This document provides an introduction to implementing Sitecore Commerce. It discusses what an e-commerce system offers and how Sitecore Commerce and Commerce Connect work. Commerce Connect uses pipelines and processors to connect an external commerce system to Sitecore. A connector consists of pipeline processors that connect to a specific external system. The document also describes how product data is synchronized and the architecture of Sitecore XC, including the Commerce Engine.

1. Sitecore
Commerce –
Introduction to
Implementation
by Siddaraju Sampangi
Sitecore User Group Bengaluru, 08th September 2018

2. What does an E-Commerce System offer?
• Support for B2B or B2C or Both
• Integration with Web Content Management
• Support for eCommerce Marketing
• Full faceted search
• Integration with External Platforms
• Store Localization
• Plugin based architecture
• Tax Service, Shipping Providers etc. are usually plugged-in
• Product Technical Support

3. Commerce with Sitecore XC
Sitecore + Commerce
Sitecore XC 9
(Commerce Engine,
BizFx Tools)
Sitecore Commerce
Connect + External
Commerce Systems

4. Commerce Connect
• Comes as Sitecore Package
• Used to connect External Commerce System
• Abstract layers
• Cart
• Pricing
• Orders
• Inventory
• Each service layer comes with its own configuration files
• Cart Service Layer - /App_Config/Include/Sitecore.Commerce.Carts.Config
• Catalogs Service Layer - /App_Config/Include/Sitecore.Commerce.Catalogs.Config
• Customers and Users Service Layer /App_Config/Include/Sitecore.Commerce.Customers.Config
• Product data is synced using custom connectors

5. Commerce Connect

6. What is a connector?
• Commerce connect is made up of pipelines that connect with Sitecore
• Each pipeline contains one ore more Processors
• Some of the pipeline processors are empty in the places where
processors for external commerce systems are expected
• We can use our own configuration file to patch
• An external commerce system connector consists of pipeline
processors that connect with the specific commerce system and uses
its own configuration files to patch/replace existing pipeline
processors

7. Pipeline example.
• This pipeline Submits an order to the external commerce system
• Multiple processors can be added to execute one after another

8. Pipeline Processor

9. Product repository
You can change Product Repository location in /App_Config/Include/ Sitecore.Commerce.Products.config

10. Product synchronization
• Product synchronization model
• External commerce systems store product data in different ways
• Sitecore has built-in mechanism to create products under content tree
• Uses pipelines
• Data provider model
• Items are virtual
• Hybrid Model

11. Product Synchronization Process
• Get products list
• Evaluate which products to synchronize
• LastModifiedDate > LastSyncDate
• Synchronize product – create product items under product repository
• Read product entity from external commerce system
• Sync product attributes
• Update product list
• Delete any products removed in ECS

12. Sitecore XC 9
• Single integrated platform - content, commerce and analytics
• Provides business tools for managing catalog, order, pricing and
promotions
• Plug-n-play architecture – specific functionality can be added without
touching existing library
• Scale based on different roles – have separate instances to serve
different traffic

13. Commerce Engine
• ASP.NET Core application
• Full fledged E-Commerce platform
• Services are exposed as OData/REST based APIs
• Business tools are built on Angular and speaks to the REST APIs
• There are set of plugins provided along with the product
• Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.Orders
• Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.Carts
• Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.Customers
• Etc.
• Users can build custom plugins

14. Commerce Engine Schema
• CommerceEntity – the core artifact
• https://schema.org/
• Stored in SOLR
• Ref : https://kb.sitecore.net/articles/083614

15. Commerce Engine Connect
Webshop
Commerce Connect
Service Layers
Sitecore XP
Commerce
Engine Connect
Sitecore
Commerce

16. Commerce Engine Connect…
• Commerce Engine Connect – connects Sitecore and Commerce Engine
(Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.Connect.dll)
• Overrides/Implements the pipelines processors defined in commerce connect and talks to commerce
engine

17. Customizing Commerce Engine
• Build a plugin

18. Thank you
https://medium.com/@siddharaju.s