Sitecore Commerce and Microsoft Dynamics: Omnichannel Retail Experiences

At the NRF’s Big Show this week, Sitecore had a nice announcement to make. It has integrated Sitecore Commerce with Microsoft Dynamics to give its customers with the ability to create true omnichannel experiences.

Darren Guarnaccia explained it this way in :

Here’s a hypothetical example of how this scenario can work: I’m a huge home theater fan, and I’m always checking out new equipment for my man cave. I am looking at new set-top boxes with 4k support at my favorite retail audio website, which runs on Sitecore Commerce powered by Microsoft Dynamics. I’m a frequent customer, so I have a loyalty card and a login on the site. I browse around for a while and save a few different models to my wish list.

The next day, I go to the audio store’s brick-and-mortar store. The sales person swipes my loyalty card and immediately knows that:

• I’m Darren, a loyal customer
• I’m a repeat buyer of high-end equipment
• I’ve read six product 4k set-top box reviews on the website, and saved three different boxes to my wish list.

Within ten seconds, the sales person can engage me in a conversation that is much more likely to result in a satisfying experience, and a sale. Instead of wasting time trying to get to know me, or trying to sell me a TV, the sales rep already has a wealth of information she can use to help me find exactly what I need.”

Sitecore Commerce 8 powered by Microsoft Dynamics

The new offering, called “Sitecore Commerce 8 powered by Microsoft Dynamics“, is a solution that been in the works for almost a year now and here’s a look at what it offers (from the press release):

• Shared Services Between Online and Brick-and-Mortar: All aspects of order capture (e.g. pricing, tax, discounts) are shared between digital and brick and mortar channels, supporting a consistent experience regardless of channel.
• Additional Omni-Channel Capabilities: Microsoft Dynamics’s comprehensive features in the areas of loyalty programs; store location with real-time inventory; buy online, pickup in store; order management, including returns; customer service and call center are all enabled in digital experiences built using Sitecore.
• Synchronization and Publishing: Synchronization service to aggregate catalog data from Dynamics and Sitecore’s Commerce Catalog to facilitate very high traffic digital experiences.
• Storefront Solutions: Support for multiple storefronts representing different countries and legal entities in the same deployment. A reference storefront is provided to accelerate customer deployments.

All Because of Sitecore Connect

According to Guarnaccia, Sitecore Connect has enabled Sitecore to become the integration platform through which commerce solutions connect to get access to Sitecore’s experience capabilities. It works not only with Sitecore Commerce, but with other commerce solutions, providing what Guarnaccia refers to as “open commerce”. Sitecore Connect also enables solutions like Microsoft Dynamics to integrate Sitecore’s experience capabilities directly into its own solution.

This is kind of interesting because the thing that Sitecore gets dinged about a lot is that it positions itself as a suite and doesn’t allow for integration of best of breed technologies. This newest solution, and Sitecore Connect itself goes against that thinking and shows that even though it does have a suite that customers can take advantage of, it also supports those customers who have other technologies they want to use.

This new product is built on an architecture that combines both Sitecore and Dynamics and supports users of Microsoft Dynamics as they develop highly personalized experiences for their customers and visitors. This integration will also leverage Sitecore’s Experience Profile Database, a key element of any personalization effort today. The fact that this product supports an integrated online and offline experience is an example for other customer experience vendors who are trying to build omnichannel capabilities. Maybe 2015 is the year we see omnichannel become an experience standard.

Editor’s Note: One thing I didn’t clearly point out is how good this solution is for Microsoft. Microsoft Dynamics is CRM/ERP, it’s not a customer experience platform. But Microsoft needs a customer experience strategy if it’s going to really compete with Salesforce and other vendors. Integrating Sitecore’s customer experience capabilities is a huge step towards doing this without building something of their own. Very smart move for Microsoft.

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