Optimizely Commerce Connect vs. VARCommerce

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Optimizely Commerce Connect
Score 6.1 out of 10
N/A
Optimizely Commerce Connect is a PaaS e-commerce backend solution coupled with Optimizely's PaaS CMS to help e-commerce organizations, of any type, create highly customized websites and buying experiences with a two-in-one content and commerce solution.N/A
VARCommerce
Score 0.0 out of 10
N/A
VARCommerce is a SaaS solution provider that focuses on the success of the IT VAR by providing tools that dramatically improve business processes. Utilizing a "hub and spoke"​ approach, data is entered once (the hub or database) which then feeds (through the spokes) the essential business operations of quoting, purchasing, invoicing, order management, and shipment tracking.N/A
Pricing
Optimizely Commerce ConnectVARCommerce
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
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Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Optimizely Commerce ConnectVARCommerce
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Optimizely Commerce ConnectVARCommerce
Features
Optimizely Commerce ConnectVARCommerce
Online Storefront
Comparison of Online Storefront features of Product A and Product B
Optimizely Commerce Connect
8.8
Ratings
12% above category average
VARCommerce
-
Ratings
Product catalog & listings9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Product management9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Bulk product upload6.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Branding9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile storefront9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Product variations9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Website integration9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Visual customization9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
CMS9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Shopping Cart
Comparison of Online Shopping Cart features of Product A and Product B
Optimizely Commerce Connect
8.2
Ratings
7% above category average
VARCommerce
-
Ratings
Abandoned cart recovery8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Checkout user experience8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Payment System
Comparison of Online Payment System features of Product A and Product B
Optimizely Commerce Connect
8.2
Ratings
1% below category average
VARCommerce
-
Ratings
eCommerce security8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
eCommerce Marketing
Comparison of eCommerce Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Optimizely Commerce Connect
8.8
Ratings
13% above category average
VARCommerce
-
Ratings
Promotions & discounts8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Personalized recommendations9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
SEO9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
eCommerce Business Management
Comparison of eCommerce Business Management features of Product A and Product B
Optimizely Commerce Connect
8.0
Ratings
0% below category average
VARCommerce
-
Ratings
Multi-site management9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Order processing7.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory management7.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Shipping7.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom functionality9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
User Ratings
Optimizely Commerce ConnectVARCommerce
Likelihood to Recommend
6.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
4.6
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.6
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Optimizely Commerce ConnectVARCommerce
Likelihood to Recommend
Very strong fit for mid-sized organizations that need more flexibility and customization as compared to canned or template-based offerings, but also want the efficiency and externalization that comes with a pre-existing, cloud-hosted platform (as compared to a full custom offering). Works well with a PIM and more mature catalog data in order to fully leverage the dynamic data capabilities.
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Pros
  • Web content management -- the interface is drag and drop and makes it very easy for business users to create product pages.
  • In site search with Episerver Find -- it is easy to promote attributes and make quick tweaks to fine-tune results.
  • Integrate with other systems -- we have integrated with our ERP, our product information management system, our digital asset management system and our marketing automation system to take advantage of investments we have already made in content and customer data.
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Cons
  • Support. Episerver used to have direct support and access to the tech team to discuss and resolve issues. The new support portal is not enough for developer needs.
  • Quality Assurance. We find issues in the Episerver code that should have been resolved in QA before release.
  • Sales. Episervers sells the framework as a solution while showing Alloy. While it helps Episerver sell more, it puts the implementation partner into trouble as the client thinks they bought the solution. Episerver does not provide a solution. It provides a framework that you can build a solution on.
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Likelihood to Renew
Really want to be able to spend more time and resources on rolling out new things with Episerver but at the moment we seem to be fixing alot of issues and pain points with the way our system was setup.
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Usability
The job functionality is one of the strongest benefits Optimizely offers. It allows a savvy user to quickly go in to a given job, see the job history to find errors and then even take the steps of a job, copy the code and paste it back into your source to diagnose a potential issue.
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Support Rating
We had an incredible team at Episerver Supporting us with the go live, reviewing our integration, and pushing our integration partner to deliver a quality product
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Implementation Rating
Fully understand what is OOTB feature of the platform before proceeding to develop. Then implement a customization of key features once you can prove they are working as OOTB to make them more user friendly and productive for the business. Eg pre order and e gift card
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Alternatives Considered
Stibo STEP MDM was a powerhouse. It seems we could do anything we could dream up, but we also had an in-house IT dev team to support it. The cost was the reason we went with Optimizely Commerce Connect. We did not explore HubSpot for this project.
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Return on Investment
  • Positive: We have a usable website - better than what we had before and we are seeing a constant increase in adoption.
  • Positive: Counter associates are using the website to help customers.
  • Negative: Too much time being spent QCing previous work.
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ScreenShots

Optimizely Commerce Connect Screenshots

Screenshot of the customizable checkout workflow, used to tailor the customer checkout experience.Screenshot of where catalogs, custom attributes, UOM, catalog restrictions, and multiple sites are managed at once.Screenshot of an example of a personalized promotion based on user web activity, used to drive conversion and increase average order value.Screenshot of customized recommendations reportingScreenshot of Optimizely Commerce Connect's personalization