The ABC’s of eCommerce Accelerators

Digital commerce is winning, by a margin so disproportionate that they will be critical to your brand’s success. The global eCommerce market is expected to reach $4.89 trillion in 2021, and will grow in the coming years, thanks to borderless eCommerce. To enlighten you more, two years ago, only 13.6% of sales were made online. Today, that number is expected to reach 19.5% in 2021 and 21.8% by 2024, a  solid 8.2% increase in just five years, emphasizing on the need to reduce time-to- market through eCommerce accelerators.

Customers are leaning more towards eCommerce sales than physical outlets. This could be understood by the fact that online retail sales will reach $6.39 trillion, with eCommerce scouting for 21.8% of the total retail sales. Additionally, the pandemic has led digital commerce to transform the position and role of physical stores. So, if you’re leading in digital commerce, it’s not just an indicator of online success, but of omnichannel success and retail longevity for your brand.

As eCommerce leaders, you play a critical role in progressing your company and helping it stand the test of time. With your leadership and winning strategies, you can successfully navigate the dynamic waters of the digital commerce economy. So, if you’re new to accelerate eCommerce ecosystem and are looking to launch your store online, we have a solution for you that is cost effective for budget and time frame. And that is- an eCommerce accelerator program. You can improve your eCommerce website performance through a digital commerce accelerator.

What is an eCommerce accelerator?

Traditionally, launching an online eCommerce store takes several months and runs on +36% over budget. Perhaps, before the pandemic, retailers and merchants had the luxury of time and money to spend on constructing their digital eCommerce platform. However, since the pandemic, there is an urgency to launch such solutions online. An eCommerce platform accelerator program fulfills all such demands.

An eCommerce accelerator software is a quick to implement eCommerce solution that gets your B2B, B2C, and DTC business running online in a record time of 4-6 weeks. Based on popular eCommerce platforms like Magento (Adobe Commerce), Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Shopify Plus and commercetools amongst a few, an eCommerce accelerator reduces the time to launch an online store by 50% and the cost to launch by 80% while improving eCommerce platform performance. These digital commerce accelerators possess key platform capabilities like Adobe Commerce’s AI-powered product recommendations, reward points system, managed cloud services, CMS capabilities, and intuitive admin interface along with its definitive and unique features like mobile-first approach, localized payment solutions, active customer service, and seamless integrations.

Depending on the platform and the key features of the  eCommerce accelerator program, you can reach the market on time, prioritize customer experiences over product quality, fulfill market trends, and take note of customer’s online buying behaviors.

The benefits of eCommerce accelerators

A digital commerce accelerator program offers few added benefits to using it than the traditional eCommerce platform. These include:

Time to Value: Digital commerce accelerators get your business up and running within 4-6 weeks. It allows you to understand the value of your investment, start selling online, and connect with your customers as quickly as possible.

Cost-efficiency: eCommerce accelerators are pre-built with most usual features and integrations relevant to your online store and can be customized for the majority of business operations. Using existing templates, you can start building the store and keep it evolving as per your business requirements.

Scalability: eCommerce accelerators are built on popular platforms like Adobe Commerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Shopify Plus and commercetools, trusted by global ambitious brands. From handling peak traffic surges to offering localized customer experiences to customers from different geographies and eCommerce platform performance, these platforms can handle everything and serve thousands of SKUs.

Flexibility to launch: eCommerce accelerators consist of different packages that employ a variety of pre-built features and integrations. The best part of these digital commerce accelerators is that they can be tweaked as per your business needs and requirements, unlike a SaaS-based eCommerce platform. It adds flexibility to the process of launching an online store and saves a lot of time designing and developing things from scratch.

Highly customizable: With its pre-built themes and integrations based on renowned eCommerce platforms, eCommerce accelerators leave space for you to incorporate tailored features and full-store customization. Digital commerce accelerators are designed to grow with your business, meaning you can customize, extend, personalize, and expand into new markets post launch.

Fully optimized and tested: eCommerce accelerators are optimized for marketing and SEO, tested for multiple touchpoints, devices and platforms before launching. It allows you to put your brand forward, optimize it for every device, check before launching it online, and offer incredible customer experiences at every step of the way.

Smart analytics: eCommerce accelerators bring together the power of analytics, smart insights and business intelligence to help you gain data about your customers, market, and ongoing trends and readjust your online store in a similar way.

What are the key features of eCommerce accelerators?

Some of the key characteristics of a digital commerce accelerator program include:

• B2B, Retail and DTC eCommerce ready with specific templates and functionalities
• Personalized and responsive web designs across every touchpoint to optimize for several devices
• Mobile-first solution, meaning the online stores are designed for smartphones first to capture the interest of on-the-go shoppers  that can be easily scaled for use on desktops and laptops 
• Quick and easy deployment of the pre-configured integrations and storefronts with additional sites 
• Localized payment solutions to offer customers of different geographies with their preferred payment methods
• Offer 24/7 customer support to interact with customers, answer their queries, help them find products and provide update regarding items
• Optimized for SEO and tested for several touchpoints, devices and screens
• Packed with features and also allows for easy integration of the CMS, marketing platform and order management system without losing any accelerate eCommerce functionality
• eCommerce sites customized, extended and expanded post launch of the eCommerce store
• Deploy on other channels on the same installation 
• Pre-integrated tools like Google Analytics, multiple payment gateways depending on the region, marketing platform and more
• Automated product recommendations based on a shopper’s buying behavior, eventually reducing cart abandonment rates and eCommerce platform performance
• Run marketing campaigns to facilitate connection with your shoppers and connect with them even when they aren’t shopping 
• Easily launch tailored online stores in different regions and geographies with minimal efforts and time requirement
• Combine online and offline stores and offer customers with a consistent shopping experience 
• Easily manage flash sales and other promotional activities with ease and efficiency 
• A unified accelerate eCommerce solution for web, mobile, and social

Difference between traditional commerce development and eCommerce accelerator

Although digital commerce accelerators and traditional eCommerce platforms might sound like the same thing, it isn’t. eCommerce platforms are of three types: SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform, PaaS (platform-as-a-service) platform, and on-premise platforms. SaaS and PaaS deliver eCommerce solutions through the internet. SaaS platforms like Shopify Plus include software only. Once you add hardware to it as well, it becomes a PaaS platform. On the contrary, on-premise eCommerce solutions are hosted locally by the retailers, managed by their IT staff, and accessed via cloud.

eCommerce accelerators, on the other hand, are responsive eCommerce solutions geared towards particular retail and B2B markets. They are built, ground up, from the most popular eCommerce platforms like Magento, BigCommerce, commercetools, Shopify Plus, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, support the latest browsers and devices, and are developed via latest frontend technologies. eCommerce accelerators, unlike the eCommerce platforms, are unique, out-of-the-box, and specific solutions developed by organizations working on the eCommerce platform.

The digital commerce accelerators include tailored, enhanced and personalized eCommerce features that allows digital commerce companies to deploy eCommerce solutions at a low cost and in record time. With an eCommerce accelerator, you can quickly launch branded, feature-rich online stores, optimized and tested for various touchpoints and proven to deliver marvelous customer experiences without building them from scratch. As per market studies, an eCommerce accelerator software reduces cost to launch an online store by 80% and operational costs by 50%.

That said, eCommerce accelerators are a reliable solution for small businesses and retailers who don’t want to waste any time in launching their online store and are looking for cost-efficient, time-specific and accelerate eCommerce solutions. Every renowned eCommerce accelerator program like the Falcon, Plover, Harrier, and Phoenix, are designed keeping the future of eCommerce in mind and can be easily and rapidly scaled to match any and all business requirements and support the growing eCommerce channels to refine eCommerce platform performance.

How much time does it take to launch a website through an eCommerce accelerator software?

An eCommerce accelerator software allows retailers and merchants to launch their online stores within days and weeks rather than months and years. Typically, you can jumpstart your online business within 4-6 weeks via an eCommerce accelerator program. It means, a digital commerce accelerator reduces your average time-to-market by 80%. Therefore, an eCommerce accelerator provides ambitious brands with an enterprise-level eCommerce solution quickly and at a lower cost.

How much does it cost to launch an online store with an eCommerce accelerator?

Depending on the eCommerce platform you pick, the total cost of launching an eCommerce website varies. However, the total costs spent to launch an online store includes infrastructure costs, shared hosting, virtual private server, dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, development support costs, and the cost of other third-party services. Typically, the total running costs will be different from platform to platform, but can be somewhere between $12000-$500,000 with an average of $21000.

On the other hand, eCommerce accelerators reduce the operational costs by 60%. Since you don’t have to pay for any platform, it nullifies all the costs associated with it. When you decide to launch an online store through an eCommerce platform, you pay for the custom eCommerce solution sold only by the digital commerce company, it’s hosting and maintenance. This brings down your total online store costs by a considerable margin.

Do websites look different when launched via an eCommerce accelerator?

Since eCommerce accelerators are powered by popular and user-centric eCommerce platforms, the eCommerce websites are similar to the ones designed and developed through an eCommerce platform. The benefit of using digital commerce accelerators lies in its pre-built page templates, third-party integrations, numerous flexible components, improve your eCommerce website performance and several key features that allow websites to be maintained and easily scaled to match business requirements and market needs.

Factors to consider when choosing between eCommerce accelerator and traditional eCommerce development

Depending on your business goals and dynamics, you can choose between an eCommerce accelerator program or an open-source/SaaS-based eCommerce platform. eCommerce platforms allow easy entry into the world of online selling, whereas eCommerce accelerators are a one-time investment on a customized and market relevant online retail store. They are built from the ground up to support your growing eCommerce demands and ensure optimum eCommerce platform performance. Typically, your eCommerce platform accelerator vs eCommerce platform decision depends on the following factors:

• Time-to-market
• Cost-effectiveness
• Future-readiness 
• Market relevance
• Scalability
• Customizations 
• Smart Analytics 

Fasttrack your eCommerce journeys with our popular eCommerce accelerators

Ranosys has been supporting its customers’ eCommerce journey and digital transformation goals for the past 13 years. With our expertise and experience in implementing end-to-end eCommerce solutions for our clients, we have identified the gap between the OOTB eCommerce solution features and the changing eCommerce ecosystem needs. We have identified a few types and categories of features common throughout various verticals of industries. We have collected these details and have crafted solutions on top of various eCommerce platforms, including Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and commercetools.

Our eCommerce accelerators are customized to suit your business needs, from impeccable user experience interfaces to available features and integrations. After reviewing your eCommerce goals, we customize our eCommerce platform accelerators that are quick-to-launch, within your budget, feature-rich, scalable to the future, flexible to adapt to the changing market needs, and smart and insightful to analyze customer behavior and offer relevant and customer-friendly recommendations.

Falcon: Magento-based eCommerce accelerator

Falcon is a collection of additional extensions, plugins and themes on top of Adobe commerce to enhance eCommerce capabilities and to introduce localisation of eCommerce to support international eCommerce strategy for various geographies. We have already localised Falcon for various countries by introducing local payment gateways, shipping providers, Local POS systems, CRM’s, ERP’s and much more. Falcon also brings industry specific features and has also been tuned for industries like Fashion & apparels, food & beverages, consumer electronics, furniture & medical and has OOTB capabilities to integrate with multiple backend systems to provide end-to-end localized eCommerce solutions for our customer.

Our roadmap also includes capabilities like omnichannel experience, AI-powered product recommendations, live search, social commerce and guided selling and we are continuously monitoring changing needs of the eCommerce ecosystem and making it easy for our client to adopt this change.

Plover: Shopify Plus-powered eCommerce accelerator

Plover is a eCommerce accelerator software built on top of the Shopify Plus that allows brands to launch their digital commerce store in as little as 6 weeks. With its pre-built templates and pre-configured integrations, the Plover eCommerce accelerator program helps internationalize your online retail store to launch dedicated storefronts as per different geographies and regions. Bundled with automation capabilities, Plover digital commerce accelerator allows brands to autopilot their business, run promotional campaigns and manage inventory reordering. Other characteristics like unified commerce experience, multi-channel selling, full-store customization, localized payment solutions and smart analytics allows personalized customer experiences and revamps eCommerce platform performance in a limited budget and time frame.

Plover accelerate eCommerce transition with its localized experiences, data-driven design theme, guided selling, embedded customer support service, local shipping integration, seamless integrations with varied platforms, SEO and conversion optimized templates, and multiple payment solutions like buy now pay later, cash on delivery, etc.- Plover functions more than a usual online retail store.

Phoenix: A Salesforce Commerce Cloud-based eCommerce accelerator

Phoenix is an eCommerce accelerator program based on Salesforce Commerce Cloud scalable and cloud-based SaaS functionalities. It leverages the unique features of SFCC and gets your store online within 6 weeks. It possesses all the necessary features and characteristics that help you launch your eCommerce business in as little budget and time as possible. From guided selling, mobile-first approach, scaled to fulfill international business expansion goals, offering impeccable AI-based product recommendations, and pre-built eCommerce templates to localized experiences, active customer support service, local shipping integration, multiple payment providers, post ratings and reviews, and support during peak traffic times, Phoenix does it all.

We have built it on top of the Salesforce Commerce Cloud solution to allow retailers and merchants leverage the unique features of the digital commerce platform along with unique features of our Phoenix eCommerce accelerator software. Phoenix is configured in a way that allows you to drive customer loyalty through promotional campaigns, business intelligence, email marketing solutions, loyalty programs, gift certificates, and store credit, thus decorating shopping experiences.

Harrier: A Salesforce-led B2B eCommerce accelerator

Harrier is B2B eCommerce accelerator software built from the ground up on the Salesforce platform. An exclusive eCommerce platform accelerator for B2B businesses, Harrier helps you curate a user-friendly journey for your customers, boosting your revenue in the shortest possible time frame. Packed with high-performing and conversion-oriented B2B functionalities developed at an accelerated pace, Harrier lives your online business within 4-6 weeks, reducing time spent on design and development by 50%.

Our experts have brought together Harrier after extensive research of the B2B online market to assist with all business requirements and market demands. Its mobile-first approach caters to the on-the-go generation, simplified order checkout experience reduces the steps to purchase, order management features allows for repeat orders and inventory management, and various eCommerce integrations better customer experience in a limited time frame and budget. Other unique features of Harrier eCommerce accelerator assists with buyer-specific custom catalog and pricing and account management, flexibility scaled for the future. Phoenix accelerator program offers the following benefits:

• Quicker time-to-market: Packed with the right functionalities and features, Harrier helps you kickstart your B2B eCommerce business within 4-6 weeks.
• Cost-friendly: Even with pre-built templates, self service portal, customer segmentation based on order frequency, and pre-configured integrations, Harrier is the most cost-effective B2B eCommerce retail solution that translates to better conversions, drives customer loyalty, and ensures repeat business.
• Omnichannel marketing: Harrier compiles the power of insights, intelligence, and analytics to deliver real-time feedback regarding your B2B online business. This way, Harrier assists you with omnichannel marketing goals and provides end-to-end customer support across varied storefronts to help manage your online B2B retail business efficiently and effectively.
• Optimization and scalability: Harrier eCommerce accelerator is developed to simplify B2B commerce for online buyers and sellers. Hence, it is bundled with B2B specific features like easy reorders, account hierarchies, custom catalogs, buyer-specific pricing, and integrating local shipping solution providers for different regions and geographies.
• Salesforce Ecosystem: Retailers can easily integrate the features of the Salesforce CRM to deliver personalized product experiences to Harrier. From customized pricing for different buyers to running campaigns  to improve customer conversion and engagement, Harrier combines the power of its unique characteristics along with the Salesforce platform.