Item: Optimizely Configured Commerce
Rating: 6
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We purchased this when it was Insite Commerce and are using it for both the eCommerce catalog and our marketing website. We chose to use the CMS as well for the ability to use the eCommerce database to update feed pages on the CMS side while making one change in the catalog side. We did not have eCommerce prior and were also going through a rebranding of our company and a redesigned website overhaul.

Pros and Cons

The e-commerce catalog can be relatively turnkey.
The turnkey hosting and site uptime are very good.
There are robust features and functionalities to build a modern turnkey e-commerce site.

The CMS side of the system is not as intuitive as it could be, but not quite as simple as WordPress, for example, to customize and deploy a unique look. It has required a heavy level of customization by our third-party integration provider that made code-level changes to support the site.
We have run into the need to customize our templates more than we would like, which has been costly and keeps us reliant on our certified development partner. We would like more control over the ability to customize our templates and functionality.
The native form building has not been turnkey or easy for us to set up without reliance on our development partner to make the changes. We have moved on to using an external form solution as a result and one where our internal design team and our digital marketing agency can both maintain and customize with ease.
We have had a number of bugs that broke our site when upgrades happened and were customer-facing issues that took days to fix.
There is not the concept of a staging server that automatically can then push the functionality to the live site. We are required to copy over the functionality into the production site, which makes it extra time-consuming to maintain and keep in sync the sandbox site with the production. In the past, I have used CMS [platforms] that were much more elegantly designed in terms of previewing functionality first and then launching it into production with a series of checkboxes and validations. This would be a huge upgrade to add that functionality.

Return on Investment

The system and the use of the development partner for ERP integrations and to set up the eCommerce storefront was a surprisingly smooth process.
We are still ramping up and not yet at a critical mass with onboarding our customers, but we feel confident the ROI will follow with the reduction of customer support resources needed to support the business.

Support Rating

Our CSM has been helpful in advocating for us when we have tickets or bugs that need to be fixed.

Usability

The overall system is not as intuitive as WordPress, however, it is not too complicated to edit. The biggest issue is that if you want to publish to production from the sandbox, it requires copying the functionality and copying over to production.

Alternatives Considered

WordPress and Intershop Commerce Suite

We selected Optimizely B2B Commerce Cloud (when it was Insite Commerce) as they were specifically focused on manufacturing clients and the storefront and data management were very robust. The business model and cost were more in our price range as well, so an overall better value for the solution. The ability for the product data to be updated once on the catalog side as well as on the CMS website side was the benefit we saw with a small team of resources to support the product. However, there are definite drawbacks to having not gone with a more turnkey website CMS.

Key Insights

Do you think Optimizely Configured Commerce delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Optimizely Configured Commerce's feature set?

Yes

Did Optimizely Configured Commerce live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Optimizely Configured Commerce go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Optimizely Configured Commerce again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Google Analytics, Constant Contact, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Likelihood to Recommend

The eCommerce catalog side has a lot of benefits to it and has been much easier to work with and customize than the CMS side. It is this integration and using both for a branded marketing website that has the user journey from browsing and leading into the eCommerce side that has been the bigger challenge, outside of the overall stability of the releases with the bugs we have encountered. I think the solution is well suited if you are mainly a catalog site. We, however, sell machinery and solutions that are not sold via the eCommerce site and we need to showcase them on the website. However, we have a core industrial catalog of consumable products that support the machine and solutions purchases which are very well suited for the eCommerce catalog. It is the CMS/Catalog integration that has caused a need for more customizations to the platform and as a result increased costs to maintain, lowering our overall ROI from the solution. We are also a bit hamstrung by having to rely on our development partner to make changes that our digital agency is better suited to do for us in the CMS. It is requiring extra cost and resources as a result. If more functionality could be surfaced, it would be much better.

Solid e-Commerce Solution, But CMS Side is Not As Robust.

Overall Satisfaction with Optimizely B2B Commerce Cloud (formerly Episerver B2B Commerce Cloud)