These days, selling things online can be hard because of economics downturn. However, according to a recent report of Insider Intelligence, e-commerce is still a potential and lucrative industry with the sales expected to grow 10.4% in 2023. Besides, Statista has shown that the global e-commerce market will reach $6.3 trillion this year and over $8.1 trillion in 2026.
As an enterprise-level company, the potential of selling your products all around the world is huge. But your current e-commerce system may not be able to handle such a big scale. Some of you may face problems like:
- Losing money when the system crashes or you have to fix problems.
- The site being too slow during busy times.
- Important systems don’t easily integrate with your platform.
- Worries about keeping data private.
- Varying regulations and compliance standards in foreign markets.
- Servers working too slowly.
- Lower conversion rates than industry benchmarks
Well… It's time for you to find the right enterprise e-commerce platform.
The suitable software can handle busy shopping times smoothly, be able to expand and scale according to your business needs, protect payments and private information securely.
So, which is the right sales platform right for your business? We'll help you answer in this blog.
What is e-commerce software?
E-commerce software is what lets you sell things online. It gives you the main tools needed to do business on the web, like showing products, taking payments, and tracking what customers look at. There are many options for new small stores just starting out online. But as companies grow really big, the regular e-commerce software may not work well anymore.
That's where enterprise e-commerce platforms come.
Enterprise e-commerce platforms are made special for huge businesses selling millions of items worldwide. They can handle extremely high volumes of orders smoothly and connect all parts of massive operations like international shipping and global customer support.
Rather than just basic online store tools, enterprise software adds clever features such as customized product recommendations, automatic tax updates anywhere, and tight security across markets.
In short, enterprise platforms are what power today’s largest global powerhouses of commerce. They give industry giants the specialized tools to smoothly operate worldwide selling.
Why is enterprise e-commerce software important for your business?
An enterprise e-commerce platform sure can do a lot for big businesses! It provides peace of mind and the power to perfectly run huge online stores.
- Avoid downtime: Downtime is bad news for sales. Enterprise software makes sure your shop runs smoothly even during busy times so that your customers won't get frustrated and go elsewhere.
- More control over user experience: With enterprise e-commerce platform, you have more flexibility to customize and personalize the customer experiences you want your brand to become known for.
- Improve cyber security: It gives you the highest security and reduce the risk of customer data breach, money troubles, legal issues, and damaged reputation down the line.
- Speed up business process: With advanced features like automation, you can improve business processes while avoiding costly inefficiencies like overselling, understocking, and wasted time.
What are the different types of enterprise e-commerce software?
There are the following options of the hosting environment for enterprise software:
On-Site: This means the software system is installed directly onto your company's own servers. You handle hardware, maintenance, updates, security etc.
Cloud-Based: Instead of installing locally, the platform operates through cloud servers owned by the vendor. You access it remotely over the internet rather than hosting it yourself on-site.
On-Site & Cloud-Based (hybrid): A combo where some parts run on your servers while others use the vendor's cloud infrastructure. Gives flexibility between on-site control and off-site features.
Software as a Service (SaaS): The software is provided entirely as an internet-based service delivered on a subscription basis. Very low upfront cost and vendor handles maintenance/upgrades.
Headless: Allows customizing the front-end presentation separately from the backend commerce engine. Useful for creating unique omnichannel experiences across devices. Front and back connect seamlessly behind the scenes.
In summary, these are the main options - choose what works best based on your technical needs, budget, and desired level of ownership vs convenience!
Best enterprise e-commerce softwares for your global expansion in 2024
SAP Commerce Cloud
SAP Commerce Cloud (formerly Hybris) is the top choice for big companies selling online. Instead of one single program, it offers a whole collection of helpful tools. This makes it perfect for enterprises that need eCommerce, customer service, marketing, sales, and after-sales support just on one platform. It automates every process and every stage of the customer journey and provides a 360-degree overview of buyer personas.
SAP Commerce Cloud pricing
Pricing starts at $4,500 per month, but can vary based on your needs. More complex requirements may require more.
SAP Commerce Cloud pros
- Provides versatile and powerful functionality to cover all aspects of running a large e-commerce operation and increases the efficiency of all operations
- Offers omnichannel marketing to reduce marketing cost.
- Integrates with Salesforce to make for easy automation.
- Helps customize the customer experience and improve CRM.
- Prioritizes security and protecting customer data.
SAP Commerce Cloud cons
- One of the priciest enterprise e-commerce platforms available.
- While the feature list is impressive, you may pay for unused features you don't need.
Adobe Commerce
Adobe bought Magento in 2018 for $1.68 billion and renamed it Adobe Commerce. As a self-hosted plat-form, you have full creative control over customizing the code as long as you know coding or have experts helping.
Adobe Commerce pricing
Adobe Commerce costs about $1,988 per month for licensing alone. This does not cover website building, hosting, or domain registration fees, which could run into hundreds of thousands based on needs.
Adobe Commerce pros
- Large community available to assist with any issues that come up on the platform.
- Flexibility to host in the cloud or on your own servers.
- Simple drag-and-drop page builder for non-coders to make basic pages.
Adobe Commerce cons
- Requires more time from developers and designers than some other options to maximize its power.
- Pricey migrations needed every few years for upgraded versions.
Oracle Commerce
The Oracle Commerce, now known as Oracle CX Commerce, offers a full suite of integrated customer experience applications, similar to SAP Hybris. Its omnichannel capabilities let businesses run multiple sites with a single subscription, and it boasts many built-in features that don't require additional costs.
Oracle Commerce pricing
Starts at $150,000.
Oracle Commerce pros
- Has a host of features right out of the box, such as simple search functionality and product recommendations for customers.
- Can handle selling and managing everything from a central location such as accounting, shipping, multi-store management, order processing, and more.
- Offers one of the best mobile experiences for you to build a stellar user experience.
Oracle Commerce cons
- Doesn’t integrate with major online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay.
- Lacks single-click checkout which can lead to difficulties for your customers.
- Problems can be difficult to solve even with tech support.
BigCommerce Enterprise
BigCommerce is an online store software that started helping smaller to medium sized shops. Recently it started courting larger businesses with BigCommerce Enterprise, an upgraded SaaS offering with more powerful features.
BigCommerce Enterprise pricing
Instead of fixed fees, the price depends on your sales volume. To get a price, you have to contact a sales rep as pricing is custom. Plan on at least $400 every month.
BigCommerce Enterprise pros
- The "headless" tech lets you choose your own front/look through their tools.
- Works well for both B2B and B2C sites.
- As a SaaS e-commerce platform, it's easy to scale with your growth.
BigCommerce Enterprise cons
- The separation of front/back parts may be tricky for some to understand.
- Subscription costs can add up even though you don't technically own the software.
Shopify Plus
Shopify has been helping online sellers since 2006, making it one of the more experienced options. Their "Plus" edition for enterprises has almost a decade of serving big enterprises too. Shopify Plus takes care of important security things like keeping payment info protected.
Shopify Plus pricing
Shopify Plus pricing starts at a minimum of $2,000 monthly, which is worth it if you've got a large online business.
Shopify Plus pros
- Easy to get started because you don’t have to worry about coding, security, or bandwidth.
- Can handle 10,000 transactions per minute for smooth product launches or large sales events.
- Most security responsibilities are covered, like payment security.
- Surprising customizability despite being easy-to-use subscription software.
Shopify Plus cons
- Limited ability to fully personalize looks compared to other platforms.
- Add-ons and customizations can hike monthly costs.
- API limits can sometimes cause issues importing large amounts of data.
There is no single best e-commerce platform for all enterprises
Choosing an e-commerce solution for large businesses isn't one-size-fits-all. What works best depends on your company's unique challenges and goals. Vendors want to equip you with helpful tools, but no software does it all perfectly out of the box for every business.
That's why you need a trusted partner to help you customize your enterprise e-commerce software to unlock its full potential benefits. This way your platform can:
- Fit your business needs like a glove rather than a box-check.
- Integrate seamlessly with all your crucial existing systems behind the scenes.
- Leverage their expertise to refine features especially for your workflows.
- Continuously adapt as your needs evolve through fast, flexible updates.
We helped Samsung successfully launched in 30+ new marketplaces by our SAP Hybris integration
As a global leader in electronics and home appliances, Samsung aimed to boost global sales by integrating with major e-commerce marketplaces across Europe, Asia and America. However, this presented formidable hurdles.
BiPlus partnered with Samsung to integrate and optimize their worldwide e-commerce operations using SAP Hybris. By leveraging BiPlus’s tailored solution, Samsung was able to:
- Successfully launch on 34 new international marketplaces across Europe, Asia and the Americas.
- Handle 1M+ concurrent users flawlessly during peak traffic periods.
- Streamline processing of 30,000+ global daily orders – a major sales driver.
- Improve experience for 5,000+ Samsung customer support staff through system-wide visibility.
You can read here for detailed story.
Final Thought
In summary, while enterprise-level ecommerce platforms provide amazing tools, you may need customization to truly unlocking their potential. Out-of-the-box software alone can't address every unique aspect of how your business operate behind the scenes.
Tailoring a solution ensures a seamless fit with your organization's goals and processes. It streamlines workflows between departments with maximum efficiency, even at huge volumes. By refining features and integrations for your specifics, an optimized platform enhance your strengths globally.
Here at BiPlus, we've helped giant enterprise just like yours customize their way to success. If you are seeking to optimize global ecommerce initiatives, integrating marketplaces worldwide, and enhancing your customer experience,
Contact us!