What is Adobe Commerce and why should you choose it?
Adobe Commerce, formerly Magento, allows you to create and manage online stores easily and efficiently. It is the third most widely used e-commerce platform in the world. Its integration with other Adobe solutions through the Adobe Experience Cloud provides advanced tools for refining marketing, analytics, and personalization strategies.
The core strength of Adobe Commerce is its ability to deliver exceptional user experiences in both B2B and B2C markets. Adobe Sensei, Adobe's artificial intelligence and machine learning engine, delivers relevant search results, recommendations, and promotions in real time. In addition, integration with multiple channels, such as social networks, marketplaces, and mobile applications, creates a unified omnichannel experience.
Top five Adobe Commerce enhancements you can deploy in 2024
Adobe Commerce will follow a quarterly release cycle in 2024, with key updates planned for January, April, July, and October. Each release will incorporate security patches to optimize platform performance, security, and functionality.
Here are the Adobe Commerce highlights you should consider deploying in 2024 - some features are already available!
1. Price Indexer and Service Catalog
The Price Indexer is a new feature that allows price changes to be updated in the catalog up to 90% faster than before. This benefits all sellers, but especially those with:
- Constant price fluctuations.
- Product catalogs across multiple sites (domains/brands) or customer groups.
- Large shared product catalogs with unique pricing across multiple sites or customer groups (B2B merchants).
This feature, powered by Adobe Sensei, supports complex pricing scenarios, including catalog rules, tiered pricing, bundles, and discounts. It is available only to users who use Live Search, Service Catalog, or Product Recommendations.
Deployment requires installing the Commerce Services Connector module and configuring the SaaS environment in Adobe Commerce Admin. The Price Indexer runs automatically whenever one or more elements that affect the price of products change. It is also possible to initiate a re-index manually from the Index Management page in the Admin.
This feature improves indexing for multi-product catalogs, such as B2B channel catalogs, and allows you to grow in volume without worrying about the technical details.
In addition to the Price Indexer, Adobe Commerce is enhancing its Service Catalog with an update designed to improve the customer experience. The introduction of images and related product data to the Service Catalog API is a significant step forward in optimizing the display of catalog-related information on product detail pages (PDPs). This enhancement results in a smoother and more streamlined presentation of the entire catalog, ultimately improving overall user engagement and satisfaction.
In addition, this feature simplifies data management and opens up new strategic opportunities to enhance cross-sell and up-sell tactics and improve the overall customer shopping experience.
2. Intelligent Category Merchandising with Live Search
Live Search is a feature powered by Adobe Sensei that provides a streamlined and accurate search experience. It thoroughly analyzes visitor data and combines it with the Adobe Commerce catalog to provide features such as auto-completion, spell-checking, synonym management, and merchandising rules.
New to Adobe Commerce is the ability to organize categories (Intelligent Category Merchandising) using Live Search. Merchants can use intelligent sorting methods to group products into categories based on criteria such as popularity, trends, recommendations, or custom attributes. Merchants can also set specific rules for each category to accelerate, decelerate, or position products.
Intelligent Category Merchandising automatically rearranges products on each category page to improve relevance and conversion for each shopper.
To use this feature, users must enable Live Search for their store and configure the Commerce Services Connector module. They can then access Live Search Admin from Adobe Commerce Admin and create category rules on the Category Merchandising page. They can also preview the results of their rules and make any necessary adjustments.
3. API Mesh
API Mesh allows developers to integrate multiple private or third-party API sources into a single entry point. This centralized approach simplifies the integration process, allowing organizations to easily connect Adobe Commerce to external systems. Developers can leverage pre-built connectors, eliminating the need to develop custom integrations for each system, saving time and resources.
In addition to streamlining integration, the API Mesh architecture improves data exchange across the ecommerce ecosystem. Companies can seamlessly share customer information, product data, and order details between Adobe Commerce and their connected systems, ensuring that data is synchronized and consistent.
To use the API Mesh, developers must install Adobe Developer and the Mesh plug-in. They can then create projects and workspaces in Adobe Developer and define source controllers in a JSON configuration file. They can also test and deploy their Mesh API using Adobe I/O Runtime.
Adobe wants to be flexible in the architecture it offers. Whether the channel requires a composable commerce approach or a simpler (monolithic) approach, Adobe has solved both with this implementation.
4. Augmented reality
The new Adobe Commerce AR Viewer extension redefines the shopping experience by allowing users to view products in augmented reality. By scanning a QR code with their mobile device, shoppers can interact with a realistic 3D visual experience. This tool gives retailers a more engaging and personalized way to showcase their products without having to do more than upload 3D models.
5. Enhanced security
As e-commerce continues to grow, so does the need for strong security measures to protect sensitive customer data and transactions. Adobe Commerce prioritizes security, and the 2024 release schedule reflects this commitment.
In the coming year, there will be a strong focus on security patches to proactively address potential vulnerabilities and keep the businesses running safely. In addition, GraphQL coverage and high-severity bug fixes will further strengthen the security posture.
Power your e-commerce with Adobe Commerce and Acid Labs
Now that you've explored the Adobe Commerce updates you can deploy in 2024, you need a strategic ally to help you make the most of these innovations. Acid Labs is that essential partner to help you take your e-commerce to the next level.
Whether you are taking the first steps in your e-commerce implementation, looking for a major upgrade, or need custom development, Acid Labs is here to turn your goals into tangible realities. Our experience ranges from implementation from the ground up to consolidation in the competitive digital marketplace. Contact us now and let's talk about how Acid Labs can transform your digital business.
Publication date: December 6, 2023.
