SAP Commerce Cloud B2B: Capabilities, advantages, and drawbacks

This article was written in collaboration with Brave Bison .

In B2B commerce, businesses face all kinds of challenges, from managing expansive supply chains to catering to the specific demands of a diverse clientele.

Enterprises depend on platforms that offer more than flexibility and scalability; what they really look for is the capability to address the nuanced needs of B2B transactions. 

Thanks to its robust features and adaptability, SAP Commerce Cloud meets those needs perfectly. Tailored to large enterprises aiming to streamline and optimize their B2B operations, the commerce solution offers a suite of tools designed to tackle the unique challenges of B2B commerce.

Why choose SAP CC as your B2B commerce platform?

Unlike many SaaS ecommerce platforms that offer a one-size-fits-all solution, SAP Commerce Cloud is designed to adapt to specific business requirements. It shows it through many features, such as:

• Unique pricing models;

• Vast integration possibilities;

• Custom workflows.

Customization is key for B2B ecommerce. That is because B2B transactions aren't just larger-scale B2C transactions; they come with their own set of complexities, and the average order value is higher.

These complexities can range from bulk ordering and contract pricing to multi-tier distribution models. SAP CC understands these intricacies and offers solutions tailored to them. 

B2B ecommerce customers are often large organizations that have their own operational methodologies and demands. SAP Commerce Cloud understands all of these unique demands and offers tailored solutions. They might need custom catalogs, specific payment terms, or even unique delivery schedules.

With SAP Commerce, B2B companies can cater to these specialized requests, ensuring that businesses can serve their clients effectively.

SAP Commerce Cloud advantages for B2B commerce

SAP CC's biggest selling point is customization, but what are the actual advantages of using the commerce platform for B2B purposes?

Here, we'll explore the most important perks that B2B clients can count on when using the commerce platform.

1. Highly personalized customer experiences

In B2B, where transactions are often intricate and customer requirements vary widely, personalization is paramount.

SAP CC recognizes this and offers advanced personalization capabilities that go beyond just product recommendations, reaching customers through multiple channels.

Here are the personalization features you get thanks to SAP B2B integration:

• Tailored content and recommendations;

• Individualized pricing models;

• Customized promotions based on the customer's history and preferences;

• Targeted discounts;

• Customer-specific product catalogs.

In an environment where long-term relationships are crucial, such personalized interactions can significantly boost customer retention and loyalty and streamline the buying process.

2. Integrated within the SAP ecosystem

One of the standout benefits of SAP Commerce Cloud is its seamless integration capabilities within the broader SAP ecosystem.

Those integrations aren't just about technical cohesion; it's about enhancing the entire B2B customer journey by ensuring that every touchpoint is informed and efficient.

For B2B ecommerce, the most valuable integrations are:

• SAP Customer Data Cloud;

• SAP Service Cloud;

• SAP Sales Cloud.

SAP Customer Data Cloud

At the heart of any successful B2B operation is a deep understanding of the customer.

SAP Customer Data Cloud (CDC) offers this by providing tools for managing customer identity, consent, and profile.

In the context of SAP Commerce Cloud, prebuilt integration with CDC ensures that the platform has constant access to up-to-date customer data, preferences, and consent statuses. This enhances personalization and ensures compliance with data protection regulations. 

SAP Sales Cloud

By integrating with SAP Commerce Cloud, SAP Sales Cloud enhances its capabilities with features like intelligent selling services and personalized customer engagement. This integration accelerates growth and provides robust content and inventory management within SAP Commerce Cloud.

SAP Service Cloud

B2B interactions don't end after a sale. Post-sales support and service are crucial, and this is where SAP Service Cloud comes into play. It equips businesses with a range of service solutions, from ticketing to knowledge base management.

When a prebuilt integration with SAP Commerce Cloud, service agents get a 360-degree view of the customer, including their purchase history and past interactions. This holistic perspective means quicker issue resolution and a more personalized service experience. 

3. Real-time customer support

Losing a customer in B2B might mean saying goodbye to a deal worth thousands. This is why the stakes for customer support are significantly higher than in B2C commerce.

SAP CC recognizes this and has embedded real-time customer support functionalities to address it. The SAP support feature is designed to handle the complexities of B2B interactions, whether it's a question about bulk orders, custom product configurations, or specific payment terms.

Key SAP Commerce Cloud features for B2B 

Product content management

SAP Commerce Cloud offers robust product content management capabilities, allowing businesses to manage extensive product catalogs, variations, and attributes. This feature ensures that B2B customers have access to detailed product information, facilitating informed purchasing decisions.

Omnichannel commerce

B2B customers expect to interact with businesses across multiple touchpoints. SAP Commerce Cloud responds to this need by offering vast omnichannel capabilities that ensure a consistent and seamless experience across all channels, be it web, mobile, or even offline.

Comprehensive order management

SAP CC supports advanced order management features that cater to the needs of B2B businesses. These include bulk ordering and reordering, customizable approval processes, and real-time inventory. For B2B orders which can be quite complex, this set of features is perfect for organization.

Building a profitable B2B digital ecommerce with composable commerce

Composable commerce offers businesses a modular approach that allows them to handpick the best technology for each segment, ensuring performance and flexibility.

Why use composable commerce for B2B?

For B2B operations, composable commerce means the ability to deploy powerful, cutting-edge storefront technologies that enhance user experience and boost search rankings.

The beauty of composable commerce lies in its adaptability. If a component, say a CMS, isn't delivering as expected, you can effortlessly replace it without disrupting the entire system.

This eliminates the constraints of tight coupling, where changing one element might result in overhauling significant portions of your business logic. This flexibility becomes even more crucial for B2B operations, which often deal with more complex workflows and customer demands.

SAP Commerce Cloud and composable commerce

Building a B2B digital ecommerce with composable commerce is a transformative approach that SAP Commerce Cloud supports.

SAP CC’s ability to integrate seamlessly with various components ensures a cohesive and efficient B2B commerce experience. By leveraging SAP Commerce Cloud within a composable architecture, businesses can harness the best of all breeds.

How well does SAP Commerce Cloud integrate with other software?

One of SAP Commerce Cloud’s core strengths is its adaptability, allowing businesses to integrate it with a wide range of software solutions seamlessly. SAP CC'S migration tools and resources are available to ensure a smooth shift for businesses considering a transition.

Business Technology Platform

A key recommendation from SAP is to leverage the Business Technology Platform (BTP). BTP acts as a middleware, streamlining the process of data transformation and ensuring a more decoupled and efficient integration with other systems.

This is particularly beneficial for businesses that want to maintain a cohesive data flow across various platforms without getting entangled in complex integration challenges.

Omni Commerce Connect

Another noteworthy feature is the Omni Commerce Connect (OCC) . Built into SAP Commerce Cloud, OCC is a headless set of APIs that exposes the platform's commerce functionalities.

Instead of being tied to a specific webpage, this approach to B2B headless commerce allows other systems, be it storefronts or apps, to tap into SAP Commerce Cloud's capabilities and present tailored experiences to customers.

Leveraging the SAP ecosystem

For businesses already invested in the SAP ecosystem, especially those using SAP's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software like SAP ECC 6.0 or S/4HANA, integration becomes even more streamlined.

These ERP products have a pre-integration setup through BTP, ensuring consistent communication, especially concerning customer and product data. For example, when a customer logs in, the system can recognize their individual permissions, controls, or pricing structures.

If this organizational modeling is done within the SAP ERP system, it can synchronize effortlessly with the commerce system. This level of detailed data understanding and synchronization is something not commonly found in many commerce platforms.

SAP Commerce Cloud drawbacks for B2B commerce

While SAP CC is a great commerce solution, there are some cons to using it. Here's what to watch out for when choosing to use the platform.

It's not great for small- and medium-sized businesses

SAP CC is robust, feature-rich, and designed to handle the complexities of large-scale B2B operations. While such a commerce solution is perfect for enterprises, this design inherently means the setup process can be complex.

For businesses looking to integrate it with SAP ERP, there's an expectation to align business processes with the SAP framework. 

This alignment can be a challenge, especially for smaller companies without the resources or, more importantly, the need for such extensive features. Thankfully, by following the SAP Commerce Cloud best practices , even smaller businesses can harness the platform's potential.

It can be pricy

The comprehensive nature of SAP Commerce Cloud comes with a price tag that might be prohibitive for some businesses.

Given its extensive features and capabilities, the platform can be expensive, especially for businesses that might not use the full range of its functionalities. High licensing fees, ongoing maintenance costs, and potential additional expenses for customization and integration are something to keep in mind when considering SAP CC.

It’s still a monolithic platform

SAP CC is inherently a monolithic platform . While this architecture offers stability and integrated functionalities, it also brings the typical challenges associated with monolithic systems.

For businesses looking to adopt a more modular or composable approach , using SAP CC might mean paying for features they won't actively use, leading to redundancy. 

Choose composable commerce for B2B with Alokai

Alokai's integration with SAP Commerce Cloud ensures robust security and compliance with industry regulations, giving your business a reliable and secure transaction environment.

The integration allows B2B companies to modernize ecommerce stack gradually, avoiding the disruptions and costs associated with full replatforming. With Alokai, you can build a future-proof, agile eCommerce stack that adapts to evolving customer demands and enhances the overall buying experience.

Conclusion: The Power of SAP B2B Commerce

SAP Commerce Cloud is a versatile solution tailored to the complex demands of B2B ecommerce.

Offering flexibility, scalability, and adaptability, SAP CC stands out with its ability to address the unique challenges of B2B transactions.With a focus on personalization, seamless integration within the SAP ecosystem, and real-time customer support, there's no doubt that SAP Commerce Cloud enhances B2B customer experiences . Despite being a monolithic platform, SAP Commerce Cloud excels in integration capabilities, allowing businesses to connect it with various software solutions seamlessly.