Frequently Asked Questions

Sana Commerce

Contents

    General Questions

     

    What is Sana Commerce Cloud?

    Sana Commerce Cloud is an e-commerce platform designed to help manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers succeed through ERP-integrated e-commerce.

    Founded in 2007, Sana Commerce is a certified SAP and Microsoft Gold partner, with a strong global partner network and 1,500+ customers across the world.

    What types of companies is Sana Commerce Cloud best for?

    Sana Commerce Cloud is for Microsoft Dynamics and SAP users who want to strengthen their e-commerce presence or launch a digital transformation strategy for their organization.

    We have an extensive portfolio of B2B customers across the following industries:

    • Manufacturing
    • Automotive & auto parts
    • Food & beverage
    • Retail
    • Construction
    • Electronics
    • Machinery
    • Medical Supplies

    What roles within my organization can benefit from the software, and how?

    Our solution benefits multiple functions across a business:

    Senior Management: Sana Commerce enables a more efficient way of working that naturally streamlines processes and creates opportunities for an increase in growth and revenue. Executive teams can leverage reporting that combines offline and online data and provides detailed insights into how customers are shopping.

    Marketing Leaders: Our software combines offline and online data to provide comprehensive customer insights that can fuel marketing strategy. With integrations to marketing tools, our solution has helped thousands of businesses improve online engagement, customer experience, and internal efficiency.

    Sales Leaders: For sales teams looking to drive revenue and meet their KPIs, Sana Commerce provides automated account management and efficient invoice and RFQ processing. The result? An opportunity to focus on high-quality interactions and identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities quicker.

    IT Teams: As the only truly integrated e-commerce solution on the market, Sana Commerce keeps workflows streamlined for IT teams, who benefit from working off a single source of truth. With data that is accurate and updated in real-time, teams spend less time trouble-shooting and in maintenance, and more time on innovating.

    How do I know if Sana Commerce is the best choice for our digital transformation strategy?

    We’re early evangelists of B2B e-commerce and have always believed that a digital transformation strategy is key to scalable, sustainable success. That’s why we’ve built a solution that just works differently – keeping customer convenience at the heart of everything. If you’re seeking deep integration for your Microsoft Dynamics and SAP ERPs, and need B2B-specific solutions for your web store, we’re happy to help.

    Don’t just take it from us – hear from customers who’ve benefitted from Sana Commerce.

    What are the most common challenges B2B companies adopting e-commerce experience?

    With over 15 years of experience in B2B e-commerce, we’ve seen a great variety of obstacles for digital adoption.

    Some of the most common hurdles for B2B companies adopting e-commerce experience include:

    • Complex product configurations and variants are a challenge to translate in a digital format.
    • Established ERP and CRM systems are a challenge to integrate with a new e-commerce platform.
    • Adapting complex pricing structures to an e-commerce platform that accurately and consistently calculates unique pricing is a challenge.
    • Tailoring experiences to individual customers and providing self-service options while catering to unique business needs is demanding.
    • Change management, especially with the existence of existing sales channels, and prevention of channel conflict requires careful planning and communication.
    • Ensuring robust security measures, data protection, and building trust with customers in the online environment is crucial.
    • The B2B e-commerce space is crowded and competitive. B2B companies need to create distinctive online experiences to differentiate themselves.

    How much technical experience is required to use your software?

    Sana Commerce has been built to be user-friendly and accessible, whether you have an entire IT department to support your efforts or you work in a team of one. Here’s an overview of knowledge that can be helpful:

    • Understanding of Microsoft Dynamics/SAP ERP systems.
    • Experience working with e-commerce platforms/CMS systems.
    • A basic understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (helpful for more advanced customizations).
    • Familiarity with IT infrastructure and server configurations.

    It’s worth noting that Sana Commerce provides documentation, training materials, and support resources to assist users in leveraging the platform effectively. Additionally, working with a Sana Commerce implementation partner or consulting with technical experts can help mitigate any challenges related to technical aspects and ensure a successful implementation.

    Pricing and implementation

     

    How is Sana Commerce priced?

    Our solution comes at three different price plans, depending on your business requirements:

    • Essential: The basics to get started with an e-commerce platform to meet rising customer needs.
    • Pro: Our most popular package, this includes advanced functionalities that help meet your digital transformation goals.
    • Advanced: Our enterprise e-commerce solution, this package accounts for all the functionalities required for large businesses with goals to scale.

    Our quotes are determined by your business requirements, deployment method, and project scope. To get an accurate estimate, contact one of our e-commerce experts today.

    Can I have more than one web store?

    Yes! Many companies choose to maintain several different web stores. You could choose to have a different web store per geographical region, but also to cater to different audiences or industries. You can even set up a separate web store for your different brands.

    When it comes to web stores, there’s no limit to the number you can launch: whether you have one or one hundred, all that matters is that your strategy is tailored to your online customers’ needs.

    How is the implementation process of a Sana Commerce project typically structured, and what is the expected timeline for completion?

    Timelines for e-commerce projects depend on a variety of factors, including the level of customization involved, the size of your business, and your specific project goals.

    We recommend requesting a demo in order to get an accurate time estimation based on your business and requirements.

    Does Sana Commerce offer any training?

    Yes! We provide comprehensive support and on-boarding (at no added cost) to ensure our users are able to fully leverage the benefits of our platform.

    As we understand the importance of strong self-service, we also offer a variety of technical resources. Sana Online Support provides detailed user guides, technical manuals, ERP user guides, a knowledge base and more. Sana Online Help is open for all visitors — no login required.

    Sana Commerce customers and partners can also access Sana University. This e-learning platform offers on-demand training in Sana Commerce web store installation, administration and management, created by our e-commerce experts.

    We also have a dedicated Customer Success team that can help guide you through the platform and ensure you’ve maximized understanding.

    All Sana Commerce Cloud customers also have access to the Sana Success Track, a customized program designed to help achieve e-commerce goals.

    What are your support options like?

    Support levels can vary depending on the chosen plan. Typically, more advanced plans provide access to senior staff, higher priority for service consultants, and development priority.

    Our support services are structured as follows:

    • Customer Support Levels:
      • Pool: Access to a pool of support employees.
      • Dedicated: Access to one dedicated support employee if you have customizations.
      • Dedicated Paired: Access to two dedicated support employees. Advanced customers with a presence in multiple regions (hubs) will be assigned a dedicated pair per hub.
    • Hosting: We provide 24/7 support for all hosting-related issues for all customers.
    • Technical Support: Technical support covers all aspects, including showstoppers (critical issues with a significant impact on the customer’s critical business processes) that require immediate attention.
    • Implementation Partners: Support can be provided either directly by our implementation partners or by us. If your platform implementation is handled by one of our partners, please contact them directly for support-related inquiries.

    Can Sana Commerce integrate with third-party applications?

    Apart from the built-in integration with Microsoft Dynamics and SAP ERP systems, Sana Commerce Cloud offers a range of additional add-ons and marketplaces to enhance the performance of your web store and elevate your online offerings.

    We also collaborate with technology add-on partners to enrich your customers’ purchasing experience. You can find the integrations available for each plan in the provided list.

    For a comprehensive list of Sana Apps and other add-ons, please refer here.

    Sana Commerce vs other e-commerce solutions

     

    Who are your biggest competitors?

    • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce
    • SAP Commerce Cloud
    • BigCommerce
    • Adobe Commerce
    • Dynamicweb
    • WooCommerce
    • Spryker Commerce Cloud
    • commercetools

    Why should I consider Sana Commerce for B2B e-commerce replatforming?

    • Sana Commerce’s flagship product, Sana Commerce Cloud, is a globally recognized SaaS solution, and one of the original B2B e-commerce solutions in the market, giving us a wealth of experience that you can leverage in meeting your digital transformation goals.
    • You can expect a reduction in total cost of ownership and an increase in e-commerce ROI.
    • Our results speak for themselves- the average Sana Commerce customer experiences an 11% increase in returning customers and a 16% decrease in order errors.
    • We understand the unique requirements of B2B e-commerce and offer B2B-specific features, include personalized pricing, customer-specific catalogs, contract management, multiple shipping and payment options, order approval workflows, and self-service portals for customers.

    How is Sana Commerce Cloud different from competitor e-commerce solutions?

    • Sana Commerce Cloud is the only solution on the market that supplies direct integration – no middleware needed. You’ll benefit from real-time, two-way data synchronization that keeps accuracy and customer experience at the forefront, every time.
    • Our solution has been built for B2B organizations. While our competitors might often have to create solutions around your needs with their platform, we offer out-of-the-box B2B functionality. It’s the difference between having to make several trips to the tailor before wearing new clothes, and finding something that fits perfectly.
    • Which doesn’t mean we’re inflexible: for enterprise customers who are seeking something more custom-built, our API-first architecture accounts for extension points and add-ons that can work for your existing application landscape.
    • Sana Commerce supports multi-channel selling. Our platform combines online and offline data and enables you to access a holistic and detailed overview of customer behavior and preferences.
    • We’ve been recognized as a Top 5 B2B e-commerce platform by G2,Capterra & GetApp, and were named a Niche Player in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant.

    Sana Commerce features

     

    Can Sana Commerce handle both B2C and B2B orders?

    Yes! Though we’ve been built for B2B, we have many customers who do both. Read more about one of them here.

    What are your out-of-the-box B2B features?

    • Personalized Pricing: Sana Commerce Cloud allows businesses to set up customer-specific pricing, volume-based discounts, contract pricing, and tiered pricing structures to help boost revenue.
    • Customer-Specific Catalogs: Our solution allows you to create customer-specific catalogs, showing only the products and pricing that are relevant to each individual customer or customer group, therefore helping you build customer loyalty.
    • Multiple Payment Options: The platform supports various payment options commonly used in B2B transactions, including credit accounts, purchase orders, credit card payments, and electronic funds transfer (EFT), ensuring total customer convenience.
    • Advanced Quoting and Ordering Workflows: We offer features to support complex quote and order processes that ensure your teams can work efficiently and streamline processes.
    • Self-Service Portals: Provide customers with the ability to access their accounts, view order history, manage their profile information, and track shipments to provide 360-degree customer self-service.
    • Catalog Management: Sana Commerce Cloud provides robust catalog management capabilities, allowing businesses to manage product attributes, categorization, and content.
    • Multilingual and Multicurrency Support: The platform supports multiple languages and currencies, enabling businesses to operate globally and cater to customers in different regions, ensuring it is scalable for long-term growth.

    Are you developing more features for your solution?

    Sana Commerce Cloud offers significant advantages with its automated deployment process and regular bi-weekly product updates post-implementation.

    We understand that B2B trends aren’t static, which is why our solution can’t be. Bi-weekly updates allow us to stay in pace with industry benchmarks and allow our customers to do the same. You can keep up with updates here.

    What payment gateways do you integrate with?

    Sana Commerce offers payment add-ons for a number of PSPs (Payment Service Providers), including:

    • Adyen
    • Authorize Net.
    • Buckaroo
    • ChargeLogic
    • CyberSource
    • DIBS
    • Docdata
    • Ingenico
    • KBC
    • PayFabric
    • PayPal
    • Wirecard
    • Worldpay

    See all add-ons

    What is the Sana Success Track?

    The Sana Success Track program is designed to help Sana Commerce Cloud customers to set e-commerce goals with a personalized plan that includes tools, measurements, and initiatives to support their journey.

    Enrollment in the program is automatic for all SCC customers through their dedicated Customer Success Manager.

    Sana Commerce tech stack

     

    What kinds of ERPs does Sana Commerce integrate with?

    • Microsoft Dynamics 365 for F&O
    • Microsoft Dynamics AX
    • Microsoft Dynamics 365 BC
    • Dynamics NAV
    • SAP ECC
    • SAP S/4HANA
    • SAP Business One

    Are you willing to integrate with an ERP outside of Microsoft Dynamics or SAP?

    Sana Commerce Cloud is designed specifically for the SAP and Microsoft Dynamics ERPs listed above. Achieving the same level of integration with a different ERP system would require a lot of development work.

    If you would like to discuss this option in detail, get in touch by requesting a consultancy call.

    We host our ERP on premises. Is that a problem if we want a Sana Commerce web store?

    Not at all. An on-premises ERP system is still compatible with Sana Commerce Cloud.

    What business application platforms and software does your product integrate with?

    Sana Commerce Cloud has extension points and add-ons for payment, shipping, PIM, Configure Price Quote (CPQ), CRM, marketing automation tools, and more.

    We also have technology add-on partners to enhance your customers’ buying experience. You can see the integrations per plan in the list above. For a full list of Sana Apps and other add-ons please see here.

    Is Sana Commerce fully hosted? Where?

    Yes. Sana Commerce provides hosting services through Microsoft Azure. By utilizing it’s robust and secure infrastructure, we ensure reliable performance, scalability, and data security for customers’ e-commerce operations.

    Our cloud-based deployment model means your platform and infrastructure are managed and hosted by Sana Commerce.

    Discover how e-commerce can transform your business

    Request a demo to speak to an expert and see how ERP integrated e-commerce works yourself.