SAP Hybris: A suite of business products for ecommerce

Regardless of the model, every e-commerce business is concerned with upholding the principles and meeting customer expectations head-on. It can be through providing an omnichannel shopping experience or increasing the level of personalization involved with the website. Besides, the hypercompetitive market is rapidly changing with most trends and patterns hidden deep beyond recognition at first glance. This has made it more difficult for eCommerce businesses to adapt accordingly and change their strategies on the go.

Until and unless an e-commerce business is flexible enough to adapt to the market changes, it won’t be possible to retain the brand image or the target consumer base. This is where SAP Hybris comes into play. Known to be one of the best e-commerce platforms, it empowers businesses with a complete suite of tools and applications dedicated to multifarious processes. From sales channels to customer data handling, it has got everything covered.

The architecture of SAP Hybris

Hybris encompasses the open-source Java-based Spring framework as the codebase. Apache Tomcat and Java EE Servlet are the two containers used for containerization and deployment of the codes, packages, library functions, and other components to the main execution environment. Apart from this, Hybris is deeply integrated with Microsoft SQL application for data storage, query execution, and data processing. All types of dynamic requests from the front end and static application components are handled through Apache while session caching is done through Redis.

Since Hybris is an open-source platform, developers have the independence of working on frontend and backend layers as separate entities.

1. The front end of the e-commerce store can be developed using the SAP Commerce template. It allows developers to access the out-of-the-box features and customize the components as per the business requirements.
2. The backend layer handling Hybris functions is divided into two components. First is the business layer that handles different processes through ServiceLayer APIs. These components not only speed up data processing and rendering but also establish a streamlined interaction between the front end and all other backend modules. On the other hand, the persistence layer deals with database table mapping and business object handling.

Application suites of SAP Hybris

As already discussed, SAP Hybris comes with a series of application suites dedicated to handling different service processes of an e-commerce business. It is imperative for developers to have a clear idea about these tools integrated with all SAP versions before implementing Hybris at the core layer.

1. SAP Hybris for Commerce: As the name suggests, this application suite is used to handle different functions related to the commerce platform, like designing website templates, deploying and managing APIs, handling orders and shipping carts, and many more.
2. SAP Hybris for Marketing: With the help of this tool, business owners can analyze different datasets and gain information about the market and consumer base. The reports and forecasts generated are based on real-time, which is why accuracy and precision are at optimal levels.
3. SAP Hybris for Revenue and Billing: This tool allows businesses to handle their finances and revenues in a better way. From generating invoices and ordering bills to calculating revenues and optimizing accounting strategies, the tool has everything an e-commerce business can ever need.
4. SAP Hybris for Sales: The Sales product helps streamline the sales channels, establishing an omnichannel experience across all touchpoints, and retaining loyal customers over a longer time.
5. SAP Hybris for Customer Data: Lastly, we have the Hybris product to acquire, store, and process customer data in a secured and encrypted environment. It can be integrated with the cloud server to access data remotely and manage all the information sets in a streamlined manner.

Features of SAP Hybris

Following are some of the prime features of SAP Hybris that businesses should look forward to harnessing and implementing in their day-to-day services.

1. Hybris allows businesses to heighten the omnichannel experience for consumers across all touchpoints. In other words, it enables developers to build and deploy an application that behaves uniformly across all marketing and sales channels, irrespective of the device and operating system.
2. The presence of a catalog and product management module in Hybris allows businesses to store, fetch, and manage product information easily. Since APIs are used to interact with the backend layers and other websites, it is easier to render the product information in an easier way.
3. With the help of Hybris, it is much easier to manage different types of documents, like bills, revenue reports, and many more.
4. It also comes with different types of SEO-optimization tools that allow businesses to optimize their websites and drive maximum traffic. Furthermore, businesses can generate higher revenues and convert the leads into potential customers with ease.

Applicable areas of SAP Hybris

Some of the areas where SAP Hybris has proven to be a fruitful investment are:

1. Healthcare
2. Wholesale
3. Retail
4. Hospitality
5. Fashion

Conclusion

With a proper SAP version upgrade, it is easier for businesses to access the recent updates deployed across the entire Hybris suite. These will not only streamline the processes but also ensure a heightened customer experience through an intuitive UI and highly productive backend layer.