing that the usability and fragmentation of the tools mean that day-to-day operational and set-up tasks that should be undertaken by the business are instead delegated to IT due to complexities with the tools. IBM s medium-term commerce road map is set to address these issues, with the consolidation of the Sterling Order Management and WebSphere Commerce tool sets into an all new, persona-centric, common, web-based administration UI. Oracle. In 2013, we reported that Oracle had made progress, but was still in the process of integrating many of its major ecommerce platform acquisitions (e.g., ATG, BigMachines, Endeca, FatWire). Two years later, Oracle now boasts a complete set of B2B ecommerce features and has developed into an essentially solid, stable, and integrated offering that can be further augmented through additional integrations with other key Oracle B2B products notably CPQ Cloud, Sales Cloud, and Siebel. That said, customers report still hearing sometimes conflicting narratives from Oracle insiders about how the various acquisitions fit together and deliver integrated value. However, Oracle Commerce Experience Manager and Guided Search (the rebranded Endeca product) in particular give Oracle a clear opportunity to leverage a best-inclass experience and a content and search software package with clients using other vendors elsewhere in the stack. Oracle is now focused on expanding its platform ecosystem via partners and APIs and has made a commitment to developing within an open framework. The company has a core group of global commerce service providers it works with (e.g., AAXIS Commerce, Amplifi Commerce). However, commitment to the largest partners in the space (e.g., Accenture, Deloitte) appears to have waned in recent years, which is surprising considering that historically these partners have done extensive work integrating ATG and Endeca (prior to the Oracle acquisition). As part of Oracle s strategy to make the majority of its application portfolio available in the cloud, the firm has recently launched a new multitenant version of Oracle Commerce that will be offered via a usage-based subscription, as well as revenue-share-based pricing models. The new Oracle Commerce Cloud will be initially targeted at midmarket firms in both B2C and B2B vertical markets. Intershop. Intershop is a tale of geographies. Strong in Europe and with growth in Asia, Intershop continues to lack a cohesive go-to-market strategy and brand solution awareness in North America. Beyond extensive contract-like work it did for HP and GSI, the company has struggled for years to gain traction in the US for its products and services with both customers
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 16 and partners. However, the company is expected to return to profitability this year and plans to expand its deployment models to include a multitenant SaaS offering by Q1 2016. Also, Intershop recently secured a 6 million German government-backed line of credit that it can use to underwrite much-needed investments in its sales and marketing operations. Despite Intershop s historical financial and strategic challenges, the company s technology is solid. One of the first vendors in the B2B ecommerce space, Intershop has spent years honing its platform s feature set and building impressive functionality into its out-of-the-box offering. Intershop Commerce Suite offers functionality that not only rivals but in some cases bests its enterprise class Java-based competitors. In particular, Intershop Commerce Suite excels at handling complex B2B commerce scenarios in multibrand, multichannel, multilocation use cases. Insite Software. Insite has made measureable strides since we last reviewed the company in 2013. Still singularly focused on B2B ecommerce and the only major.net solution provider left in the space, Insite s platform offers functionality that meets or exceeds what moreexpensive high-end Java-based competitors offer much of it out of the box. Insite is actively positioning itself as the value offering in the space, particularly for B2B high midmarket and low enterprise companies. But as the company continues to move upmarket and customers demand more extensive support and service, Insite will face pressure to equilibrate its prices with larger enterprise competitors. Insite provides more than adequate B2B ecommerce functionality out of the box, offering particularly strong built-in configuration capabilities. The majority of Insite s clients use the firm s integrated web content management system (WCMS), however the firm has developed a strategic integration with Sitecore for enterprise clients demanding more robust customer experience management capabilities. Insite plans to launch a re-architected and more fullyfunctional 4.0 platform in the summer of 2015 that will offer additional functionality, improve performance, modularize the platform, and enhance upgradability. Insite remains in search of elusive global commerce service provider partners to implement its full suite with high-end midmarket companies and low-end enterprise companies. However, the company has a few strong partnerships in place today and is actively growing the list. Strong Performers NetSuite. With a strong installed base of midmarket clients for its CRM and ERP solutions, NetSuite continues to see strong adoption of SuiteCommerce, the third pillar of its product strategy. SuiteCommerce supports both B2C and B2B customers and is sold as part of an integrated business management software suite that includes ecommerce, order and inventory management, ERP, and CRM. The fact that this is an integrated product suite means that there is no real differentiation of commerce features versus ERP features. Customers who wish to leverage the entire solution and use NetSuite for their enterprise ERP and CRM needs will find
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 17 a neatly architected solution where catalog, pricing, and order management are single systems of record; however, SuiteCommerce is an unlikely fit for enterprises using competitive ERP or CRM solutions. For B2B firms, the ability to have ERP, CRM, and ecommerce all under a single umbrella and offered as a multitenant solution in the cloud is appealing. References say key differentiators include low cost of ownership and the ability to do extensive customization via configuration and using workflow rules without impacting their upgrade path. Many firms leverage NetSuite s own offshore professional services capability for implementation and support, although increasingly NetSuite is certifying midmarket agencies and system integration firms to support customer implementations. ebay Enterprise (Magento Enterprise Edition). ebay Enterprise serves the B2B commerce market primarily through its digital commerce platform Magento Enterprise Edition. The platform has over 3,000 clients, 30% of which ebay Enterprise estimates is using the platform to support B2B sales channels, with a combination of customized native functionality, turnkey B2B extensions, and B2B custom solutions provided by B2B-focused Magento commerce service providers solving for a void in native B2B features. Magento Enterprise Edition has become popular with cost-conscious, midmarket B2B firms who cite low cost of ownership (licensing), a broad network of implementation partners, the openness and flexibility of the platform, and an extensive suite of B2B extensions as reasons for adoption. It is common for clients to extend or customize native functionality to develop custom B2B needs (for example, using customer group functionality to support B2B parent/child account hierarchies). One customer reference told us, Magento is highly customizable; we make changes every day. Although Magento s foray into B2B has been somewhat opportunistic to date, ebay Enterprise has ambitious plans for Magento with manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and brands. In the short term, the firm is focused on serving the needs of B2B merchants with its current platform Magento Enterprise Edition 1.14 in combination with off-the-shelf B2B extensions and Magento B2B CSP accelerator solutions to support B2B selling scenarios. Longer term, the firm plans to acquire a number of the leading B2B marketplace extensions and accelerator solutions that have currently been developed by partners, upgrade these extensions to support the forthcoming Magento 2 platform (a major platform upgrade focused on enterprise scalability), and bring to market an all new native B2B product offering on Magento 2 in 2016. In addition, clients considering Magento for B2B commerce should be aware that ebay is currently in the process of divesting ebay Enterprise via a strategic sale or public offering which has the potential to distract the firm from executing on their commitments for Magento 2 and the new B2B product offering. CloudCraze. CloudCraze makes an excellent case for its model, which is essentially Salesforce on ecommerce steroids. Of late, the company has been acquiring customers at a fairly rapid clip because of its minimal hassle factor and rapid time-to-market quotient. For those B2B
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 18 companies already certified with Salesforce, implementing CloudCraze can be done in just a few weeks if there are no complicated integrations required. CloudCraze has also generated some interest from traditional global commerce service providers looking for SaaS-based ecommerce options that can work quickly with an existing CRM implementation of Salesforce. Anything and everything Salesforce typically offers (e.g., account management) are powerful out of the box for CloudCraze, following an initial setup, which, of course, must be done by a local Salesforce administrator. However, features and functions that are straightforward and standard with other vendors in the field sometimes necessitate special configuration with CloudCraze. Moreover, in many cases, CloudCraze requires B2B companies to turn to a commerce service provider to extend the core functionality using CloudCraze and Salesforce tools and to provide integrations with other enterprise systems outside of Salesforce. As a result, CloudCraze s standard product demonstration may leave gaps in functionality and appear spotty in places. For example, CloudCraze doesn t offer side-by-side product comparison capability out of the box functionality that many B2B sellers would consider to be table stakes for any ecommerce site operating in today s consumerized world. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL Online Resource The online version of Figure 6 is an Excel-based vendor comparison tool that provides detailed product evaluations and customizable rankings. Data Sources Used In This Forrester Wave Forrester used a combination of four data sources to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each solution: Hands-on lab evaluations. Vendors spent one day with a team of analysts who performed a hands-on evaluation of the product using a scenario-based testing methodology. We evaluated each product using the same scenario(s), creating a level playing field by evaluating every product on the same criteria. Vendor surveys. Forrester surveyed vendors on their capabilities as they relate to the evaluation criteria. Once we analyzed the completed vendor surveys, we conducted vendor calls where necessary to gather details of vendor qualifications. Product demos. We asked vendors to conduct demonstrations of their product s functionality. We used findings from these product demos to validate details of each vendor s product capabilities. Customer reference calls. To validate product and vendor qualifications, Forrester also conducted reference calls with current customers from each vendor.
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 19 The Forrester Wave Methodology We conduct primary research to develop a list of vendors that meet our criteria to be evaluated in this market. From that initial pool of vendors, we then narrow our final list. We choose these vendors based on: 1) product fit; 2) customer success; and 3) Forrester client demand. We eliminate vendors that have limited customer references and products that don t fit the scope of our evaluation. After examining past research, user need assessments, and vendor and expert interviews, we develop the initial evaluation criteria. To evaluate the vendors and their products against our set of criteria, we gather details of product qualifications through a combination of lab evaluations, questionnaires, demos, and/or discussions with client references. We send evaluations to the vendors for their review, and we adjust the evaluations to provide the most accurate view of vendor offerings and strategies. We set default weightings to reflect our analysis of the needs of large user companies and/or other scenarios as outlined in the Forrester Wave document and then score the vendors based on a clearly defined scale. These default weightings are intended only as a starting point, and we encourage readers to adapt the weightings to fit their individual needs through the Excel-based tool. The final scores generate the graphical depiction of the market based on current offering, strategy, and market presence. Forrester intends to update vendor evaluations regularly as product capabilities and vendor strategies evolve. For more information on the methodology that every Forrester Wave follows, go to http://www.forrester.com/marketing/policies/forrester-wavemethodology.html. Integrity Policy All of Forrester s research, including Forrester Waves, is conducted according to our Integrity Policy. For more information, go to http://www.forrester.com/marketing/policies/integrity-policy.html. ENDNOTES 1 For more on the future of B2B selling, see the US B2B ecommerce Forecast: 2015 To 2020 Forrester report. 2 Source: Forrester/Internet Retailer Q2 2014 Global B2B Buy-Side Online Survey. 3 For more on moving offline-only customers into a partially or fully-digital environment, see the The Case For Channel-Shifting Customers Online Forrester report. 4 For more on the increasing channel complexity regarding pricing and assortments and other evolutions in B2B selling, see the The New And Emerging World Of B2B Commerce Forrester report. 5 Source: Paul Demery, Staples expands e-commerce via marketplace sales, Internet Retailer, October 28, 2013 (https://www.internetretailer.com/2013/10/28/staples-expands-e-commerce-marketplace-sales).
The Forrester Wave : B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 20 6 Source: Newegg Adds Industrial Product Categories for Businesses, Newegg Business press release, December 30, 2014 (http://www.neweggbusiness.com/info/newsroomdetail.aspx?id=1460&type=3). 7 For more on the future of B2C and B2B ecommerce, see the Predictions 2015: US B2C And B2B ecommerce Players Will Struggle To Keep Up With Customers Forrester report. 8 For more on the future of B2C and B2B ecommerce, see the Predictions 2015: US B2C And B2B ecommerce Players Will Struggle To Keep Up With Customers Forrester report. 9 For a similar evaluation of B2C commerce suite vendors Demandware, Digital River, ebay Enterprise, Elastic Path Software, hybris (an SAP company), IBM, Intershop, MarketLive, NetSuite, Oracle Commerce, and Oracle Retail (Micros), see the The Forrester Wave : B2C Commerce Suites, Q1 2015 report. 10 For information on solutions that power media, software, online subscriptions, and other virtual or digital goods, see the Market Overview: Commerce Solutions For Digital Products And Services, 2015 Forrester report. 11 For more information on product information management (PIM) systems and an evaluation of PIM vendors ADAM Software, Agility Multichannel, asim, Enterworks, hybris (an SAP company), IBM, Informatica, inriver, Riversand Technologies, and Stibo Systems, see the The Forrester Wave : Product Information Management (PIM), Q2 2014 Forrester report. For more information on order management systems (OMSes) and an evaluation of ebay Enterprise, hybris (an SAP company), IBM, Jagged Peak, Manhattan Associates, Micros, NetSuite, OrderDynamics, and Shopatron, see the The Forrester Wave : Omnichannel Order Management, Q3 2014 Forrester report. For more information on web content management systems (WCMSes) and an evaluation of WCM software vendors Adobe, Acquia, Ektron, HP Autonomy, IBM, Microsoft, OpenText, Oracle, SDL, and Sitecore, see the The Forrester Wave : Web Content Management For Digital Customer Experience, Q2 2013 Forrester report. For more information on digital experience delivery platforms and an evaluation of software vendors Acquia, Adobe, Demandware, Digital River, HP Autonomy, hybris, IBM, Intershop, OpenText, Oracle, salesforce.com, SDL, and Sitecore, see the The Forrester Wave : Digital Experience Delivery Platforms, Q3 2014 Forrester report.
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