WebSphere Commerce:

It’s not unusual to see companies maintaining separate Web infrastructures for different product brands, or using independent systems for call centers and the Web. Business-to-business (B2B) companies often deploy different software packages to address the needs of their subsidiaries. However, using a multi-platform approach to e-commerce can create numerous conditions that can hinder a company’s ability to maximize profitable revenue opportunities, including: Inconsistent, ineffective customer experience, fragmented or incomplete view of customer data across channels, brands and divisions, limited cross-channel sales and branding opportunities, fragmented or incomplete view of inventory and order information and high IT maintenance and operations costs.

WebSphere Commerce extended sites capability enables you to create multiple, unique sites to serve different brands, regions or targeted groups of customers. Each of these sites can have a unique look and feel, and can implement business rules and policies unique to the customer relationship (special pricing and product entitlement, for example). Yet the unique sites coexist on the same infrastructure, sharing as much data and business logic as possible to ease operation and management. You can also use the extended sites capability to enable downstream channel partners to create and manage their own e-commerce sites with easy-to-use, Web-based tools. You can control site presentation as well as catalog content, or you can allow partners to customize the sites and catalogs.

Extended Sites features include:

• Supports the widest range of out-of-the-box business models—even allowing different business models on a single installation

• Allows creation and hosting of a virtually unlimited number of custom sites for specific customers and downstream partners

• Displays each site uniquely to the customers that access it, and each site can implement business rules and policies unique to the customer relationship (special pricing and product entitlement, for example)

• Leverages common business rules, product and customer data, user interfaces and marketing and merchandizing tactics to every channel or touchpoint that is powered by WebSphere Commerce extended sites

• Deploys a storefront service for downstream channel partners (such as resellers, distributors, agents and dealers). These partners can quickly and easily create and customize their own e-commerce sites, populating the catalog from a master and adding their own items.

• Deploys regional sites to accommodate unique customer, business, language and legal requirements for every region or country in which a business operates

Benefits of Extended Sites:

• Significant cost savings because sites use the same infrastructure, sharing as much data and business logic as possible

• Vast reduction in development time for new sites

• Improved cross-site and cross-channel synergy and customer experience

• An unparalleled degree of individualized service

• Partners using the storefront creation and hosting capabilities get expanded reach and improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, and you get brand integrity, order and inventory visibility and insight into end customers.

• You can conduct business around the world more efficiently and provide better customer service and support—all from a single platform

"Because of the reusable Java™ code... we’ve reduced development time for new Web sites from three months to one week, saving 92% of the time and costs." — Eric Keil, IT director of e-business, Panasonic