Extended sites
WebSphere Commerce supports the Extended Sites business model, where a seller can have many sites aimed at different audiences. For example, a seller might create sites based on geographical regions, while some customized sites might be created for individual large customers. All of these different sites can share assets such as the catalog, whereby each site selects the subset of the catalog that will be presented, and adjusts the prices as necessary. By default, a customer cannot share the same shopping cart across multiple sites; a customer has a shopping cart at each location. However, you can customize WebSphere Commerce to support a shared shopping cart across multiple locations.
The extended sites business model allows a business, or enterprise to use multiple strategies to make its products available to customers. Many different sites can be presented to the market and each is perceived by customers as unique. The business can customize sites by:
- geography
- brand
- market segment
- customer
Each site appears unique to the customers that access it, and each site can implement business rules unique to that site. For example, different geographical areas might have unique legal and tax regulations.
This business model creates and manages a set of common configuration data assets that are shared across all sites. For each site that the enterprise needs to present to the market, you can create an extended site that contains all of the necessary configurations to uniquely position the site for a specific market.
For more details about extended sites, refer to the following resources:
- IBM Redbook entitled Extended Sites in WebSphere Commerce Business Edition available on the IBM Redbook site.
- WebSphere Support Technical Exchange presentation entitled Extended Sites Business Model in WebSphere Commerce available on the product support site.
Extended site business models and scenarios
Extended site stores can be created as either consumer direct or B2B direct stores. In the Consumer Direct business model, an enterprise sells goods or services to the general public. In variations of this business model, the set of consumers might be restricted. For example, the consumers might be employees of a company. With the B2B Direct business model, an enterprise sells to other businesses, either end users of the products or, in some cases, resellers of the products.
There are some common scenarios within these business models in which the selling enterprise needs to create multiple sites. Such scenarios include unique sites for different geographical areas, different brands, different markets, and for large customers. For each extended site scenario, you can create a main welcome page, where customer select the specific site they want to visit. For example, if you have a Canadian site and an American site, you can have a single main page that links customers to the individual sites. Including this main page requires customization.
Sites for different geographical areas
Although the enterprise maintains a single set of goods or services, any one of the geographical areas can make decisions in which a subset of the products is available within its site. Such differences in the set of available products might be due to legal restrictions, or might result from marketing decisions. Other examples include tax regulations, which differ significantly from country to country, and shipping rules, which depend on arrangements with local shipping providers.
Marketing campaigns can be targeted at specific geographical areas, with specific advertising or promotions being offered in only selected areas. Marketing messages can also be delivered at the enterprise level -- global campaigns that are shared by all geographical areas.
Even for shared assets, some aspects might need to vary. For example, product descriptions can be shared by all sites that sell the particular product. However, each geography can present these descriptions in a different set of languages. For example, in the U.S.A., customers might choose to see the site in English or Spanish, while in Canada many sites are available in English and French. A multinational seller needs to set up sites so that the appropriate choice of languages is available in each geography.
A site set up for a particular geography must present pricing in the currency appropriate for the corresponding country. This involves either managing prices in multiple currencies, or dynamic currency conversion throughout the shopping or purchasing process.
Sites for different brands
An extended site can customize its presentation to suit the requirements of each brand it carries in its catalog, such as site look-and-feel, flow, and product display pages. Each brand can have its own unique marketing strategy, such as catalog up-sells, cross-sells, and promotions.
Sites for different market segments
In the extended sites business model, different market segments like B2B and B2C customers can be addressed by different sites. In addition, unique sites can be created for industry segments such as Education, Travel, Transportation, and Industrial. These sites are based on the same set of catalog data, but each site needs to filter the portions of the catalog that are applicable to it. As with branding, marketing campaigns and messages can be unique to the site, but a given set of marketing messages can be common to the extended sites.
Sites for different customers
Each customer in the extended sites business model can
have its own business rules, such as shipping and billing options,
and contractual arrangements that affect pricing or product entitlement.
A customer can be granted one of the predefined sets of terms and
conditions, and additions or exclusions are also applied on top of
the predefined contract. In addition, a customer can negotiate special
bids with unique prices, or might have entitlements to made-to-order
products that are available only to that customer.
Customers might have distinct options in the extended site flow. Some customers might require order approval, while others do not. There are variations in how purchase order numbers are handled, and occasionally a customer might want to see a logo of their company on the site when it is accessed by their employees. Customers in the extended sites business model can have specially designed pricing and product entitlement, unique marketing messages and unique modifications to the site presentation.
Order notification is another area for differentiation.
Notification of each order can be sent to a designated contact, or
to the person that placed the order. Access control can also be configured
to meet the needs of a customer. All employees can place orders, however,
these orders are not actually submitted until they are approved by
authorized personnel, such as a supervisor.
Related concepts
WebSphere Commerce Accelerator
Organization Administration Console
Related tasks
Enabling registered users to access all stores in the Extended Sites business model