ecommerce Re-platforming with hybris Considerations, insights, and lessons learned
Why read this report Digital has changed retail forever. ecommerce is now a $300 Billion market in the US and greater than $1.4 Trillion worldwide. Perhaps more astounding is that beyond direct sales, digital now influences over 50% of the $22 trillion retail industry. And it s only just beginning. Industry 1 experts expect retail to change more in the next five years than it has in the last century. Rising customer expectations continue to fuel innovative business models, transformative technologies, and a renewed focus on customer experience. Several macro trends are driving growth and innovation in ecommerce today. Among these are: Omnichannel initiatives to create a more seamless customer experience across consumer touchpoints The fusion of content and commerce to deliver more engaging, brand-relevant experiences Mobile strategies that optimize and enhance customer experiences across devices and screen sizes Global expansion to accelerate growth through multi-language, multi-currency capabilities At Optaros, we design, develop and support ecommerce experiences across a number of different technology platforms including hybris. In this ebook, we will review some of the insights we ve gleaned from our hybris experience and identify several considerations when undertaking an implementation. What follows is not meant to be an exhaustive list of do s and don ts, but rather some important recommendations based on our team s experience in working on hybris implementations. "The ecommerce platform serves as the backbone of the ecommerce experience, powering catalog management, browse and search, promotions, merchandising, cart, checkout, account and administrative functions" Big Data and analytics to leverage structured and unstructured data to deliver more relevancy and personalization 2 As brands and retailers figure out how to leverage these macro trends to compete in this very disrupted environment, Digital Commerce sits at the center of many of their strategic discussions. Today, there are many options for ebusiness leaders as they launch or re-launch their ecommerce initiatives. Chief among these is the choice of ecommerce technology platforms. Two-thirds of ebusiness leaders have a re-platform underway or plan to in the next few years 2. The ecommerce platform serves as the backbone of the ecommerce experience powering catalog management, browse and search, promotions, merchandising, cart, checkout, account and administrative functions. 1 2 Deloitte Digital, "The New Digital Divide Retailers, shoppers, and the digital influence factor", 2014 Forrester, " Commerce Technology Investment and Platform Trends", 2013
Hybris is more than just a storefront 01 While the online storefront is the most visible component of the ecommerce experience, it s really just the tip of the iceberg from a technology perspective. A comprehensive ecommerce experience requires multiple complex integrations with several backend systems and a great deal of 3rd party technologies. As an ecommerce merchant, you have sophisticated fulfillment and merchandising needs. You need order management software (OMS) to manage and track purchases. You need product information management (PIM) and product content management (PCM) software to maintain accurate product data. You also need enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools to collect, store, manage and analyze data from many business activities. None of this even takes into account all of the 3rd party software applications you ll need to integrate, including product reviews, recommendations, shipping, tax calculations, payments, etc. All of these applications must be seamlessly integrated with the ecommerce platform, and be synced and available 24/7/365. As a true omnichannel platform, hybris clearly have its advantages. But the implementation process is not always as easy at it sounds. Moving existing systems over to hybris can take a tremendous amount of up-front planning and consideration. We ve seen many companies run in to trouble when they are trying to map their current product and inventory data to sync with hybris field structures. Take the time to review and revisit your current internal processes. Scrub bad, redundant, and outdated information to ensure you re starting with a clean slate. And while all of this will take a good amount of preparation and attention, your company will be a lot more comfortable with the system once you are done. "hybris ' modern architecture simplifies the integration process, accelerates time to market, reduces the potential for integration failures, and saves implementation costs" 3 While most ecommerce platforms require a myriad of complex integrations with backend systems and applications, hybris software comes pre-bundled and pre-integrated with PIM, PCM, OMS (Order Management System) and Call Center capabilities. This modern architecture simplifies the integration process, accelerates time to market, reduces the potential for integration failures, and saves implementation costs. And since hybris is now an SAP company, companies that purchase the software also receive a pre-defined integration capability with SAP s ERP and CRM system, which are offered separately as an add-on to the platform.
Hybris is Scalable & extensible 02 Around the Optaros offices, hybris is often referred to as a Java Enterprise Architect s dream. Its modern, scalable architecture means that customers and partners can build applications and extensions on a single stack. Its unique layered approach simplifies the process of deploying, customizing, and upgrading the multitude of technologies in the digital commerce ecosystem. Hybris makes it easy for companies to adapt, expand, and grow their online business with little to no disruption. That s because the individual pieces of technology needed to run the entire digital experience are not glued together. The layered aspect of the Single Stack makes it easy for companies to individually configure, extend, and replace modules without impacting the entire platform. This is in contrast to what some other ecommerce platforms are doing, which is essentially cobbling together a complete commerce package by purchasing technologies and applications through corporate acquisitions. Problems arise with platforms like this, however, if the applications they purchase do not interact well with each other and system integrators have to perform additional customizations and integrations to make them work. "Hybris makes it easy for companies to adapt, expand, and grow their online business with little to no disruption." 4 With its service-oriented architecture, hybris plays nicely with other IT systems. But in our experience, the only way to make sure this happens is to ensure that what you add to the platform can be unplugged when upgrading to newer versions of hybris software. We ve seen many companies run into problems with upgrading hybris after customizing on top of it. That s why we ve created a series of pluggable and unpluggable extensions to ensure that our clients will maintain backwards compatibility with the system. This ensures that they will be able to upgrade their platform when new versions become available, and add new features and extensions to improve the user experience without needing intense re-coding or re-configuration.
Invest in an experience that differentiates 03 Hybris is a world-class ecommerce platform with robust B2C and B2B capabilities. It empowers companies to create seamless omnichannel experiences by incorporating technologies for managing digital and physical customer touchpoints on a single platform. Companies that implement hybris software can accelerate their ecommerce initiatives by taking advantage of a series of pre-configured accelerators that serve as starting points for new platform projects. Accelerators are outof-the-box reference storefronts that give developers a head start in the build phase with a pre-configured collection of commonly used templates, applications and extensions. While it s possible to create a fully-functional ecommerce site simply using hybris out-of-the-box accelerators, today s customers demand much more than just a functioning website. They demand a premium, customized experience 3 that that simplifies the buying process, an experience that makes the shopping experience more enjoyable. In fact, 86% of online shoppers would be pay more for a product if it were sold on a site with a premium customer experience. "86% of online shoppers would be pay more for a product if it were sold on a site with a premium customer experience" 5 In our experience with hybris, we ve learned that while the platform certainly offers best-in-class digital commerce features and functionality, what it can t do on its own is bring your brand to life online. Our team of hybris developers and user experience experts have discovered that the accelerators typically contain about 70-80% of the functionality needed to deliver a brand-relevant and premium customer experience. And since it s more important today than ever to make a meaningful connection with customers, companies must aim to deliver an ecommerce experience that tells a complete brand story by seamlessly weaving rich brand expression with commerce capabilities. 3 BBC News, "First impressions count for web", 2006
Think Mobile from Day One 04 By 2018, mobile purchases will account for over 27% of all annual online sales. This means that if brands and retailers can no longer afford look at mobile commerce as a nice-to-have if they want to remain competitive and/or relevant in the near future. While hybris offers a great responsive web design (RWD) accelerator to jumpstart your mobile optimization process, simply being responsive is not enough to meet the demands of today s mobile shoppers. RWD makes sure that your content fits into the screen of your user s device, but it does not optimize performance. And since fifty-seven percent of mobile shoppers will abandon your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load, performance on mobile is paramount 5. "RWD is a good start, but the interaction between platforms and mobile applications should be examined in detail, and the data flow between hybris and the mobile device should be as streamlined as possible." At Optaros, we believe that the best way to ensure a positive mobile experience is to think mobile from day one - during the new platform implementation process. Starting with RWD is a good start, but the interaction between platforms and mobile applications should be examined in detail, and the data flow between hybris and the mobile device should be as streamlined as possible. Performance improvement techniques should be applied to ensure the mobile user experience is functional, dynamic, and swift. If mobile is not considered on day one, or if it s something you decide to put off until your new platform is implemented, you might have to make some major adjustments down the road. Retrofitting code to support mobile will require work to both the front and back ends, and extensive regression retesting after the fact. All of this extra work could end up costing you twice as much to execute your mobile strategy than had you planned for it during your platform implementation. To avoid these expensive retrofitting projects, select a platform implementation partner that has a deep understanding of hybris key integration points. This partner should understand how to correctly lay a foundation for mobile functionality, and how to implement a highly flexible and extensible mobile shopping experience that operates seamlessly across a wide-variety of devices. You ll also want a partner that can optimize the customer experience for every mobile touchpoint, which as we mention above, means a whole lot more than just shifting around content. 6 And of course, it s not just about performance. You also need to make sure that your mobile user experience is top-tier. Even if you ve optimized the experience for your desktop site, the mobile experience must also be addressed on its own. Certain components of your desktop site may not work the same; some components may not work at all. Others might actually end up becoming a detriment to the mobile experience after being shifted around or simplified for a smaller display. 4 5 Goldman Sachs, "ecommerce expected to accelerate globally in 2014", 2014 BBC News, "First impressions count for web", 2006
Look for Cross Channel Synergies 05 According to Forrester, the greatest challenge facing today s digital commerce leaders is finding the right technology and resources to support their complicated business rules and system integrations. This is especially true for companies that serve customers in both the B2B and B2C channels. Most believe their business is too complex for an out of the box solution, especially with the B2B channel s multifaceted, lengthier sales cycle and needs for central management and advanced operational control tools. processes and data fields required by each. Both channels can be configured to share the same product catalog, and templates and modules can be repurposed for each. This will drive efficiencies, save time, and perhaps most importantly, provides the opportunity for companies to consumerize their B2B experience by sharing templates, designs, and modules with the B2C experience. Another challenge facing digital commerce leaders is the Consumerization of B2B ecommerce, which refers to the market s demand for a more consumer-like ecommerce experience. Business shoppers see no reason why a B2B shopping experience would not be on par (at least) with the sites they frequent in their personal time. They don t care that the rules are more complex and they don t know (or care) that a B2B platform is ten times more difficult to implement than B2C. They want the ability to manage cost centers and budgets and support intricate pricing models, workflows, and approvals. And they expect a brand-relevant and engaging experience complete advanced personalization, product recommendations, and dynamic catalogs. "Business shoppers see no reason why a B2B shopping experience would not be on par (at least) with the sites they frequent in their personal time." 7 Hybris offers B2C and B2B Accelerators that provide functionality and scenarios to support storefronts and back-end capabilities for both channels. But because of the complexity involved in consolidating your business, the key will be to find efficiencies and leverage existing code wherever you can. In fact, in our experience, a new store can be built on hybris using 90% of the existing code from your first store, even when accounting for all the different
Recommendations The hybris platform is a flexible and powerful tool that can fuel explosive growth and ensure constant innovation and best practices. It can also be scaled to support future growth and expansion. Like most technologies however, it cannot solve today s complex business challenges on its own. To thrive in today s digitally disrupted retail marketplace, you ll need a customer experience that will differentiate you from the competition. This will requires the right combination of technology, design and services. A new platform is a big investment. Once you ve made the decision to implement hybris we recommend that you do the following to keep up with dynamic customer expectations: further reading Looking for more re-platforming insight and advice? Check out our replatforming white paper series A Practical Guide to ecommerce Technology Implementation and Re-Platforming. Part 1: Key Drivers and Knowing when it s Time Part 2: Best Practices to Consider and Pitfalls to Avoid. optaros.com/insights/whitepapers Do not settle for a cookie-cutter experience: Focus on customer needs first; invest in designing a customer experience that differentiates your brand Don t view launch as an ending: Even on a scalable platform, you will still have to support and enhance your new site to ensure an optimal performance and user experience Pick the right partner: Choose a systems integrator that combines Technology, Customer Experience Design, and Strategy - and involve them early in the process. Don t base your decision on who can get it done the cheapest. Choose a partner and its people that you want to work with, because chances are these are people you ll rely on well beyond launch. 8
Got any questions? At Optaros, we can help. Our experienced team of ecommerce experts can help guide you through the whole process: from platform evaluation and selection to design. For more information, call (617) 227-1855 or email ContactUs@optaros.com. About Optaros, Inc. Optaros is a global digital commerce professional service partner. We help companies conceive, design, build and operate ecommerce technology solutions that accelerate revenue and reduce costs. With clients such as Macy s, Stella & Dot, Nestle, and Rue La La, Optaros takes a customer-centric approach to creating exceptional commerce experiences for exceptional brands, providing the user experience and visual design expertise of a digital agency, the technological capabilities of a systems integrator, and the thought leadership of a strategic consultancy. From core ecommerce and mobile to omni-channel and multi-channel experiences, Optaros delivers next generation tools and experiences that enable consumers at every digital touch point in the retail, consumer goods, media, healthcare and financial services industries. In November of 2014, Optaros became a unit of MRM//McCann, a global customer experience-marketing agency, part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) The combined companies offer end-to-end digital solutions from customer acquisition and engagement through to the transaction and ongoing loyalty. 9