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Aphix vs Salesforce Commerce Cloud | eCommerce Comparison

Find out how Aphix stacks up against Salesforce Commerce Cloud, formerly known as Demandware.

Kevin Faulkner - Marketing Executive Written by Kevin Faulkner - Marketing Executive 25 Nov 2020 in Best eCommerce Platform

Comparing eCommerce platforms is a difficult task.

While there are many eCommerce platforms that you can consider for your business, only a few will probably make the cut when comparing them like-for-like.

Even if you already know what you need from an eCommerce solution it can still be difficult, as there are many similarities that a lot of these platforms possess.

Sometimes though, even one small feature, or an item of functionality, or an automation benefit can be the main deciding factor for your business and we hope to make that clear by the end.

In this post, we’ll be comparing the Aphix Digital Platform head-to-head with a solution formerly known as Demandware which was acquired in 2016 by Salesforce and now rebranded Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

We’ll compare the solutions in terms of:

  1. ERP Integration
  2. Scalability
  3. Ease of Implementation
  4. Hosting
  5. Pricing

Take a quick look at our comparison table.

Aphix vs Salesforce Commerce Cloud Comparison Table

While there are always many other things to consider about a solution as we have included in our comparison table above, we chose to look at these 5 areas that we feel are the key differences between the two eCommerce platforms.

With that said, let’s jump right in...

  1. ERP Integration

    When it comes to ERP integration, Aphix offers out-of-the-box, real-time integration with most major ERP system providers including SAP, Sage, and Intact. Aphix uses the data stored within the ERP to provide accurate product, pricing, stock and customer account information along with always open 24/7 ordering.

    As a certified technology partner to ERP providers like SAP, Sage, and Intact, our ERP integration is guaranteed to work now and into the future as we stay abreast of ERP updates.

    Salesforce doesn’t offer out-of-the-box ERP integration. They do offer many integrations with many different systems as well as their other products, but when it comes to ERP integration things are a little bit more complicated.

    The platform is extremely complex and depending on your technical ability, could require an experienced developer to set up the ERP integration for your business. A developer will also have to manage the integration long-term to ensure that there are no issues with data not syncing when there are software updates on the Salesforce CRM side.

  2. Scalability

    Aphix’s Digital Platform was created so businesses can easily start selling online while simply scaling as they grow. Scalability is just one key factor that makes our platform truly powerful. Our customers can add extra features in order to extend the functionality of their WebShop such as additional storefronts, multiple languages, multiple currencies, localised content, and much more. They can also choose from our additional eProcurement tools and mobile apps to enhance their existing offering and reach new markets with ease.

    Salesforce Commerce Cloud is also a highly scalable solution. The platform can handle the complex processes of the large enterprises of which is their target audience. Similarly to Aphix, Salesforce also allows their customers to manage multiple stores from a single back-end system and they also offer multiple currencies and languages for the different markets they may want to operate in or expand to.

  3. Implementation

    Aphix makes it really easy for businesses to implement eCommerce, eProcurement or Mobile Apps for their business. Our dedicated team of implementations experts and consultants are with you all the way from the beginning until you go-live. We do the heavy lifting for you as part of our implementation process. All you’ve to do is to ensure that you have the content for your new WebShop, plus your data stored in your ERP and ready to go.

    Salesforce also does a lot of the work for you. The only thing is that they don’t provide any off-the-shelf themes or templates. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it means that all of the visual and functional features of the website are bespoke and created purely to meet the specific design needs of your business. Even though this may sound good, it will mean a longer implementation time, it will be less of a future-proof solution and it will result in added cost, albeit in return for a website that’s bespoke to your business needs.

  4. Hosting

    Aphix is a cloud-based, SaaS provider offering fully-hosted SaaS software solutions. We provide hosting to all of our customers on the world’s leading web services provider, Amazon Web Services (AWS). Our Amazon hosting usage is based on a fair-use policy and we offer uptime of 99.95%. That said, we also allow our customers to use their own hosting provider if they prefer.

    Salesforce is also a cloud-based platform provider offering fully-hosted SaaS solutions. Like Aphix, their internal teams handle the hosting services and anything associated with it. Salesforce also uses Amazon Web Services for countries where no Salesforce data centres are operating which they announced in 2016.

  5. Pricing

    Aphix offers fixed pricing that is very competitive, yet affordable for SME’s and for larger enterprises. All of our solutions are hosted on the Aphix Digital Platform and are maintained and updated by us. When you sign up to Aphix, as a customer, you get more than just a solution, you get a lifetime business partner. In our pricing, we include everything from ERP integration to hosting, to security, to software updates, to training, to support and much, much more.

    Salesforce Commerce Cloud’s pricing is a bit different and varies based on each business’s needs. Their initial target audience was for larger enterprises who could afford to pay premium prices. Now, they do provide their eCommerce solution to businesses of any size.

    However, how likely it is that those businesses will have the resources to manage a solution like Salesforce is a different story altogether. Implementations can easily reach a couple of hundreds of thousands of euros. Not to mention that on top of the high annual cost, there’s also a 3-5 year contract that binds you to Salesforce. On top of this, you will need an experienced in-house developer or 3rd party connector for your ERP integration, which is not the case with Aphix.

Summary

Overall, both the Aphix Digital Platform and Salesforce Commerce Cloud offer cutting-edge eCommerce technology that can help businesses reach new heights when it comes to online sales. Also, both platforms are highly scalable SaaS solutions which are hosted, secured, updated and maintained by the providers.

There are some key differences between the two platforms. While Aphix can cater to the needs of both SME’s and large enterprises equally well, Salesforce's ideal target audience is large enterprises. This is because only they can really afford the in-house resource that is required to deploy and maintain such a feature-rich solution.

Aphix offers out-of-the-box ERP integration as mentioned above, which is not the case for Salesforce as they require the need of a connector to integrate the two systems or an experienced in-house developer who can do the integration.

The main key difference that will act as a huge obstacle and is a deciding factor for many mid-market businesses is most likely the huge price jump from Aphix to Salesforce.

Aphix offers solutions in the price range of the tens of thousands whereas Salesforce offers solutions in the hundreds of thousands.

If you’re in the market for an eCommerce solution that integrates to your ERP system, is affordable, will digitally transform and future-proof your business then you should take a look at the Aphix Digital Platform today.

To request a demo or to view our commerce platform in action email sales@aphixsoftware.com and a member of our team will be more than happy to assist you.

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