As an existing Ektron customer, you are in a great position to leverage EPiServer Commerce following the merger of EPiServer and Ektron. The EPiServer Commerce platform is known for the strength of its architecture – providing for a great user experience with around your custom business rules while minimizing technical debt and your total cost of ownership.
Define Your Needs
While it is true of every eCommerce implementation, the need for clear requirements is especially true in the case of EPiServer Commerce because it is so powerful. The platform is designed to enable rich experiences that are structured according to your needs. To determine the right path from where you are today, to where you want to be, you need to define your end goal for your eCommerce solution.
Here are a few questions to get you started:
- How many SKUs will you have in your eCommerce site when it is initially launched in EPiServer? In 2 years?
- What ERP and CRM software will the site integrate with?
- Will you have documents that need to be related to your product information in some way like MSDS or spec sheets?
For more help defining your needs, see Top 3 Questions Executives Need to Answer When Planning for EPiServer Commerce
Understand EPiServer Commerce Capabilities
Once you have your requirements defined clearly, you will want to design an implementation plan that is based on EPiServer Commerce’s capabilities.
How can you leverage:
If you are new to EPiServer Commerce, you will want to work with a partner experienced in Commerce to help you through this process. When talking to EPiServer partners, be sure to ask about their EPiServer Commerce experience. Implementing EPiServer Commerce is not the same as implementing EPiServer CMS, and you will want to work with a team that has done this before and has certified developers on EPiServer CMS and Commerce.
Leverage Existing Solutions
The key to a lowering your total cost of ownership is understanding where existing solutions are a fit for your requirements.
EPiServer has several extensions that you can leverage to add powerful functionality, including:
- EPiServer Find – State-of-the-art search and navigation
- Catalyst for EPiServer – Rich B2B eCommerce functionality
- Apptus – Behavioral merchandising
- Perfion PIM – Centralizing and simplifying the maintenance of product data
Develop a Roadmap
Once you have a clear definition of where you want to be in the future, and an understanding of EPiServer Commerce capabilities as well as the extensions that can be leveraged with EPiServer to deliver powerful functionality more cost efficiently, it is time to create a plan of what features you will implement when.
When creating this roadmap you want to answer questions like:
- What features offer the most value for the lowest investment?
- Which elements can be built today and leveraged in the future?
- What is the timeline of other business priorities and events that the eCommerce platform will need to support?
Getting Started
Are you ready to build your roadmap and interested in some outside help? Give us a call at 414-425-4069 x3 or contact us for a free consultation. We have traveled this path several times before, and we look forward to helping you create a plan for your online success.
